For brother and sister Beth Siemens and Henry Klassen, Christmas was a time for family. It was a simple time and while they didn’t have much, they had fun.
     The two grew up on a farm near Munson.  Henry was the only boy with five sisters, which means Henry might have been a little spoiled.
    “He never scrubbed a floor,” Beth laughs, I said to dad, ‘why doesn’t he have to do anything in the house? We have to go out and milk cows, and haul water, but he doesn’t have to do house things.’”
   Kidding aside, the pair has fond memories of Christmas.
 Henry remembers the Christmas tree was lit with wax candles and provided a warm atmosphere.
    Beth’s favourite memories are of Christmas Eve, especially if they were snowed in.
    “I especially liked Christmas Eve, when it was bitter cold or we had a storm, we would stay home. The tree was decorated already and we would just sit in the front room. The heater was on to keep us warm and we would sing Christmas carols in German and my dad would read the Christmas story,” she said. “This is my nicest memory of Christmas.”
     Henry and Beth say they were poor as church mice but they always received a gift.
    “We never got much. We had one toy each. We never hung a stocking.  We each had a spot where we would sit for dinner, and that’s where we would put our Christmas plate the night before.  When we went to bed we could hear mom downstairs pouring some nuts and candy on to our plates, and we were so tempted to go downstairs,” Beth said. They would never wrap the gifts, we each had a gift and it was laying beside our plate.”
    Beth and her sister would always ask for a book.
    They went to Morning Glory School and Henry remembers his teacher very well.  She was very musical and the class would perform well at local music festivals and in Calgary. Christmas Concerts had lots of music plays and recitations.
    He adds there were six families in the area that would attend church at Christmas.
For Beth, times were simpler.
    “I think in our day we were often happier with one gift, a book or a toy, It wasn’t the number of gifts that made us happy, Everything was just about family.”
  

                             Patrick Kolafa

    The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a finalist for the 2018 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction.
    The Tyrrell is a finalist in the category of Marketing Award of Distinction.  Executive Director of the Museum, Andrew Neuman, is proud of the efforts of the marketing department of the museum.
    “It is a great award and I think it speaks very highly of the marketing team here and the work they have been doing,” said Neuman.                     “The best way to sum that up is we are having record visitation for three years in a row.  It speaks very highly of the team and the work they are doing.”
    The Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce nominated the Museum.
    Carrie Ann Lunde head of marketing and public relations, said a big push for the marketing department this year and the focus of the nomination was the discovery and unveiling of the Nodosaur, its partnership with National Geographic and the opening of the new exhibit Grounds for Discovery. This exhibit explores the partnership of the museum and industry.
    “It has been extremely well received and we are getting people coming here specifically to see that,” said Neuman.
     Lunde says the goal of the campaign was to position the museum as the go-to paleontological resource in Canada, to raise awareness of the museum and focus on the research that happens at the Tyrrell. It was an opportunity to use content-driven strategy on social media.
    “The bottom line is this is a research institute and what makes us tick is the palaeontology and the science,” said Neuman. “When there is a big story about the scientific work that is going on here, that is what really drives the exhibits, the marketing, the social media and the educational programs, and the economic development.         They don’t exist without the science.”
     According to its website, the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction recognizes businesses/organizations that have demonstrated outstanding achievement and contribution to their community while having developed business acumen & management practices to ensure long-term sustainability.
    The award will be presented at a gala in Edmonton on March 2.