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Pumpkins in the Park lights up the night The Coleman Community Society held the annual events which featured pumpkins, hot chocolate, coffee and a ton of fun NICK ALLEN Pass Herald Reporter The Coleman Community Society held the annual Pumpkins in the Park event on November 1. The annual event has been a hit in the community over the years. The evening allowed families to walk the Miner’s Path in Coleman while viewing all the donated pumpkins lit by small tea lights. There was coffee and hot chocolate in the shelter for people who came out to enjoy the walk. The public was urged to dress warmly and to wear appropriate footwear as well as bring flashlights to ensure full enjoyment of the walk. The warning for attire was well placed as there was a heavy snow happening during the event. Many of the pumpkins were beginning to become obscured as the snow fell. Conditions for the event were less than favourable, but the parking lot filled up even with the worsening conditions. The snow covered the tops of the pumpkins as residents arrived to participate in the walk, open from 7 to 9 p.m. in the park. Visit crowsnestpass.com/playinghere/what-to-do/events for more information on any upcoming events in the community.

??? Nick Allen photos

Pumpkins in the Park, held annually on November 1, lets residents go for a stroll through Flumerfelt Park, with free hot chocolate being served at the entrance.

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8 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - Wednesday, November 9, 2022

V. Blas R. Bonnier D. Dunlop James Dunlop J. Dunlop O. Dypolt D. Fraser E. Gallon M. Harrison A Heywood

J. Morgan T. Galvon R. Smith T. Gierulski L. Puch R.B. Marchant P. Marcoli C.L. Andrews S. Rudd F. F. Hinds

J. H. Williams M. Odgers J. Huston E.R. Huguet G.H. McLeod A. Sonnier E. Somville C.R. Voelker W . Haynes W . Lang

REMEMBRANCE DAY JOINT CEREMONY SERVICE

10:30 am

at the Crowsnest Consolidated High School in Coleman

Wm. Anderson R. Turner C.F. Dunlop J.S. Josephs E. Reid W .H. Kent J.P. Gregory H. Clares L. Henriet Jules Gurin C. Mitchell Wm. Maggs E.E. Blais W . Nimcan G.J. Kroesing G.C. Morris L.J. Jankulak T.L. Brennan J.W . MacQuarrie J. Rogers A. MacDonald W . Harrison M. Rucka P.J. Gandy R.H. Grewcutt A.F. Dickson R.K. McLeod H. Trette L. Adam W . Archer G. Bell G. Belshaw J. Drevinski G. Geary J.R. Hewitt W . McCullougli E. Mitchell A.E. Petts W . Raynor W . Sheen J. Sindell R. Turner R. Sloan J.R. Dryden T. Evans A.J. Fortunaso A. Gardiner G.W . Grant C.M. Hollenbeck J.G. Hutton H. Jordan D. Manchul P. Maniago A. Penman A.S. Rhodes M. Wood

D.A.H. Blake C. Charbonnieu R. Bennet L.B. Fordham J. Mottle J.M. Stewart A. McDowell J. Korner T.W . Allen J.A. Price

B. Clarke G. Holt P. Kolton B. Kyllo H. Mazur A. McEwen N. McRitchie J. Petrie W . Shenfield B. Davies

J. Houston W . Howe D. McLeod M. Oleson E. Wilson S. Dabrodney M. Godas H. Matheson K. Migita

Coleman Legion #9 Ceremony: 12:30 pm LAYING OF THE WREATH at the Coleman Legion Cenotaph followed by a luncheon (everyone welcomed)

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BY

COYOTE CREEK AT 3 PM

Bellevue Legion #19 Ceremony: 2:00 pm LAYING OF THE WREATH at the Belleve Legion Cenotaph followed by a luncheon (everyone welcomed)

