It's the spring of 1954, and everyone is talking about pie! Last fall, Mr. d'Aquino, owner of the Garden Bakery, got into an argument with Mr. Phillips at the Creston Bakery over whose business was selling the most and best pies. It was quite a flap! Of course, it doesn't help matters that Mrs. Smith, who has won the prize for best lemon pie at the fall fair for many years, works at the Garden Bakery and Mr. Phillips tried to get her to move to the Creston Bakery instead.
Even now, months later, all anyone can talk about is Creston's great pie rivalry. Feelings are getting hurt. Lines are getting drawn. Tensions are getting high. Something dreadful is bound to happen!
The townspeople gather for the museum's annual general meeting, but it seems no one is thinking about the museum. All they can talk about is pie!
The guests start with an open house at the Creston Museum. There are a number of new exhibits to see (including a rather shocking one called Unmentionables in the washroom), but what really draws their attention is the number of things that seem a bit out of place: Hints about bad feelings between different people. Whispers about strange behaviour and mysterious activities. Warnings about gardens and stories about a break-in at the local photographer's studio (what has that got to do with anything?). By the time the museum's president calls the gathering sharply to order, it is clear: the "something dreadful" is going to happen at any moment. And then it does.
It's a Mystery in the Museum, and it's just one part of a whole Evening in the 1950s presented by the Creston Museum, Real Food Cafe and the Snoring Sasquatch.
The clues are all there at the museum — you might even figure out who did it before it even happens! But if not, the gossip over dinner at the Real Food Cafe might help shed some light on the matter. The evidence table at the Snoring Sasquatch — which you can study between dancing to 1950s music by the Velle Weitman Trio — is sure to help you solve the mystery.
"It's a murder-mystery cultural crawl," says Creston Museum manager Tammy Hardwick. "It's what happens when you combine an open house to show off new exhibits, a society's annual general meeting and the big wrap-up to the annual Arts and Culture Week planned by the Community of Creston Arts Council."
The Mystery in the Museum starts a 3 p.m., with the AGM at 4. (We promise it will be short and fun, and as a reward there will be one important clue at the AGM which will not appear anywhere else!) Dinner, featuring one of Real Food Cafe's fantastic three-course special menus, runs from 5-7 p.m., and the Velle Weitman Trio takes over at the Snoring Sasquatch at 7.
It all takes place on April 26. There will be enough information at all three events to solve the mystery, so join us for one event or take part in all three. Tickets for the Mystery in the Museum ($10) and the Velle Weitman Trio ($15) will be available at the doors of the venues, but the dinner is available only as part of a three-event package ($45). There are only 50 package tickets available, and they can be purchased at the museum. Call 250-428-9262, email mail@creston.museum.bc.ca or drop in to 219 Devon St. for tickets and information.
No matter which events you take part in, be sure to enter your solution to the mystery. Figure out who did it, why and how, and fill in an entry form at any venue at any time during the evening. Everyone with a correct answer will be entered into a draw for prizes. Just make sure you've submitted your solution before 7:45 p.m. — because all will be revealed at the Sasquatch around 8.
CRESTON MUSEUM