Rural History and Culture Association » Newsletter

2005 HERITAGE EXHIBITS PICTURES AT TO RHCA FLICKR SITE

Mike — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:51:58 +0000

In 2005 Saskatchewan celebrated its provincial Centennial and as part of the festivities the Celebrate Canada Committee for Saskatchewan staged the Celebrate Canada Centennial Jam. The Jam was a one-day outdoor festival held n July 1, 2005, in Wascana Centre in Regina that attracted over 50,000 people. As Project Manager for the Celebrate Canada Committee, Mike Fedyk was able to initiate unique Heritage Exhibits that were staged in the flower gardens in front of the Saskatchewan Legislature. There were nine Heritage Exhibits, each consisting of an actor portraying a Saskatchewan historical figure performing a speech on a small stage. Each stage featured a backdrop of historical pictures from the era when the speech originally took place. Among the figures portrayed were John Diefenbaker, Tommy Douglas, Big Bear, Gabriel Dumont and Violet McNaughton. Until recently pictures of these unique presentations of Saskatchewan history were featured on the Celebrate Canada Committee for Saskatchewan website but the Committee is in the process of being phased out by the federal government and their website has been taken off the internet.

The Rural History and Culture Association has posted the pictures, formally on the Celebrate Canada site on its Flickr website in order to make sure that the pictures and information about the Heritage Exhibits are still available to the public. The picture to the right is of the Heritage Exhibit featuring Regina actress Karin Von Staden portraying Saskatchewan pioneer and women’s advocate Georgina Binnie Clark.

NWMP TRAIL BOOK SET FOR RELEASE IN JULY

Mike — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:35:57 +0000

The much anticipated release of Fort Walsh to Wood Mountain: The North-West Mounted Police Trail will take place in July 2010. The book is the legacy aspect of the very successful Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals that took place during the summer of 2009 in five south western Saskatchewan communities and Fort Walsh National Historic Site. The book features 14 articles contributed by Garrett Wilson, Ken Mitchell, Thelma Poirier, Mike Fedyk and a number of other Canadian writers. Richly illustrated with over 20 black and white historical photographs, the book also includes 16 colour photographs from renowned photographer Everett Baker, who was also the person most responsible placing historic markers on the Trail in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The book is expected to retail for $14.50 and will be available at a number of bookstores as well as through the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society (SHFS). All profits from the sale of the book will go to the SHFS’s Friends of the NWMP Trail program, which maintains the NWMP Trail markers. A complete list of outlets where Fort Walsh to Wood Mountain will be available and how to order a copy from the SHFS will be announced in mid-June along with the scheduled release date.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST AT DON’S RAGTIME EMPORIUM

Mike — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:36:22 +0000

Everyone’s favourite Saskatchewan history-themed musician, Don Modderman has just launched an exciting new website to promote his many musical projects including, Ragtime Don and the Word Junkie, Mystic Flute and Crofters. You can see what Don and company are up to (and grass definitely does not grow under Don’s feet) and you can order his awesome CDs right off the site, including his latest, Steamboats on the Saskatchewan. The site looks and sounds great, check it out!

ARCHIVES WEEK FEBRUARY 1-7, 2010

Mike — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:45:15 +0000

The Saskatchewan Council of Archives and Archivists (SCAA) in planning another action-packed week of activities to celebrate Archives Week in Saskatchewan, which runs from February 1 to February 7, 2010. Activities are being planned by archives in Saskatoon, Regina, Lloydminister, Humboldt, La Ronge, North Battleford and Rosetown. Events include archive open houses, film nights, celebrity readings, concerts and much more. Information on all these exciting activities is on the SCAA website including dates and locations. It will be a terrific week and a great chance to highlight the important work of archives and archivists in Saskatchewan!

NWMP TRAIL HIGHLIGHTED IN CANADA’S NATIONAL HISTORY MAGAZINE

Mike — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:05:29 +0000

A story about the Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals organized this summer by the Rural History and Culture Association is featured in the October-November 2009 issue of The Beaver: Canada’s National History Magazine. This is the second article highlighting RHCA programs in The Beaver this year. The RHCA was also mentioned in a column by Christopher Moore in the April-May edition. The Beaver has also included a story about the NWMP Trail events on their website, which includes a slide show featuring a number of photographs from the festivals.

NWMP TRAIL PICTURES ADDED TO RHCA FLICKR SITE

Mike — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:03:10 +0000

Trail riders at NWMP Trail markers near Fort Walsh

Thirty-four pictures taken at the six Celebrate the NWMP Trail events held in south-west Saskatchewan between July 1 and August 2, 2009, have been added to the Rural History and Culture Association’s Flickr site and can be viewed there. The pictures include every aspect of the six events including “Spirits of the Trail,” the dramatic re-telling of the story of the friendship between James Walsh of the North-West Mounted Police and Sioux Chieftain Sitting Bull. Other pictures feature First Nations performances and Saskatchewan singer/songwriters.

