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Tipple Park Museum

Taken from Yahoo News

It seems only fitting that I make my first post about the place where I received my first patch. Tipple Park Museum is located in Evansburg, Alberta. A total "blink-and-you-miss-it" kind of place where they still have Meat Draws down at the Legion Hall. Their claim to fame is the Town Grouch, which is elected every year, and the town's beautiful location, which just a few miles from the base of the Canadian Rockies.

I'll be honest: I had never heard of Evansburg before, and when asked about it, most people replied with "It's just past Entwhistle." For those of you less familiar with Alberta, having Entwhistle serve as your point of reference means your town is exceptionally small. But, as I was participating in an Alberta Museums Association course there, I really had no option but to make the trek out to Evansburg, just past Entwhistle, and try and find the Tipple Park Museum. It was here that I was handed my first museum patch by the Executive Director of the museum.

I studied the patch and thought back to the 70s and 80s when patches like this were sold everywhere. It seems anybody my age is used to seeing patches, pennants, pins, and spoons which their parents and grandparents collected on their travels. These trinkets can be found displayed in our parents' shrine-like former bedrooms at Grandmas, or on old Levi's denim jackets in the basement closet, stored next to Dad's old hockey equipment.

At first, I thought it was just really neat to be handing out patches, but then I realized that the patch itself was really cool, and I started wondering what I could do with it. Since the corduroy messenger bags of the early 2000's are (thankfully) out of style, I didn't have anything to add my patch to except my denim jacket.

When I got home, I contemplated whether or not I really wanted to attach this patch to my jacket. Would it look out of place? Would it just look stupid? But I decided that, if I could find two more patches, I would put them all on the jacket, and just roll with it. So, the collecting and hunting of patches and pins began. All thanks to the Tipple Park Museum E.D. and her memorable museum.

Taken from TravelAlberta.Com
Review
The Tipple Park Museum is at the heart of the village, located on abandoned mining land which now houses several historic buildings, train cars, and a surprisingly beautiful main building. While small, the experience here is somewhere between a mix of a living history museum and an interpretive centre, and provides a great place to stop on your way to the Rockies. While you probably wouldn't spend more than an hour here, it is definitely worth a stop as the history of the mining industry is anything but dry. Alberta has, after all, been known as a leader in non-renewable resource production long before the modern oil industry became its calling card.

Highlights: The location was really unique, and it was a great place to learn about the history of the energy sector and the history of towns which were industry-fed. Additionally, staff were incredibly nice and hospitable (despite one of them being The Grouch), and the building was beautiful and clean.

Recommended Time: 1 hour

Ratings
Family Friendly: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Staff Knowledge: 3/5
Content: 3.5/5
Experience: 3.5/5
Overall Rating: 3.75/5

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