Since records were kept at the Pembina Threshermen's Museum in 2012, there has been consistently more people pouring through the gates into the old farming village outside Winkler.

Attendance has nearly doubled in five years and Kimberly Striemer, manager of the museum since the summer of 2011, says it's because of marketing efforts by the board and adding annual events.

"When I started," she says, "I didn't have a blueprint to follow."

So, she started planning new events, like "A Day In The Life Of A Pioneer", which became hugely popular and caused a spike in attendance from below 2,000 a season, to nearly 3,000 in 2013. There were fourteen events that year compared to the previous two.

However, for almost every event, regardless of weather, there was a line-up at the gate.

After that, the numbers continued to jump up.

Pembina Thresherman's Museum Attendance 2012-2016

The two lines show the overall attendance in red which includes hall rentals, photo shoots, etc., and the attendance for people solely visiting the museum in green.

"There's every opportunity to have events throughout the season, and I just don't see why we wouldn't do that," says Striemer.

The museum will open May 15, 2017.