You may think you've never heard of anyone from Weyburn, Sask., except for a few long-lost relatives who broke the sod back in Ought-Six.
Let's try a few names anyway. Tommy Douglas, for one. Mr. Medicare. The former premier of Saskatchewan and the head of the federal New Democratic Party honed his social-democratic theories over church basement suppers as a Calvary Baptist minister in Weyburn.
Or David 'Tiger' Williams, whose ideas of social democracy (everyone deserves a good fight) earned him time in the penalty boxes of every National Hockey League arena he ever played in.
Or W. O. Mitchell, who dreamed up the town of Crocus, Sask. to tell his famous stories (Jake and the Kid) of Weyburn in a fictional setting, the way Stephen Leacock invented Mariposa to poke fun at the good folks of Orillia.
Or Eddie Litzenberger, a hockey star back when the National Hockey League had only a six-pack of teams.
Or Charlie Wilson.
So you've never heard of Charlie Wilson, a bachelor farmer? In one way, he outranks the four gentlemen named above. They have been given prominent locations on a Wall of Fame in the local museum in Weyburn, down in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan, but Charlie has a whole room, a very large room, all to himself.
You probably wouldn't turn off the Trans-Canada to see Tiger Williams's name on a wall. But you might want to take a look at Charlie Wilson's contribution.
Charlie Wilson was a bachelor who lived on the family farm northwest of Weyburn. He was born in England and moved to Weyburn with his parents, at the age of three, in 1907. His father ran the Waverley Hotel but later sold it and moved to a farm near Weyburn.
Charlie stayed on the farm almost until he died in 1995 at age 90. Now, you may wonder what a bachelor livestock and grain farmer would do on the Prairies all those years except complain about drought, rain, snow, lack of snow, low prices, eastern banks and Ottawa.
Charlie was busy collecting silverware. When he died, he gave the Soo Line Historical Museum what is reputed to be the largest private collection of silver artifacts in the country. Not just Weyburn, not just Saskatchewan, not just the Prairies. All of Canada.
The people who run the Soo Line Historical Museum won't tell you what it's worth. All I know is that Charlie's donation is guarded by the largest collection of security cameras I've ever seen in one room.
There are over 5,000 items in the collection, dating back to 1750. Hundreds and hundreds of tea service sets, breakfast sets, letter openers, candelabra, napkin rings, salt and pepper shakers, platters, mirrors, figurines and all sorts of other silverware were acquired by Charles Wilson in a lifetime of travel in North America and Europe.
Until he died, he kept it all in his house on the farm. Oh, he had few glass display cases but most of the stuff was packed away in drawers and boxes. There was no security system at the house. Nor was the silver polished. When the museum received the silverware, it was black. The staff had to polish, and keep on polishing, all 5,000 pieces which now glitter under display lighting.
Charlie Wilson didn't want his collection auctioned off and dispersed after his death, so he gave it to the museum. The museum, a renovated old power house down by the rail yards, is interesting enough in itself. It's named after the Soo Line, the railway which runs through the town and has helped Weyburn prosper.
Charlie's collection shows you never know what you'll find in a small town museum. Of course, small towns have to have a museum before anyone will give them a collection of anything.
Box 400, 904 East Avenue
Weyburn, SK
S4H 2K4
Phone: (306) 842-7487
Fax: (306) 842-0282
E-mail: production@weyburnreview.com
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Review (1987) Ltd.