Village News

Change is inevitable in any organization. Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) is no exception. Right now we are processing a change in the leadership of our Curatorial Department.

Roland Sawatzky has been our Senior Curator for 11 years. Beginning in March, he will take on a full-time role at The Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, where he has held a part-time role for several years. We will miss him.

Roland first joined MHV as our Senior Curator in 2003. Having done considerable post-graduate research on the social use of space in Mennonite “house-barns” in southern Manitoba between 1874 and 1930, he came well qualified to take this role. One had only to join him for a village tour to enjoy the fruits of his learning.

During his time here, he gave fine leadership to the management of our collection of artifacts, designed and developed many great exhibits, and earned the respect of our constituency – both for himself and for our museum. One of his unique contributions was bringing archeological field schools from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg to MHV. He supervised digs on the site of the former village of Blumenhof on more than one occasion.

We will miss his congenial disposition, his considerable knowledge of Mennonite history and his high level of contribution to the mission of MHV. Our warm wishes for new and meaningful experiences will accompany him.