LAC LA BICHE - For centuries, Canadians have endured the country’s long, cold and snowy winters by using blankets, quilts and other items to keep warm.
This heritage is being showcased in a special exhibit taking place at the Lac La Biche Regional Museum called Timeless Comfort: Quilts and Blankets.
Jennifer Mueller, director of the Lac La Biche Regional Museum, says the exhibit provides an opportunity for visitors to reflect on how Canadians stayed warm during different times in history and in different environments.
Those who come to the museum to view Timeless Comfort: Quilts and Blankets will see 20 artifacts that are on display inside of three dioramas. These dioramas include a bedroom filled with vintage and antique quilts, a military cot and blanket used by a member of the armed forces, and a representation of a trapper’s camp with vintage Hudson’s Bay Point Blankets.
“There are also some small details within the exhibit with local connections such as the letter seen on the military cot that was sent from the Canadian Red Cross Society to a Lac La Biche soldier's family informing them their son had been wounded but was recovering,” Mueller told Lakeland This Week.
According to Mueller, while the majority of artifacts inside the museum are donated by local residents, some are contributed by people living outside the Lac La Biche region who have a connection to the area, either from previously living in Lac La Biche or having family members who did.
“Sometimes community members will loan us artifacts for exhibits and occasionally we will purchase items to fill a gap in our collection but most of the artifacts in our collection have been donated.”
In keeping with the theme of local history, the museum runs two versions of its free monthly Lac La Biche Explorers program, Lac La Biche Explorers and Lac La Biche Explorers: The Way Things Were.
Lac la Biche Explorers is a free monthly program for families that is held at the Lac La Biche Museum.
“The program offers fun hands-on activities such as crafts, scavenger hunts and games.”
Lac La Biche Explorers: The Way Things Were takes place at the Stuart MacPherson Public Library and runs from January-May and October-December. This program, Mueller said, is for people of all ages and provides participants with an opportunity to explore a variety of history-themed topics and activities.
Mueller continued by saying that there are events planned for the Lac La Biche Explorers: The Way Things Were program from February to May, with themes focusing on the history of Valentine’s Day, Vintage Toys and Games, food eaten by people living in the Lac La Biche region in the mid 1800s and early 1900s, as well as toys kids played with in the 19th century.
