2014 marks the 50th anniversary of Heritage Park, which is Canada’s oldest living history museum. Visitors can explore dozens of original buildings from around the province that have been moved to the 127 acre site. Heritage Park has four sections: Heritage Town Square, 1900s Living Historical Village, 1880s Pre-Railway Settlement, and 1860s Fur Trading Fort and First Nations Encampment. The video below gives a taste of how you’ll be immersed in the world of previous generations.

Heritage Park has many special activities to commemorate its 50th anniversary. Enjoy multiple parties, Music in the Plaza, a roving street theatre, Western Wildberry weekend, concerts, and more. You can buy a 2014 Anniversary Pass that comes with all of the Annual Pass benefits plus some additional privileges. Learn more here.

The centennial of the discovery of Turner Valley was celebrated yesterday. The fun continues with a live theatrical performance of “Centennial” play on Sunday, May 18. The performance is at 3:00pm, and the doors open at 2:00pm. Desserts and a cash bar will be available. The play (by Sharon Pollock) will be held at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall behind the library.

The Centennial Day Celebration yesterday began with school and public site tours, family entertainment, and kids activities. The Formal Programs were held from 3pm – 4pm, and food and beverage service were available throughout the afternoon.

If you missed out yesterday, be sure to attend the play on Sunday and visit the photo/art display at the Sheep River Inter Municipal Library throughout May.

The grand prize winner of our 2013-2o14 Photo Contest has chosen his prize! The Camera Store had planned to donate a camera outfit to our winner Victor Liu as they have for past contests. This year, The Camera Store surprised us by presenting Victor with a $1,500 gift certificate instead of a predetermined camera outfit. Victor looked at the cameras and was trying to decide among several models. We’re pleased to announce that he went back to The Camera Store and chose the Nikon D800. You can tell from the photo that Victor is quite pleased about his prize, too!

Victor Liu with prize camera (left) and Chris Niccolls (The Camera Store TV Host)

Congratulations to Mark Greenfield for winning our final Photo ID contest sponsored by Graeme Pole. Graeme graciously sent Mark a copy of his book Walks and Easy Hikes since Mark had already won Canadian Rockies Explorer in a previous contest. We appreciate Graeme’s generosity in donating copies of his books for our monthly Photo ID quiz from November 2013 – April 2014. Click here to view and purchase Graeme’s lovely informative guide to the Rocky Mountains.

Thanks to Graeme for also allowing us to use his photos for our monthly Photo ID contest. You can view them all below. They’re just a sampling of the beautiful photos in Canadian Rockies Explorer.

Stay tuned for information about our next contest.

November photo – Bear’s Hump, Waterton

December Photo – Sulpher Mountain boardwalk, Banff National Park

January Photo – Paint Pots at Kootenay National Park

February photo – Rock Isle Lake, Sunshine Meadows

March photo – Saskatchewan Glacier, Parker Ridge

April photo – Marble Canyon

Update: the trailer has been sold.

Looking for a way to make exploring Canada comfortable? This trailer may be just what you need. Some friends and former neighbors of Bob Harris are selling the unit below. Details are below the photos.

Floor plan of trailer

$7500 OBO
23 foot Komfort 5th wheel (2000)
Original owners NEVER smoked in-very clean
Very good condition
Queen bed up
Sleeps up to 6
Rear kitchen – double sink, single lever
Ducted Air conditioning
Microwave
3 burner stove
6 cubic foot Norcold fridge
Oak/mirror cabinets
2 sky lights (1 in bathroom)
Toilet and tub separate from sink
Outdoor shower
Rear hitch (for bike rack)
Good tires
Shock absorbers
Black water tank flush
Awning
Blinds on all windows
Lots of storage
This is a great trailer! Must see to appreciate how well cared for!!

If you’re interested, contact Steve at 403-988-8562 or email: rudyntaz@telusplanet.net

Two days left to win a copy of Canadian Rocky Explorer for yourself! Renowned author Graeme Pole has generously sponsored our monthly Trivia Quiz from November 2013 to April 2014, inclusive. He’s supplied us with beautiful photos for our “photo identification contest” (a new spin on our monthly trivia contest), and has also donated copies of his book Canadian Rocky Explorer for our monthly prize.

If you correctly identify the photo below, you’ll be entered into the last drawing to win a copy of Graeme’s guide. Canadian Rocky Explorer is full of photos, historical information, and tips to enhance your outdoor experience (from animal tracking to bird watching). Click here to enter!

April photo

Yesterday morning I met with Victor Liu at The Camera Store in Calgary.  Victor was our judges grand prize winner for the 2013-14 Reader Photo Contest hosted by CMI Publishing within Experience the Mountain Parks.

