Moose Jaw's WDM Close To Home With A Summer Full Of Activities

If you are staying close to home or heading down the road this Summer the Western Development Museum (WDM) would like to have you come back and discover the WDM.

And this summer there are some great events and exhibits not just right here in Moose Jaw but at the three other WDMs - Saskatoon, North Battleford and Yorkton - in the province.

“We would just like to encourage people that yes we are open and it is a great time to come and visit right now. If you haven’t been here in the last ten years there are some new things to see. It’s a great place to bring visiting friends and family who might not be from the area it is a great place to bring them to. Come on up and visit,” Karla Rasmussen education/public programs coordinator with the Moose Jaw WDM said.

Brickspro Returning

That is no exception this summer with the ever popular Brickspro returning after a COVID - 19 absence.

She said the WDM is looking forward to there first major event after COVID - Brickspro on July 30th and July 31st.

Brickspro is show put on by the Saskatchewan Leg Users Group (SLUG) and features numerous original Lego creations not something created from a factory kit.

“This is a hugely popular event…they have been working very hard on various builds. They are adults working on these original creations. None of the things they bring to the show are from kits or boxes. They are all original creations and they are all fantastic,” she said.

Brickspro is a massive show.

“Their builds pretty much take up all of the gallery spaces. You can walk from rail all the way to aviation and come across dozens and dozens of unique and wonderful builds from these folks.”

As part of Brickspro SLUG will also have their Lego yard sale where they sell Lego pieces. It is a CASH ONLY event.

“It is an opportunity for the builders to pick up some Lego.”

A CASH ONLY concession put on by the Friendly City Optimist Club will also be available on site from 11 am to 3 pm both days of Brickspro.

During Brickspro SLUG members will also be giving various talks about their unique hobby.

“If you never have come before it is a fantastic day to come up. All of this is in the museum. Perhaps you came for the LEGO but you can stay and look at the museum and the artifacts,” Rasmussen said.

Admission to Brickspro is the regular WDM admission but those who are WDM members get in for free.

Sunday Summer Popups

On Sundays the WDM summer students have been working on popups during the summer.

“These are low key activities to add onto your visit. Most Sundays during July and August we will be having an activity, a craft, demonstration, interpretations in our galleries from 1 pm to 4 pm,” she said.

Each date has a different theme so people returning on different Sundays will have a new activity to partake in. The popups tie back into the WDM’s exhibits and artifacts and are geared at families to visit the museum and enjoy.

“Some of them are designed to be experienced by a multi-generation. If you have a child, a parent or a grandparent that is even better to come out an experience these things. You can compare it to the way things use to be to the way things are today,” Rasmussen said.

Regular Visitors and Travelers Memberships Save Money

For those who travel and to visit the WDM’s multiple locations Rasmussen said it is advantageous to buy a WDM membership as it will save people money.

“I think it actually pays for itself in three visits so if you visit three times or more it is a great benefit. Things like Brickspro you get in for free. So there are some perks and a discount in our gift shop as well,” she said.

The four WDMs in the province have different themes and exhibits.

“Each of the locations is so very different. We do have themes and there are some similarities but they are all very unique,” Rasmussen said, adding “they each tell a little bit different story about parts of Saskatchewan’s past.”

Yorkton’s theme is the story about people with the galleries talking about settlement and different waves of immigration that arrived from Europe and the United States. Yorkton also has an outdoor farm collection.

North Battleford has an outdoor settler’s village set in the 1920’s as well as a small farm. In August the WDM in North Battleford will have an interpretive event.

Saskatoon feature’s Boomtown where visitors are transported back in time to Main Street in 1910.

June Busy Month As School Groups Return

Although the WDM was not closed throughout the entire COVID - 19 pandemic the restrictions stopped them from host large groups such as school groups. The school groups come from all over southern Saskatchewan to take in the WDM and often other attractions in Moose Jaw.

“We are just coming off of a really busy season with school field trips coming in and this is something we couldn’t do the last two years. We have been very excited to have the classes come back and join us. June has just been jam packed with people coming to visit us from all over the province,” Rasmussen said.

Students from Kipling School question a WDM staffer for clues about the scavenger hunt during their visit to the Moose Jaw WDM earlier in July - MJ Independent photo

“It has been wonderful to hear the giggling and the laughter in the gallery spaces,” Rasmussen said, adding “it is starting to feel a little bit more like normal.”

“We do have a few Moose Jaw schools who come for the field trip but by in large it is mostly out of town schools that come in…they have been coming here year after year. It has been really great hearing from those teachers who have been coming for the last five or ten years and they have been re-booking and coming back.”

Rasmussen said they will work with other partner organizations such as the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Centre and the Tunnels of Moose Jaw to make it a whole day experience in Moose Jaw.

“It’s a great way to get them to come to the community and come and see some of the hidden treasures that we have here in our city.”

VW Club Fit Right In

A recent vintage Volkswagen rally and show was something held at the Moose Jaw WDM. The classic cars fit right into the local WDM’s transportation theme.

It was also a way of tying the museum back into the community.

The recent Prairie Volks Car Club Rally in Moose Jaw fit right into the local WDM’s transportation theme - MJ Independent file photo

“They approached us. They were looking for a location to hold their event and it does fit in with our theme very well. We do have a vintage Volkswagen Beetle here (in the museum). My understanding is they were holding a community scavenger hunt and out Volkswagen Beetle was one of the things on what they had to look for on their tour,” Rasmussen said.

For more information on what the Moose Jaw Western Development Museum has to offer visit their Facebook page for updates.