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Celebrating Culture Days in Two Hills
Celebrating Culture Days in Two Hills
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
Around two dozen people gathered in Market Square to celebrate Culture Days on Sept. 20.
Hosted by the Town of Two Hills, the event was the first of its kind to be held in the downtown space. Mayor Leonard Ewanishan addressed the crowd, stating, “This is probably going to be my last public event. My wife over there is probably happy. I would at this time like to thank the Ag. Society for all the hard work they’ve done over the years, working with administration for all kinds of projects. (Including the market square.) As you can see it’s a working project. Next year it will probably be completed. It opens up a venue for people to enjoy our downtown and just be able to chill.
I Googled Culture Days, and what it said to celebrate the arts and culture in our community within the province. You also have to realize that we live in one of one of the best provinces in Canada, but we have to be thankful that our forefathers did settle here…we have all types of ethnic groups within the Town of Two Hills and within the province, and we should always remember we are Canadians, and that we should always be proud of. We are Canadians and we will always be Canadians no matter what the gentleman below the 49th says.”
Town Councillor Michael Tarkowski said the Market Square project “was driven by our EDO (Economic Development Officer) a couple of years ago. It’s a work in progress, so we probably won’t have grand opening until spring of 2026 with Co-op.
Bob Ross, Economic Development and Tourism Officer for the Town of Two Hills, talked about the Market Square project, which received a “very generous grant through Co-op Community Spaces for $77,000.
The original concept was for a market square came about because, “There were two vacant lots in the heart of downtown. There had been a fire and buildings removed, and these lots were just sitting. It left the side of the town office exposed, unpainted, fire scorched and kind of unsightly. So, we thought we’ll do something with these properties. We thought a market square was a good idea so we could get people to come downtown.
We did a little research on it. It’s quite popular in the United States, but there are very few in Canada. It’ll be a four-season market, but we don’t expect much going on in the dead of winter, predominantly three seasons.”
Vendors will be able to come in and rent sheds. There are three sheds currently on-site, and Ross expects to have 10 altogether once the project is completed. There will also be space for these pop-up vendor tents as well. It’s a combination of a farmer’s market, flea market, antiques, a little bit of everything. The idea is to pull the traffic off the highway to downtown.”
Market Square also includes a stage and picnic tables. Talented Cowboy poet Dave Thompson and country singer Abygale Durie performed on stage, while blacksmith Christopher McNutt conducted a blacksmithing demonstration at the museum.
McNutt said he got into blacksmithing at the age of 14 when he was a hobby knife maker. He did not have a mentor or any formal training, but taught himself through YouTube videos. “I was self taught with the help of YouTube videos. I have always been enamored with blacksmithing and smithing in general from an early age and it quickly grew to be my favorite hobby and I am very passionate about it, although my true passion would be to teach others in a class setting to blacksmith.”
The Two Hills area resident is also planning to repair and restore the usable items inside the blacksmith shop at the museum.
