martensville Historical Centre
The Martensville Historical Centre ( MHC ) wants to preserve the history of our fair city . Terri Hetterly explained , “ We ’ ve collected information about Martensville from when it was a Hamlet and some about it being a village . 2016 is the 50th anniversary of Martensville since it ' s became a village . We became a hamlet in 1961 , a village in 1966 and a city in 2009 .”
Dave Martens is considered the founding father of Martensville . Mary Letkeman is the daughter of Dave and Helen Martens and said , “ Dad didn ' t really want that , they had a vote and still decided to name the place after him . He was one of these quiet people . My dad decided we needed to have a school here . It took him a couple of years but he did get the first school here .”
Mary spoke about the new Chateau Villa apartments in Lake Vista . “ I remember this was where we used to go picking strawberries , huge strawberries , or what we thought were huge strawberries anyway and would make waffles outside and we had a good time . That was the old days and some things have changed .”
Mary said , “ The very first house we had was where the nursery along the highway is now . Then we built another house and it ’ s still standing . My sister and I went by for the open house and we had a great time . There were seven other couples that came in and were standing where the dining area is . My parents were David and Helen Martens and another David and Helen Martens purchased that piece of property from them . That ’ s where we had our wedding reception and there was another couple there who ’ d also had their wedding reception there . So it was their daughter that also had their wedding reception there . That house is on Baycroft Drive .”
Marcy Cross , Martensville Messenger Council has asked us to look into . They want to recognize them in the street names around the city in the future . We ' re looking into the names and why they should be honored .”
One of the goals of the MHC is to share the history of the city with as many people as possible . The MHC brought a presentation to the Canada Day and Buster Days celebrations , something they do every year . “ We try to change it up each year . For our large displays we now have a display unit to put them on and we ’ re getting new displays made up so we can mix-and-match as needed ,” Terri added .
The historical society is now located in the Civic Centre and has been for the last two years . Prior to that it had been located in Terri ’ s home . When the City moved its offices into the new City Hall building , the City agreed that the MHC was a good match for the old offices . The historical center runs mostly on lottery grants .
The historical center is always looking for new volunteers . Terri explained , “ We ’ re hoping that now that we have a permanent location that more people will join in the preservation of Martensville ’ s history . Ginther is one of the original families and a descendent recently dropped off a family tree . That ’ s the kind of thing we want to encourage .” The MHC is also trying to keep a record of things that are happening presently so that they don ’ t have to go back into the history again to keep an accurate record .
“ We have recorders and
RIGHT : Town Council from 1980 - 1982
BELOW : Aerial photograph of the Town of Martensville in 1989 . if people are willing to come forward and record their stories for us , all they need to do is sit down and talk to us . If people are interested in getting involved with us there ' s no set time , we ’ re very flexible . People think what they share has to be something significant , that it has to be historically valuable . We want to document everyday life , everything to do with Martensville . We want pictures even if people think that it ' s not a really important picture . Something in the background might be very important . Memorabilia is also something we ’ re interested in . We have a T-shirt from a mud fling , we have calendars and pens from businesses ,” Terry explained .
For more information on the Martensville Historical Centre please contact Terri Hetterly or Steff Webb at 306-955-3611 or email mhistoricalc @ sasktel . net .
RIGHT : Offi cial opening of the fi re hall on November 25 , 1990 . ( L-R ) - Chief Jerry Unser , RM Reeve Carol Teichroeb , Mayor Rob Friesen , MLA Bill Neudorf and Deputy Chief John Balazsi . martensville messenger - aUgUst 4 , 2016 - Page 9
BELOW : MLA Pat Atchison cutting the ribbon at the opening of the Martensville Civic Centre in August of 2001 . Assisting are Mayor Jim Stone and Wheatland Regional Library President , Arlene Pederson .
One of the projects underway at the MHC is researching the names and history of the first families . Stef Webb said , “ What we ’ re concentrating on right now is information on the first families of Martensville that city