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BY

ON THE ROX AT 6 PM

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - 9

The history of the H.M.C.S. Blairmore JOHN KINNEAR Community Reporter It may surprise many of you to learn that the town of Blairmore had a Bangor Class minesweeper named after it in 1942. How that came to be is an interesting story that involved 35 Miss Canada’s, a group of young Blairmore women who, as part of a competition, tirelessly sold the greatest number of War Savings Stamps per capita than any other group in the country. War stamps were sold during both wars to raise funds to buy all manner of things in support of the war effort. That amazing effort won the right for the community to choose the minesweepers name. In February of 1940 the first of the Bangor type minesweepers, (named after a sea coast town in Wales) was launched by the British Royal Navy and became the first of 61 such British sweeper ships put into action. The Germans had placed mines by the thousands along coast lines and laneways and even along our East Coast. In Canada there were no less than 57 of them built in places like North Vancouver, Toronto, Prince Rupert and Montreal. The H.M.C.S. Blairmore was laid down in January of 1942 in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) and launched in May of that year. There were two types of Canadian sweepers being built back then, with 46 of them having reciprocating steam engines and 11 having diesel turbines. The H.M. C.S. Blairmore was a larger reciprocating engine type vessel, 180 feet long and only 28 feet wide. Its pennant name was J314 and it had a crew of 6 officers and 77 enlisted men, which sounds awfully crowded to me. Other towns and cities across this country also earned the right to use their communities’ name on sweepers including places like Esquimalt, Truro, Cowichan, Goderich, Kelowna, Red Deer and so on. The Blairmore ship saw service as an escort to coastal shipping and to convoys in the North Atlantic for a couple years and then was ordered to European waters to be part of the Invasion of Normandy. There it worked as part of a flotilla of sixteen sweepers to clear the waters for the American landings at Utah and Omaha. According to Crowsnest and Its People Millennium Edition there is an interest-

H.M.C.S. Blairmore in action on the high seas - Wikipedia photo

ing story about a piece of equipment on the minesweeper. The CPR Odgen Shops in Calgary were turned into a munitions shop during the war and made what were known as 12 pound guns for the Navy. A 12 pounder is a 3-inch diameter cannon capable of firing a 12 pound projectile. Apparently when it came to the 100th gun produced at the Odgen Shops the employees chipped in to buy the gun and donated it to the Blairmore.The H.M.C.S. Blairmore was also equipped with what was known as a hedgehog, an anti-submarine weapon that fired up to 24 spigot mortars ahead of the ship when attacking a U-boat. Working on a minesweeper could be dangerous work. The way sweepers often operated was to work in pairs dragging a cable in tandem to snag and cut the cable that held dangerous mines floating just below the surface of the water. Sweepers could also operate by themselves with a special cabled float that they launched that ran alongside and behind the ship with a cutter on the towing cable. This was known as an “otter”. Once the cable was cut and the mine surfaced they would open up on it with the 12 pounder or with a pair of Oerlikon 20mm machine guns until it exploded. Cont’d on page 10

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10 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - Wednesday, November 9, 2022

H.M.C.S. Blairmore cont’d It was, as I said, dangerous work and there was always the chance of a direct mine encounter. The H.M.C.S. Blairmore did not ever have any Crowsnest Pass enlisted men or officers that served on it. It is reported to have had one casualty during the war and that was the ship's mascot, a little dog named Salty whom the crew was very proud of. It is said that on D-Day, when the guns started firing, Salty was terrified and jumped overboard and was lost at sea. The 31st Mine Sweeping Flotilla , that Blairmore was attached to, was sweeping and marking channels off the coast of France when her sister ship Mulgrave (J313) hit a mine and was crippled. The Blairmore towed the Mulgrave to Le Havre for repairs. It then sailed to Halifax for refitting, then rejoined the war effort at Plymouth Command until September of 1945 after which it returned to Canada, to Sydney, Nova Scotia where it was “paid off”. That is an old sea term that was once used for sailors who had finished their voyage and is also used to indicate when a ship is retired from duty. The HMCS Blairmore was decommissioned, acquired by Marine Industries and kept in strategic reserve, then reacquired in 1951 to be put into coastal service during the Korean War. It was never recommissioned and remained at Sydney until 1958 when it was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed Beycoz. That transfer was part of a program of Mutual Aid to member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In all 11 Canadian minesweepers went to Turkey and each one was renamed, each, oddly enough, starting with the letter B including names like Biga, Bandirma or Bodrum. The Beycoz (Blairmore) remained in service until 1971 when it was finally scrapped. Having seen what rough seas in the Atlantic can be like I have tried to imagine that overcrowded crew on the H.M.C.S. Blairmore plunging through high seas on the Atlantic, on a ship with only a nine foot draft. There is a wonderful collection of memorabilia of the Blairmore in the special military room of the Crowsnest Museum. In the Millennium Edition there is a writeup of a sailor from Blairmore named Joe Maruca R.C.N. who worked tirelessly and at his own cost to collect as much of the Blairmore’s memorabilia as possible. The museum collection, transferred there from the old Blairmore Legion, includes the ship’s bell, crew photos, a lifesaver, and a lovely picture of the Miss Canada’s, whose determined efforts succeeded in winning their town the right to name that minesweeper.

