Village News

A Marvelous Development

  • Gary Dyck, Blog Coordinator
  • Executive Director, MHV

Over the years (five decades worth), volunteers have made the Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) what it is today – a world class museum. This Jean Vanier quote is for you:

One of the marvelous things about community is that in enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people…

It takes volunteers to raise a village. It is amazing to see how MHV has gone from using Klaus Reimer’s first little shop to house some antiques to 30+ heritage buildings, including Canada’s only wind-operational windmill. A beautiful pond was created by the Loewens. Numerous trees and gardens have been planted, and 16,000 artefacts have been donated. Every year we host major events that draw thousands. We would not dare do it without volunteers.

However, we would not have this grand reason to build a village museum if it wasn’t for the first pioneers. So, every August Long-Weekend we host ‘Pioneer Days’. What a Mennonite village would do in one summer we do in four days: field work with horses, threshing with the steamer, milling with the windmill, baking bread in the clay oven, sawing lumber for building repairs and shingles, blacksmithing, printing and taking care of the animals. There is enough in this village to keep a city busy! The pioneers worked hard so we could thrive.

It is very special that we can revisit these former ways of life. We can reimagine how life was when physical survival was at the top of each parent’s mind. We can enter in the joy they had when there was enough wheat to bring out the thresher, then taste that first loaf of bread after the wheat was milled. During the Pioneer Days festival we will be selling whole-grain bread with wheat from our own fields, milled by the windmill and baked by our Livery Barn Restaurant! There will also be jam made from the rhubarb of the village garden. A history you can taste! Please take time to remember how they survived, so we could thrive.

The 1870’s Mennonite pioneers left Russia because life was getting tighter and they didn’t envision a good future for their descendants. It is not easy to move to a foreign land that has little infrastructure and many mosquitoes. To leave the only home you know takes determination mixed with tears. In our gift shop are numerous books about how Steinbach and many other communities were built by their efforts (look out for our Pioneer Days specials). We have much to appreciate and Pioneer Days is a great place to do that. They endured so we could thrive.