The Granum 2000 Rec Centre was home to an exhibit called ‘Our Royal Heritage and Small Town Connections’ on Canada Day. It featured artifacts and exhibits of connections people in Granum had with the royal family. Organizer Jennifer Fawcett stands beside the exhibit featuring the time when Granum School met Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
The Granum 2000 Recreation Centre came alive with the sights of the Royal Family on Canada Day.
Led by Jennifer Fawcett of the Granum and District Canada Day Society, the “Our Royal Heritage and Small-Town Connections” exhibit filled tables around the centre.
Artifacts were loaned by Granum district residents and featured a wide variety of periods and times.
There were cups, commemorative bottles of beer, spoons, plates, newspaper and magazine clippings, and much more, featuring different members of the Royal Family.
An entire table was dedicated to May 27, the day in 2005 when Granum school, one of two schools in Alberta celebrating its 100th anniversary, met Queen Elizabeth II in Edmonton.
There was also material from the queen’s coronation in 1953, the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, as well as the official opening of Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump by Fort Macleod in 1987 with the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Princess Sarah Ferguson attending.
“A lot of people remember that,” Fawcett said.
Elisabeth Smith, an education assistant at Granum school, also had students work on jubilee projects the last two weeks of school.
They featured everything from stamps with the queen’s image to her appearance with Paddington Bear during the recent celebrations in London.
One student, Jasper Corbin, used a three-dimensional printer to create a miniature replica of Windsor Castle.
To top the day off, three students were town criers in Granum’s Canada Day parade, where they rang the bell in town, and read the United Kingdom proclamation adapted for Canada and the parade.
“That’s what the town criers did on Jubilee Day in the UK,” Smith said.
Fawcett is still interested in hearing from people about their experiences with the royal family.
“If people would like to share stories,” she said. “We’re still collecting personal anecdotes or stories.”
People can send in stories, and Fawcett can interview people in-person or by phone.
Anyone interested in sharing a story can e-mail Jennifer Fawcett at jen.fawcett@gmail.com.
