The Western Development Museum (WDM) will take guests back in time later this month, in an effort to bring together younger and older generations in the spirit of discussion and reminiscence.
The 'Senior's Time to Reminisce’ event will take place at the Moose Jaw branch of the WDM on Saturday, Sept. 23, between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Coffee and snacks will be provided for guests who attend.
The highlight of the event will be a reminiscence kit, which is a large storage tote containing period-specific artifacts designed to reignite fond memories from growing up.
“Basically, we’ll have artifacts from the 1950s to the 1970s that people can touch and go through, and then talk about the different memories they may have,” said the museum’s program and volunteer coordinator, Alexis Jones.
The kit contains a number of day-to-day artifacts that help paint a picture of life in a given time period. These artifacts range from newspapers to different toys and fashion styles, popular movies, and even a rotary phone.
Items such as clothing typically get the conversation started. Jones frequently hears comments such as “Oh, these are kind of coming back in style” when clothing items are put on display.
Jones said the WDM had similar reminiscence kits in the past, but these kits were from a previous generation and would no longer facilitate an open discussion.
“There were reminiscence kits previously, but it was earlier on from the 1910s and 1920s. The point of the kits is to be interactive with the elderly and reminisce about those times, but that time period has mostly passed. This is a revamp of artifacts from the 50s to the 70s that more people will remember,” Jones said.
The event will also have activity books to help guide seniors through the museum’s galleries.
“It’s more interactive questions, like what year were you born, and what was happening in that year,” Jones explained. Guests can compare that information to the museum’s ‘100 Years of Saskatchewan’ timeline.
The activity books contain interactive questions designed to get an inter-generational dialogue started.
“Also with your grand kids, (you can discuss) ‘how I got to school versus how you got to school’,” Jones said, giving an example of what questions are in the guide.
Later at the event, museum staff will showcase photo albums and present some fun facts about select artifacts at the museum.
“And then we’ll have some fun facts about the different artifacts, and we’ll also have photo albums from the WDM in the early 2000s,” Jones said.
Guests can help the WDM by providing information from their personal experiences. “People can look through those (photo albums), and if they know anybody, they can put a sticky note on it to help further our collection,” Jones added.
After the presentation, the reminiscence kit will be available to rent out. The rental option is intended for a group setting such as a senior’s home or outing and will cost $75.
“So, if you’re at a senior’s home, or if you have a family reunion… it’s more of a group activity,” Jones clarified.
The kits are self-guided and come with a facilitator's guide. “There will be a PowerPoint (slide), USB, and also a read-through of how you would facilitate the kit for a large group of people.”
The other branches of the WDM will also host a reminiscence kit. “There will be one kit at each location. There will (also) be one at Saskatoon, Yorkton, and North Battleford,” said Jones.
The kit from each branch of the WDM contains different artifacts put together locally, and although Jones suspects they will be rotated, there hasn’t been a confirmation on this yet.
For more information on the reminiscence kits, Alexis Jones can be reached at 306-693-5989 or at [email protected]. You can also visit the museum’s website at wdm.ca/moose-jaw.
The Moose Jaw branch of the Western Development Museum is located at 50 Diefenbaker Drive.
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