The Camera Store has been our Gold Sponsor for each of the past 8 years. The prize they donate is typically a $1,500 HD Camera Outfit. Yesterday we met with Peter Jeune (co-owner) and Chris Niccolls (The Camera Store TV Host) to award Victor with his camera outfit, but something unexpected happened.

Photo Contest winner Victor Liu (left) with Chris Niccolls (The Camera Store TV Host)

Peter suggested that rather than giving Victor a predetermined camera, that this year, they would like to give our winner a gift certificate worth $1,500 and allow Victor to have a shopping spree – to buy exactly what he wanted. Victor was thrilled! After discussing some of his needs with Chris Niccolls, Victor examined the GoPro camera and accessories.

Chris Niccolls showing the GoPro camera to Victor Liu

Victor likes to climb in the mountains, as is evident from his remarkable contest submissions. The GoPro camera would allow him to record while climbing. Chris also showed him a Panasonic HD video camera at a price point of about $1000 because Victor also mentioned that he was interested in video recording documentaries. In the end it looks like Victor may settle on the Nikon D800.

Built for today’s multimedia photographer, the Nikon D800  includes a groundbreaking 36.3MP FX-format CMOS sensor, Full HD 1080p video at 30/25/24p with stereo sound, class leading ISO range of 100-6400, expandable to 25,600, 4 fps burst rate and Advanced Scene Recognition System with 91,000-pixel RGB sensor. – See more at: http://www.thecamerastore.com/3423-Nikon-D800-Body.aspx.

All in all, Victor seemed very pleased with his gift certificate and we’ll check back with him later to see what he actually buys on his amazing shopping spree at The Camera Store in Calgary!

Thanks to Victor and to all of our contestants. And a special thanks to Peter, Julian and Chris at The Camera Store for their constant support.

“A Colorful Morning” – Victor’s prize-winning submission

Another one of Victor’s photos – “Camping on the Edge” – won an Honorable Mention in the 2013-2014 EMP Photo Contest

Be sure to stay tuned for the launch of our 2014-15 Photo Contests! More on that soon.

Happy Trails,

Bob Harris
Publisher

Rob Lennard is a well-loved speaker and musician who brings history to life through both his presentations and his books. “The History Wrangler” is currently working on the third book in his Amazing Time Travel series for children. He “ropes” readers into learning about Alberta’s past with exciting stories about teenage twins and their sidekicks who travel back in time. Children love the award-winning books, and one school even purchased a class set to be used as part of its curriculum.

Readers will learn about the birth of the province of Edmonton, the first Calgary Stampede, Calgary’s aboriginal heritage, and more. The next book takes place during the two World Wars.

Congratulations to our March Photo ID Contest winner, Christie Jess! She correctly identified the photo below as Saskatchewan Glacier, Parker Ridge. Christie won a copy of Graeme Pole’s Canadian Rock Explorer book.

This is the LAST month you could win a copy of Canadian Rocky Explorer for yourself. If you correctly identify the photo below, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Graeme’s lovely and informative guide. It’s full of photos, historical information, and tips to enhance your outdoor experience (from animal tracking to bird watching). Click here to enter!

April photo

The judges have made their decisions, and we’re pleased to show you the winning photos and announce our top three winners and our three honorable mentions in the judges category. You can view the winners in our online voting category here.

Our contestants did a wonderful job of skilfully capturing the beauty of the Mountain Parks. Please stay tuned for more information about upcoming contests, and make sure to take some great photos during your visits to the Mountain Parks this summer. We’d love to see them in the contests we’ll be holding later this year!

With no further adieu, we will now announce the winners!

Our first place prize goes to…Victor Liu! Victor will receive an HD Camera Outfit  (worth $1,500), courtesy of The Camera Store in Calgary. We hope that the camera outfit will be used to capture many, many more lovely scenes like the one shown in “A Colorful Morning” below.

A Colorful Morning – by Victor Liu

Our second place prize goes to…Trevor Ward! Trevor will receive 4 Ultimate Rockies Explorer Passes (worth $400), courtesy of Brewster Attractions. The passes include admission to Banff Gondola, Banff Lake Cruise and the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure.  We hope that the passes will result in more adventures like the one shown in Trevor’s picture “Climbing Until Sunset.”

Climbing Until Sunset – by Trevor Ward

Our third place prize goes to…Monte Comeau! Monte will receive a Glacier Icewalk for a family of 4 (worth $280) with Peter Lemieux for a guide. View the third place photo “Eagle in Action” below.

Eagle in Action – by Monte Comeau

We also want to recognize the three lovely photos that won honorable mentions from the judges. They go to:

“Lake Revelstoke Storm,” by Angus Duncan

“Golden Reflection,” by Lloyd Dykstra

“Camping on the edge,” by Victor Liu

View their photos below:

“Lake Revelstoke Storm” – by Angus Duncan

“Golden Reflection” – by Lloyd Dykstra

“Camping on the Edge” – by Victor Liu