Southwest Assiniboine Chapter

Ed Arndt

On June 19, 2013, some 30 retired teachers and their guests boarded Brandon Bus Lines Motor Coach for another tour dubbed by our tour organizer as “The Adventure of a Life Time.”

Once again this tour was sponsored by the Southwest Assiniboine Chapter of Retired Teachers’ Association and was organized and directed by our fellow retired educator, Kel Smith. Our capable and congenial bus driver on this tour was Blaine Moncur.

This year’s primary destination was the International Peace Garden with additional stops at Boissevain and Souris.

The Peak flower season had not arrived yet at The Peace Garden and consequently so many of the flowers and plants were in the pre-bloom stage, however the Peace Garden Staff were extremely busy during the time of our visit preparing flower beds and planting the huge variety of flowers that makes this garden so attractive to Canadian, U.S. and International visitors. It is difficult, if not impossible to describe the beauty of the landscape. . . one has to visit these gardens to fully appreciate their indescribable beauty.

Our first stop at the Peace Garden was to tour the Game Warden Museum. This building complex housed a great number of wildlife specimens. . . stuffed animals and various educational displays designed to bring to people’s attention the harmful effects of poaching.

A recent addition to the Peace Garden were the steel girders from one of the towers destroyed during the 911 Attack. These rusty steel girders were a stark reminder of man’s inhumanity to man.

After leaving the Peace Garden, the next stop on our tour was a visit to the community of Boissevain. Here we were treated to a tour of Boissevain via a horse drawn conveyance. It was at a slow enough pace that allowed our aging eyeballs to fully view and fathom the sights of this beautiful prairie town. Our very capable and equally congenial tour guides for this tour, Lynda and Stewart Mannix provided us with a well-informed, enthusiastic commentary. While a portion of our group was touring Boissevain, others were able to visit the Boissevain & District Model Railroad Association displays of model trains, elevators, stations, etc. A visit to the nearby Irvin Goodon International Wildlife Museum completed our tour of Boissevain. . . including of course a group picture in front of Boissevain’s famous statue of “Tommy, the Turtle.”

We concluded our tour with a supper at the Royal Canadian Legion in Souris. Our very brief dinner music was supplied by none other than our talented tour organizer, Kel Smith on the piano who displayed some hidden musical talents. 