SHAUNAVON — Having chosen to not re-visit the Eastend Dinosaur Centre we headed for Shaunavon, some 20 minutes away.
Our goal was to visit the Grand Coteau Heritage Centre and then to dine at the renowned Harvest Eatery, just up the street. The two-story museum and art gallery was a pleasure to view.
Art works lined the gallery wall and the museum offers exquisite diaspora background galleries for taxidermy of local wildlife from bison to beaver to waterfowl and weasels.
In the basement was a section dedicated to wool spinning and weaving, a general store and a section on an old town baker.
The display contained a huge metal mixing tool, bagger and bread cutter.
An exhibit of tools had an old wooden, horse-pulled scraper once used to build roads and dams.
Shaunavon has been around since 1913 when $10 homesteads opened up along the new CPR train line and had 367 people when incorporated as a village in 1913.
The boomtown grew to 750 within a year and became a town. The town holds the distinction of being the fastest in Canada to grow from a village to a town.
In 1952 the discovery of oil saw population grow to 2,500.
Oil and ranching are still important but the boom has receded to 1,786 population in the last census.
History is embraced by this town by the centre, a walking tour of the downtown, and restoration of a theatre from silent movie days.
Two of Shaunavon’s oldest hotels are being restored.
The brick Grand Hotel, built in 1929 and vacant for 40 years, has had extensive work done. It was the site of three murders.
The wood-framed three-storey Shaunavon Hotel, built in 1925 in an incredible two months, is under restoration.
The main floor has had a bar and grille for years. The owner has put in new windows, painted the exterior of the main floor and keeps at the immense job.
The Shaunavon Hotel has also had a murder on the premises. This must have been a tough town once.
Volunteers at the museum encouraged us to make a reservation at the Harvest Eatery for 4 p.m., when it opens. Good thing I took the suggestion. A request for a reservation shortly after four was greeted with, “I’m so sorry.”
The intense 34 C heat caused the place to postpone opening to 5:30 p.m.
We decided not to hang around in the heat and drove to Nash’s in Assiniboia for a nice meal.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
