The Pembina Threshermen's Museum is looking forward to what the 2019 year will hold after having a successful 50th-year celebration.

Visitation numbers have been constantly increasing since 2012 where 4,511 people visited the museum. 2018 nearly doubled that number with 7,867 visitors from May to the end of September.

"Last year was very good and attendance was amazing . . . a little bit of a dip but still way up there so that's fantastic," says Kimberly Striemer.

President Howard Thiessen says the volunteers were a huge help in making this happen. "We have an amazing bunch of volunteers. It's just hard to imagine that people are willing to come out and just give of themselves."

Striemer adds that they are always looking for more people with a passion to help. "We're like everybody else, we're always looking for more. The thing is, it's not even just more, it's fresh input, fresh ideas. I mean, it's the same old story, the more the merrier," she says.

Along with fresh ideas, there were a number of new additions to the museum like "Brimberly Village," a 4,000 sq. ft. indoor exhibit modeled after the 1930s-1960s, which had its official unveiling after beginning work in 2016.

As well, 50 tractors took part in the "Reunion Days" parade, a Victorian-Inspired Fashion Show & Tea saw over 100 visitors and volunteers, and a number of other yearly events were given a fresh face.

Thiessen says they often hear from locals that drive by almost every day that they haven't been by to visit. Once they do actually find the time, he says they are surprised by what is all there to look at and do. "It captivates them," he adds.

The museum is always looking for new ways to captivate visitors as they prepare for the 2019 season.

Thiessen says they are hoping to extend the roof on the barn, but it requires specifically engineered rafters that can be costly. "We're trying to put it together for this year. If we get that done that will be an exciting part of this year, just to extend our storage, and just to have that out of the way."

Reimer House is another project they hope to make some headway on as some of the logs are showing signs of severe rotting. The house was built in 1878 and was moved to the museum from the village of Hochfeld, south of Winkler.

Although these projects take a lot of planning and research to complete, Thiessen says "those are the kind of things that, I don't know, just make it so worthwhile for me."