La Crete Agricultural Society

1. Accreditation and Certification:

a) The La Crete Agricultural Society was organized in 1980 under the provisions of the Agricultural Societies Act

b) It received charitable status on June 18, 2004, #107585887RR0001

c) It was incorporated on November 14, 2008, #5914285357

d) Member of Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies

e) Member of Alberta Museum Association

f) We have Recognized Museum Program status

2. Organizational Assets:

a) The organization is run by a volunteer board of twenty-one directors

b) The organization owns a quarter of land 2.5 km south-west of La Crete

c) The organization manages the local community hall, the La Crete Heritage Centre, built in 2005

d) The organization has managed and built up the local museum village, the La Crete Mennonite Heritage Village, since 1991. It includes an interpretive centre, eighteen historical buildings, many pieces of antique equipment, 4000+ artifacts, and an archive. We provide guided tours to schools and museum visitors.

e) A museum restoration shop was constructed 2024-2025

f) We are grateful for provincial, AAAS, municipal, and community support

3. Five-fold Mandate:

a) We manage the community hall

b) We preserve the community’s history by the management of the museum village and visitor programming

c) We organize seven to eight events/year to improve quality of life in La Crete

d) We support agricultural and horticultural initiatives

e) We support youth and leadership development

4. Programs and Services:

a) Guided museum tours of village and interpretive centre

b) History slideshow presentations for adults and/or children

c) School programming

d) Genealogy research assistance

e) History lending library

f) Summer student program

g) Share our orchard learnings

h) Manage 33 community garden plots

i) Sponsor/manage the local Farmers Market

5. Geographic Region:

La Crete is one of several very diverse communities within the Mackenzie County. Mackenzie County is a specialized municipality in Northern Alberta. La Crete is located 800 km. north-west of Edmonton and about three hours south-east of the North West Territories border.

6. Demographics:

Based on the 2018 Municipal census the population of Mackenzie County was 12,512. Five of the ten wards in the county pertain to the La Crete community and its population in 2018 was 9489. It’s a growing community with 35.7% of its population under the age of fourteen. 34% of La Crete’s population was urban and 66% was rural.