By Aaron Bouma
A Dream Realized: The Carleton County Military Museum
For many, many years I’ve had this dream: to build a military museum. But it wasn’t until later in my younger years that I realized it could be achievable.
How do you focus on your dreams? Are you satisfied with how you are pushing toward achieving your goals? Autistic persons are often put down from their dreams, or told their dreams are not realistic. I’ve had numerous barriers put in front of me. I’ve knocked many of them down. Some I still struggle with, but it’s not me that put them there. We are autistic people, living in a neurotypical world. But we, as individuals, push hard to knock down those barriers.
Look at Austin Riley, for example—an autistic race car driver trailblazing into history as one of the first, if not the first, autistic race car driver.
I’m Aaron Bouma, military historian for Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada, autism self‑advocate, and now owner and curator of the Carleton County Military Museum.
How the Museum Came to Be
In other blog posts I’ve talked about how I got my love of military equipment and history. This blog will share how the museum came to be—a dream realized.
In 2010 I had my “210 2010 model celebration,” marking the building of over 200 scratch‑built military models. That’s when the encouragement really started, with the idea for me to build a military museum.
With the opening of BOUMA Woodworks on July 12, 2015, and showcasing my scratch‑built wooden military models that continued to improve, I was encouraged even more by friends and mentors to build a military museum with the artifacts and models I had.
A major stepping stone came in 2015 when I got the M2 90mm Anti‑Aircraft gun from my hometown of Woodstock. Built in 1942, it now sits in front of the museum.
Building the Museum
Construction officially started in 2021 with the base, then the concrete. The frame went up in May 2022—my brother and I mainly did it ourselves. One of the biggest obstacles was getting this building made, but it was a great adventure. I learned a lot about building structures, which is valuable.
The roof I had to hire a crew—my friends at Heritage Construction—who put the steel roof on. The journey was stressful, but rewarding. Day‑to‑day I struggle with juggling a lot of different things, and at that time it was no different.
In the spring and summer of 2023 I struggled with putting the siding on. Volunteers were hard to get, which is normal these days. Sometimes it was just me, 18 feet above ground on a ladder, putting panels up and nailing them in. But it was a struggle worthwhile.
Community Support
This project would not have been possible without the great donations from my community. One idea from a friend was that anybody who donated $100 to the museum would have their name or business name wood‑burned onto the museum. That campaign was unbelievably successful and really made this project possible in the timeline I had planned.
From summer to fall it was crunch time. I picked a date to open: November 4, 2023. That date, I was successful. So much preparation had to be done in the weeks leading up. I hired two guys to help me—they weren’t the greatest, but we got it done.
Exhibits and Opening Day
One of the first items to go into the museum were the flags. All the modern flags aligned with NATO and Western countries were on one side, while others were on the opposite side. Modern flags were flush against the ceiling. Historic flags from the First World War, Second World War, and Cold War were hung on strings from left to right—Axis and Allies. One string for the First World War, the second for the Second World War, the third for the Cold War, and the fourth against the wall for Canadian Forces, UN, and NATO flags.
Next came some of my best scratch‑built models and artifacts from the First and Second World Wars, including exhibits of notable historic military units such as the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (the Loyal Company), the 67th Carleton Light Infantry, the 71st York Regiment, the Carleton & York Regiment, and the North Shore Regiment. These included photographs, cap badges, helmets, shells, uniforms, bayonets, and more. With donations of artifacts continuing, the museum has only gotten better since opening. But opening day will be hard to top.
Opening day included our current MLA and Minister of Education, Member of Parliament Richard Bragdon, the provincial Minister for Military Affairs, our former Premier and his family, many veterans, friends, and family. It was an incredible day.
Looking Ahead
To this day the museum continues to grow and modernize. My dream came true, and has expanded with many more donations since opening day. Now comes the planning of expansion. When do I start? That is still a work in progress.
I was persistent in my goals and my dream to get this museum running. The pictures I will be displaying in this blog are from opening day and from field trips to the museum since.
