Items from the old time capsule. Outwardly, I blended in with the crowd and appeared calm, but inside I was excited. I was going to a ceremony. A time capsule ceremony. I had never been witness to such an event before and I could hardly wait for the start time to arrive. I had arrived early, not knowing how long it might take me to find parking in downtown Red Deer. There were about 5 other people on site when I arrived. The snow was beginning to fall again.
I had time to notice the snowflakes and be amazed at each beautiful design, which added even more excitement to the little girl inside me. I found a good spot to stand and soon there were hundreds of people joining me. It was a privilege to stand beside an elderly lady who had been to the City’s time capsule ceremony 50 years previous back in 1963. The ceremony opened with us turning ourselves to face the Canadian flag flying on the City Hall building. I had to choke back on some anthem words because of the excitement still welling up inside of me. After a few short speeches by various VIPs, I think the chilly weather that day helped with that aspect, it was time for the crane to lower the big metal time capsule into it’s resting place.
Janice Rypstra in front of the burial. We were then directed to walk over to the library and into the Snell auditorium for the opening of the 1963 capsule. It was standing room only. The Mayor was finally able to make his way through the crowd and up to the table. It was so thrilling to be able to watch the Mayor open the small box and show us the contents, piece by piece; it was like opening birthday presents! The most exciting artifacts to me were the document proclaiming the official first 50 years of the city status from 1913 – 1963, 8track tapes that held radio news, a floppy hard disc drive holding Red Deer Advocate news and a mini microfilm reel which held news from Red Deer’s TV station from way back then. Hopefully the city still has such antique machines to use in order to retrieve the news from them! The ceremony was complete with cupcakes for all. To find out more about Red Deer’s 100th City Status Birthday celebrations happening all year long, visit www.reddeer2013.ca
Sometimes my job is bittersweet. We framed a huge beautiful portrait of Pete for Sharna to give as a gift to her partner. Pete was her partner’s handsome Weimaraner and, unfortunately, he needed to be euthanized due to cancer.
Losing a beloved pet is heartbreaking, but losing best friends to a senseless murder is beyond tragic. That is what happened to Lori’s son on December 15, 2011 when his best friends, Mitch MacLean, 20, and Tanner Craswell, 22, were shot to death just north of Claresholm by the ex-boyfriend of a third murdered passenger. All the boys were up and coming baseball players, so Lori had us frame a team signed jersey along with other baseball memorabilia of the friends for her son.
Yes, sometimes my job is bittersweet and whether it is the loss of best friends or a four-legged friend, I am grateful in my job to help honour loved ones who are gone.
Hopefully, our work can, in some small way, help the healing begin.
Every once in a while it is good to set aside work and find something else to do. And that’s just what the Boss and I did last Friday evening, April 12. With tickets in hand that were bought before Christmastime, we headed to Red Deer Memorial Center with a couple friends. When we arrived, the parking lot was full! We took that to mean a good thing….except that meant we missed the first couple of minutes of the concert. Upon entering and out of curiosity, I asked at the ticket booth attendant if the show was a sellout. He said “Yep, except for 1 ticket!” Whew! Good thing I had pre-purchased tickets far in advance! Our designated seats were in the 2nd and 3rd rows from the front and about 15 feet from a set of speakers – we were sure to hear every sound! Sure enough, we were not disappointed. The drummer was an interesting fella to watch as he also played a variety of percussion instruments. I always get a kick out of watching bass guitar players – they have the most interesting head moves. And then there was the guy who played bagpipes, harmonica and a whole whack of different flutes and pipes – he could even play two at a time! Oh, and there was the most talented piano player, a younger man, and boy could he make that piano sing! I loved watching his fingers fly across the keys and all with no written music to look at! The center of attention though, was Natalie MacMaster. Besides being a mother of 5 children, she sure is a fine fiddler and tap dancer. Smart too – she does her exercises while she works! It was a wonderful two hours of foot tappin’, hand clappin’ and knee slappin’!
The evening of Saturday, Feb 23 was a happy one! 🙂 As a volunteer on behalf of The Framing Nook, I was able to attend Shalom Counseling Center’s Daddy/Daughter event. Preparations started the day before with set up and decorations at the Golden Circle. On the day of, the weather was sunny and warm for a mid-winter Albertan day – perfect for such an event! It was so nice to see little girls all dressed up in their finest apparel holding their Dad’s hand as they entered for an evening of fond memory making.
There was a raffle table in which I was put in charge of, guessing jars for both Dads and Daughters, scrapbook craft, games, prizes, a delicious meal catered by Remi’s and an hour of Father/Daughter dance time with a DJ that would sing along with some of the songs! Upon entering, one Dad mentioned to me he was not interested in the dance part, but his little girl was. I suggested that when the time came, he just stand up by her and hop/sway a bit and give her a twirl. Well, later on while the little girl was busy twirling her fancy dress ’round n ’round, her Dad stood up, did as suggested and the little girl squealed with delight and the Dad picked her up in his arms and gave her a kiss and she immediately rewarded him with a big hug <3 A successful fond memory was made for both!
My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones to suicide, to those who have attempted it and survived, and to those who are thinking about it. This is a topic close to my heart, as I too, have experienced close-up the effects, and difficulties of those in such a situation.
A couple weeks ago a news article in the Red Deer Advocate concerning this topic caught my eye. This year’s graduating class from Lindsey Thurber was going to be doing a fundraiser with this as their theme in honour of teens who have recently taken their own lives. I decided I just had to attend the event on Wednesday, February 20th, to show these young people my support in raising awareness on this topic. You can find their Facebook page titled “Suicide Awareness Red Deer, it’s #timeforchange” and ask to join the group to show your support.
Thank you, Joe Whitbread for being the MC that night. Thank you, East Side Mario’s for being the venue host. Our youth need to know that they are valuable, supported, and loved.
Fore more information visit their website To show your support join their facebook page
