DICKSON - The doors are closed at the Dickson Store Museum for the season, but that doesn't mean members are not busy engaging the community. Since the doors closed to the public on Labour Day the museum has held three major events.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Dickson Store Museum celebrated its 25th Anniversary of being a museum at its 2nd annual fall supper fundraiser at the Spruce View Hall.
All three levels of government attended this celebration and took the microphone to offer their congratulations and kind words. A delicious Danish supper of pork loin, roasted vegetables, red cabbage, salad, rye bread and apple cake was served to about 150 guests.
Going with the theme, “Becoming a Museum: Then and Now” entertainers were an assortment of those that entertained when the museum began fundraising in 1985 to the present.
The hall was decorated in silver and blue. The silver was for the 25th anniversary and blue was for the Royal Copenhagen plates featuring a picture of the museum in 1909. The plates were used as candleholders and given as a favour at each place setting.
The Liar's Club returned once more to give their outrageous stories about different artifacts. This has gotten to be quite competitive amongst our liars.
Before the fall supper had even happened we were already in the midst of planning two more events. Three weeks later the museum held its annual Julestue (Scandinavian bazaar) on Nov. 5. This event offered a Danish restaurant where we served about 600 open-faced sandwiches. People came an hour early so they could find a seat and be first in line to get their lunch. There was an array of vendors selling their wares. Many guests take this opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping where they can find some unique gifts.
The last event for the season was on the weekend of Nov. 25 and 26, when the Dickson Store Museum produced the play Who Would've Guessed? by Sharon Lightbown.
These were held as a dinner and dessert theatre with about 260 people enjoying delicious food and entertainment. Laughter filled the room at both productions. The cast received a standing O at both and audience members are still raving about the wonderful time they had. Some say their cheeks and sides still ache from laughing so hard.
This production was entirely put on by the community and took many volunteer hours. The kitchen crew led by volunteer Kathleen Raines put on a fabulous hot roast beef dinner that was enjoyed by all. She also baked a variety of delicious desserts for the dessert theatre.
We encourage everyone to join us at our future events and fundraisers because if there is one thing we excel at, it's promoting community fellowship and having a lot of fun and laughter.
As well as planning events, there are always the day-to-day operations to take care of at the museum. In November, we winterized our museum, but this does not mean that anyone can go hibernate. There is always work to do. A huge thank you goes out to the federal government for helping fund the summer staff, to the Alberta Museums Association for the 25th Anniversary exhibit and Operational Staffing Grants, and to Red Deer County for funding some of the Visitor Information Center hours. This money helps us fulfil our mandate and complete our projects, customer service, and programs and events in a professional manner.
Sharon Lightbown is the manager of the Dickson Store Museum. For more information email [email protected] or go to the website at www.dicksonstoremuseum.com
