Snowplanes all over province coming to Moosomin July 10th weekend
Moosomin Regional Museum hosting all snow machines and Snowplane Meet & BBQ
June 22, 2026, 10:00 am
Ashley Bochek
The Moosomin Chamber of Commerce Parade is Saturday, July 11. This year’s theme is ‘Moosomin through the Ages’ and the parade is dedicated to the history of Fudge Industries, originally operated out of Moosomin which manufactured snowplanes.
Snowplane enthusiasts Darrell Hunter and Lisl Gunderman of Alberta are excited to join this year’s parade with their restored Fudge snowplane and share the history and the legacy of Fudge Industries in Moosomin.
The Moosomin Museum is hosting a Snowplane Meet & BBQ after the parade from 12pm-2pm at the museum.
Hunter and Gunderman will be at the museum all weekend with their snowplane and mobile museum full of artifacts and history of Fudge Industries.
Hunter explains other snowplane owners and enthusiasts will be travelling to Moosomin for the parade.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from people from far outside of Moosomin. Surprising to us, when we went first started researching about snowplanes, we saw Moosomin as being the heart of it, and now we’ve realized that the snowplanes, the uniqueness of them, is pretty far-reaching with different people around Saskatchewan and from the States, that are interested in coming.
“Some won’t be bringing machines, but there is a couple coming from Wisconsin to see the snowplanes because he’s really interested in that. We do have machines coming from Manitoba. We have two of our own machines. Machines will start to arrive Thursday, July 9 before the parade weekend.”
Museum grounds hosting all snowplanes
Gunderman explains the Moosomin Regional Museum will host all winter transportation vehicles coming from all over the province the entire weekend.
“When people are watching the parade, that will be a chance for them to see a few and have a quick look at some of the machines, but over the course of the weekend the Moosomin Regional Museum grounds is the host of anyone that is coming that weekend and bringing a winter transportation vehicle, so in a way the theme is not just Fudge Snowplanes, people that have a specialty winter transportation vehicle that they’ve restored could be coming too.
“So the parade is going to be an opportunity for people to have a quick look at a few of the machines, but for a person that’s really interested in learning more, and if they want to talk to the owners, and they want to see the history of it, or come see our snow plane museum trailer, they are going to really want to come out to the Moosomin Regional Museum grounds.
“So if a person is close to town, and suppose they couldn’t be at the parade on Saturday, Friday night by 6pm we will be set up at the museum, and people can come at that point. From Friday at 6pm through the entire day on Saturday, even into Saturday evening, if people want to come to the grounds and see the different machines, there would be a lot to see at the museum.
Snowplanes and artifacts will be set up Friday, July 10 at 6pm and be open to the public to tour until Sunday.
“The parade will be exciting, but the full picture, full experience will be at the Moosomin Museum grounds.”
Snowplane Meet & BBQ after parade
The Moosomin Regional Museum is hosting a Snowplane Meet & BBQ from 12 pm to 2 pm on Saturday, July 11.
“On Saturday, July 11, the day of the parade, by noon the snowplanes will be at the Regional Museum grounds, and between 12 pm and 2 pm the Moosomin Regional Museum is hosting a Snowplane Meet and Barbecue, they’re calling it,” said Gunderman. “The Moosomin Regional Museum volunteers are having a barbecue from noon to 2 pm, so right after the parade, basically as fast as everybody can get back to the museum grounds. RJ Farms has sponsored bison burgers for the event, and there will be hamburgers as well.”
Snowplane Meet & BBQ a historical event
Gunderman explains the Moosomin Regional Museum used to host Snowplane Meet & BBQ’s in the past.
“The Snowplane Meet & BBQ is actually historic to Moosomin because in the past, in 2008 or 2009, would be most recent, but in the past there were a lot of people in Moosomin that organized a meet in the winter time, and then they would attract people with snowplanes from all over Manitoba, North Dakota, all over Saskatchewan. People would bring their snow vehicles, and it was a huge fundraiser.”
Hunter says they will be travelling for days before the parade to bring out two machines.
“It’s hard to know who all is coming right now because a lot of people are coming from hundreds, some possibly thousands of miles. For us, we’re going to have two machines there, and we are traveling for two days straight just to get the one machine there. There are a lot of people coming from a lot of miles, some from Saskatoon and way into Manitoba.”
Fudge Industries originated in Moosomin
Gunderman explains the history of Fudge Industries in Moosomin and family connections still present today.
“Fudge machines were manufactured at Fudge Industries.
“It was a key business over the decades, they fabricated all kinds of products, not just the snowplane, but was a longstanding business in that community.
