2015 was a year of giving back to the community. Penhold's Stewart Ford led the way with his triumphant effort to restore the region's “national treasure” – the sacred First World War-era Memorial Hall drop curtain -- for the entire country.
But the devoted and selfless commitment to Innisfail's children by local volunteer and mother Erin Flewelling was equally awe-inspiring.
There was also the determination by members of the Rotary Club of Innisfail who worked tirelessly to ensure Napoleon Lake became much more than just a visually pretty natural feature for new developments. And then there was the always devoted hard work by the food bank's Carole Sim to help those less fortunate.
(1) Saving the Penhold curtain
For more than a dozen years retired businessman Stewart Ford had a vision. He wanted a forgotten priceless piece of war art resurrected, and he was prepared to lobby anybody and everybody and spend tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen.
When the rolled up six-by-four-metre theatre drop curtain was saved from its dusty purgatory in the attic at Penhold's Memorial Hall on March 3, 2003, the 77-year-old Penholder immediately sprung into action. He knew it was an important piece of heritage, not only for the town but for all of Canada.
The creation of the drop curtain was a special project spearheaded by the Penhold Women's Institute (PWI) that followed the construction of the Memorial Hall in 1919. They had Red Deer artists create the iconic image of the shelled ruins of the Basilica of Our Lady of Brebičres from the French town of Albert that had been ravaged during the German advance in 1915.
Eventually, the town picked up the curtain's historical significance and it was donated to the Canadian War Museum in 2006. However, for many years the curtain, which needed expert restoration, was not a priority at the Ottawa museum. But Ford kept pressing officials in the national capital, and finally they moved in 2014.
And on Nov. 5, the curtain came home to be viewed for the first time in half a century. It was a hailed as a “national treasurer.”
It will stay in town until spring when it will be returned to Ottawa.
“To us locally it is the Penhold curtain but all of a sudden it has a national impact and the best of all worlds,” said Ford last fall. “It is absolutely wonderful, unbelievable.”
(2) Vision for Innisfail's children
When hundreds of young Innisfail Middle School students clapped and cheered they witnessed a magical paradise being built just for them.
A few feet away Erin Flewelling stood motionless speechless, but overcome with emotion.
“That is pretty awesome,” she said, choking back tears. “It's amazing to see the community come together. You can see the hard work come through now.”
Three days later her two-year dream for the children of Innisfail, with the help of dozens of other volunteers was completed – a magnificent new playground at the Innisfail Schools Campus.
The four-day project from June 3 to 6 was the culmination of a dream for the community that began in 2013 when school officials were told the existing playground equipment would have to be removed due to the multi-million dollar modernization project for the four schools.
For the next two years Flewelling, vice-chair of the elementary school parent council, and her colleagues fundraised throughout the community with a burning passion.
And when the new playground arrived at the campus for assembling, Flewelling lovingly guided the scores of volunteers to get the job done. And when it was completed, Flewelling humbly passed on the credit to the community.
“The Town of Innisfail and the community around us – it's amazing. It's amazing that we could do this,” she said.
(3) Bella's legacy is secured
A month after Penhold's sacred curtain was unveiled, it was Innisfail's turn to step up for heritage preservation.
For more than 10 years the Innisfail and District Historical Society and area farmer John Thomson talked about saving a historical log home on his family farm eight kilometres west of town. The 126-year-old structure was once the home of Isabella Sinclair, the first Caucasian female to settle in Central Alberta.
An agreement was freached this year between the society and Thomson to move the Sinclair home in 2016 to the Innisfail Historical Village. Thomson is paying for the move. The two-story structure needs extensive restoration but society officials have recently acquired a $17,000 provincial grant to help with that cost.
The acquisition of the Sinclair house was a two-year determined effort by Anna Lenters, the president of the society. Having the Sinclair house gives the society the final piece of a trio of critically important structural artifacts, including The Spruces stopping house and the log cabin of Napoleon Remillard, that offers a full picture of the region's early pioneer history. In the case of the Sinclair house, the village will be able to tell the crucial role pioneer women played in the region's earliest settlement years.
