Lloydminster residents were invited to celebrate Heritage Day on the holiday Monday, at the Lloydminster Cultural and Science Centre (LCSC) and Weaver Park Campground.
The event is hosted in partnership with the Barr Colony Heritage Society, offering a variety of free events for the whole family from morning to afternoon.
“So the Barr Colony Heritage Society, this is originally they would hold on Canada Day. However, Canada Day, it basically started getting too big for the site here, and that’s when it was moved to Bud Miller. And then August 1st, is Heritage Day, and essentially it’s their event, and we support them best we can as the Lloydminster Cultural and Science Centre,” explains LCSC Supervisor, Natalie Clysdale.
The celebration on featured breakfast and a number of activities, free of charge. The Barr Colony Heritage Society: a group which is primarily dedicated to the restoration of antique machinery and blacksmithing. As such, the event’s activities were rooted in the pioneer theme of the day.
“A variety of activities that were history- or heritage-oriented: pioneer demonstrations, rope-making… we had an old-fashioned wood churning machine, old cars for display, a vintage tractor parade as well, in addition to pioneer crafts like weaving, candle-making, and needle-felting,” discusses Clysdale.
Clysdale also says that the tractor parade was the big hit of the day. The event actually brought in an unexpected number with regard to visitorship. Overall, about 750 people were through the gates and through the museum: more people than ever before, which has led Clysdale to consider suggesting changes to the event, potentially by extending it to take place over the course of entire long weekend in future.
The government declared the first Monday of August as a provincial holiday back in 1974 to celebrate the varied cultures of Albertans and the province’s beginnings.
“It’s important for people to understand where they’re going, by understanding the past. It’s sort of a tribute to understanding colonist that settled the area over a hundred years ago by learning about the challenges and struggles that they had coming to the Lloydminster area.”
