Breena Hebron is hard at work at Kerrobert Museum

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

Breena Hebron is hard work this summer at the Kerrobert Museum. During the school year, she has been studying at the University of Saskatchewan and has always been interested in history.

“I had several other options, but I thought this would be my best option,” Breena said about her job at the museum. Breena also has a personal interest in Kerrobert’s history, as her great great grandfather helped build the community, and her relatives were some of the original settlers. While working at the museum, she has come across interesting information she has shared with both sides of her family. However, the most exciting family information Breena discovered came from past newspapers dating from 1913 to the 1930s and 1940s.

“I’m loving it. It’s very interesting finding out information about our community,” Breena said. She’s also excited about sharing that history with locals and people who come to visit. She’s more than happy to give visitors an informative tour, or they can do a self-tour if they prefer.

The museum is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed for an hour at noon. Because the building also houses the town office, library, and art gallery, it’s unnecessary to have a museum staff member present to enjoy a tour. In addition, the art gallery will be hosting a show in July, which will be an added attraction.

Breena has been busy during her first couple of weeks at the museum doing a deep clean as she prepares for future visitors, and she’s also working on completing the Kerrobert timeline in the basement hallway, which is a major project. The timeline shares significant community events since Kerrobert’s beginnings.

Work on the timeline has been ongoing during the past three years when summer students help work on the project. The timeline covers the period from 1910 to 2010, and because of limited space, Breena needs to carefully select information to display.

The museum also has amazing volunteers who have worked for years gathering artifacts, and the community is always very generous. Donated artifacts that are accompanied by personal stories are of particular value. The museum is continually changing displays in order to showcase artifacts.

The museum has been a popular destination for people attending family reunions or class reunions and for people who are paying a visit to relatives and friends in the community. During past summers, the museum had an average of 100 visitors, and Breena is really hoping to see that many people visit again this summer.