35 Miss Canada's who championed the H.M.C.S Blairmore naming - Crowsnest Museum; The Blairmore's official crew picture - Crowsnest Museum

Lest We Forget Municipal Sta昀 and Council would like to take a moment to honor and be thankful to the men and women who gave their lives and their health to 昀ght for our freedom and the freedom of those around the world.

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - 11

H.M.C.S. Blairmore cont’d

John Kinnear photos

A life saver from the Blairmore - Crowsnest Museum; Alidade (directional compass) from the Blairmore; Ships bell on display in the Crowsnest Museum.

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12 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - Wednesday, November 9, 2022

H.M.C.S. Blairmore cont’d

The Blairmore's official crew picture - Crowsnest Museum; Part of the museums military display at the Coleman Museum.

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Greatly Honouring All Who Served

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - 13

MLA Roger Reid not running for re-election NICK ALLEN Pass Herald Reporter Roger Reid, the MLA for Livingstone-Macleod, has shared they will not be running for the United Conservative Party nomination in a post on Facebook dated November 1, Reid has been the MLA for the area only one term, but feels he needs to step down from a leadership position. “After much personal wrestling and conversations with family and friends I have decided to withdraw my name from the United Conservative Party nomination for Livingstone-Macleod,” said Reid, “While I hoped to serve a second term, I no

longer feel it is possible for me to do so. He said it has been a “tremendous honour” to be MLA for the people of the Livingstone-Macleod riding. “I have discovered many amazing places so close to home and it has been my privilege to meet with constituents from High River to the Crowsnest over the last four years,” said Reid, “I will continue to be focused on the needs of LivingstoneMacleod through the end of my term.” Reid added that the last couple of years have been challenging for the province. “Neither I, nor our government have been perfect, but I believe the work we have done has put Alberta back on track,” he said, “We are stronger and in a better position to weather the current storms than we were four years ago.” There is still work to do, Reid admits, but for the province to reach its “true prosperity” Albertans must focus on making sure a “strong conservative government” continues in the province. “As I end my term, I will ensure that the concerns and the needs of Livingstone Macleod are kept in front of our Premier and her cabinet until the next election is called,” said Reid. The full statement is available on the Livingstone Macleod UCP Constituency Association Facebook page.

Wildlife study in the Crowsenst Pass NICK ALLEN Pass Herald Reporter A recent wildlife camera monitoring project gives insight into the crossings of animals on the highway through the Crowsnest Pass. According to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), we now better understand how wildlife are moving throughout the Crowsnest Pass, a place where vehicle-wildlife collisions are a costly and tragic problem. “It's a very important hub... We have the highest diversity of mammals in North America, but it's also a pinch point in the wildlife corridor,” said Emilie Brien, Natural Area Manager for the Castle-Crowsnest Watershed at NCC. The NCC and Miistakis Institute have completed the first-year, preliminary results from their joint three-year wildlife camera monitoring project in the Crowsnest Pass, called Linking Landscapes. “After one year of study, it's not quite enough data to really make hard conclusions, but we're hoping that after three years, we can really give recommendations to Alberta Transportation on what modification methods would work best,” said Brien. Since the cameras were being installed on land that was privately owned, they were unsure if they would be able to get permission. “We didn't know how landowners would react when we asked them about installing cameras on their land but overwhelmingly, people were super supportive,” said Brien. 37 remote cameras were installed along Highway 3, a popular section of highway for motorists and animals alike. They were installed in a wildlife corridor Nature Conservancy of Canada owns and named after former Premier, the late Jim Prentice in 2018. “Funding is always an issue for a big project... [funding] was a bit scary at the beginning, but it went really well,” said Brien. 21 volunteers put in 333 volunteer hours managing the cameras and identifying species, including white-tailed deer, black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, cougar, moose

Photo courtesy of the Nature Conservancy of Canada

Elk captured on camera as part of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s project in the Crowsnest Pass called Linking Landscapes.

and elk among others. “With so many cameras, we need to look at every single photo one by one to identify the animals... that would not be possible without the help of our fantastic volunteers,” said Brien. One of the discoveries was that wildlife are active and crossing at the railway underpass and at the Crowsnest River bridge, showing potential to change these structures to improve safe wildlife movement. “We put cameras on some crossing structures that already exist. We realized that these two are the only ones that were used by wildlife and [the crossings are] only used by very few species. I think it's only white-tailed deer, red fox and cougars that really use them. All the other animals don't use them, so that means they all cross on the highway,“ said Brien. The hope is these results will someday inform motor vehicle accident mitigation efforts in the area, to lower the risk of collisions for both people and wildlife. Visit natureconservancy.ca for more information on the Nature Conservancy of

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