The Big Valley Historical Society was formed in 1973 and consists of a dedicated group of volunteers who have been responsible for saving and restoring several older buildings in the village of Big Valley (a church, a grain elevator, and a 1930s garage). They also catalog and display local artifacts and memorabilia in their restored buildings.
On Railway Avenue, by the Canadian Northern Railway station, the society has two 1950s baggage cars that also contain museum displays.
Currently, one of these cars is home to an impressive display of over 3500 antique hand tools, part of the collection previously owned by Rod Miller. Rod has collected nearly every tool you can think of and many you would never even imagine. He refers to himself as a “monkey-wrenchologist” and can often be seen driving his motorized bathtub, the “tubmobile” in Big Valley.
In 2011, Mr. Miller generously donated his huge collection of over 15,000 tools and collectibles to the Big Valley Historical Society. Since then the society has been hard at work trying to raise the funds to build a new building to properly display this amazing collection. They have been lucky to find a prime commercial lot right across the street from the baggage cars to build this new tool museum.
After numerous delays and setbacks, they are very thrilled to announce that the new building will soon be going up.
The ground is being broken, the building package has arrived and development and building permits have been obtained. So it’s a go!
Soon footings should be happening and cement poured. They are hoping to have the building shell up by this fall so that it can be worked on over the winter months and be open for viewing by next summer’s tourist season. This is very exciting for both the Society and the Village of Big Valley. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that all goes well.
Fran Welter will be at Lori’s Leather and Repair, here in Big Valley this Friday, Aug. 22 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. for a book signing. Fran is one of the contributing authors of the book “Rapid Change”, which received international best seller status on the day of its launch. Rapid Change is a self-help book containing personal transformational stories from the authors. Written by 30 women from around the world, each author contributes a lesson on how to bring more love, joy and happiness into your life. In this book you will tap into the knowledge of these extraordinary women who will broaden your horizons, raise your consciousness, and lead you to better living through sharing their own experiences.
BIG VALLEY BULLETIN