The Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society officially announced details of this year’s Heritage Dinner fundraiser.
The Heritage Dinner is the Society’s main fundraiser, noted Larry Pearen at a press conference held at Grain Millers Thursday, adding the event attracted more than 200 in 2017, and more than 300 last year.
The third annual dinner will be held Sept. 25, at St. Mary’s Cultural Centre, with Grain Millers Canada coming on board as ‘Diamond Brick Sponsor’.
Terry Tyson, manager of Grain Millers in Yorkton said with an expansion of the facility expected to open in a couple of months, and the commonality of the old mill making flour in its day, similar to what they do now, it was “just a natural fit,” to become a key sponsor.
Scott Shiels, grain procurement manager with Grain Millers will be a speaker at the dinner, talking about the history of the oat milling facility up to the recent $100 million expansion that is coming on stream soon.
Maggie Robertson, a Yorkton Regional High School student will also speak at the dinner. Robertson took on a project where she spoke to eight people with ties to the old brick mill, either as employees, delivering grain there or in some other capacity. The interviews were videotaped, and the resulting 32-minute film will have its first public screening at the dinner.
“It was a really great experience for me to learn their stories and film it,” she said at the press conference Thursday.
Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney thanked the Society for its efforts, noting there is too much history that is lost, and it deserves to be preserved where it can be.
“I think there’s growing support on Council for the (mill) project,” he said, adding “the work you are doing is certainly appreciated.”
Pearen also noted the Society has already raised, and invested significant dollars in the project. He said they have raised more than $250,000 over the past seven years with more than $230,000 used to refurbish the brick mill.
Work completed includes a new engineered roof, foundation crack repairs and walls crack repairs.
