Former Boyne School student Mike Kippen restored the School's merry-go-round and donated it to us!
We had to give it one last ride too. Thanks Mike!
Donated by Sperling Community
One of Carman’s best kept secrets has been at the corner of #245 and King’s Park Road since 1959. We
wish we had a dime for every time we heard “Hmm never been in there.” But for 66 years the Dufferin
Historical Museum has been accumulating over 6000 artifacts, adding the 1875 Sexsmith log cabin and
the 1930 1-room Boyne School.
Our volunteer executives have gone over and above in recent years to attract visitors in the hope that
they will stop in, be amazed and pay it forward to others. We are non-profit dependent on $10
memberships, grants and admissions that enable us to open from June to September yearly, but we
continue to look for ways and means to fundraise and keep in the public eye.
Some formats we have taken on are publishing Memories of Carman and Area books in 2017 and 2024
available for $30, selling sweatshirts, cookbooks and more. We stay visible by manning booths at the Fair,
One Stop Shop and the Co-op as well as inviting schools, businesses, and organizations to book private
tours. Yearly the Boyne School is utilized for a day of teaching in the ways of the past. Hosting events
such as our Christmas at the Museum complete with sleigh rides, and the popular Duck Race every July
help our cause too. The numerous Chamber promotions draw visitors to us as well.
Our mandate is to collect, preserve and display objects of information and historical interest, which may
help establish history to this settlement and those of close proximity. A new website is in development
with a link to a program through the Association of Manitoba Museums, that will allow easier viewing
and searching for these catalogued items. Those items include local histories, biographies, genealogies,
first-hand reports and recollections of pioneers who are still living or passed on from their children.
After years of saving funds, the Board initiated their latest major renovation by knocking out walls of
the previous public washrooms to accommodate a mini kitchen, more storage space and a wheelchair
access washroom. To celebrate this accomplishment, we are offering our Renovation Celebration with
free admission this summer.
So please don’t drive by this time. Stop, browse and ask our attendants to direct you to displays
of...Farming Days of Old, War Times, Carman Band, Sports, Indigenous, Dutch Life, Medical and
Communications trade tools and so much more you will be here all day. We hope!!
Thank you to the Carman Area Foundation for their generous donation towards our museum needs.
