Rimbey’s own war museum has an amazing collection of artifacts from the First and Second World Wars, but presently they are in disarray as the museum is undergoing renovations.
Cheryl Jones, Pas Ka Poo Park administrator said many of the artifacts have been hauled out of the Bluffton Legion Hall which is being used as the park’s war museum so the floor can be renovated.
Jones said she is also hoping to install track lighting so the artifacts can be illuminated.
“I am looking for an inexpensive way to do track lighting.”
Jones wants to set up the artifacts so they can be displayed in interesting and realistic settings.
“We are looking for any volunteers who like to help with this project,” she said.
The park has come into the possession of uniforms, services medals, disabled firearms, helmets, knapsacks, canteens, bugles and historical writings and pictures, all of which Jones wants to display.
“I am looking to focus more on our hometown and area service heroes,” she said.
One of the interesting displays at the museum is that of J. J. ‘Pete’ Pederson, a local pilot who flew in the Second World War to take supplies from India to China while that country was being attacked by Japan. Pederson was one of the allied pilots who flew needed goods over a spur of the Himalaya Mountains through extremely dangerous conditions.
Jones hopes to have the war museum completed by July 1 of next year.
“1914 marks the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War 1,” she said.
The Bluffton Legion, now the war museum at Pas Ka Poo Park, was formed by a group of veterans after the First World War.
Veterans who fought in the Second World War became members of this Legion as well.
The building, constructed in 1952, was often used for community events such as bridal showers, dances or elections. It was not winterized, so was used only during the summer.
The Rimbey Historical Society purchased the building and moved it to the park in 1986 as a war museum.