The Hinton Centennial celebrations are set for August 20, but the Hinton Tracks and Trails Society has more to celebrate than the anniversary of the town getting its name. 

The society is opening up its new museum in the basement of the town’s historic train station just in time for the centennial. 

“Our basement is ready to go,” said Lorraine MacKay, president of the Hinton Historical Tracks and Trails Society. 

The new museum space will open with two different exhibits – both with a centennial theme. The first exhibit is David Thompson: 200 Years Later, a travelling exhibit that appeared in Jasper last year. The exhibit will coincide with the Athabasca River Voyageur Canoe Brigade that is set to arrive in Hinton on Aug. 20. The Thompson exhibit will remain at the museum until the end of September. 

The second exhibit will celebrate Hinton over the past 100 years since it was named after William Pittman Hinton in March of 1911. It will feature artifacts and information about the town throughout its evolution into the town it is today. 

With the bottom half of the museum open, MacKay said there is still a long way to go before the upstairs portion is ready to welcome guests. She is working on applying for grants to get the construction going by the spring of 2012. 

“It’s coming along – a little bit every month,” she said. 

Brand new windows have been installed throughout the building, MacKay said. Unfortunately many of the windows had to be replaced because of vandalism. The new windows have changed the look of the entire building. 

“It made such a big difference,” MacKay said. 

In addition to the opening of the museum, the Hinton Historical Tracks and Trails Society will be helping out with a number of events throughout the centennial celebrations. 

The Jesse Turgeon Park will be the scene of a large farmer’s market that will take the place of the usual Thursday afternoon event.

“They (the vendors) are all very excited to do something on the Saturday,” MacKay said. 

That event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and feature many of the weekly favourites at the local market, as well as a few different vendors. 

To welcome the canoe brigade, there will be a Portage Party at the Jesse Turgeon Park starting with a beer garden at 5 p.m. MacKay is optimistic the weather will be perfect for the day. 

“It will be a beautiful, hot sunny day,” she laughed. 

There will be non-stop entertainment with the Fiddle River Band and Les Bucherons; games and crafts and information displays. 

At 7:30 p.m. there will be a family dance with the Root Pickers, who will have Rodney Brown as a guest singer. Brown writes his own original historic songs and is always a great addition to events celebrating history. Following the act, Terry Bird and special guests will perform some old-time rock and country. Children 12 and under are free. 

There will be additional information on the centennial in the foyer of the Dr. Duncan Murray Rec Centre, and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. the library will host the Coalbranch Archives. The archives will have a collection of photos and paper records from Hinton’s history on display.

“It’s going to be a full day,” MacKay said of the centennial.