Woman spreads her love for chuckwagons by educating visitors
Jessica Melville comes from a long line of chuckwagon champions — from her legendary grandfather Orville Strandquist to her uncle Eddie Melville, who retired last year from outriding — and the Stampede has always been a big part of her life.
But this year for the first time, she gets to experience it from a whole new perspective.
Melville is one of four students chosen to work on Stampede grounds as part of Alberta’s Summer Temporary Employment Program. The program — which the province restored in 2015 — provides funding for employers to hire students during the summer months.
Entering her second year of teachers college in the fall at the University of Calgary, Melville was hired as an education assistant. Her job is to help develop and support three education programs run by the Calgary Stampede Foundation.
On Tuesday, Melville took five teachers on a tour of the Stampede grounds to get them ready for Stampede School — one of the education programs that brings teachers and students to the grounds for one week to learn about western heritage and culture.
Melville took the teachers through the chuckwagon barns and taught them about the history of the races, from its inception to the rules and regulations.
“There’s a lot that you can learn from chuckwagon racing as a kid,” said Melville. “I think it offers a lot of different areas in math and social studies with history — it’s Alberta’s history really.”
Including concepts such as chuckwagon history into a classroom curriculum is a unique way to explore Alberta’s history, according to Aaron Park, manager of youth education programs for the Calgary Stampede Foundation.
“What better way to (incorporate history) than to talk to people who have been part of ranching in Alberta forever,” he said. “And Jessica has been awesome because she’s studying education and has a huge history here with her family at Stampede.”
Melville later met with Labour Minister Christina Gray and took her on a tour of the chuckwagon barns.
Melville herself doesn’t compete as a chuckwagon racer — she does show jumping with her horse, Bear. She was hoping to take on outriding following her uncle’s retirement, but hurt her knee and hasn’t been able to.
Born and raised in Calgary, she said she can’t imagine living anywhere else. And despite being a Stampede pro, she said she’s learning a lot in her new job and that meeting people is one of the best parts. “It’s been really neat to see how the two worlds for me can collide,” she said.
After graduation, Melville hopes to be an elementary school teacher.