BC Farm Museum
9131 King Street V1M 2R6 Langley, BC, Canada

Opening Day - April 1st

Opening April 1st

Hi, as many of you know, we have a core group of volunteers that are committed to helping you enjoy your visit to our Museum. We also have volunteers that come in when ever possible, to help out at events or work when they can find a few hours. They need some help. Syd has drafted the notice below. I hope you can spare a couple of hours to help out. Thank you Mick ,... It is that time of year again. DUST BUSTING in honour of our BC PIONEER SOD BUSTERS! It is time to clean up our museum for our ‘opening’ coming in a few weeks. We open to the public on Thursday, April the 1st 2021. If you can spare a few hours to help us wash, dust, vacuum and polish it would be much appreciated. All the cleaning supplies are purchased and ready to go along with feather dusters, cleaning rags and vacuums. This year our plan is to do our cleanup over 3 mornings with a limited number of volunteers at any one time. We will be following Covid-19 protocol such as distancing, wearing masks in the presence of others, using hand disinfectant and keeping our numbers down. Dates: THURSDAY, MARCH 25th - 9 am to 12 Noon SATURDAY, MARCH 27th - 9 am to Noon MONDAY, MARCH 29th - 9 am to 12 Noon If you can help us out for a couple of hours on any one of these dates that would be great. Please email me (Syd) at [email protected] so I can co-ordinate our ‘crew’ and limit our numbers if need be. I will be watching for your email and if you can come on any of these days I will confirm with you..but only if we still have room...if not, we will catch you next time! Cheers Syd [email protected]

A Blast from the Past. Thank you Tami (Aldergrove Heritage society) for finding and sending it on to us. The Province 27 May 1966 Page 2

Ken giving it a test run

For this week's #ThrowbackThursday we bring you a 1971 shot of the BC Farm Machinery Museum (now BC Farm Museum) in #FortLangley which, to this day, holds an "outstanding collection" on the development of agriculture in #BritishColumbia since 1841. #BCMuseums #RoundupMag #Archives

Recently Lorraine Riste donated a large collection of heavy Horse models and Brasses. The following is a short story about this collection. A Daughter’s Collection Winnifred Odetta Hicks was the daughter of W. Harold Hicks. As a young girl she spent much of her youth around some of the best Clydesdales horses in Canada. Later in life she started to collect model Clydesdales horses on trips to Europe with her husband. These models would remind her of the horses she grew up a...round. W. Harold Hicks was born in 1888 in Meglund, Manitoba, and received all his education in that Province. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and moved to the Fraser Valley in 1916 shortly after marrying Orrie Lydia. They had three daughters and one son. He was superintendent of the *Dominion Experimental and Research Station at Agassiz for 37 years and became one of the world's leading authorities on Clydesdale horses and Holstein cattle. He is the only person to have been President of both Canadian Clydesdale Association, and of the Holstein-Friesen Association of Canada. Harold Hicks died in Chilliwack, BC in 1974. In 2020, the family (Grandchildren) donated this collection of model Clydesdales to the BC Farm Museum so that others could enjoy them as much as they have over the years. *Since its opening in 1889, the Agassiz Dominion Experimental Farm has been renamed a number of times: Dominion Experimental Farm (1889-1959) Agassiz Research Station (1959-1994) Pacific Agriculture Research Centre (1994-1996) Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (1996-2016) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Agassiz Research and Development Centre (2016-present).

The Museum back building now has a vent system for the first time. We can now safely run our tractors and hit and miss engines safely without having to rush outside every 10 minutes for some fresh air. Previously we just opened our doors fully and relied on a through draught. Thank you Harry for leading the project, Rick as assistant and anyone else that assisted.

Today, November the 2nd, we held an appreciation morning coffee for Ann Blaauw and Rich Coleman, to let them know how much their support of our Museum means to us. Syd presented both of them with a very nice carved crystal recognition award. Ann Blaauw spent the majority of her life as a farmer working side by side for many years with her late husband, Tom. They started the areas first cranberry farm as well as a large chicken farm. Ann is now sharing the fruits of their labour with her community. Thank you Ann for your very generous donation. Rich Coleman is now finishing up 24 years as MLA for Langley east. During his term in office he has continuously shown support for the BC Farm Museum. We owe this man a big debt of gratitude. Thank you Rich and good luck with your future endeavors.

Need some help again. What is this and what was it used for. Probably homemade. It could very well be just a plant hangar, but what a lot of work for something like that. 6" across x 3 1/2" deep.

The Museum is getting a bit of an upgrade during our closed season. First we have some spot lights being installed by Bob, so we can show off some of our displays. Harry is working with a few of the guys, putting up a vent in the ceiling for the back building. Now we can run our tractors without filling the building with smoke. Wally and Jim are finishing up the hay loft display.

Syd, digging around again, came by this photo. Thought it may be of interest for anyone with Ladner connections. Of particular interest to me, as I was also on a winning tug of war team while serving in the RAF as a youngster. Didn't have the size and weight of these farmers though.

Some new Artifacts for us to display. Thank you to Raielene Langdon and family.

Does anyone know what these are? Something to do with Steam Engines. Again, no number or information. The ID tag is so faded I can't read it. Any help will, again, be very much appreciated, thanks.

Here is a shorter look at the Video Linda Brown took of the 98th Annual Chilliwack Plowing Match. (about 4 minutes) I finally got the video uploaded so I am sending a link. It was sure a nice day for it and went very well I think. There were occasional drop ins as people went by and wondered what was going on, and there were some families that stayed for awhile to watch family members compete, but as the event was not advertised, it was minimal attendance. Here is the link...... a forewarning....it is about 13 minutes long. https://youtu.be/85p5Evpb-JA

Don Broeder has been a member of our Museum for a number of years. Don has overhauled our 101-year-old Model TT a number of times and often drives it in the May Day Parade. He is a Model T expert and has restored many of them over the years. As token of our appreciation for all his volunteer hours we presented him with a Life Time Membership. Don is still going strong at 90 years of age and drives from Ladner to Fort Langley several times a year to come and see us.