Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Friends of Tomahawk Park 2022

August 28, 2022May 18, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Let’s get the bricks inscribed before the snow flies!

In 2012, as part of the Town of Cut Knife’s Centennial, the Friends of Tomahawk Park fundraising initiative was created. This is a landscaped spot along the walking path, which has at its centre, a large area paved with grey granite bricks. Many bricks have already been inscribed with the names of supporters, and many still remain blank.

The cost to have your name, and a partner’s or additional family member’s name, put on a brick is $100, with a portion of that going towards the cost of inscribing the brick on site by Rose City Memorials. To maximize the donation portion of the purchase, we wait until 10 to 12 bricks are ready to be sandblasted. Currently, 3 supporters have been waiting for a while to see their names added to Friends of Tomahawk Park. Who else is interested in a brick? Let’s get a dozen inscribed before the snow flies!

Take a walk through Tomahawk Park and the Museum grounds on the next nice day. It’s a beautiful spot and well worth maintaining. The CMMM celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year. Its longevity is directly linked to the support we receive from individuals and families with a link to this area.

To purchase an inscription, please email cmmmcutknife@gmail.com, or speak with Lyle Cronk, Town Council Representative on the Museum Board, who is overseeing this. The purchaser will receive a tax donation receipt for $50.

bricks at tomahawk park — Early Spring 2022

~ Debbie M.

Board

Volunteer Organizers Needed for Art Project

August 27, 2022August 27, 2022 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE: MID-OCTOBER 2022

The CMMM would like to put together a series of note cards with original museum-related artwork. These note cards would be used for Board correspondence and packaged for sale in the Gift Shop.

We are looking for one or two volunteers who would help the Board organize a Call for Artwork. Organizers would set up the parameters of the project, an outreach plan, selection criteria, etc.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do, please email cmmmcutknife@gmail.com, or speak with Board members Colton, Randy, or Debbie.

~ Debbie M.

Fundraiser, Museum

What are Local Histories?

August 23, 2022August 24, 2022 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

In 1980, the East Cut Knife and Districts Historical Society published a local history book titled, “Where the Cut Knife Waters Flow”. It was a collection of submissions researched and compiled for Celebrate Saskatchewan 1980 and dedicated “to the memory of the pioneers who settled in the area.” Written by ordinary people who lived locally, the book gives us the stories of the area’s settlers in their own voices.

The value of Saskatchewan local histories, and local histories in general, is well recognized. The Saskatchewan Legislative Library tries to obtain a copy of each new Saskatchewan local history book when it’s published. The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan has more than 400 local histories in their collection. One historian sees the role of local history writers as the “gatekeepers and custodians of rich historical resources“. Most genealogists consider these books to be a goldmine for, among other reasons, family trees.

On July 17th, the Museum hosted a Quilt Walk, and for a few weeks afterwards, I posted photos / descriptions of the quilts on our blog. One post in particular caught the eye of someone born in Cut Knife, now living in B.C. Lorraine Martin brought it to our attention that The First Day of School Dress was not created by Mary Duvall, but by Mary (MacMillan) Rutley for her daughter Jessie Rutley Vance. Her proof was the family tree in her own book, Notes and Clippings, It All Started in Saskatchewan. We’re thankful the record has been corrected.

LOCAL HISTORIES IN THE GIFT SHOP

Notes and Clippings, It All Started in Saskatchewan by Lorraine Martin

My story starts with my early life in the Gallivan / Cut Knife area in the early 1940s and 1950s. It continues through my training as a Psychiatric Nurse at the North Battleford Provincial Hospital then after graduation my working years in England and Switzerland…
Lorraine Martin

Odds and Ends: Autobiography by Orval Ens

Contents include the following chapters: My Forebears; From 0 – 80; School Daze; My Teaching Career; From Horse and Buggy to Automobile; The Terrible Blizzard of December 1955; Breath of French Air…
Orval Ens

Prairie Christmas: A Collection of Stories and Recollections, A Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Project Cut Knife, Saskatchewan 2006 – 2007

This delightful compilation of Christmas stories was compiled by a group of volunteers to not only document history, but to be a fundraiser for the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum… We invited people to write stories about their Christmas memories…
The Prairie Christmas Committee

Where the Cut Knife Waters Flow Volume II

100 Years Celebrating Saskatchewan’s Centennial 1905 – 2005
Where the Cut Knife Waters Flow Volume II

Click for more info about these in-stock local history books, and how to make a purchase from the Gift Shop.

~ Debbie M.

Fundraiser, Museum

New Arrivals

August 15, 2022 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Sending out many thanks to Lorraine Martin, author of Notes and Clippings – It All Started in Saskatchewan. Twelve copies of her book have just arrived in the mail, and will soon be for sale at the Museum.

ABOUT THE BOOK

My story starts with my early life in the Gallivan/Cut Knife area in the early 1940 and 1950’s. It continues through my training as a Psychiatric Nurse at the North Battleford Provincial Hospital then after graduation my working years in England and Switzerland followed by travelling throughout Europe. Returning to Canada I worked in Nova Scotia and Regina where I married and became a volunteer.
Lorraine Martin

“Notes and Clippings” arrive in the mail

~ Debbie M.

Museum, Summer

Have You Seen These Yet?

August 14, 2022August 29, 2022 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Last year, Lucille had a wonderful idea. She wanted to have ordinary photos of the Museum buildings transferred to canvas for posterity. Happily, we’ve begun that process. Visitors to the Duvall House are now able to view six canvas prints: an aerial view of the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum grounds, four heritage buildings still standing, and Ovenstown, the first building to be moved on site, now demolished.

If you haven’t been to the CMMM yet this year, Angie will be taking tours until the end of the month, and Coffee will be served at the Duvall House on Wednesday and Friday afternoons until September 2.

If you have had a chance to view these canvas prints in person, then you’ll agree that the photos below just do not do them justice.