102 Years Young

Today is a special birthday for a special person.
On February 13, 1915, Ruby McLain Sleath was born in Illinois. In 1917, she moved with her parents, Robert and Luna McLain and her siblings, Lucille and Clayton McLain, to the Riding Hill District, east of Cut Knife. Sadly, little Lucille passed away soon after they arrived in Canada. Another sister, Alene (Hardy), was born in 1920.
Clayton McLain's interest and love of local history resulted in the wonderful collection and museum established in Cut Knife. The whole McLain family has donated and supported the museum since its beginnings in 1971. Clayton's wife, Elizabeth was the first curator/manager/promoter/etc.

Ruby, Len, and Marilynn  1947.

Ruby went on to marry, Leonard Sleath, and they welcomed daughter, Marilynn Sleath (Hampson).
All through this time, Ruby was very supportive of her brother's passion for history and his resultant collection.
After Clayton passed away from cancer in 1968 and the museum was established, Ruby and her family continued to support and donate family items to the museum.
In the years after Elizabeth passed away, the museum has remained a special interest for Ruby. She has an amazing memory that she has willingly shared with museum volunteers. She regularly donates to the museum. She is very interested in museum 'news' and developments and has attended museum events up until she was not physically able.

So today, Ruby is 102. Amazing. Even more amazing is her love of history, family and friends and her strong faith and positive attitude of life. AND her love of the museum at Cut Knife, the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum.

Thank you, Ruby, for being so supportive of the museum and the communities in which you have been a part.
There have been many times that I have visited Ruby in the Cut Knife Special Care Home to ask her questions about photographs or past events. After shedding light on my questions, she usually has something else to donate to the Museum. Another special item, photo or piece of archival history to add to our community's rich heritage.
Bless you, dear Ruby. Happy Birthday!

2016 Muse-ings 

It has been a while since I blogged for the museum. The changing nature of a volunteer board means that a 'techie' was difficult to find. So I am back at it.

The summer of 2016 brought a few changes to the museum. We no longer are the sole residents of our Archives building. The RM of Cut Knife have moved their office back to the building taking over the front two rooms. Our Archives still are located in the back room and overflowing to the basement of the building. We are in the process of locating new premises for the Archives.
The Board is grateful for the support of the RM of Cut Knife and appreciate the years that they had the full use of the building and the continued space the RM have granted us until other heated space can be found.

Some of our furnishings had to be moved to the Church at the museum. This meant that the Church is no longer open for touring. 

All of this has made it more difficult to continue the organization of the archives, but we are taking the time to do much needed data updates on the computer. 
This summer, there will be an inventory taken at the museum and a new modern bar code system will be implemented. The Board is updating our Acquisitions Policies to include a Collections Policy. This will make our policy much more relevant to the museum's situation today. 

The old buildings that house our museum artefacts are deteriorating rapidly and tough decisions need to be made in order to protect our collections.

Our fundraising crew of ladies once again put on a successful Ladies Night Out late in October. This raised over $5000.

Several volunteers have been updating our records on PastPerfect to include the Cut Knife Cemetery. In doing this we will be able to provide the RM with a new up-to-date map as well as keep our community histories updated.

We are really in need of new Board Members. There are several more people who are going off the Board this year. Your help in keeping this museum operating is needed now. Please consider letting your name stand for the CMMM Board. 


Lucille B.