Empress celebrates its 110th anniversary
By Joan Janzen
On July 20th and 21st, the village of Empress celebrated its 110th anniversary. Breakfast was available at the Empress Community Hall, and lunch followed at noon. Vendors filled the hall for the Garden Market, where visitors browsed, made their purchases, and enjoyed visiting with friends.
A parade began at the hospital, with cars, tractors, bikes, horses and people making their way through the village. The train station was open for tours, and fire engines were displayed on the boardwalk. Twenty-five years ago, the railway salvage company dismantled the tracks at Empress, which had been in place for 86 years. The building was in a state of advanced disrepair, when the community of Empress took on the massive restoration job.
PHOTOS BY JOAN JANZEN, click for larger images
Just one year earlier, in 1998, the former Toronto-Dominion bank building had been purchased by Peter and Bernice Zieman. They were artists who worked in rare metals, designing and making jewellery.
An anniversary celebration cake and coffee were served at the Friendship Centre, where slide shows depicted the history of Empress, the school, the CPR Station and local artists. Dean Francis’ Sagebrush Studio was open both days, and guests could get out of the sun and be refreshed by beautiful art. Meanwhile, youngsters cooled off at the local splash park.
A heritage marker plaque was unveiled at the hospital grounds in mid-afternoon, and visitors were invited to tour St. Mary’s Anglican Church. The church, built in 1914, was designated a Municipal Historic Site in 2009. Everyone was invited to a Sunday morning celebration service at St. Mary’s.
A July 1964 edition of the local paper featured an advertisement listing the events scheduled during the elaborate Golden Jubilee celebration. The two-day event included a ball tournament, a midway, a parade with 30 floats, a movie, speeches by local MPs, a stampede, a community dance and a beard-growing contest. Competitions included horseshoe contests and children’s races, along with old men’s races and old women’s races. There was also a wrestling competition with wrestlers from North Carolina, Utah, Germany, California, Pittsburgh, and Vancouver, as well as one local wrestler, Dave Ruhl, from Hanna, Alberta.
The 100th celebration may have been a smaller-scale affair; nevertheless, it was enjoyed by everyone who came out for the festivities.