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Tomorrow is Canada Day and what a day it is. Camping, hiking, visiting, eating, no matter how you choose to celebrate it, it is always a wonderful weekend. Come on in and stop by the Museum and see some history as you make your own. There is lots to read, view and explore! For the kids we have words searches, scavenger hunts and people finders. For the adults we have stories and newspapers and so much more. All ages welcome :)  I have a strong disliking towards these creatures. What led me to blog about this unfortunate species is being a victim of them six times over while changing our closed sign to open this morning. It led me to wonder.....were they always this bad? How did they get rid of them, five, ten, fifteen, twenty or even fifty years ago? I have been trying to research it,however I am struggling finding any information. If anyone knows we would love to find out. Aside from that the Museum is in full swing, scanning yearbooks, typing histories, interviewing and much more. Come on in today and take a tour. Have some questions and we will answer them! Enjoy summer.  Summer is finally here and we have our new hours hammered out! Congratulations to the students of Magrath who are now finished with school and can come visit the museum. :) Our new hours will start July 5 and run through August 12. Monday - 4- 8 Open late for Family Night! Tuesday- Friday 9- 6 Book a tour or just come on in! Saturday 11-3 Have some free times with the kids- come learn about your roots! Sundays- Closed We are very excited and are also available to do after hour tours of the museum as well as cemetery tours upon request. Make us a part of your family reunion, summer afternoon, or anything for that matter. We wouldn't be here without citizens of Magrath. If you are seeking specific information on a tour or just in general give us a call and we will do our best to help. Three cheers for summer!  We are now officially in the works of new displays. Two rooms will be rotated and the main room will have things we have never seen before.
Excellent. While we will be in "construction" mode for a few days, come in and check it out through the process. We are working hard to be ready for the town celebrations. As for now, enjoy summer and make sure to stop by! After a quick trip to the states by the summer student, namely myself, the museum will be back in full swing.
HERE IS WHY. Soon we will have two employees ( July 1st weekend) which means that the museum will be open a bit longer making history more available to you. What is not to be excited about? The float planning is beginning and I couldn't be more thrilled. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen because it is going to be great this year. One word....popcorn. That is all you get. Here is where we need all citizens of Magrath to step in. We have lots of personal histories here. They are my very favourite part of working here, as it defines the roots of Magrath. However, we are missing lots of families and we need your help. If you have journal entries, funny stories, memories of main street, or even photos from your ancestors of Magrath please BRING IT IN. Often times we have out of town visitors on genealogy trips looking for these very things. Help us represent you properly. We did our first Cemetery Tour yesterday. I apologize we did not get any pictures, but I have to say I think it went rather well. I was a bit nervous, but the people were wonderful. I know next time to point out a few more different things, etc but overall it was a really good experience.
I learned some great things that I thought would be interesting to share. Did you know that the embroidery and decorative marks on headstones are not simply pretty to look at, but are often symbolic? It makes sense, but I honestly had no idea. For example, if a grave has a sheep or lamb on it, it means that it was a baby that passed away. If there is a thistle on the grave it means you originally came from Scotland. The one I found most interesting was the three stages of a dove. Often times there is a dove on a headstone. If the dove is laying down it means it is a child's grave, representing a short life lived. If it is a middle aged person the dove is standing up or sitting on a perch. This represents a bit of knowledge and years behind the life lived. If the dove is flying it means the person lived a long, successful life and was able to fly and soar. In several interviews I have listened in on, many people refer to attending a Normal School. I could not decide what this meant. Was it rude, was it a University?
I finally found an article that explains what they were referencingand why schools after high school were called Normal Schools. Here is a clip from the article Finding Ideas, Values and Happiness from the ATA Magazine, Winter 2005 page 32 The Term normal school was derived from teacher training schools in France called ecole normale, and in Austria, normalschule were designed to inculcate the norms, models or standards of the culture. The translation of normal school also refers to such schools in the People's Republic of China. When the Calgary Normal School was established in 1905, the public school standards to be inculcated were presumably British. In the multi-ethnic Canada of today, the designation normal school is archaic. Now we know. Stick around for more  Today the Spring Coulee Scouts came in. It was a blast! I had a lot of fun seeing the energy these boys have. They weren't too thrilled about the Ladies Rooms but they sure did love all the tools, stories and jail. (At least I thought so.)
It is wonderful to be able to do those tours and we welcome any more groups to come in. We learn more in large numbers and the s stories are better with more ears to hear them. Thanks Scouts! It was great fun. We were thrilled to see how many faces turned up at the Magrath Museum Fundraising Banquet !
This year there were two options: Dinner and Program at the Covered Wagon OR Take Out Dinner from the Senior Centre Both options went splendid and might I add the food was fantastic. There will be pictures soon to come of the event, but of course we would like to thank all that participated and helped. We could not preserve Magrath without the support of those living in it. Thank you! -The Magrath Museum This photo just warmed my heart. J. Rasmussen and Arthur Critchfield. There is plenty more where this came from.  |
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