Donna Hanel named honourary parade marshal
The Frontier City, Swift Current, kicks off the summer with the biggest celebration in Southwest Saskatchewan. The 81st edition of Frontier Days 2019 is celebrating “Cowboy Boots & Prairie Roots.”
The 2019 Frontier Days Parade committee proudly announces the Frontier Days 2019 Honorary Parade Marshal is Donna Hanel.
Hanel welcomes everyone to the 2019 Frontier Days Parade set for June 29 at 10 a.m. The Parade theme is ‘Get Your Prairie On.”
Hanel who grew up on the Lawrence Ranch, southwest of Maple Creek is very proud of her prairie roots. Weather influenced every aspect of life on the ranch and Hanel had to live in town during the winter months to attend school.
Hanel is no stranger to Frontier Days and remembers hauling her horse from Maple Creek in a grain truck and setting up tents for the Fair. She was very involved with 4-H as a beef leader and judged record books for the family fair.
In 1953, she was very excited and humbled to attend the Royal Exhibition in Toronto and judged chickens as a 4-H member.
Hanel was one of the first women to attend the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan.
She obtained her degree in 1960. This landed her a job at the Swift Current Research Station from 19601969 in the bio-chemistry lab.
The research station is where she met her husband Bill Hanel. They got married and had three sons; Boyd, Brian, and Blair.
In 1967, they moved from Swift Current and bought their Ranch (the Flying K) from Dr. Keene. In 1972 they bought their first Red Angus cows and at that time there were only two other Red Angus breeders in Saskatchewan. Hanel was awarded by the Saskatchewan Angus Association in 1999 as their Honorary President, and most recently in 2018 as the recipient of the Heritage Award.
Hanel is actively involved with St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. She has always had a love of gardening, and many pets have received her special care over the years.
Hanel looks forward to seeing everyone at the WW Smith Pancake Breakfast with the burning of the Frontier Days brand Wednesday, June 26 at Market Square – and along the parade route on June 29.
The Swift Current Agricultural and Exhibition Association is a non-profit organization with a mandate to provide service to and enhance the life of residents in the areas of agriculture, entertainment, sport and culture to the community and the region. Through the delivery of these programs we contribute greatly to the community of Swift Current.
On an annual basis they purchase over one million dollars’ worth of goods and services, utilize more than 20,000 volunteer hours and attract over 200,000 people annually.