Donalda Diary
Imagine meeting famous people from the past. How would you like to talk to James Gadsby who fought in the American Civil War and afterwards became a robber with the Jesse James gang? He eventually moved to Alberta and kept a low profile here.
Then there was Miss Alice Smith, a telephone operator in Delburne, who arrived in 1908 at the age of 26. It was the beginning of a very interesting life.
And what about Gabriel Dumont, a Métis buffalo hunter who no doubt visited the large Métis settlement at Buffalo Lake in the 1870s? Born in the Red River Colony, his family moved west and as a buffalo hunter he gained a reputation as a sharpshooter to eventually become the lieutenant of the famous Métis leader Louis Riel. Dumont commanded the Métis forces in the North-West Rebellion of 1885, fighting the Canadian government for their recognition and land. Escaping capture at the defeat at Batoche, Saskatchewan, Dumont fled to the U.S. where, the following year, he accepted an offer to perform in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Returning to Canada, he visited Quebec and eventually returned to his old home near Batoche until his death in 1906.
The Donalda & District Museum is pleased to introduce these Boomtown Trail characters to you at its Oct. 18 “Tales ofthe Past’ dinner theatre. Besides the performers Chris Jenson, Nora Smith and Bob Willis playing these historical personages, there will be both a live and silent auction with some exceptional items. For tickets and other information, please call the Donalda Museum. Did I mention dessert?!
The regular pancake breakfast and music jam at the Donalda Coulee Friendship Drop-in Centre will be cancelled on Sunday, Oct. 12, due to Thanksgiving.
Birthday wishes this week: Hunter Nixon, Jack Marshall, Kim Klatt, Naomi La Belle, Nicole Anderson, Nicole Ternes, Jodi Blouin, Shauna Wilkie, Taylah Fox, Conrad Quist, Mary Ann Cartier, Tammy VanHaga, and Violet Tantrum.