The Deloraine-Winchester Historical Society always has lots of irons in the fire, with their many projects at the Prairie Sentinals Park, or their heritage buildings in the town of Deloraine and sharing their many stories of the early settlement years of that area of Westman.

Committee Chair Jan McClelland, says they will be holding a fundraiser next spring, but exactly for what is still in the works.  What's inspired this fundraiser is a special gift they were given by an area resident that spoke to their history and their hearts when it comes to their park that pays tribute to the grain elevators that once stood along the tracks in downtown Deloraine.

"We were gifted these grain cups from the Lake of the Woods Elevator and the UGG (United Grain Growers) Elevator at Elva by the Den Bar, Troy Angus," explains McClelland.  "He donated those to us for a fundraiser and so we will be selling those."

"We haven't quite decided how we're going to do that yet," she adds. "But that will be coming up in the spring. And we think they would make fabulous little flower pots and things. So people can be watching out for those if they'd like to own a piece of history of the oldest remaining elevator in Western Canada that went up in flames, unfortunately a year ago or so."

Prairie Sentinels Park had a new addition a few weeks ago with their new steel silhouette sign at the entrance to the park that brings attention to the grain elevators that once stood as sentinels on the Prairies keeping watch.

McClelland says they are looking at upgrading some of the grounds in the park and planting indigenous plants that are native to the Prairies.

"There's lots to keep us busy, that's for sure," notes McClelland, who is heavily involved in both the Deloraine-Winchester Historical Society and the Turtle Mountain-Souris Plains Heritage Association.

She laughs when she shares something fellow historian, David Neufeld said recently. "The stories will never end!" "And that's absolutely true for both organizations.  The work will never be finished because we'll never run out of stories to tell - and I think that's a good thing!"

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