“From about 1921, there would was a Fudge’s Garage, and then there would have been Fudge’s Industries all the way into the early 1970s.”
“It was a key part of the community, which people in the community—if they haven’t been there for generations—may not realize the importance of Robert Fudge, who had the Fudge Industries in Moosomin. It was an incredible business. Robert’s son, George, plans to come to Moosomin that weekend for the parade.
“It’s basically a very respectful tribute to his dad. So, he is doing his best to come out. Then it’s a reunion, especially for him, and another family that’s really connected to the Fudge Industries is the Bilkey family. Maurice Bilkey, was the longtime shop foreman of Fudge Industries, and he would still have some relatives in the area, in Moosomin, and then there’s Christine Bilkey, one of his daughters and Linda Martin lives in Elkhorn, that’s one of his daughters, and there’s a niece, Phyllis Bilkey—the Bilkey family, Fudge family, it’s like a reunion for them because it’s a real respectful tribute to the amazing ingenuity of their parents. So they’re really excited about it.”
Encouraging people to bring machines
Gunderman says they encourage everyone in the area to bring their restored machine if they have one.
“For people that live within a pretty reasonable distance of Moosomin, if they have a machine, we really encourage them to bring it out. Rocanville Museum is planning to bring a machine, and it’s really manageable for them, Rocanville is not that far away from Moosomin, but if we’ve got a person that’s coming from south of Moose Jaw, that’s sort of weather dependent, and we want as many machines and people as possible. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to dig it out, dust it off, and show it off. There could be a lot of people coming to see it.”
Progressive community since late 1800s
Gunderman shares the historical innovations and growth the community of Moosomin has successfully built over centuries.
“It has been a philanthropic adventure, we’re not entrepreneurial about it, it’s out of philanthropy. It started with the restoration of my grandpa, Gerry Galloway’s machine, he was a doctor in the Oxbow area, and used a snowplane for many years when the roads weren’t built yet. It was a Fudge machine, and then that brought us on a trail of learning to realize that these Fudge machines were manufactured in Moosomin, an amazing business. So then, my husband and I really care about history. We live in Alberta and have connections, family connections with Southeast Saskatchewan, but for a person living in Moosomin, what we’re super pleased about is that if people haven’t lived there for generations, they will get a chance to learn the deep entrepreneurial innovative history of the town of Moosomin.
“It was a very progressive town way back in the early 1800s. Look at the newspaper, even, that started in the 1880s and is still operating. There was something in the culture of the community at that time, and I mean it’s lasted through. The culture of the community was very industrious, very progressive in business, they wanted to expand and grow their town and have their town be a real success, so this is just a way for people in Moosomin to be brought back to their entrepreneurial roots or the industrious roots of what the culture of their community was really founded on, back in the 1800s.”
She says the set up and history on display at the Moosomin Regional Museum the July 10th weekend is a chance for everyone in Moosomin to learn its entrepreneurial past.
“It’s a real chance for people in Moosomin, if they’re interested to learn about the industrious roots of the culture of their community. Looking back over the years, they have had such prosperous businesses from the late 1800s all the way to the current times, you have a thriving Main Street in Saskatchewan, where a lot of Main Street Saskatchewan towns are not as vibrant, or thriving.
“I feel when we look at Moosomin, it’s a community that’s thriving and growing, and you can’t say the same for all Saskatchewan communities. There’s something about the culture of the community that the community should be really proud of because it’s lasted over decades, over a century.”
Excited for parade weekend
They say they are very excited to be in Moosomin the whole weekend set up at the Moosomin Regional Museum from Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12.
“We can’t wait be there and all set up. After last year, we learned so much because it was our first year, and then we decided that we wanted to make changes to our mobile museum to make it more self-explanatory,” said Gunderman. “We now have our own mission statement in the mobile museum.”
Hunter says, “It says welcome. This self-funded history project is dedicated to preserving and sharing the legacy of the snowplanes. It began in 2022 when Darrell and Lisl found her grandfather’s long lost snowplane. In 2025, the first touring season, this traveling snowplane museum display was seen by over 14,000 people. It helped raise over $4,000 in support for local museums. Enjoy!
“So, that’s what we’re doing. All of our donations, we turn it back to museums. We donated $2,000 to Moosomin Museum, and then next year we’ll be picking another museum. We helped Alameda last year as well, we held a barbecue and raised over $2,000, so we’re here to help local museums keep history alive.”
If you are interested in bringing your restored machine to the Moosomin Chamber of Commerce Parade or to the Moosomin Regional Museum on the weekend of July 10-12 contact Darrell Hunter at 1(780)898-9974 or find him on Facebook.
