Manitou Memories

WREA members and friends touring Manitou

Westman Retired Educators' Association

Manitou Memories

Text and photos by Judy Olmstead

June 19 dawned bright and sunny. Twelve WREA members and the three guests left in a motor cavalcade to Manitou, Manitoba, to visit the homes of Nellie McClung. Our travels took us on a beautiful drive through the Souris River Valley at Wawanesa, east past the camel (mascot statue) at Glenboro, past Treherne, home of the bottle houses and south past one of southern Manitoba’s wind turbine farms.

The Manitou Opera House was our first stop. We were met by Bette Mueller, a retired teacher and her husband, Walter. They would serve as our very knowledgeable guides.

The present-day Opera House was built in 1930 on the same site where the first one had burnt down. They did manage to save one item from the devastating fire and that one item was the podium from which Nellie McClung spoke in favour of the vote for women. There is also a bust of Nellie outside the Opera House.

Upon leaving the Opera House, we proceeded to walk a few blocks down the main street of this charming little town. We saw the home of one of Nellie’s closest friends, the original site of McClung's Drug Store and other places of historical significance depicting the growth of Manitou. When we returned to our cars, we went on a short driving tour past St. Andrew’s United Church, which began as a Presbyterian Church prior to the amalgamation of the Presbyterian and Methodists congregations, Nellie McClung Collegiate and the Manitou Gas House, which is the only gas house left in Manitoba. Of course, it is not a gas house any longer but rather is a

The room at her home which Nellie used for writing

Hazel cottage where Nellie lived when she arrived in Manitou to teach The gas house in Manitou

The kitchen at Hazel cottage which Nellie described in one of her books Mural of McLung's pharmacy in downtown Manitou (Nellie's husband was the town pharmicist)

residence wherein the vat used to produce the gas for parts of Manitou is now the basement of a residence.

Certainly, the highlight of our trip was touring the places where Nellie McClung lived when she came to Manitou to teach, where she began her writing career, where she raised her family and where she developed her philosophy and determination regarding the role of women in society. Our tour guide regaled us with stories of Nellie’s life in Manitou.

We toured Hazel Cottage, which was the Hasselfield home, located three miles north of Manitou, where Nellie boarded as a newly fledged sixteen year old teacher. Nellie went on to marry Wesley McClung, the town pharmacist and the son of one of Nellie’s mentors. Their home was a beautiful, stately prairie abode. It was where Nellie wrote “Sowing Seeds in Danny” in a study off the dining room.

Both homes were full of artifacts from that time period and elicited many stories and memories from members of our group. It was truly a walk through the past for all of us as we remembered pieces of our own personal history.

Lunch took place across the highway at the Manitou Golf Course. The food was excellent and the view was lovely. Our day had come to an end and many of us left with a desire to return to this pretty little town where one of our most influential Manitobans resided.

We are grateful for the RTAM Initiative Grant which, as one of our members stated, “gave me the opportunity to see a part of Manitoba I have never seen before.” 