Board members for the Neubergthal Heritage Foundation are breathing a sigh of relief after crunching the numbers for the last year.

While the foundation generated only about $6,000 in 2020, or 10 per cent of 2019's revenue, as visits and rentals at the heritage street village were drastically cut due to the pandemic, generous donors and government grants helped carry it through the year while some expenses were cut back or eliminated entirely. At the end of the day, total donations and sponsorships for 2020 were just under $60,000, according to the latest annual report. This allowed the foundation to finish the year with $54,000 in the bank. $20,000 was set aside for a major kitchen project in the works for the Klippenstein housebarn, $14,000 went to complete the 2020 mortgage payment on the Commons Barn, leaving $20,00 to start anew in 2021.

"We finished about where we were a year ago, so that was really good to see because during the year that was a constant question - how are we going to do? Can we pay the mortgage? And early in 2021 we had enough money to go back and finish making the payment for 2020," explained foundation administrator, Ray Hamm at the latest annual general meeting. In fact, board chair, Joe Braun, added the Foundation is all paid up until the end of the current year.

In his annual report to the Board, Hamm noted "On good days, 2020 was interesting; on other days it brought fog and anxiety."

Visitation to the heritage site in 2020 was down between 60 and 70 per cent from 2019 due to the pandemic, and essentially all of the planned events and facility rentals were cancelled.

Despite these challenges, Hamm says their part-time summer host and guide managed to rattle off a few items on the to-do list for the year. This included documenting the items in the Friesen housebarn, checking cemetery lists and making an index, and sorting and listing all of the books in the Bergthal School.

Improvements were also made to the yard at the Friesen housebarn where landscaping was added in order to allow buses to drive on to the yard to better load and unload passengers closer to the site as well as turn around safely.

As well, 2020 saw a self-guided tour brochure developed for the historical street village.

In anticipation of a return to normal activity this summer, the Foundation also brought in a wedding coordinator in the fall to help manage requests that have already filtered in.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, the work isn't slowing down.

Included in the updated to-do list is relocating the information kiosk and Parks Canada Heritage Site designation plaque to the Commons yard, some minor work at the Bergthal school and touching up the paint on the Friesen housebarn. That's not all that's planned for the Friesen housebarn either. By June, the hope is to have the floors and the original floor pattern in the kitchen restored and re-opened together with an exhibition on historical floor patterns.

As well, Foundation members hope to advance construction and fund-raising plans for a major renovation and kitchen upgrade at the Klippenstein house attached to the Commons barn. Used restaurant equipment was purchased this past summer in anticipation of creating a commercial kitchen at the facility which is frequently rented out for weddings and other events.