08/23/2026
HAPPY RETIREMENT JUDY!!
After many years of dedicated service, Museum Manager Judy West-Pratt is retiring from the Hay River Museum Society. Judy joined the Board in 2014 and provided steady leadership through the difficult COVID years before becoming Museum Manager in 2022. Together with her husband, Randy, she helped the museum recover from the pandemic, the devastating 2022 flood and the seven-week evacuation in 2023.
Judy has worked tirelessly to make the museum a warm, affordable and welcoming place for everyone. Under her leadership, the grounds came alive with the Bird House Hotel, 421 hand-painted wooden fish, children’s activities, artisan workshops, the Ice Cream Shack and the popular Thursday Nights at the Zoo. She also helped develop a sustainable vision for the site, including a heritage village, new outdoor exhibits and improvements all the while, keeping a close eye on the shoestring budget.
“As I step into retirement this year, I look back on this journey—from board member in 2014 to Manager in 2022—with immense gratitude. Opening our new children’s library at the end of this summer stands as one of my proudest personal accomplishments, securing a place for young minds to discover a lifelong love of reading.
Above all, I will deeply miss working alongside the brilliant summer students who have brought so much energy, dedicated assistance, and warmth to the museum each summer, all the wonderful people that have served on the Museum Board with me and last but not least, the people of Hay River for allowing me to be part of this amazing community.”
Judy West-Pratt
“Judy was “a board member who made a difference,” and her work as Manager became much more than a summer job. On behalf of the board of directors for the Museum Society, I want to thank Judy and Randy for their many years of volunteerism, community spirit, and honest efforts on behalf of the Hay River Museum Society. They will never be forgotten.”
Board Chair Tom Lakusta
Judy’s final day as Museum Manager is August 31. If you know her or simply admire the work our Society has put in, please come by and give her your best.
