Sip, sip, hooray! It was high tea time at the Great Sandhills Museum!

By Joan Janzen

SCEPTRE - The Great Sandhills Museum in Sceptre held its first High Tea on Saturday afternoon, May 24th. “This High Tea is our first attempt at hosting an event like this,” said Marj Boylan, one of the six museum board members. “We thought we would try it to see if it is something that would interest people in this area.” The board members provided the tea and lunch, and two young ladies from Medicine Hat helped decorate and organize.

A week prior to the event, the museum received sixty-two registrations from people ranging in age from seven to 96. It was obvious that it would interest people of all ages in the area.

A senior lady said she had over a dozen summer and winter hats of her own. But for anyone who didn’t bring a hat, the museum had several chests full of them for guests to select a hat to wear for the afternoon. There was a hat to go with every costume that came through the doors.

All the guests were provided with beverages, tea, sandwiches, scones, and sweets. The highlight was the judging of the best tea party outfit and the awarding of additional prizes at the end of the afternoon.

Sherry Miller from Leader placed second in the best costume contest. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Best dressed prize went to Janice Wiste from Liebenthal, who wore her mom’s hat which had been purchased from Eatons years ago. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Morghie Flaterud also earned a prize for her costume. She chose to wear a purple dress which she had custom made some years ago. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

The oldest guest present was Tina Both, aged 96 years. Tina accepted her gift with a gloved hand. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

7-year-old Callie Orrin (left) and Rhea Krein were the two youngest guests in attendance. Their dresses were made by their great grandma. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Picking a hat to wear for the afternoon was a lot of fun! PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

This mother-daughter duo wore matching dresses to the tea. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Everyone had fun at the Great Sandhill Museum’s High Tea. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN