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Paulette Hrychiw cuts the ribbon to the new Pivert Caboose exhibit (photo by Liam Verster)
By Liam Verster
New exhibit at the heritage village

Grande Prairie Museum celebrates 50th anniversary, Heritage Day with new caboose exhibit

Aug 3, 2020 | 2:16 PM

The Grande Prairie Museum & Heritage Village celebrated it’s 50th anniversary as well as Heritage Day on Sunday, August 3, with the addition of a new caboose exhibit.

The Pivert Caboose exhibit (photo by Liam Verster)

In the 1930’s, the Pivert family used the caboose as they moved from Big Valley, Alberta to Grande Prairie. The caboose made the trip twice, once as a threshing caboose in 1934 on the back of a trailer, and again is 1935 to transport the family’s belongings on the back of a truck.

After the Pivert family settled in Grande Prairie, the caboose was used as living quarters for various family members over a series of years, before being converted to a shed space.

The Pivert family recently discovered the history of the caboose, and donated it to the museum. There, the roof was redone and the caboose was restored thanks to the work of volunteers.

The caboose has now been set up at the heritage village, and includes a lot of old pictures of the journey the caboose made, all of which were donated by Paulette Hrychiw, whose family made the trip in the caboose and restored and set it up with help from the museum’s summer student, Hanna Thon.

Charles Taws, Curator and Historical Resources Supervisor for the City of Grande Prairie, says luckily, photography runs deep in the family, which adds an extra little something to the exhibit.

“It’s a very unique collection of photos to see this trip from Big Valley to Grande Prairie. In those days, you had actually had to drive up to Peace River, and then come down to Grande Prairie. So, it was a longer trip on dirt roads and pretty rough roads.”

Hrychiw says donating the caboose was a way to keep her family’s history alive, adding that the photographs, taken by her father, show a part of history and how other people had made their way to Grande Prairie.

“Not just on horses and with wagons and sleighs, but they drove over muddy roads and a lot of the pictures there show some pretty interesting roads that they had to drive.”

She says her father used to take pictures all the time, and now they’ve found a home where they won’t get lost. She adds that having the photographs, along with the caboose, makes the story that much more real.

“It’s nice to see it has a home now, where it will probably stay until forever, or as long as it lasts.”

Taws adds that the caboose is a great find, as most of the old ones have rotted, but this one is still in good condition. He adds that many Canadians have pioneer roots, and this is a pioneer story from a later era, which makes it more interesting and adds to it’s uniqueness.

The museum’s actual anniversary is next week, but Taws says they decided to celebrate it early in order to coincide with Heritage Day.

Along with the new caboose, visitors can be treated to old buildings from the past, as well as performances, local stories and more.

Charles Taws announces the opening of the new caboose exhibit (photo by Liam Verster)
The Pivert family stand in front of the caboose exhibit (photo by Liam Verster)
Visitors view the old Hudson Bay Co. building (photo by Liam Verster)
Tom Paul and Mike Van Gurp give a balcksmithing demonstration at the heritage village (photo by Liam Verster)
Kendra and Hannah give a rope twinning demonstration outside of the old fire hall (photo by Liam Verster)
Performers tell interesting tales, to reflect how life would have been when Grande Prairie was first being established (photo by Liam Verster)
Performers act out interesting tales to entertain the visitors (photo by Liam Verster)
The McQueen Presbyterian Church, located inside the Heritage Village (photo by Liam Verster)
The school house, located within the Heritage Village (photo by Liam Verster)

The museum and heritage village are running on reduced hours and reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 restrictions, and are also providing visitors with masks and hand sanitizer. The hours of operation are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

by Liam Verster