Pictures of the T-Rex Discovery Centre in Eastend and the Eastend Historical Museum have also been added to the Museum section of the RHCA Flickr site.

A video of the highlights of the Celebrate the NWMP Trail events is currently being produced and should be posted to Youtube sometime in September.

OVER 1600 ATTEND CELEBRATE NWMP TRAIL FESTIVALS

Mike — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:23:38 +0000

Riding the Historic NWMP Trail near Wood Mountain

The sixth and final Celebrate the North-West Mounted Police Trail festival was held at Fort Walsh National Historic Site on August 2, 2009. Over 350 people took in the events at Fort Walsh, which brought the total attendance at the six festivals to over 1600 people. The other festivals were held at Wood Mountain, McCord, Val Marie, Shaunavon and Eastend starting on July 1.

The Fort Walsh event was special because of the participation of the Fort Walsh interpretative staff in the Spirits of the Trail dramatic remembering. This included six interpreters attired in period NWMP uniforms and the firing of the Fort’s cannon to signal the beginning of the Trail ride (the horses were of course a good distance away when the cannon was fired).

Pictures, videos and more information on each of the six festivals will be posted on the RHCA site later in August.

STILL TIME TO ATTEND LAST TWO NWMP TRAIL FESTIVALS

Mike — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:48:09 +0000

Over 1000 people have already attended Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals in Wood Mountain, McCord, Eastend and Shaunavon and there is still time to catch part of the excitement in Val Marie on July 24 and Fort Walsh on August 2. Events in Val Marie will include the opportunity to ride into town from parts of the original NWMP Trail that lies outside the town. Both events will conclude with a storytelling and sing-along circle and at Fort Walsh you are invited to participate in a Potluck picnic while in Val Marie their will be a beef and bean supper served by the local committee dedicated to saving the Val Marie elevator.

Pictures and videos from the first four Celebrate the NWMP Trail events have been posted on the RHCA website and more will be coming soon!

WOOD MOUNTAIN & MCCORD NWMP TRAIL EVENTS GREAT SUCCESSES

Mike — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:03:49 +0000

The first two Celebrate the NWMP Trail events at Wood Mountain (July 1) and McCord (July 4) were great successes. The Wood Mountain festival organized by the Wood Mountain Historical Society drew around 180 people, while the McCord event, staged by the McCord and District Museum attracted around 240 people. Both events featured Ken Mitchell’s “Spirits of the Trail,” historian Garrett Wilson’s “History and the Trail,” “Everett Baker’s Trail” by the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society and First Nations performances led by Errol Kinstino. Saskatchewan country singer/songwriter Tommy-John Ehman provided a concert at Wood Mountain including his new song “The North-West Mounted Police,” written specifically for these festivals. Ragtime Don and the Word Junkie’s history inspired songs and Norm Walker’s quirky tributes to Saskatchewan entertained audiences in McCord. The next festival is set for Eastend on July 11.

Pictures above were taken at Wood Mountain by Ray Bell. They feature the actors and other riders participating in the Ride the Trail aspect that precedes each Festival and leads into the “Spirits of the Trail” performances. Featured in the picture on the left are (l-r) Ken Mitchell, Geordie Grassick, Errol Kinstino and Bob Smoker.

MEDIA EVENT GETS RAVE REVIEWS

Mike — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:56:23 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

No fanfare was spared at the media event held June 25 at the RCMP Heritage Centre to formally announce the details of the upcoming six Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals. The media event attracted a crowd of nearly 50 people who received a sneak peak at what to expect the festivals that will take place at five Saskatchewan communities and Fort Walsh National Historic Site between July 1 and August 2 this summer. Finn Anderson, the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society, moderated the event and provided background o the SHFS’s efforts to mark the NWMP Trail that was in use by the NWMP between 1875 and 1912. Special guests included Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Dustin Duncan and announced that his department was providing a $45,000 grant to support the festivals through the Building Pride Program. Historian and author, Garrett Wilson, provided a dramatic reading from his award-winning book Frontier Farewell: The 1870s and the end of the Old West and Saskatchewan singer/songwriter Tommy-John Ehman debuted a new song written especially for his appearances at the NWMP Trail events, aptly titled, North-West Mounted Police. Regina actor Geordie Grassick portrayed James Walsh of the NWMP and performed a small part of the “Spirit of the Trail” dramatic storytelling, which is a major aspect of each festival.

CTV television, CBC TV and the Leader Post were all represented at the media event. The television stories can be viewed to the right and look in the June 26 Leader Post for a picture from the media event. The Celebrate the NWMP Trail events were also featured in a Leader Post story in the June 22 edition, as well as in the most recent issue of Folklore Magazine, as well as the Museum Association of Saskatchewan’s Megaphone and Christopher Moore’s Canadian History Blog.