“What I can do by having that building on our site is bring it full circle because we have two other important structures that relate to this home and then I can tell that story through her eyes,” said Lenters.
(4) Napoleon Lake's transformation
In three days last May and July Napoleon Lake turned from being just a body of water to a venue where Innisfailians could at last observe the wonder of nature the way it's supposed to.
The Rotary Club of Innisfail had long wanted to revamp the natural walking trail along the three-kilometre perimeter lake, and build appropriate points where citizens could rest in soothing tranquil comfort.
In the spring, town council approved the Napoleon Lake trail upgrade, a three-year $92,000 project that has the service club paying two-thirds of the cost.
On May 30, a team of about a dozen Rotary members spent the day constructing platforms at the northwest and southwest corners of the lake. On July 11, they finished the southwest platform with a 20-metre boardwalk, and on July 25 the northwest one with a 33-metre boardwalk was finished.
There is still more work to be done at the lake by Rotary and the town. The service club is looking at installing signage and new benches as well as creating picnic areas with tables.
“I think the more it (trail) is used people will appreciate that this lake in the centre of town is really a gem. I really believe that,” said Rotary member Monty Wild. “More and more people are taking pride in maintaining this area as a natural wildlife area.”
(5) Stepping up for Terry Fox
In late August the Terry Fox Foundation issued a disturbing news release.
The annual community Terry Fox Run for 2015, the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope, was being cancelled. No one answered the call to organize the community run, which has raised $108,000 for cancer research since 2005.
But immediately after the news was published in the Province on Sept. 1, Patrick Gleason, a former teacher, came forward to organize the Sept. 20 event, which was being held in more than 800 communities across Canada. He had less than three weeks to organize the event.
“I think this is really important we do this, that we are part of it with all the rest of the communities in Canada. He (Terry Fox) was a really remarkable young man,” said Gleason. “He did something really special and we should honour that.”
With the help of several Scotiabank volunteers, Gleason got everything ready for the five-kilometre run that was centred at Centennial Park. More than 40 citizens showed up, and when the event was all over about $6,000 was raised for the foundation. Gleason promised he would be back in 2016.
“Most of the committee is coming back too. We have set up meetings starting in January,” said Gleason. “We hope to be approaching businesses and doing an awareness campaign before the actual run.”
(6) Brian Malley guilty of murder
The bombing murder of Victoria Shachtay – a disabled 23-year-old Innisfailian - shocked and horrified the community.
Shachtay, 23, died instantly when a pipe bomb disguised as a Christmas present and left at the front door of her home on Nov. 25, 2011, exploded in front of her as she sat is a wheelchair at a kitchen table.
More than three years later on Feb. 24 of this year, justice finally prevailed. Following a five-week trial in Red Deer Court of Queen's Bench, a jury decided Brian Malley was responsible. Malley, 58, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
“I've got my justice here and it is a great weight off my shoulders,” said Victor Shachtay, the father of Victoria. “I'm certain that Vicky would be satisfied with the outcome of this trial. Justice has prevailed.”
The Crown successfully argued that Malley, a financial advisor, killed Stachtay after loosing more than $500,000 of her money, funds that were given to her as part of an insurance payout following a 2004 motor vehicle accident.
Following the verdict, the killer's lawyer, Bob Aloneissi, announced there would be an appeal to the conviction.
““Canada's justice system's hall of shame for wrongful convictions has a new inductee,” he said. “Brian Malley now joins a sorry list of those wrongfully convicted, which includes Donald Marshall Jr., David Milgaard, Guy Paul Moran, amongst others. That's what I feel.”
(7) Kerry Towle is defeated
It wasn't the orange wave that turned out to be Kerry Towle's undoing. It was the angered rural vote.
