The province is accepting nominations of deserving Albertans with the opening of the 2022 Alberta Heritage Awards.
Administrators indicate the Alberta Heritage Awards recognize the outstanding achievements of Albertans engaged in heritage preservation, protection and promotion. The accolade was revived in 2005 and seventy awards have been presented since its resumption.
Albertans can be nominated in three categories:
- Heritage conservation
- Heritage awareness
- Outstanding achievement.
Individuals, organizations, corporations and municipalities can be nominated for an award. The guidelines and nomination forms can be found on the Heritage Awards web page.
Previous recipients include the Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots Oral History Project in 2017. This covered a documentary detailing the roots of African-Americans who settled in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
This also discusses the settlers who built the Shiloh Baptist Church north of Maidstone.
As well, the restoration of Highland Hall. The Ukrainian Farmers’ National Home of Taras Shevchenko, known locally as the Highland Community Hall built in Barich near Smoky Lake. The hall was designated a provincial historic resource in 2018.
Another recipient was Don Gillespie, a grocer in Stettler who led efforts to preserve the last original rail line laid in Alberta at the turn of the 20th Century. That initiative led to the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursion in Stettler.
The deadline for nominations is June 1st. The 2022 recipients will be recognized at an awards ceremony in September during Alberta Culture Days.