Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Prairie Christmas

December 17, 2023January 14, 2024 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

A Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Project 2006 – 2007

My original intention was to pull a half dozen excerpts from Prairie Christmas to accompany photos of the new seasonal exhibit in the Cut Knife Library. Having never read this compilation before, I didn’t know that would be an impossible task. I tried to just skim through for particular references but, by the end of the first story, I knew I was not going to miss a single word. This book is a treasure.

The memories shared on its pages are amusing or heartwarming or poignant, but always true to the moments being described. The Prairie Christmas Committee recognized the value of documenting these particular stories when they invited people to submit recollections of their early Christmas memories. The result is a wonderful historical overview of Christmas on the prairies, especially in the Cut Knife area, from the 1920s through to the 1950s.

Over the next week, I’ll be sharing excerpts from Prairie Christmas: A Collection of Stories and Recollections, which I’ve organized into some common threads i.e. the school concert, winter travel, Santa, shopping, turkey dinners, and more. Excerpts will be short paragraphs of descriptions, anecdotes, conversations etc. of which many will sound strikingly familiar all these years later.

Here’s a teaser from Russ Stewart:

The preparation for the annual concert started about December 1st and must have been a real challenge for the teacher. All students had to have a part in the program whether they had talent in that area – or not! I always offered to be the stage manager – and pull the curtains! A Scottish lady in the district attempted to teach about 5 boys to dance the “Sailor’s Hornpipe”. The first lessons were a disaster (can’t you picture it?) but the final performance brought some clapping from the audience! Maybe it was our parents!
Russ Stewart (page 59)

First up? Everyone had very vivid memories of their school concerts and many noted that the Christmas season began with concert programming and casting decisions in November or early December.

~ Debbie M.

Archives, Museum, Our Stories

Mom’s China, Dad’s Calendars, Your…

November 25, 2023January 14, 2024 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Every so often, following a Board meeting, we’ll stay behind to discuss the latest items on offer to the CMMM. Acquisitions meetings determine whether or not the Museum will accept or decline an artefact or the archival materials about which we’ve been contacted. Guidelines are in place to help make decision-making easier…

Our display space, our storage space and our volunteer resources are limited. By following our Significance Worksheet, we eliminate duplication and we maintain the museum’s focus on the stories directly relevant to the area… we work at creating a unique, manageable collection reflective of the people, events and history of the Cut Knife area.
Acquisitions: To Accept a Donation . . . or Not?

… but it’s never really easy. One night after the accept / decline process we chatted on afterwards about having to make these decisions in our personal lives about our own parents’ possessions and collections:

How do you refuse your Mom’s table settings when she asks if you will take them?
What do you do if you end up, anyway, with multiple sets of china, or silverware, or crystal glassware after she passes?
Do you have a place to display, or even to store your Dad’s collection of carved wooden decoys, or license plates, or calendars?
How do you let something go that meant so much to them, and holds so many memories for you? What will happen to it if you don’t keep it?

These are the same kinds of questions the Museum struggles with too, each time we review an artefact. We want to be able to preserve the item, to display it, and to share it, not simply to store it.

Sadly, this Trustee had the final word that night. She was describing the conversation she had had with her daughter, when she asked if she’d take home her Grandmother’s set of silver. Her daughter reacted with “What am I going to do with a set of silver?” Her mom replied, “You can do exactly what I do with it. You take it out once a year. You polish it. Then you put it back until next year.”

~ Debbie M.

Events

Update: CK Chase the Ace Winners

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

In late spring of 2021, the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum, the Cut Knife & District Recreation Board, and the Cut Knife Library joined together to bring the Chase the Ace lottery-style fundraiser to Cut Knife.

ROUND 4: TICKETS ON SALE NOV. 30. FIRST DRAW DEC. 7, 2023! CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS.

Click here to follow Cut Knife Chase the Ace on Facebook.

ROUND 3: OCTOBER 2022 – JUNE 2023

Round 3 ended on June 15, 2023 when Yvonne Sawatzky took home a Jackpot of $17,768! (Photo not available.)

ROUND 2: OCTOBER 2021 – MAY 2022

Cheryl Rowswell won the Jackpot on May 26, 2022. Cheryl’s winnings included $838 on the Ticket Draw & the $21,054 Jackpot for a grand total of $21, 892!

ROUND 1: JUNE – AUGUST 2021

The Ace was drawn on August 5, 2021 only 9 weeks into play. Larry Thalheimer from Unity had the lucky ticket to win the Jackpot of $10,626!

round 1 chase the ace winner — Round 1 Jackpot Winner Larry Thalheimer with Mayor Gwenn Kaye

Many thanks go out to all the Cut Knife Chase the Ace supporters. That includes all the volunteers involved with organizing the ticket sales and draws; the local businesses and services that facilitate in-person purchases; the community members who buy tickets, share Facebook and blog posts, and talk-up the event to their friends, and the Lucerne Hotel for providing the venue.

~ Debbie M.

Congratulations SCAA!

November 15, 2023November 16, 2023 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists Wins Award

On November 8, 2023, the SCAA was the recipient of a 2023 Saskatchewan Heritage Award for their Archives Week Video Project 2022. The Heritage Saskatchewan award presentations took place at Government House in Regina.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Archives Week Video Project 2022 was created by our team to celebrate the annual SCAA Archives Week in a series of daily video clips whereby our members showcased their successes and achievements of the past year; and also displayed the hard work and dedication of archivists in preserving the vibrant history of the province.
Saskatchewan Council of Archives and Archivists media release

THE CMMM ARCHIVES

The CMMM has been a member of the SCAA for more than a dozen years. When all of our archival materials came together under one roof, the SCAA Archives Advisor made a trip to Cut Knife to advise on its set up. They have continued to support us with information, recommendations, and at times, funding. We have participated in Saskatchewan Archives Week activities with Open Houses, digital exhibits, and blog posts focusing on local research. Our Resident Archivist, Lucille B. and many other Board members and volunteers have taken SCAA course work in a wide variety of archival topics.

The work of the SCAA in this province is vital to the preservation of local histories. The Cut Knife Museum and Archives congratulates the SCAA organization and all of the individuals involved with the Archives Week Video Project 2022 for this well-deserved recognition.

~ Debbie M.

Archives, Museum, Our Stories

Nov. 11, 2023

November 11, 2023January 14, 2024 Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

To remember those who died in military service…

They will never know the beauty of this place, see the seasons change, enjoy nature’s chorus. All we enjoy we owe to them, men and women who lie buried in the earth of foreign lands and in the seven seas.
Government of Canada

and to honour those who served in wartime…

NEW EXHIBIT: F. V. Burden, Rockhaven, SK

The CMMM’s most recent acquisitions are from the family of Frederick Victor Burden from the Rockhaven area. Vic Burden served in WW II as an Aero Engine Mechanic at RCAF Trenton in Ontario. Click here to read the full story of his service. His uniforms, documentation, and additional artifacts are currently on display in the Cut Knife Library.

Burden uniforms on display in library — Frederick Victor Burden’s uniforms and duffle bag on display in the Cut Knife Library. Visit at 113 Broad Street to view additional documents and artifacts.

~ Debbie M.