As the summer season draws to a close, Mennonite Heritage Village is preparing to say goodbye to the seasonal staff members who have spent the past months keeping operations running smoothly across the museum grounds. With this week marking the final week of summer employment for a portion of the seasonal team, these staff members are getting ready to return to university and college for their upcoming academic studies. Throughout the spring and summer months, seasonal employees play an indispensable role in enabling the museum to fulfill its mission, delivering engaging school programming, organizing fun-filled summer day camps, maintaining the sprawling grounds and farmyard, extending a warm greeting at reception, and serving traditional meals to guests at the Livery Barn Restaurant.

The Crucial Role of Seasonal Staff in Museum Operations

While Mennonite Heritage Village remains open as a year-round museum maintained by a core group of year-round staff, the arrival of spring and summer brings a significant increase in both visitor numbers and public programming. To accommodate this seasonal surge in activity, the organization relies heavily on additional staffing to deliver the wide array of programs and activities that showcase the museum and bring to life the stories attached to each historical artifact.

These summer roles serve a vital purpose, providing the museum with necessary human resources to fulfill its primary mission of preserving and sharing the historical experiences and stories of early Mennonite settlers who came to Manitoba. The contributions of the seasonal workforce span nearly every operational department at the museum:

Grounds Maintenance: Members of the grounds crew take on the physical task of maintaining the museum’s extensive outdoor facilities, farmyard, and historic buildings.
Food Services: In the Livery Barn Restaurant, seasonal staff serve traditional meals prepared by the museum’s experienced cooks and bakers.
Tours and Education: Other seasonal employees organize and lead group tours for both school groups and adult visitors, working alongside volunteer interpreters to construct positive, interactive learning opportunities for visitors of all age groups.
Visitor Services: Front-desk staff serve as the initial point of contact for guests coming from local communities, across Manitoba, and around the world, welcoming everyone to explore the full scope of what the site offers.

Building Essential Skills and Intergenerational Connections

Beyond the operational support provided to the museum, summer employment offers meaningful professional growth opportunities for student workers. Recalling the personal impact of university summer employment, former students often reflect on how earning an income helped cover the cost of tuition and textbooks for the upcoming academic year. For many, a summer job at the museum represents their very first experience working for an employer outside of a family business. Through these seasonal roles, workers learn new skills, discover different approaches to tasks, and interact directly with managers and colleagues, building a foundation for their future careers.

Working at the museum places seasonal employees alongside experienced permanent staff and seasoned volunteers, creating a dynamic environment centered on teamwork. Employees learn to adapt quickly and solve problems creatively when sudden weather changes impact planned outdoor activities. Working shoulder to shoulder, staff and volunteers help build a bridge that connects younger and older generations with the shared stories and history of the community.

Through these daily responsibilities, seasonal workers develop essential soft skills, including time management, strong work habits, creative problem-solving, adaptability, effective communication, and collaborative teamwork—skills that transfer directly to future employment and professional vocations. Mennonite Heritage Village expressed deep gratitude to its 2026 summer staff, thanking them for sharing their enthusiasm, ideas, and energy with the museum team throughout the season.

Upcoming Fall Events and Extended Daily Hours

As the seasonal transition begins, the museum will continue its regular seven-day-a-week operating schedule through September 30. Visitors can access the main museum facilities, the Livery Barn Restaurant, the General Store, and Village Books and Gifts daily until 5:00 p.m. Additionally, visitors can view the new exhibition inside the Gerhard Ens Gallery, titled Mennonite Medicine: Cures and Curiosities – 1800 to 1950.

The museum’s September calendar features a series of special public events and community programming:

Books, Borscht and Blues: Scheduled for September 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., this evening event features a traditional soup buffet provided by the Livery Barn Restaurant alongside live musical performances by Manitoba-grown musical artists, including award-winning artist Ollee Owens as well as the dynamic duo of Big Dave McLean and Dan Thiessen.
Fall on the Farm – Cultural Showcase: Taking place on Labour Day, September 7, this event invites the community to celebrate Fall on the Farm 2026, marking the harvest season and the final weekend of summer. Activities include pioneer demonstrations, traditional hog butchering, cultural food offerings, live performances, children’s entertainment, wagon rides, a barrel train, and a candy booth.
Touch a Tractor Fundraiser: Set for Saturday, September 19, this interactive, family-friendly fundraiser gives visitors of all ages the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat of unique vehicles and heavy equipment that drive and build local communities. Guests can learn about the equipment’s historical and modern roles, interact with operators, watch unique equipment demonstrations, and explore the museum grounds. All event proceeds directly support the mission of Mennonite Heritage Village and Steinbach Community Outreach.

Reporting based on a column published by The Carillon.

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