Neerlandia Co-op celebrates 100th anniversary on July 28-30

BARRHEAD — Hundreds of people converged on the community of Neerlandia from July 28-30 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Neerlandia Co-op, which was originally established by a group of settlers in 1922.

The celebration kicked off with a belated retirement celebration on Thursday evening for Albert Mast, who worked for the Co-op for 45 years, including 30 as the general manager.

On Friday evening, over 500 people turned out for an anniversary dinner, which featured a number of speeches by Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken, Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen and former County of Barrhead reeve George Visser, who is also a former Co-op board member and a long-time shareholder. Entertainment was also provided by Richard and Deborah Popovich.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of local residents and visitors lined the streets of Neerlandia for an anniversary parade, which was followed by a tractor pull, a show and shine with more than 40 entries, a bench show hosted at the Neerlandia Public Christian School gym, a Farmer's Olympics and fireworks in the evening.

-with files from Les Dunford