CELEBRATING OUR HERITAGE
Historic Calgary week begins
A harmonious blend between Calgary’s past and present transpire on the pages of the second volume of In the Footsteps of Giants — a book dedicated to preserving the rich history of people, places and events that shaped Calgary until 1930.
“It’s important to preserve that earlier history because it tends to disappear faster,” said Walt DeBoni, chair of the Historic Calgary Week organizing committee. “We just want to keep it alive and tell the stories of the ‘smaller people’ — the people that weren’t as well recorded in history.”
Friday marks the beginning of the 27th annual Historic Calgary Week, run by the Chinook Country Historical Society. The book, also created by the society, features contributions from more than 25 historians and authors.
Volume 2 details the “extraordinary” discovery of oil in Turner Valley in 1914, the opening of the Calgary Zoo in 1929, the life of celebrated fire chief James (Cappy) Smart and contributions from the Chinese community that helped shape Western Canada, among others.
DeBoni, who wrote two chapters in the book, said the energetic stories are a way for young Calgarians to learn from our past and work toward a brighter future.
“Our history hasn’t been perfect and we know that people made mistakes, especially in retrospect, but we don’t think we should forget that,” he said.
“We should celebrate the achievements and discuss the mistakes we have made in the past so we can improve on them.”
The books strays from the typically dense style of historical writing by sharing the stories through the eyes of young characters, said DeBoni.
The first volume of the book garnered a “tremendous” response, he said, with 1,500 printed and another 1,000 reprinted after its popularity. Two-thousand have already been printed and some complimentary copies have been distributed to schools and libraries.
On Aug. 4, newcomers to Calgary will receive a copy of In the Footsteps of Giants Volume 2 during a Historic Calgary Week event at the Central Library. All Calgarians are invited to the event, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., where authors will tell the stories of characters in the city’s past.
Opening ceremonies for the 11day celebration start at 9:45 a.m. at the Southern Alberta Pioneers Memorial Building at 3625 4th Street S.W.
From 10 to 11 a.m., Bob Rintoul, the great grandson of Edward Burke, will share stories “from sod-busting to subdivisions” about his family, who immigrated to Western Canada in 1889 and settled in the area of Davisburg.
Then, between 11 a.m. and noon, attendees are invited to learn about the Golden Eagle and other raptor migration between summer breeding grounds in Alaska and the Yukon, and winter ranges in southwestern America.
The talk will be led by Cliff Hansen of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation.
After a break for lunch on the patio of the pioneers memorial building, Calgarians can hear stories about Joseph Moss and his family — who settled on the south bank of Pine Creek — from his grandson David Ballard. The family witnessed the drastic landscape changes in Calgary from prairie to fenced fields, and horses to mechanical power.
Ending the first-day festivities is a tribute to iconic British rock band the Beatles with historian James Istvanffy from 2 to 3 p.m. Their music slipped into Canada’s cultural mix during Cold War tensions.
Istvanffy revisits the important period during the 1960s.
Historic Calgary Week runs until Aug. 7.
More information on the festivities can be found at chinookcountry.org