Rex Martin, who has worked at the Royal Tyrrell Museum doing fabrication for years, made a curious discovery that had he not seen it, he wouldn’t have believed it… rather, he wouldn’t have remembered.
This summer he was working at the Tyrrell Field Station in Dinosaur Provincial Park, giving some of the display case facades a sprucing up, when he and Tom Courtenay stumbled onto piece of history intentionally left by Martin himself more than 20 years ago.
This summer he was working at the Tyrrell Field Station in Dinosaur Provincial Park, giving some of the display case facades a sprucing up, when he and Tom Courtenay stumbled onto piece of history intentionally left by Martin himself more than 20 years ago.
“I had completely forgotten about it,” Martin told The Mail. “If we never found it, I wouldn’t have remembered.”
In a curb to keep patrons back from the display, he and Courtenay found a plastic sandwich bag, and an edition of the Calgary Sun. In the bag was a dime, a penny and a Canadian one-dollar note. There was also a photo of some of the crew members who helped in the finishing of the field station in 1987.
The photo, dated March 11, 1987, showed Terry Johnson, Glenn Matich, Randy McGhee and Rex Martin posing inside one of the display cases, with a sign above reading “Here’s looking at you!”
The find brought back a flood of memories. Martin helped with construction of the original Tyrrell Museum, and then in 1987, was part of the crew at the field station.
Greene Construction built the original field station, the Tyrrell was to make the displays. Terry Johnson was the designer, Glenn Matich was the project manager, Randy McGhee was a labourer and Martin was the carpenter. The crew built the frames, and Perry Shoff built the cabinets. The Museum techs supplied the fossil display.
This season they decided to give the display a new look to fit with the new addition to the field station. When they took out the frames and facades, is when they discovered the treasure.
“What got me is I never thought I would be the one finding this,” said Martin. “It was a shocker to see it. As soon as I saw it, it was just deja vue. Everything came back.”
The new-look field station should be completed and opened this coming May long weekend. Martin says they plan to return the small time capsule back in the display for future generations. They also plan to put a new picture of the crew that is working on the renovation.
“Maybe this time I’ll put a Drumheller Mail in it,” laughs Martin.
In a curb to keep patrons back from the display, he and Courtenay found a plastic sandwich bag, and an edition of the Calgary Sun. In the bag was a dime, a penny and a Canadian one-dollar note. There was also a photo of some of the crew members who helped in the finishing of the field station in 1987.
The photo, dated March 11, 1987, showed Terry Johnson, Glenn Matich, Randy McGhee and Rex Martin posing inside one of the display cases, with a sign above reading “Here’s looking at you!”
The find brought back a flood of memories. Martin helped with construction of the original Tyrrell Museum, and then in 1987, was part of the crew at the field station.
Greene Construction built the original field station, the Tyrrell was to make the displays. Terry Johnson was the designer, Glenn Matich was the project manager, Randy McGhee was a labourer and Martin was the carpenter. The crew built the frames, and Perry Shoff built the cabinets. The Museum techs supplied the fossil display.
This season they decided to give the display a new look to fit with the new addition to the field station. When they took out the frames and facades, is when they discovered the treasure.
“What got me is I never thought I would be the one finding this,” said Martin. “It was a shocker to see it. As soon as I saw it, it was just deja vue. Everything came back.”
The new-look field station should be completed and opened this coming May long weekend. Martin says they plan to return the small time capsule back in the display for future generations. They also plan to put a new picture of the crew that is working on the renovation.
“Maybe this time I’ll put a Drumheller Mail in it,” laughs Martin.
