Any Sundre and surrounding area residents who are looking to celebrate Canada Day 150 need look no further than right here at home.
Any Sundre and surrounding area residents who are looking to celebrate Canada Day 150 need look no further than right here at home.
Between the Town of Sundre and the Sundre Pioneer Museum, a full day of fun activities including pioneering games, heritage performances, a family movie, and a dance followed by fireworks have been organized for anyone and everyone in the area to enjoy.
The jam-packed, all-ages community celebration of the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation all gets started at the museum's grounds, which open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 1.
"It's not only to bring focus to the museum and our pioneer heritage buildings, but also to celebrate Canada and its special 150th anniversary," said Jaime Marr, the museum's new executive director.
The opening ceremonies and flag raising takes place at about 11 a.m. with participation from members of the Sundre RCMP detachment and the local legion as well as a piper, followed by the free barbecue hosted by town officials from noon to 2 p.m., she said.
"We are also going to be doing a bunch of family-friendly and youth focused pioneer games."
Throughout the day, there will be activities such as face painting, a horseshoe tournament, old-fashioned family games, a MÈtis village as well as a new general store that will be selling unique handcrafted pioneer items, she told the Round Up.
"I'm trying to bring the museum and the exhibits to life."
Once the gates at the museum close at around 5 p.m., there will be a roughly two-hour break to offer families the opportunity to "go uptown and have supper or go home and regroup" before coming out to the Sundre Community Centre, where the municipality has plans to host at 7 p.m. an indoor family friendly movie in partnership with the local Fountain Tire, said Barb Rock, Sundre's community services assistant.
The dance follows at about 8:30 p.m. for roughly two hours, during which time there will also be a free photo booth so people can bring home a keepsake to remember the once-in-a-lifetime occasion, she said.
"There will be props for the photos to ham it up!"
All of these events were made possible through funding and partnerships among the municipality, the museum, Fountain Tire, Sundre IGA and the Government of Canada, as well as the dedicated efforts of numerous community volunteers.
"This is just an incredible opportunity for all of us to reflect on the good fortune we have to live in the greatest country on the planet," said Mayor Terry Leslie.
"And also to be grateful we live in a part of the country that is so spectacular," he said.
Officially wrapping up Sundre's community celebration of Canada Day 150 will be a fireworks display supervised by the local fire department at the school ball diamonds at dusk once the dance is over, by which time the sky should be dark enough. People are welcome to bring their own chairs for the display or to watch it from the comfort of their own vehicles, said Rock.
"It really is an all-day event," said Marr.
"We want the community and its members to stay in town and come celebrate with everyone here!"
