Manitoba private school closing, auctioning off memorabilia

A private school in Manitoba has closed its doors and more than 1,200 items dating back decades are now up for auction.

More than a thousand items from a Mennonite school’s 136-year run are looking for a new home.

Chris Harms, CEO of Mennonite Collegiate Institute in Gretna, said the school originally started as a facility to train teachers before eventually transitioning to a high school. However, he said dwindling enrolment—which at one time peaked at over 200 students in the small rural community—has led to the school’s closure.

“When it was announced that the school was closed … we got quite a number of requests. Really quickly, people started calling, asking for yearbooks or grad photos or sports memorabilia, just wanting to keep a piece of the history that was dear to them,” Harms said.

He said an online auction was started to ensure the school’s relics got a new home—including in the arms of alumni.

Harms said approximately 1,250 memorabilia items have been put up for auction, including trophies, sports banners, jerseys, and graduation photos. He said the item with the most bids so far was a cookbook found in the school’s vault.

The school’s trove also included many artifacts, which Harms said will be donated to the Mennonite Heritage Archives in Winnipeg. He said this includes two sermon guides that arrived in North America around 1758 alongside early Mennonite pastors.

Harms said the institution, whose final school bell rang in June 2024, still has some bills to pay. The funds raised from the auction will go toward those bills.

“We’ve also got the building for sale, so the hope is that another group might have a vision for it and start a Christian school here,” he said.

Reflecting on the school’s history, Harms is hopeful the school will be remembered for its legacy of intentional relationships and positive impact.

“The intentional, deep relationships that were formed … that’s not something that goes away after they graduate.”

Mennonite Collegiate Institute’s online auction, which is scheduled to close on Nov. 4, can be accessed online.