The Swan Valley is made up of some incredibly dedicated people who are passionate about the community they live in and have a desire to make it better for others. One very dedicated and long-standing volunteer in the community is Neil Brown. Brown became very involved with the Swan Valley Historical Museum over 40 years ago and has been helping out with it ever since.
“I started volunteering with the Swan Valley Historical Museum back in the 1980s,” said Brown. “There were a bunch of guys who wanted to get a steam engine running. There wasn’t an operating one at the museum at that time, so a bunch of us got together and with the community’s help, we got a steam engine. We worked together to recondition it, so it could be operated.
“That took about four or five years to do. There was a lot of work to do to raise the money for the steam engine and then it took about two years to restore it. We don’t run it anymore, partly because we don’t have a licensed operator to run it. We need a couple of licensed operators to help us out with that.
“I’ve always enjoyed the total history of the Swan Valley,” said Brown. “The Valley goes back a long way, and I like to learn about and see the people. I’m also very interested in the old tractors and threshing machines. I grew up with a lot of those in my time.”
Over the years, Brown has been involved in volunteering on different projects for the museum. He has watched the museum grow and change, but the interest is still strong in preserving the history of the area.
“During the time I’ve been involved with the museum, we put up a workshop, received a donation to help build the Gulash Building, and did a lot of maintenance,” said Brown. “We had to deal with the roofs and shingles on a lot of these buildings over the years, and that has been an ongoing project. We tried doing a building every year, but it all takes time and fundraising.
“I’ve also been working on the train. That keeps me busy. I’ve helped build the track and some of the cars. I’m always trying to maintain what we have there and see if there are ways we can make it better. There was a lot of manual labour that went into building the track for the train. The train cars have a steel frame and the riding car has a cushion to sit on. The locomotive is all metal. We have two of them; one is battery-operated, and the other is a gas motor.
“The museum board is now working on the train station,” said Brown. “That is a good thing for the museum, for it shows that we are still going on. The board has been working hard and things are looking really good, and I’m sure happy about that.
“We have other people interested in keeping the tractors running and other things as well. It’s a good group of people that come forward to help out.”
Brown knows a lot of fundraising has to take place to keep the Swan Valley Historical Museum going. He said the efforts for raising funds were always strong and continue on today, as new members create new ideas to keep things alive.
“Over the years, the museum applied for grants and hosted two suppers during the year,” said Brown. “We received a lot of donations as well, to help keep things going. The museum has grown over time. I give a lot of credit to the people who started it and kept it going for all that time.
“The Harvest Festival Day has been going, I think, since the entire time that the museum has been operating,” said Brown. “It was an event that brought people to the museum and had things for people to do. Before the hall was built, I believe there was no supper, but rather like a picnic set up.
“Especially in the last few years, we have been seeing big crowds come out for the Harvest Festival Day. Everyone comes out to enjoy the old-time activities like the bread baking, horse carriage rides, train rides and so much more.
“Mistletoe Magic has been a successful event that some of the newer board members came up with for the museum,” said Brown. “I was still president of the museum board at that time, and it was a new group of people who came on board and brought forward the idea. It has been very good and it’s been one of the highlights for the museum. That event sure got the attention of the community.”
Brown’s dedication to the Swan Valley Historical Museum led him to be the president of the board for a period of time. He credits all the work done to the many volunteers and board members who helped put it all together and make it happen.
“I was president of the museum board for about 12 to 14 years,” said Brown. “I was there quite a bit of the time, so the board asked me to be president. I had a good board to work with all the time I was president.
“I’m glad to see that has continued on, now that I’ve taken a back seat. I’m still pretty active with the museum and help out when I can. Overall, I’m very happy with how things are going.”