A national historic site south of Longview opened its gates this week with plenty to celebrate for the coming season.
The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site won’t just commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday this year. It’s also marking the centennial year of the country’s national historic after the first site, Fort Anne National Historic Site, opened in Nova Scotia in 1917, as well as 100 years since Canada’s victorious battle at Vimy Ridge during the First World War.
The first of its celebrations is Hometown Heroes this Victoria Day weekend honouring those involved and impacted by the First World War.
“It’s looking back 100 years ago when World War One was raging across Europe and all the cowboys that went to serve and all the animals that went to serve and what happened on the home front here too,” said Mike McLean, Bar U Ranch special projects officer. “It was a real fabric-changing part of our community. Our whole community changed after World War One.”
Hometown Heroes will include a display at the visitors centre with various facts and photographs, as well as an interactive map of Vimy Ridge where visitors can learn what the weather was like at Vimy Ridge 100 years ago, how the battle progressed, trench slang and how the soldiers lived.
On Saturday and Sunday, visitors can watch the Strathcona Mounted Troop perform cavalry drills and parade around the site in vintage First World War uniforms.
They can also ride around in historic war vehicles, including a vintage tank and armored personnel carrier, and test their aim with air soft rifles in a trench parapet.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., visitors can view various horse-drawn farming implements in a parade throughout the site and throughout the weekend watch farming as it occurred a century ago with heavy horse teams and men from the Alberta Carriage Supply and Turner Valley’s Eau Claire Distillery planting crops.
McLean said the historic ranch saw a record attendance in 2016 with more than 23,000 visitors. He expects to see more this season with the free admission in celebration of Canada’s 150th.
“This year we are expecting a higher attendance,” he said. “It’s hard to wrap our minds around how many more are going to be coming. Everybody has been excited about and gearing up for Canada’s 150th birthday.”
Other activities scheduled to take place this season include a Chuckwagon Cook Off and Pack Horse Race June 18, Canada Day festivities July 1, Parks Day July 15, Learn to Camp program July 22-23, Concert on Pekisko Aug. 19, Old Time Ranch Rodeo Aug. 20 and Harvest and Heavy Horse Pull Sept. 16 to 17.
The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.