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From Arrowheads / To Anvils

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NCVM

Welcome to the Museum

Calla Novello-Lauritsen

Date / January 2, 2019

Welcome to Nose Creek Valley Museum! This year, the museum turns 31 years old and the collection has grown immensely over the years. The museum houses over 25,000 artifacts, showcasing both permanent and temporary exhibits. The museum’s mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret objects of a cultural, historical or socially significant nature to the Nose Creek Valley area. This is clearly exemplified with Big History, Little Museum. Everything from Arrowheads to Anvils. The museum blew me away and reminded me of the Tardis from Doctor Who, small on the outside and massive on the inside.

The Nose Creek Valley Society was formed in 1983 and the society raised $500,000 to build the original building. They wanted a place to store, preserve, and exhibit the heritage of the Nose Creek Valley. Although built privately, the building was later sold to the city of Airdrie. The building was complete in 1986 and it took them over a year to set up the interior and exhibits, so the doors opened in 1988. The museum’s collection was growing quickly, and they had outgrown the original space, so an addition was built in 1992. You may recognize this as the annex that houses the farming equipment, tractors, and cars. When the museum turned 20 years old, they had contacted the first curator of the museum and invited them to celebrate the milestone. Since then, they have remained in contact!

When you visit the museum, look for these faces: the curator, Laurie Harvey and assistant curator, Karen Copley. They are always eager to share their stories, knowledge, and passion for the museum, history, and artifacts. Laurie’s favourite exhibit is the General Store. Don’t know what that is? Come down and see what you can find! New artifacts are added to the General Store frequently.

Walking through the museum is like walking through history. The flow of the exhibits is like a path through time. From land, rocks and geology to animals of the valley to First Nations and then Pioneers. The museum also boasts an exquisite Military Hall, showcasing artifacts from World War I and World War II. The Military Hall shares history of the valley and world history.

Donations are always accepted and are added to the exhibits when possible, such as the grandeur arrowhead collection. The curator attempts to incorporate as many valley pieces wherever she can. There is so much to show! If you don’t believe me, come on down and see what you can find. I guarantee that you will spot something new every time.

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