Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013
Council marks city’s centennial TIME CAPSULE UNEARTHED A2 ALL SET FOR THE CENTENNIAL C1
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
City of Red Deer city manager Craig Curtis welcomes guests and introduces speakers at a special celebration session of council in council chambers. On Monday the city celebrated the 100th anniversary of being incorporated a city. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer’s official birthday bash ended with a look to the future. At a special Centennial Meeting of Council, attendees inside Red Deer city council chambers and those watching on the city’s website had a glimpse what shaped the city over the last century.
It was a time for reflection as the attendees including as many as 18 former city councillors listened as various speakers highlighted aspects of the city’s natural and cultural history and the people that shaped Red Deer. Mayor Morris Flewwelling said it is important to retain the values that Red Deer was built upon including environmental stewardship, volunteerism, quality of life, affordable housing,
entrepreneurship and collaboration, knowing the city will grow to about 300,000 in the next 50 or 60 years “We have so much,” said Flewwelling. “So in our future we are looking to continue to be a progressive community.” Former mayor Gail Surkan said the city has come a remarkable distance since it was born on March 25, 1913. She said it is not just the way the city has been physically built.
Exhibit showcases Red Deer’s official, homespun history BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF The story of Red Deer’s founder Rev. Leonard Gaetz can be discovered at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery — and so can the tale of Peanut, the Club Cafe’s parrot mascot. There’s a description of local farming advocate Jim Bower and — for those piqued by quirkier folklore — there are photos of actress Olive de Wilton, the common-law life of Boris Karloff, who grew up in Red Deer and is buried in Lacombe. Both the official and homespun local histories of our city can be found in the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery’s new permanent exhibit that displays more local artifacts than ever — from a 6,000-year-old stone bowl created by unknown aboriginals, to early city maps, to Canada’s only existing full uniform for German prisoners who laboured on local farms during the Second World War. The $1.5 million exhibit that’s been five years in the making from conception to construction, is now open at the museum and ready to take visitors on a tour of the city’s earliest days to the present. The museum’s executive-director Lorna Johnson is very excited about Remarkable Red Deer: Stories from the Heart of the Parkland, a 4,800 square-foot exhibit paid for by the municipality, province and ongoing fundraising. The idea was to pull together the stories that make Red Deer unique,
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“People really have a way of engaging in the community and doing things together creatively that represents what is most important about our community,” said Surkan, who was the city’s first female mayor from 1992 to 2004. “When we are celebrating 100 years of a city, it’s good to reflect (and celebrate) back on that because it will guide us in the future.” On March 25, 1913, Red Deer was incorporated as a city but local historian Michael Dawe said the history goes back much farther. Dawe said when the archaeological digs were conducted on Piper’s Mountain (Rotary Park) in the early 1980s they found evidence of camp sites going back 4,000 to 5,000 years. Doris Jewell, who served on council from 1971 to 1974, still attends planning and recreation board meetings. Jewell and her family has lived in Red Deer since 1949. “I’m not 100 yet but I am pushing it,” laughed Jewell. “It’s been a most interesting time to live to see it gradually grow. I was in business, too, so I was downtown, too. It was so interesting to see it grow. I think the growth has been handled very well. It’s not easy when the place explodes, which we almost did.” Jewell said the city has done a good job of maintaining the park areas and gradually adding to them. Former alderman Bill Scott served from 1963 to 1965 on council and was active on the city’s 50th anniversary committee. “We’re still here,” laughed Scott. “The city has progressed ... We have to keep our mind on agricultural and a few other things with the environmental and the economics. As long as we keep our dollar not in front of everything else we will be OK.” Visit www.reddeer2013.ca for the upcoming centennial events. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
Man jailed one year for dangerous chase BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF
exhibit’s streetscape visuals, including a focal wall-sized photo of the old train station, as well as storefronts depicting the old Capitol Theatre, the Club Cafe, and W.E. Lord Co. department store, which was later taken over by Eatons. (The storefronts were constructed in Quebec and shipped here).
The sudden rise from poverty in Nova Scotia to a well-paid job in Alberta has been blamed for the drug addiction that cost a young man his freedom and his driving privileges on Monday. Neil Robert MacDonald, 27, was jailed for one year, to be followed by 30 months of probation, and had his driving licence suspended for six years after pleading guilty to charges arising from a dangerous pursuit from Lacombe Police on Thursday. Court heard that MacDonald raised suspicions of Sgt. Rick Kohut, who noticed a vehicle driving with its headlights turned off at about 3:30 a.m. near Lacombe’s aquatic centre. Rather than pulling over when Kohut activated his lights, MacDonald pulled away, beginning a pursuit during which the vehicle he was driving — reported stolen later in the day — hit speeds of up to 90 km/h within city limits. MacDonald pulled into a parking lot at one point, then slammed the car into reverse as Kohut’s vehicle approached and sped off again, jumping parking curbs and sidewalks on its way back to the street.
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Photo by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff
Abigail Edwards, 8, left, and her brother Jarom, 13, learn about noted Red Deerians using interactive screens in the Club Café portion of the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery’s new Remarkable Red Deer exhibit Monday. Please see related video at www.reddeeradvocate.com. said Johnson. Various tales from the city’s past were selected by an “internal team” of six local history experts, including former city archivist Michael Dawe. They enlisted the help of a Red Deer interpretive firm, then designers and audio experts from Ontario, Quebec and the U.S. to help bring these stories to life for museum goers. A Toronto firm came up with the
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FORECAST ON A2
Wrapped in ceremonial white, hooded jackets, nearly 300 young people arrived Monday on Parliament Hill to cap off a marathon winter trek through the Canadian hinterland inspired by the Idle No More movement. A5
A mother-and-daughter team with an affinity for cooking are taking their show on the road — although not too far. C3