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Museum birthday bash packs a wallop of fun

The Stettler Town and Country Museum's 10 acres of land was crawling with Canada Day fun-seekers on July 1.
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Autumn Olson and Jonathan Stratulate hip-hop along in the potato sack race during the children's games at the Stettler Museum on Canada Day.

The Stettler Town and Country Museum's 10 acres of land was crawling with Canada Day fun-seekers during the morning and afternoon of July 1 as the museum held it's annual free museum Canada Day celebrations.

With a barbecue, popcorn, tractor rides, free admission and kids' games held all day long, families thronged to the site, filling the lawn with parked vehicles, and the museum's pathways with children, parents and grandparents frequently in tow.

The Stettler Antique Tractor Club, which operates out of the museum, offered free hay tractor rides around the museum grounds, and a second antique tractor was available for people to drive, under the guidance of one of the club's members.

For those who hungered, the museum had a wide option of hotdogs, burgers, taco salad, popcorn, and freezies, with the money being raised at the concession going to the museum's coffers.

Face painting at one museum building ensured that almost all the children running around were colourfully decorated, whether or not they were waiting for the kids' games to start or were gulping down  a hotdog or burger.

The annual free Canada Day celebration brings in hundreds of fun-seekers during the afternoon, people showing up to enjoy the performance of the national anthem and birthday cake shortly after.

"We ran out of cake this year," Museum manager Karen Wahlund said with a laugh. She and her museum staff and volunteers barely had a chance to sit down all day, flitting from one spot to another as they managed events and groups of guests.

The last part of the afternoon was devoted to children's games, happening on the lawn behind the museum office. There, kids had a chance to hop around in potato sacks in the sack race, play in teams for the clothesline game, and experience other old-fashioned prairie fun games that had been played by their parents, grandparents or even great grandparents during their Canada Day celebrations in the past.