The Lacombe & District Historical Society acknowledges that we are situated on Treaty Six territory and Métis Region 3. We are respectful of the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people whose footsteps have marked this land for centuries.

Our Core Staff Team

Since 2008, Alberta Museums Association has recognized the Lacombe Museums as Accredited Museums and has maintained year-round permanent staff and volunteers. This has allowed the Lacombe Museums to act as a source of school tours & programming, hosting special events for the community, and having our collection of nearly 40,000 items and records accessible for researchers.

Melissa Blunden

Melissa Blunden

Executive Director (she/her)

Melissa brings with her over a decade of experience in heritage building restoration, educational programming development/ facilitation, and has a background in fine art and archaeological work/site management.
Moving to Lacombe from St. Albert in 2018, she is eager to expand the reach of the Lacombe and District Historical Society in the community through the Lacombe Museums unique programs and exhibits, and First Nations and Métis cultural offerings, while fostering new and sustainable practices to promote the longevity of the Historical Society in changing times.
Melissa is involved as an active volunteer in the community, sitting on numerous arts and culture committees in the City of Lacombe, and is Vice President of the Central Alberta Regional Museum Network (CARMN).

Samantha Lee

Samantha Lee

Community Engagement and Visitor Services Coordinator (she/her)

Samantha is an early career museum professional who has worked in a variety of heritage and culture institutions around the province. Working in a variety of institutions has allowed her to test out her skills in many, many areas of museum work from programming, to collections management, to research. She is most excited about the ways that museums can work with their communities to tell stories that are not often shared, especially "hidden" histories, Indigenous stories, or stories that are told through unique mediums.
Having grown up in the Lacombe area, Samantha is enthusiastic about thinking of ways to bring all aspects of Lacombe’s heritage alive in the Lacombe Museum. Her background is in Cultural Studies, specifically in Scandinavian Literature. Samantha is generally interested in how people connect with their heritage, and in the cultural products that people make.

Brittany Kerik

Brittany Kerik

Collections Registrar & Researcher (she/her)

Bio coming soon

Our Board of Directors

Our Summer Students

Our Dedicated Volunteers