COLUMN: Village News – We welcome spring

Spring in Manitoba is a wonderful time of year. Daylight hours are getting longer. The temperature is edging towards above zero for nighttime and double digits for daytime. We hear a variety of songbirds from dawn until dusk. And we begin to see grass blades, flower shoots, and tree branches becoming green as they reach for sunlight and soak in the spring rains.

At Mennonite Heritage Village we are experiencing many of the same scenes as we look forward to the May 1 opening of our outdoor village. Our facilities maintenance team is cleaning up the grounds, picking up broken branches, identifying repairs that are needed to our heritage buildings, and tuning up the mowing equipment for another busy summer. The farmyard is about to get filled with the loaned or donated animals from local farmers who are eager to support the museum. The animals are a highlight for visitors of every age.

Our curators are lining up work crews to tackle the summer projects of repairing and replacing roofs and wallboards on the heritage buildings. They are identifying pieces of equipment for our mechanically inclined volunteers who want to get another antique car or tractor operational and running this summer. And they are refurnishing the heritage buildings with curtains, rugs and mattresses to create a realistic representation of ‘the way things were’.

Inside, our retail staff is stocking the stores with local wares, the latest novel or family history by a local author, and memorabilia for our visitors who will arrive from around the province and from around the world. And our program team is organizing the school trips expected in May and June, setting up training sessions to train new blacksmiths, printers, sawyers, schnetje bakers, and museum interpreters, and they are booking music entertainers for our festivals.

The most obvious signs at MHV that spring has arrived are the smells and sounds coming from the Livery Barn Restaurant. Our bakers and cooks are returning to prepare and serve fabulous traditional Russian Mennonite foods that have been served to friends, relatives and neighbours in southern Manitoba since the 1870’s. Vereneke and foarma vorscht, kielke and schinke fleisch, komst borscht and broot, along with plueme moos and rhubarb plautz, are all back on the menu. We are also looking forward to the weekday lunch specials from Monday to Friday. For those looking for a place to share a meal with friends, the Livery Barn Restaurant serves a huge buffet with all your favourite foods every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing many of you when the restaurant doors open in May.

As you can tell, every department at MHV is happy with spring’s arrival and its opportunities to welcome our friends, family and supporters to our 40-acre outdoor campus. We have been welcoming visitors to our galleries and our bookstore all winter, but now that spring has arrived, we are thrilled to open the heritage buildings for your enrichment. Enjoy the outdoors, as you wander our pathways around the scenic pond and throughout the village. Come for some soup and bread, or a plautz and coffee.

We’ll see you on May 1.

Upcoming events

May 1 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Outdoor Village and farmyard open for the summer.

May 1 – 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Livery Barn Restaurant opens for the summer.

May 9 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Manitoba Day Celebration – Join us as we celebrate Manitoba’s birthday with a day full of activities, history, and community fun! This special event will feature a flag-raising ceremony, free birthday cake, and more. Free admission.

May 10 – 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Mother’s Day Buffet at the Livery Barn Restaurant.

May 22 – 6 p.m. – Spring Gala Fundraising Banquet – The Mennonite Heritage Village warmly invites you to an unforgettable evening of celebration, vision, and community spirit. Join us for our annual Spring Gala, where tradition meets transformation. As we reflect on our rich heritage and honour the stories that built our foundation, we also look ahead with hope and excitement to a future full of promise. We will also officially launch the new Gerhard Ens Gallery exhibit, Mennonites and Medicine. Tickets are available by calling 204-326-9661 or online at www.mhv.ca.