The Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society has a trio of events coming up in the area this spring.
Up first is its annual meeting on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. at the Winkler Arts and Culture Centre (547 Park St.).
It’s a chance to hear from some of their partnering organizations, shares society treasurer Sean Goerzen.
“We’re kind of the parent organization over many of the other local heritage groups, like the Mennonite Heritage Museum, the Mennonite Archives in Winnipeg … they all report to us there at the AGM.”
The meeting will also share reports about the agency’s own work fostering awareness about Mennonite history and culture.
“We’re also are always looking for new people to join us,” notes Goerzen. “So if people are interested in becoming a member, this is the place to do it.”
The meeting will be followed at 3 p.m. by a free showing of The Russlander Migration: From Revolution to Reflection.
The documentary shares interviews done with Mennonites who migrated to Canada from Russia during the 1920s.
“They recorded their experiences in pre-revolutionary Soviet Union and then living through the [1917] revolution and subsequent migration to Canada, settling here and going through the Great Depression and having to make a new life,” Goerzen says, noting there are also interviews done with the children of these immigrants reflecting on how their parents’ experiences of war, famine, and displacement shaped later generations.
“And then the other part of the film is commemorating the train tour that was done as a centennial recognition of the Russlander migration,” he adds, speaking of the 2023-2024 cross-country train that re-enacted the immigrants’ journey from Quebec to British Columbia.
Following up on the documentary showing, the society on May 23 is hosting a bus tour of the West Reserve, where thousands of Russian Mennonites settled in the late 1800s.
Conrad Stoesz, a historian with the Mennonite Heritage Archives, will be providing educational context behind stops at sites in Dufferin, Edenburg, Neuanlage, Neuhorst, Reinland, Hochfeld, Osterwick, Waldheim, and Mountain City.
“They’re going to be visiting some significant sites,” Goerzen says. “And it’s not just we get off and you look—they will all include a very interactive, engaging talk from Conrad.
“I think there’s things that people see every day in their life, commuting around the area, that maybe don’t seem like very significant historical things but, in reality, there are all sorts of stories attached to these locations,” he says. “So this is a chance for people to connect with that and learn more about their own history.”
The tour will set out from Winkler that Saturday morning. Registration is $50 per person, which includes lunch. You can sign-up online at mmhs.org.
