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Radisson museum curator not deterred by break-in

Mar 14, 2018 | 5:00 PM

When 13-year-old Judah Tyreman went to open his Sesula Mineral and Gem Museum and Rock Shop in Radisson on Sunday, he expected to see his familiar display that has been welcoming visitors to the area since 2016. But what he did find made him stop stone cold in his tracks.

Sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, thieves broke into his location and made off with between $6,000 and $8,000 worth of jewellery and minerals.

“I didn’t even have go into the building,” said Tyreman. “When I came up to the front step there was jewellery trailing out of the store and I instantly knew I had been robbed.”

He added that in addition to the gems and jewellery taken, the culprits also managed to steal some bigger display pieces from his collection.

“I used to have about 4,000 pieces in my collection but since the robbery I haven’t done an accurate count,” he added.

Tyreman’s fascination with rock collecting began about four years ago when his father bought him a rock polisher. The two would then go to local area train tracks to search and collect rocks of various shapes, colours and sizes.

“The first rock I actually kept for my own personal collection was a coquina rock,” he said. “They (gems and minerals) are just so fascinating because each one is one of a kind, there are no others like it.”

In 2016, Tyreman’s collection grew so big that he had to take the next and create his own museum. His collection grew even bigger thanks to a Saskatoon man Judah used to buy rocks from. His name was Stewart Sesula.

“Stewart was a kind gentleman who was a quadriplegic and enjoyed minerals as much as me,” he said. “Unfortunately, he passed away in 2016 and his wife said he willed his entire collection to me.”    

Since Sunday’s robbery, Tyreman has received an outpouring of support from people all over world wanting to donate money to help him rebuild his shop. A GoFundMe page has been set up and to date over $6,000 has been raised.

“I really appreciate how everyone is helping me,” he added.

The contributions continued on Wednesday when Tyreman received a letter from Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Gene Makowsky inviting him to Regina to meet the curator at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. They have offered to help restore his collection by providing rock and mineral samples from among the duplicates in their geology and amber collection.

Another local business, Inland Aggregates, have offered to install a multi-level security system for his museum at no cost.

“What was designed to wreck the museum, is going to turn around to probably double its size,” said Tyreman. “I’m grateful for the tremendous support.”

 

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter