Rocky View County's Pioneer Acres Museum ready to welcome back visitors
Two years of pandemic protocols have been hard on the Pioneer Acres Museum.
The historic farm, located just north of Irricana, was restricted on how many visitors it could host and had to cancel any event involving large gatherings.
Curator Shelly McElroy is excited for the 2022 season that started May 14 with the official opening of the Grain Academy that moved to the site from Stampede Park in 2019.
"It was here and it was where it needed to be but the timing was just off," McElroy told CTV News in an interview. "So we have had two years of waiting for this special place to finally be able to promote it, tell the story and see it come to life."
The exhibit features a 1906 box car in the centre of the space that visitors can walk through and see pictures of harvest decades ago. Bob Swanson is a fourth generation farmer and the president of Pioneer Acres along with being a volunteer for 11 years.
"This actual car that we're standing in came from a neighbor of mine and he phoned me up one day and says, do you think pioneer acres got use for an old rail car and I said maybe, I'll check it out, well yes we did have a use," said Swanson. "It actually became the focal point of the Grain Academy here than what it was sitting out on the prairie."
McElroy says visitors come from all over the world and most don't realize how much food is grown in Alberta and Canadian farmers help feed people all over the world.
"Every day we get to take people on tour through that building and watch them fall in love with their own home," she said. "Realizing how amazing Alberta is so it's super rewarding and we're looking forward to doing that all summer long."
Josh Wade is 18 years old and grew up on a farm. He's a museum technician who takes people for guided tours and is excited about visitors returning.
"What I really love about this place is the community," he said. "There's no other place like it to just be able to come out somewhere, to see people, to interact with them day after day, it's just really special."
Wade has a close tie to the museum because his family donated their original farm house in 1994. It was built in 1911 and has many original furnishings inside.
"My father lived in the house, my grandmother, great-grandmother so there were many generations of my family that lived in that place and they all had very fond memories," he said.
He enjoys taking people through the house to see how people lived in Alberta's early days.
"Every single day without fail I walk in that building and I go, 'Wow, I cannot believe that this was ours,'" said Wade. "Not only that it was ours but now that it's here and that other people can see and feel what it might have been like to live in a house like that so long ago."
The property has all kinds of machinery on it celebrating Alberta's farming community. But one massive vintage tractor is close to McElroy's heart.
"This is a Canadian tractor built in Calgary where the East Hills development is today," she said.
"It was built by the Pioneer Tractor Company, they're an American company from Minnesota and during Alberta's first boom they opened up a building in 1913 and they started manufacturing these tractors, maybe there's 10 of them left in the world, we think this is the oldest one."
Learn more about Pioneer Acres here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
New Canadian study could be a lifesaver for thousands suffering from CTE
A first-of-its-kind Canadian research study is working towards a major medical breakthrough for a brain disorder, believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, that can only be detected after death.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.