A Hinton group wants to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by stepping into the past.
On June 22 to 28, 2017 the Athabasca River Brigade will travel from Hinton to Fort Assiniboine in 25-foot voyageur styled canoes and are inviting municipalities along the route, including Woodlands County, to participate.
Something Woodlands County councillors said they wanted to do, voting unanimously to form an ad hoc committee to discuss ways the county could take part.
Council came to the decision after listening to a presentation from Rick Zroback, from the Athabasca River Brigade during its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 20 in Whitecourt.
The Athabasca River Brigade is part of a group of non-profit organizations, whose purpose is to promote fitness, community cooperation and to educate residents along river communities about the historical importance of the voyageur canoe and Canada’s rivers in the creation of the country.
“I have been on eight of these brigades since 2008, so I am a little bit versed and taken with this crazy world of 25-foot canoes and travelling down rivers,” he said.
For the 2017 celebration event, the group, starting in Jasper, will take two voyageur canoes and travel down the Athabasca River to Fort Assiniboine. In June, the group gave the public a sneak peak at what the event would look like as the brigade took part in a shortened version of the trip from Hinton to Fort Assiniboine.
Zroback said right now the organizers of the brigade are still in the planning phase and are asking municipalities if they would like to participate.
“Anything is on the table,” he said.
One suggestion he has is when the brigade reaches Whitecourt, that there should be a welcoming celebration, perhaps a flotilla made up of brigade and local canoe and kayak paddlers travelling from Whitecourt to Blue Ridge.
“The trip is about two hours and the water is pretty smooth and safe,” Zroback, adding once the group reaches Blue Ridge another small celebration ceremony could be planned.
Zroback also suggested the possibility that Woodlands County residents might want to join the brigade itself.
He said although the paddlers do need to be in decent physical shape, it’s not as demanding as one may think.
“An average voyageur canoe is crewed by anywhere from six to 10 people, so the amount of work required by any one paddler is doable. Plus we are going down river, not up,” Zroback said.
Although the organizers are hoping all the municipalities get involved they especially would like a big buy-in from the residents of Fort Assiniboine.
“It is something we are really excited about. The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell, as the patron of all voyageur canoe events across Canada, has agreed to be part of our closing ceremonies,” he said. “So perhaps something can be planned with her in mind like a parade down Main Street. Maybe a voyageur canoe on wheels, people dressed in period costumes, just something special.”
Fort Assiniboine Coun. Dale Kluin noted a group of hamlet residents have met with the group and have expressed their willingness to be involved.
“These guys are keenly interested about what’s going on. From the historic side to everything else, they want the community to be totally involved,” he said. “If there is anything we can do as a community or as a council to get you what you need to go on with this, that is our job.”
Mayor Jim Rennie agreed that the county would like to be involved, adding there are multiple committees that can help with funding the Woodlands County area celebrations.
