The MusĂ©e Morinville Museum is set to pay its own tribute to veterans and active soldiers of all generations with a special exhibit that will be on display as part of Veterans’ Week running today through Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Operations attendant Donna Garrett explained the display would include photographs, posters and artifacts including some images of former residents who went to fight on European soil during the First World War. Among the artifacts, there will be uniforms, a gas mask, ration books, pay books, an artillery shell and a grenade. That last item has been deactivated, of course.
“It is!” she laughed. “I asked that when I first started here.”
The museum offers war-based exhibits every year around Remembrance Day. This year marks the centennial of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, a Yugoslavian nationalist. That set off a political crisis that resulted in the declaration of the First World War.
To mark the occasion, Garrett pored through the archives to pull out some special photographs that demonstrate the town’s involvement in that war.
“We have done similar exhibits in the past but this year I went through the history books and found photographs of World War I soldiers. That’s what we’re highlighting because it’s the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of that war.”
This annual exhibit is a popular feature on the museum’s annual calendar, something that she attributes to the prominence of numerous military families that live in the town.
These items will be on display running at the same time as a very different exhibit featuring some unique guitars and amps among other pieces of musical equipment that are on loan by Smith Music. A permanent exhibit called Morinville as a Reflection of the Canadian Spirit – which shows the founding of the town – is also on display, along with a barber chair from the original town barber and a 1928 Model A Ford.
The facility will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. It will also be open during those hours on Remembrance Day – Nov. 11. Admission is by donation.
The museum is located at 10010 101 Street (next to St. Jean Baptiste Church) in Morinville. People can phone 780-571-5585 or visit www.museemorinvillemuseum.com for more information.
