RTHC celebrates Reggie Leach Museum Room and new pergola
The Riverton Transportation & Heritage Centre (RTHC) along with fundraising organizations and special guests celebrated the expansion of the town’s iconic railway museum, the unveiling of a large pergola and other celebratory events with a ribbon-cutting and community barbecue on June 5.
The RTHC received funding from the provincial government and other organizations to expand its museum, which is housed in a former Canadian Pacific Railway station that was built in the 1900s.
The museum was incorporated in 2001 and showcases Riverton’s memorabilia and history, including its influential musicians and its most famous sports star.
Formerly referred to as the warehouse, the expansion was renamed the Reggie Leach Museum Room to honour the Riverton Rifle – NHL hockey legend Reggie Leach.
Ruth Ann Furgala, RTHC board treasurer and master of ceremonies for the event, said Riverton received several grants from organizations and the provincial government so that they could enhance tourism opportunities and continue to preserve Riverton’s historical legacies.
“The board of the RTHC celebrated with a grand opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting of the Reggie Leach Museum Room, and we also celebrated the Djorfung Ladies Aid pergola, which was built on our property,” said Furgala a day after the ceremony. “We unveiled plaques commemorating the donors to the museum and a plaque for the band Fine Country Folk.”
The provincial government contributed $95,850 to the expansion under the Building Sustainable Communities Grant. The Reggie Leach Classic Golf Tournament (2021) contributed $42,800. The Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton contributed $20,000. Access Credit Union contributed $10,000, and the Westshore Community Foundation and the Thomas Sill Foundation were also major contributors.
RTHC chair Corrine Magnusson spoke at the ceremony, thanking those who contributed to the expansion project and the board of directors.
“We have now completed Phase 3 of the restoration of our facility, having rebuilt the footprint of the original warehouse. This construction was made possible by the donors we are recognizing today, plus everyone within our community that supported the numerous raffles and BBQ events we have held,” said Magnusson. “As we move forward, our next goal is to restore the original waiting room and office and reorganize existing artifacts collected and catalogued over the past 44 years. We have our first information kiosk being displayed today … and we’re extremely excited to share that we’re the primary recipients of the 2024 Reggie Leach Classic Golf Tournament, which will enable us to start Phase 4, to collaborate on the Reggie Leach Museum Room.”
Magnusson said fundraising efforts to maintain and support the RTHC will continue, and the board has a fundraising fishing derby planned for next March.
In addition to celebrating the museum’s expansion, the event included the unveiling of a pergola, a large construction project the Djorfung Ladies Aid took on.
The DLA was formed in 1901 and will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2026. It’s a small group, but its enthusiasm is “mighty” and they’ve has accomplished a lot in the community, said DLA’s president Vickie Johnson.
With help from numerous sponsors, the ladies aid was able to raise close to $54,000 for the pergola, she said. They received $15,000 from the Riverton Elks, $14,400 from the Reggie Leach golf tournament, $5,000 from Westshore Community Foundation, $7,000 from the Icelandic River Foundation, $5,000 from Community Futures East Interlake and $7,000 from the Riverton Hospital Foundation. The ladies aid also contributed to the fundraising efforts by holding raffles.
“Visitors can enjoy a picnic in the pergola, which has a roof. And we hope to hold some barbecues there. A lot of times barbecues are hosted at the heritage centre and now we’ll have a place outside to hold these events,” said Johnson.
The floor of the pergola is crushed rock, but the ladies aid plans to install interlocking brick or other type of flooring in future.
“I want to thank Ruth Ann [Furgala] because she was the one who did all the grant-writing for the ladies aid. If we hadn’t received those grants, the pergola would never have gone ahead because of the cost,” said Johnson. “Her husband Wayne is Riverton’s king of ticket-selling for whatever project that needs fundraising, and he was a huge help to us, as well as our community members. Jason Comeau from the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton managed the pergola project, getting tenders for us and acting as our go-to guy. It was pretty awesome.”
The afternoon event also featured the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Riverton band Fine Country Folk, made up of Roy Gudmundson, Clifford Lindstrom, Laugi Johannesson and Dick Johnson.
“The talented foursome demonstrated style and professionalism and soon became an instant success throughout the Interlake,” according to a write-up about the band that’s posted on the website communitystories.ca The band released six recordings.
Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson was on hand to help celebrate the expansion of the museum and the pergola, thanking the board members, volunteers and sponsors for “making history.”
“This is more than a renovated 1900s railroad station or a platform and picnic tables; this is a community space where memories will be made and stored for future generations. The new Reggie Leach Museum will not only be a place to store artifacts, but a place to store memories and community pride,” said Johnson. “Without places like this that we’re creating here today, we lose our memories to time, and these outstanding achievements would be forgotten.”
Express Photos Courtesy of Vickie Johnson, Ruth Ann Furgala and Derek Johnson
