Reading Time: 3 minutes Bernard Lentz felt profound sadness when he heard last month the focus of one of his biggest dreams as a farmer was about to be lost forever. Now retired, the 79-year-old fondly recalled the memorable days in the winter of 1978 when he saved a doomed Alberta Pacific Grain Company grain elevator at the whistle […] Read more
It looks like the end of the line for two aging Prairie icons
With the imminent demolition of Menaik’s classic country grain elevator the end of an era edges closer in central Alberta
Demolition at Warner’s famed elevator row
With the loss of two classic pioneer sentinels Alberta’s pioneer heritage takes a serious blow
Reading Time: 3 minutes For Cody Kapcsos the shock of seeing the wreckage earlier this month at Warner was like looking at a once beautiful loved one and encountering utter physical devastation. “When I saw what happened to this iconic and beautiful row it was shocking to see, like someone whose beauty had long deserved admiration but now there […] Read more
Clem to rise again
Since Clem T. Go-Fur was commissioned in 1991, the hamlet has become famous — infamous to some — for its playful dioramas featuring stuffed gophers
Reading Time: 2 minutes There is lingering mourning and a touch of anxiety in the hamlet of Torrington as citizens await the return of the community’s beloved mascot, Clem T. Go-Fur. The cartoonish overall-clad four-metre-tall statue was created in 1991, but has been out of service since last fall after falling off his pedestal. “I was very disappointed. It […] Read more
Saving Alberta’s farming icons
Grain elevator enthusiasts promote history, preservation of historic structures
Reading Time: 3 minutes The key to saving the 100 or so country grain elevators still standing in Alberta is preserving their stories, says Hans Huizinga, a heritage restoration consultant. “The elevators themselves are no good without the stories,” said Huizinga, noting the Prairie sentinels and their operators generated countless tales of pioneer living and commerce. “You can have […] Read more
Drumheller graphic artist aims to preserve the memory of Prairie sentinels
Jim Pearson preserving legacy of fast-disappearing Prairie icons
Reading Time: 2 minutes Jim Pearson was caught off guard when he heard the Pioneer country grain elevator in Kamsack, Sask., was demolished in July. He had photographed it three years earlier when it was still a vital service for area farmers. “This thing was barely 30 years old,” said Pearson, a graphic artist who has established himself over […] Read more
Alberta railway stations get a new lease on life
Moving the old buildings was a challenge, and much renovation still needs to be done
Reading Time: 3 minutes A trio of Alberta communities are welcoming back a pioneer symbol of hope and prosperity that gripped early settlers across the western landscape more than a century ago. Benalto, Beiseker and Scandia are restoring old Canadian Pacific train stations to their former glory. They hope the icons will revitalize their communities with additional public services […] Read more
Young Canadians win big in New Zealand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last month Jared Hunter left Canada for a week in New Zealand as just your average farm boy from Didsbury, and came home a world champion. The 24-year-old young man was part of a 12-member Canadian delegation, split into three teams, that competed in the inaugural youth program at the 2013 World Angus Forum Youth […] Read more
Ghost town comes alive to celebrate its centenary
More than 700 people flocked to Retlaw to celebrate its 100th Year Homecoming and experience its unique, ghostly appeal
Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s really not much left of Retlaw, but this August the Alberta ghost town came alive. More than 700 people flocked to the defunct town — some from as far away as Sweden — on Aug. 10 to celebrate its 100th Year Homecoming. “A lot of them remember some of the businesses and they shared […] Read moreGrizzly weighs five tons, but isn’t too dangerous
Reading Time: 2 minutes The once-extinct plains grizzly bear in central Alberta has made a big splash in the region. And while the legendary bruin now thrilling guests at Innisfail’s Discovery Wildlife Park may not be the typical menacing-looking beast locked up in a zoo enclosure, the giant creature is still destined like no other bear to become a […] Read more
Alberta cowboys shatter stereotypes on Canadian version of reality TV hit
Gay teammates Jamie Cumberland and Pierre Cadieux have long wanted to be on ‘The Amazing Race’ — in part, to ‘push the barrier just a little bit’
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pierre Cadieux has wanted to be on “The Amazing Race” since it first aired in 2001, but as a Canadian citizen wasn’t eligible to be on the American reality TV show. Which was why the Innisfail resident was thrilled when his best friend, Airdrie’s Jamie Cumberland, called with news that a Canadian version was in […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
