Ag museum brightens up for addiction support

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This article was published 11/01/2023 (713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Although the holiday season has come to an end, anyone feeling nostalgic for the magic of Christmas can take a drive to see some festive lights and support a worthy cause at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum near Austin.

A Winter Lights at the Museum event is happening this Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. People can view the lights from the comfort and warmth of their own vehicle. The event is free to attend, but all donations collected will go to the purchase of new bunk beds for the Total Freedom Addiction Centre in Sidney, 67 kilometres east of Brandon.

The winter lights drive-thru event will wrap up the holiday season for the museum, which hosted its Winter Wonderland event last month, said Tricia Dyck, the museum’s collections and programming manager.

“We really want to create a presence and create a strong program of events, activities and outreach throughout the year,” she said. “We [also] wanted to be able to support another organization in our local community.”

Robin McMillan, who runs the addiction centre with her husband Rick, said she was surprised when she heard the museum wanted to help them.

“I went to a chamber of commerce meeting in Austin and mentioned that we finally broke through and are getting referrals and people are calling us, and we needed bunk beds,” McMillan said. “I just mentioned it at the meeting and then a couple of days later, Trisha called.”

The centre is privately run, features religious programming and receives no government funding. Residents pay $200 a week to take part in the nine-month, highly structured program, McMillan said.

“It’s … a family setting. Rick and I live here 24-7. This is not our job; this is our life.”

The centre has been up and running for a little over a year, after the couple moved to the area from the United States.

“We got here in 2021, in September, so the first couple of months we just got our website up, we got the house ready, and we started accepting disciplines in 2022, a little less than a year ago,” McMillan said.

It’s important for the museum to support businesses like the addiction centre, Dyck said.

“We as a museum really want to partner with others in our community and support each other and build relationships.”

Addiction doesn’t discriminate, Dyck said, and can affect anybody. She hopes that many in the community will turn out to see the lights and also help support the centre.

“All of the proceeds, 100 per cent, are going to Total Freedom.”

Dyck is currently working on plans for the museum’s Louis Riel Day festivities, which take place next month.

» mleybourne@brandonsun.com

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