The Village of Mortlach’s museum and recreation board will be able to complete some major renovation projects this year after a recent fundraiser generated over $22,000.
Roughly 150 people filled the community hall on Feb. 10 for the event, with retired auctioneers Garry Giofu and Gary Andrejcin lending their fast-talking abilities and staff from the Royal Bank of Canada selling 50/50 tickets and donating $1,500 through the bank’s community support program.
Eighty-four businesses from the community and area donated items, while a dozen people contributed auction-ready desserts.
“We’re more than thrilled with the amount of money that was raised. It’s overwhelming. We are blown away by the generosity of people …,” said Pam Spier, chairwoman of the museum board.
Times are tough economically for many businesses and residents, so it was wonderful that they could still donate something, whether money, items or food, she continued. Even an older gentleman contributed a dessert — much to the surprise of organizers — despite saying for several years that this was his last time.
Evening festivities
The event featured a bingo with 10 prize winners. This was followed by free food, non-alcoholic drinks and refreshments, and then a special cash bingo. Children also participated in a penny parade by dropping tickets into buckets to win items such as a puzzle or doll.
A silent auction occurred throughout the evening, with attendees bidding on 15 items, such as a yoga package or a Moose Jaw Warriors package with sticks, pucks and tickets.
Spier thought this activity was entertaining since people could outbid each other in a friendly competition. She noted that someone paid $125 for a package that was worth $50.
After bingo, “the two Garys” led the live auction, which featured items such as a fuel pump, a Warriors jersey, and a lawn mower.
The dessert auction was “a really important part” of the evening since over a dozen women contributed something. Spier noted that a dozen butter tarts sold for $300, while some people who bought desserts returned them so others could bid on them.
The museum and recreation board will split the $22,000, with the former to finish siding its building and install new windows this year and the latter to renovate the rink’s upstairs mezzanine.
Also, the museum will work with the village and two surrounding rural municipalities to maintain the cemetery; it will use some money to pay for its share of the upkeep.
This fundraiser is the museum’s only one — and largest — of the year because it has a small group, while this is one of three fundraisers the rec board conducts annually.
Keep on keepin’ on
Overall, the museum is doing well and continues to function on grants and donations, said Spier.
An exciting development has been the Saskatchewan Archaeology Society calling before Christmas and asking to borrow the arrowhead collection. It wanted to send the artifacts to the University of Saskatchewan so students could examine and identify them and create an educational presentation about them — and archaeology in general — for Mortlach students.
“We’re really excited because in Mortlach and area, archaeology is a huge piece of our history,” said Spier.
An unfortunate development, however, will see the village eliminate its historic farm machinery park.
Two older gentlemen had collected the vehicles over the decades to display publicly but, because of their age, gave up the park five years ago, Spier said. The municipality managed it for a few years before giving it to the museum, which looked after it briefly before giving it up because of few volunteers.
The village attempted to find other organizations to take ownership but was unsuccessful. So, the museum plans to auction off the items around early April; some pieces will likely be sold for scrap because of their condition.
“It always is sad when we lose a piece that we can never get back,” Spier added. “But there is the liability, especially if kids fall on it and we are not able to give our full attention to it.”
Click here for more information about the museum.
