Village News

It was a pleasure to recently have lunch with a small group of volunteers at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV). Predictably Christmas became a key part of our conversation around the table. While a few had started their Christmas shopping, nobody in the group had finished. Some had already set up a Christmas tree, and at least one of those thought they might also be setting up another one. Apparently there are very narrow trees available now for those whose floor space is limited. Some individuals talked about including candles in their decorating, both real ones and those with electronic lights, while acknowledging that the former brings with it a fear that one day they might forget to blow out all those candles before going to bed. We also enjoyed conversation about some of the Christmas programs that will be available to us in the next weeks.

In keeping with these timely conversations, today was the day we started getting our MHV Christmas decorations out of storage. The next three to four weeks will be quite busy with a variety of Christmas activities taking place in our Village Centre. On Saturday, November 26, the second annual Steinbach Christmas Market, sponsored by Canadian Gold Beverages, will take place at MHV between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you attended last year’s event, you will have an idea of what to expect. Some of last year’s vendors will again be in attendance, and there will be new ones as well. Food and craft vendors will offer products for sale in the Auditorium. Food items available will include quail eggs, perogies and baked goods from the Culinary Arts class at the Steinbach Regional Secondary School. One of the unique crafts for sale will be pedal go-carts. Village Books and Gifts will also be open, with its unique assortment of toys, books and other gift ideas. Admission is free, so bring the family.

Our meeting rooms in the Village Centre provide excellent venues for both small and large corporate Christmas parties. Between now and the middle of December we will host many such celebratory functions. There are still a few choice spots available. Call Roger at 204-326-9661 if you’re looking for a comfortable place for your Christmas function. Our MHV Christmas trees will not have real candles on them as they did many years ago, but the atmosphere will still be warm and welcoming.

MHV is first and foremost a museum. We are here to collect artifacts and tell stories so that our unique history will not be forgotten. But our facilities are not required every day for our programs and activities, so we are making them available to the public whenever possible. This allows us to serve our constituency while generating some additional revenue. Come and see what we have to offer.