1

Jason May Teaching Paleontology
circa 1998
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Annette Milot
Jason May
Sam Waller Museum Collection

2

Rocks & Minerals Program
circa 2001
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

3

Just as Sam hoped to accomplish during his life as a teacher, his eclectic collection continues to educate children from around the north and regularly awe guests from around the world. By moving Sam's vast collection into the Courthouse, The Pas has been able to create not only an archives and an online exhibit (The Saskatchewan River: Highway Through History), but add more historical artifacts and photographs to the original collection. The recent four-year oral history project was a systematic attempt to record primary documentation about The Pas' history. In the past museum staff have conducted oral histories with community members but this last project has been organized more effectively.

4

April Brass Doing Dinosaur Presentation
circa 1998
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Annette Milot
Jason May
Sam Waller Museum Collection

5

Following Sam's example, the Sam Waller Museum still encourages the exploration and creativity of children of all ages. It offers tours for school groups of the Museum itself as well as walking tours of historical sites around the town such as the Charlebois Chapel, the grave of the first ordained Cree Anglican priest, Henry Budd, and Explorer Henry Kelsey's monument. The Sam Waller Museum also created the Discovery Centre, an interactive area for children to play and learn about Northern Manitoba's natural environment, craft mornings for ages five to twelve, and activity afternoons for all ages to encourage parents to spend an hour with their children. School programs have been developed to compliment class tours and Sam's wet specimens are still used as teaching aids for these groups. Although Sam's collection cannot be handled like it was when he used them as teaching aids in his classroom, the Sam Waller Museum does have an education collection including artifacts and costumes from various time periods and professions.

6

Band at Exhibit Opening
circa 1999
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Annette Milot
Sam Waller Museum Collection

7

The Sam Waller Museum also aims to support the community. Through the help of grants, the Museum hires two returning university students as summer staff every year and has regular part-time weekend staff. Its conference room funded by The Pas branch of the Rotary Club is often rented out for use by various organizations. The Museum also participates with the middle school work experience program, and every Canada Day, it offers free admission, puts a float in the parade, and paints children's faces. It has also featured events such as a birch bark-biting workshop and a movie night.

More specifically, the Sam Waller Museum aims to support local artists and businesses. In the past, it has featured an annual high school art show and continues to show its annual themed art show featuring pieces from local northern artists. The gift shop merchandise comes from local artists and authors, and the Manitoba Wild Growers Association distributed by the Northern Forest Diversification Center.

8

Grand Opening of Permanent Gallery
circa 2002
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

9

Ivan Shewchuk
circa 1998
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Jason May
Sam Waller Museum Collection

10

Japanese Display at Kelsey School
circa 2000
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Krista Cooke
Sam Waller Museum Collection

11

However, although the Sam Waller Museum aims to support locals from Northern Manitoba, they also aim to feature artists from all over Canada. The Sam Waller Museum's temporary gallery was named after Assistant Curator, Susan Kimberly MacCharles, who passed away from breast cancer in 1998. It hosts a new temporary display every two months. In this room monthly concerts are performed through the fall and winter as part of the Home Routes Concert Series.

It is not just the Sam Waller Museum that supports the community, but after all its generosity in moving and expanding the Museum in the old courthouse, the community still continues to support the Sam Waller Museum today. The community supports the Museum with volunteers that donate their time to help with various programs. The local University College of the North provides donations of specimens, their facilities, and their knowledge of the natural environment. The Sam Waller Museum has also partnered with The Pas Arts Council and The Pas History and Heritage Society on various projects as well. It is the Museum's hope that through these relationships we have brought something interesting and educational into the lives of locals, tourists from around the world, and their children.

12

Grand Opening of Permanent Gallery
circa 2002
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Sam Waller Museum Collection

13

Sam would be proud to know that the Sam Waller Museum, housed within The Pas' first courthouse, which is the oldest brick building in Northern Manitoba and made up of 70% of his original collection, won first place for the Opasquia Times 7 Wonders of The Pas and Area in 2007. An award, many would agree, that is greatly deserved.

Open year round, the Museum serves tourists, the local community, and schools with goals that have not changed much since Sam's time. They are:
1) to professionally manage and preserve the integrity of the Waller collection
2) to collect, preserve, document, study, and interpret the human and natural history of The Pas and area
3) to maximize the educational use and enjoyment of the collections by the public
4) to promote heritage preservation in the community
5) to meet the need for an alternative public educational and cultural facility in the region.

14

Canada Day
1 July 2006
The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Credits:
Bev MacTavish
Sam Waller Museum Collection