Life in the early days of Alix will be highlighted as the community invites residents and visitors to “Come Walk Among Us” this Saturday.
“We have a great day planned, with lots of activities for the whole family and all ages,” said Donna Peterson, the president of the Alix Wagon Wheel Museum, the co-host with Boomtown Trail Tourism Association.
“We have a polo game planned at 3:30 at the agricultural grounds — that’s unique.”
Alix had a polo club in the 1880s and 1890s called Haunted Lakes Polo Club, she said.
Players from Grande Prairie and Calgary will play in a revised three-on-three game, with a nominal admission fee at the gate.
Downtown and the main street will be the centre of attention, with an antique car show, activities and demonstrations at the museum, a farmers’ market at the community hall and on the street, an art show and horse-drawn wagon rides.
Children can also enjoy “new and unique playgrounds” in Alix, Peterson said.
“People will be able to churn butter and make ice cream at the museum — the old-fashioned way.”
With two 90-minute walks set for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., people can register at the youth centre in the red building near the highway. Fees are $30 for adults and seniors and youth and $20 for children 12-and-under.
Those include the polo game and pie and beverages.
On the main street, characters from the past will lead participants on a history walk that includes lessons “through the eyes of Irene Parlby of the Famous Five.” She was the MLA for Lacombe riding from 1921 to 1935 and the first woman in the Alberta cabinet. She was among the founders of the first women’s local of the United Farmers of Alberta.
For more information, phone Peterson at 403-747-2584, museum secretary Elaine Meehan at 403-747-2218 or historian Eve Keates at 403-747-3119.
Information is also available online at www.villageofalix.ca or www.boomtowntrail.com.
RUN OR WALK
Also Saturday, Alix stages a 10-kilometre walk or run on Alix Lake Nature Trail to raise money for Alberta Children’s Hospital.
For more race and walk information, phone Megan Meehan at 403-788-3878.