Sue Sitter/PCT Prairie Village Museum Board Vice President Steve Dockter, left, poses in the museum’s reception area with Board President Dave Bednarz, center, and Executive Director Shane Engeland.

RUGBY — Although century-old buildings at Rugby’s Prairie Village Museum house artifacts from rural Pierce County’s past, the people behind the museum today make it their mission to connect visitors of all ages to the area’s history.

Steve Dockter, vice president of the museum’s Geographical Center Historical Society board, gleans ideas from other parts of North Dakota and the United States to help the Prairie Village Museum make history relevant to people of all ages.

Inspired by a pumpkin patch and corn maze near Grand Forks last fall, Dockter decided to bring the concept to Rugby. Dockter teamed up with the Rugby Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau to build an autumn attraction for young and old alike.

Dockter said in March fundraising and searching for volunteers had kept him busy with the project. He estimated he’d contacted “over 100” businesses in town.

“I got a very enthusiastic response,” Dockter said.

He said he hoped to include wagon rides, a barrel train, and other activities to bring fall fun from a simpler time to children who visit.

Museum buildings tell stories

The museum, scheduled to open for the season on May 1, consists of a collection of buildings large and small. Some buildings, such as the Pleasant Lake Bank and Zion Lutheran Church, are more than 100 years old, moved to the museum grounds from its former homes in rural Pierce County.

Each building contains artifacts from Pierce County’s early days, depicting the way early residents did business, worshiped, and learned at school.

The main museum building often displays items such as art that tells the story of the Pierce County’s first residents, Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years.

The newest building on the property belongs to the Heart of America Germans from Russia.

The Heart of America Germans from Russia Heritage Center houses a collection of artifacts from German families who came to Pierce County by way of the Black Sea area of Russia.

Some items in the Germans from Russia heritage building come from the family of Valentine Brossart, whose many relatives and descendants still live in Pierce County. Brossart made the building’s start possible with a generous financial donation. Other items come from Mary Ebach, a lifelong North Dakota resident whose family farmed in Pierce County for many years.

The building provides a list of surnames from German families who immigrated to Pierce County from Russia and serves as a genealogical research resource for people with German-Russian roots in the area. An endowment fund keeps the center operating.

“One thing that will probably stand out this year is Ukraine,” Dockter said of the heritage center. “My ancestors came through Odessa. They came through the Ukraine region. So, that’s got a whole different level of pertinence to us now. I don’t know if I have relatives who stayed over there, now. I think most of them got on the ship and came in this direction.”

Rhubarb Fest, Oktoberfest, and more on schedule

Dockter said the Heart of America Germans from Russia “are going to be key in getting Oktoberfest going on Sept. 24, the last Saturday in September, and by the way, September is when they traditionally celebrate Oktoberfest.”

Other events on the museum’s busy calendar include its annual Rhubarb Fest, a tribute to North Dakota’s favorite dessert vegetable. Area amateur bakers and cooks offer a variety of rhubarb treats for guests to sample for a small price at the event, which is scheduled for June 19.

Museum volunteers set aside a section of the property to plant rhubarb and Juneberry shrubs last year using funds from an AARP “Edible Garden” grant. Fruit tree saplings ring the outer edge of the main buildings.

A project to replace the facade on the museum office and adjoining building will continue this year. Work on the wooden facing that resembles a prairie town began in 2021. Local artist Terry Jelsing designed the facade.

Shane Engeland, a Minot State University grad pursuing a master’s degree in history at North Dakota State University, took the helm as Prairie Village Museum’s new executive director on April 1.

Engeland, a descendant of Norwegian settlers in Pierce County, grew up near Barton.

“My great-grandfather got off the train in Barton and homesteaded,” Engeland said. “We’re actually a stone’s throw away from the sod house that he had.”

Reaching North Dakota students

Engeland, who has taught social studies to distance education students online, has been busy restoring a family farmhouse in Barton.

“I got to grow up surrounded by my own family history and a lot of people don’t get that,” Engeland said. “This museum can provide that for them.”

Engeland said he hoped to use technology to bring history lessons to life for students who visit the museum.

“It’s what kids are used to,” he said.

Other ideas from Engeland include having students “take part of that history, building the museum in Minecraft,” or other educational software to help students interact with history.

Engeland said technology would create what he called “augmented reality” for visitors.

“Augmented reality is where you use that connection (with technology) to amplify your experience. So, museums will do an audio tour,” he said. “In my experience, what I’m doing for my thesis is building a podcast. So, I’ve been mulling over the idea of something along those lines (for the museum) and also expanding the presence of the museum through a digital tour or something like that.”

Engeland said digital museum tours would give visitors such as kindergarten through grade 12 students throughout the state opportunities to tour the museum “even when the museum is closed.”

“I can send an email to every North Dakota studies teacher in the state,” he said. “I can tell them they can spend a day just to come and visit my museum and they don’t have to get a bus, no permission slips, and they can access all this information that we can make available for them.

“It’s not huge, but it’s pretty cost-effective. So, those are just a few of the ideas I’m mulling around, but of course, seeing those things come into something you can actually see takes a bit more.”

The “more” Engeland referred to includes volunteers.

“We’ll take volunteers every time we can get them,” Dockter said, noting the museum would need volunteers to help with maintenance, some of the lawn and yard care and more.

To volunteer or learn more about Prairie Village Museum’s hours of operation during its regular season May 1-Oct. 3, call 776-6414 or visit www.prairievillagemuseum.com. The museum is also on Facebook.

To learn more about Heart of America Germans from Russia, call 208-1044 or visit their page on Facebook.