The Huble Homestead has been laying in winter stasis but this weekend it comes out of hibernation.
Organizers have been hammering, ironing, raking, and burning the midnight oil in the frantic lead-up to opening the pastoral farm where local history comes alive.
Every year has its readiness challenges at the city's own little version of Barkerville or Fort St. James, but this year was one of the toughest ever due to damage caused by the heavy hit of this year's winter. They still have a lot of construction to do, but the public won't be inconvenienced by the restoration work and senior staffers Krystal Leason (operations manager) and Carli Bennett (curator) consider it an authentic part of the Huble Homestead natural cycle.
"Winter was rough at the farm," said Leason. "When you drive in you notice the trees bent over or broken off. And we had the roof go in on our implement shed where we store tools and and some large artifacts but luckily no major damage was done to them, and it wasn't one of the historic buildings, so that will set us back in some ways but it won't affect our programming."
"We lost a lot of fence rails. We need hundreds of new fence rails to replace the damage to the fences, but when spring came on any farm in that era one of the jobs was to repair the fences," said Bennett.
This year there are also hopes of building a large picnic shelter on the periphery of the grounds to accommodate the many outdoor activities the homestead staff and volunteers create each year, plus the many community and private functions that use the picturesque grounds on the shores of the Upper Fraser River.
"So we have a lot of capital projects this year, some were unexpected, but by the end of the year we will be better than ever," Leason said.
The theme for opening weekend is Spring On the Homestead, so the many duties that follow the annual melt will be in the spotlight throughout the long weekend. That means shearing sheep, preparing the wool, prepping the massive garden, pruning the apple trees and so on. The scenes of renewal and regeneration will be all over the grounds for the public's pleasure.
Special events have already been planned for June 22 (Senior's Day) and July 12 (the interactive theatrical Homicide on the Homestead murder mystery) needing registration in advance, plus all the regular activities that happen throughout the spring, summer and fall, and the special events on long weekends.
Four weddings are also booked for this Huble season already, and often there are conferences, concerts and readings, community group meetings, family reunions, corporate tours and other special events sprinkled into the annual calendar.
Huble Homestead is a living historic site where once the Huble and Seebach families homesteaded at the trailhead of the Giscome Portage (the shortest hike over the northern divide, linking south-flowing Fraser River with north-flowing Summit Lake). This year, the site turns 101 years old. Visitors can see many of the farm's original buildings, plus some ones added for historical education value. The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George works with the Huble Homestead/Giscome Portage Heritage Society to offer interpretive staff and a slate of goods, services and activities based on that early 20th century era of pioneering.
