Why the Museum Needs your Donations

Any donation you can make - large or small - is greatly appreciated!

What Your Contributions Do For The Pioneer Museum:

• Maintenance of physical assets, e.g. buildings, water-works, furnishings, artifacts, etc.
• Building maintenance - painting exterior, cleaning and painting interior, repairing roof, steps, etc.
• Maintenance of grounds - grooming yard, repairing walkways, pruning and replacing trees and shrubs, maintaining lawns

What Your Contributions Do For The Pioneer Cemetery

• Cemetery maintenance - stabilizing grave markers, repainting grave markers, maintaining grass and walkways, planting and pruning trees, filling in depressions.
• Plan for a Foundation in Perpetuity: With your help we are setting up a system which will ensure that the cemetary and the heritage buildings will be maintained in perpetuity

Volonteer Labour Diminishing

The St. Elijah Pioneer Museum has no paid staff.

Those who have visited the attractions and surroundings at St. Elijah museum and cemetery have appreciated the excellent upkeep of the buildings, the unique collection of vernacular architecture and artifacts, and the pristine condition of the grounds and cemetery. While to date this has been achieved by a dwindling number of individuals through their volunteer work and contributions, their resources and energies are limited, and they need your help. Where will this historic gem be 10, 15 or 25 years from now? That may hinge heavily on the support of the descendents of the original pioneers and others who are interested in local history, the memory of their ancestors, and the continued presence of this unique tourist attraction in the area.

Original restoration work and ongoing maintenance, as well as tours and general operations of the Museum all depend on the generous donation of time, equipment and labour. of local at the museum facilities and pioneer cemetery were carried out by volunteers, some of whom are now deceased or moved away, and with the financial assistance of Manitoba Culture and Tourism for the restoration part. For now, the major demands are for maintaining the museum and cemetery, and this is being done by declining numbers of volunteers. Other new future projects may have to be shelved. Soon it will be necessary to engage contractors to maintain the site, at considerable cost. The few remaining volunteers need help to continue carrying on the work.

The Province of Manitoba contributed generously to the creation of the museum, however, the upkeep and animation is now done with a limted budget.

Today, only a few volunteers remain to keep up the museum and the cemetary, and their numbers are declining. The job of maintaining the cemetery in its present condition is becoming more difficult, and soon it will be necessary to engage contractors to maintain the site, at considerable cost.

We cannot carry on the work of maintaining the cemetary and the heritage buildings without your support.