The Snow Lake Mining Museum has had a boost in visibility after winning Travel Manitoba’s Mustseeums Madness competition.
The contest was held to name a museum in the province one of Travel Manitoba’s “mustseeums” – museums the organization believes everyone should see. The museum beat out the Minnedosa Museum and Heritage Village by just 16 votes for bragging rights of the champion title. The museum will receive a promotional video later this year.
Paul Hawman, chair of the Snow Lake Mining Museum, explained that the museum exhibits are strictly about mining.
“We have all sorts of mining equipment and dioramas, a large rock and mineral display, and displays outside as well as inside,” said Hawman.
It’s really the only all-mining museum in the province…we see ourselves as keeping mining heritage, including prospecting and exploration.”
Hawman said the earliest mine in the area opened in 1914 across Snow Lake, and mining has continued in the area up until today.
“We really try to push mining as a way of life, and as far as we know we’re the only one who does that in the entire province.”
The museum, which has been open seasonally each year from mid June to early September since 1996, sees over 1,000 visitors each year. Hawman said interactive activities including school tours, presentations from geologists and Mining Day celebrations help local families understand what the profession is all about.
“We really try to cater to the kids. Nowadays, kids and families can’t go underground,” said Hawman.
“Lots of kids don’t have a clue what their dad does, at least with the old stuff they know what it looks like.”
Hawman said the museum’s status in the contest was a surprise, and that the community rallied to make it the champion.
“True to what I have as the ideal northern community, everybody got together, and got family and friends to vote. It was kind of an ownership thing,” said Hawman, who hopes the visibility the contest has given the museum will bring more people to visit it.
“It certainly gives us a lot of exposure. We’ve had people join our Facebook page we didn’t know before and wouldn’t have reached. It’s given us lots of exposure, and more than the prize would be the bragging rights – first in the province.”
