Since the residents of West Side Court could not make their annual trip to tour the Assiniboia and District Museum, the museum “came to them” via a ‘Museum in a Suitcase’.
The museum was able to lend some posters and pictures to use as a jumping off point for sharing their memories of life on the farm and old homesteads left behind. The posters held information of many old elevators in communities in the area, including Fife Lake, Lakenheath, Harptree, Hart, Stonehenge, Spring Valley, Wheatstone and Fir Mountain.
Many residents still have relatives in these areas. They had fond memories of their days spent on their farms.
Everyone joined in reminiscing about the ways they were used to, such as washing clothes without pushing buttons on machines and cooking on the cookstoves, where cooks always had to make sure there was the right amount of firewood to heat the stoves at the precise temperature for baking bread.
Times were different – a lot of hard work was needed just to accomplish all the jobs making up everyday life.
Hats off to the Assiniboia and District Historical Museum and Museum Coordinator Sally Svenson for lending West Side Court these posters, so they could have an afternoon of sharing fond memories.
Hopefully, the residents will be able to tour the museum in person next summer.