In the fall of 2014 the hard-working socially conscious MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake bolted the internally battered Wildrose party to sit with the governing Progressive Conservatives (PC). She easily won the PC nomination on Feb. 28 over Jim Wood, the mayor of Red Deer County, and began the provincial spring election campaign convinced she would win.
And while the left-leaning NDP pummelled everything on the right in most areas of the province on May 5 the angry rural vote proved unforgiving towards Towle's party switch. She lost convincingly to the Wildrose's new candidate - 59-year-old educator Don MacIntyre.
“They are voting against me for crossing the floor. I know that and I hear that,” said Towle after conceding defeat. “I own that.”
(8) Innisfail seniors get new home
Just a few weeks before the provincial election was called last spring, Kerry Towle had every reason to smile.
On March 20, Towle was front and centre at a major news conference at the Autumn Glen Lodge where it was announced that the long-awaited replacement of the aging Autumn Glen Lodge would finally be a reality.
The news conference was also attended by Red Deer MP Earl Dreeshen, senior Parkland Foundation officials as well as representatives from The Bethany Group – the foundation's partnering management body.
In recent years the 55-year-old assisted living lodge, a 62-room low-income facility for Central Alberta seniors, had become increasingly inadequate for both staff and residents. But under a deal between the federal and provincial governments, a new $17.6-million facility would finally go ahead, with three-phased construction scheduled to start in the spring of 2016, with completion anticipated for 2018.
“This is great news for the people who need access to affordable housing and for Innisfail as well,” said Dreeshen. “By providing more rental options for local seniors these new housing units will contribute to the economic and social well-being of the entire community.”
Six weeks after the provincial election, which saw Towle defeated in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, the new NDP government confirmed it would stick to the provincial and federal government agreement to replace Autumn Glen Lodge.
(9) Big sibling stars on the track
For years when it came to success in local sports Emily Lucas out ran them all. Literally.
The former Innisfail High School student, now studying at Lethbridge College, has long been the pride of the town for her success in track and field and cross-country running. She still holds many Innisfail High School track records from grades 10 thorugh to 12. In 2015, she won two gold medals – in the 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre events at the 2015 Provincial Track and Field Championship in Lethbridge.
But now there is a new kid on the block – her younger sister Chloe.
Chloe, who is in Grade 9, has a goal to reach the provincial championships next year, and with every practice she improves. At this year's 2015 Chinook's Edge North Athletic Association (CENAA) Jr. High Track and Field competition, she was just one second behind Emily's record that was set when her sibling was in Grade 9.
“At practices I try to keep up to her and it makes me push myself harder,” said Chloe earlier this year. “At meets it's the same -- she's always at the side yelling at me to go faster.”
As for Emily, theadmiration and respect is mutal.
“Honestly, I've learned more from her (Chloe) in the last year, than I've learned from anybody in track,” said Emily.
(10) Stepping up for the hungry
Everyone is the community had one big worry in 2015 – the economy and what it would mean for jobs.
Plunging world oil prices had dropped dramatically. Thousands of oil patch workers lost their jobs, including many folks in Innisfail. An additional blow came in October when Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada announced it was shutting down local production operations, a move that will put 44 employees out of work by the end of January.
But Innisfailians rallied for those hit hard by the recession, and no one worked harder to see them through the tough times than Carole Sim, the long-time coordinator at the Innisfail and District Food Bank.
Working diligently and with passion from her office at the Co-Op Mall, Sim devoted countless hours working with local businesses, volunteers and service groups to ensure everyone had enough food for their families. At the recent RCMP Charity Check Stop, a new record of giving to the food bank was made, an astounding 1,286 lbs. of food was collected, with another 1,350 lbs. received from a local hockey tournament.
“We are very fortunate because some communities are not having it as good as we are,” said Sim of the ongoing generosity of the community. “Hopefully everybody gets looked after.”
