Silver Dollars, Royal Rumbles

silver dollar

Say What? Dollars and rumbles? Are these the Saloon Doors that would take Marshall Dillon to Miss Kitty (for those who unfortunately do not know the great Gunsmoke, listen to to Toby Keith’s Should’ve Been a Cowboy). Nope, these doors though took one to the action…Wrasslin’ and bowlin’ that is.

They are the saloon doors to Frank Sisson’s Silver Dollar Action Centre (now the Century Casino) which was once part of the landscape in Calgary, AB. As a kid, I knew of it, due to bowling and, like I said, wrasslin’ (the kind of Stampede, not WWE). Stampede Wrestling had just been bought out but the local 2&7 television station still had a Saturday afternoon contract open for a show, and Mr. Sisson was a fan…enter Canadian Wrestling Alliance which ran out of the Silver Dollar in 1990 on Friday Nights live (it concluded it’s run in 2013 through other venues), with the edited show on Saturday’ at 1 p.m. Later in the 1990’s the saloon would be open to all ages during WWF (now WWE) pay-per-view events.

But what does this have to do with the Royal Line History and Countess, AB in particular you may ask?

The answer is simple, it all started at a Bassano rodeo…with a won Silver Dollar…

(On July 27, 2019 a wind storm wiped out our storage huts for the Countess Country Museum, we are still unsure how many of the artifacts were lost).

Royal Line Gone with the Wind

Living in the County of Newell and on the Royal Line, one thing you get used to is the wind. What you do not expect upon returning from a day-cation is that you have entered the MGM wonderful Wizard of Oz and be Aunty Em’s farm. This is what the reality of Wayne and Sherry’s return from Maple Creek, SK to Countess Country Museum.

The Prairie History start-up was blown away by the wind. Any Albertan can share that this summer has been a cycle of heat-severe thunderstorms- tornado warnings…to windstorms. On July 27, 2019 the weather had the heat of 30 degrees, and thunderstorm warnings rolled through Southern Alberta. But a picture is worth a thousand words:

At this point we are unsure of the damage as we attempt to get the carriage and stage coach free, but there is damage.

For more information or to help, please contact Wayne (403-701-0775) or Sherry (403-701-0778) as we rebuild and renew the history of the Royal Line, with all the bumps, hiccups, and challenges of the prairie pioneers along the way.

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IMG_1736 (1) — Blown across the fence to next farm

Happy Canada Day

The 152nd Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day) was a blast. The Chronicle family was on the road of the Royal Line down to the Village of Rosemary for the annual festivities. This year saw the fun of the bubble people on water, pickle ball, air brush tattoos, food trucks, the 30th Rosemary School Reunion, Gem MB Youth fundraising, bungee seat, Beach Volley Ball Tournament, Mobile Escape Room (sorry need to catch our breath)…. oh and it kicked off with a pancake breakfast, a Parade (10 a.m.)-where you will note first responders from Patricia, Duchess and Rosemary— with many vintage and fancy cars in the Show & Shine along main street that followed, oh and a pop-up market of vendors.

Whew! Poppa and Grandma met us from Countess for a picnic in the midst of the fun. This evening there will be fireworks at dusk if you are in the area!

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words…so I leave you with a photo montage of a great day!

Ye Olde Farm (CP) House

Much like you could order houses from the Sears Roebuck catalogue in the way back, so to did CP Rail have their own version of the quick build. There is one still standing in Countess, it has been renovated over time, but here’s a glimpse:

Soul Ripples: Celebrate 80 Years of Countess Bible School

The purpose of a prairie Bible School was to equip preachers, lay leaders and teachers to disciple the church members. That is to undertake the journey to Understand the old, old stories and what it means for today’s life.

To celebrate 80th anniversary of the Countess Bible School, a special memoir is being published as a pastor seeks to understand his own and his family’s journey in things spiritual and mental health:

cover Soul Ripples

Written by Tyler Ragan, Psy. D

Bookstand Publishing, 2019

There were simple values passed down through the generations of the Ragan family. Basically, it was being neighbourly, whether it came from a religious or non-religious point of view. Throughout the generations’ decisions were made whether to suppress the bad, deal with it, or embrace love and the good. It was the stories shared, some hidden, and when unburied brought healing.

It was in this life that the formal Christian Formation of Ty Ragan happened at his godparents’ church, Centennial Presbyterian, through their Vacation Bible School. These summers accentuated the already ingrained formation of loving your neighbour as yourself.

Ty, spent a lifetime attempting to answer the question, as many formed in social gospel framework, “Who is my neighbour?” through journalism, teaching, church ministry, addictions work, outreaching to those being trafficked sexually, rough campers, those in homeless shelters, dementia wards, youth correction centres, affordable housing and everything in between. It was answering the question of who the neighbour is, and how to love them that drove his life’s vocation.

Until May 2014 innocuous hand tremor led him to a doctor who told him to drink more water. By 2016 mysterious micro-strokes and seizures would occur. On his 39th birthday in 2017 a reign of mental destruction of high double-digit mystery seizures, failing memory, tremoring body and mystery vomiting would take him out of his vocation in October 2017, as he would simply weep “I can’t”.

The journey would lead him to centre on a new question, the first part of the second love command, love yourself or more directly:

Where does the helper go when they need help?

Soul Ripples is his family’s story of laughter, love, tears, pain, loss, addiction, mental health, violence, community, friends, grieving and the steps towards healing. Learn a new way of experiencing life. That’s right, the faithful servant discovering what it means to experience life with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the living into the Wilderness to find healing. It is a story for not only individuals but churches that shows we are not alone, we are not independent, we are truly an interdependent people. Created by the Holy on the 6th day poetically, called blessed and Very Good. Discover the Soul Ripples.

Order here.

Hamlet Homes

Anyone curious in the history of retail in Canada knows about the Roebuck Sears Catalogues, and that yes, there was a time when you could even order a whole house through them (some assembly required). The kit would arrive with everything you needed to assemble and be able to habitat within. One has to wonder if CP Rail copied, or if Sears learned from them in this instance.

As we have discussed in previous articles the settling of the Royal Line being driven by the railway. Not only driven, but many towns and hamlets named after investors and dignitaries associated with CP Rail. CP Rail would work with the government for immigration for needed workers and settlers (from Wales, Russian Mennonites, Mormons, etc.), but to be able to build hamlets, farm and live…well one needed houses.

original cpr house plans — Original CPR House Plans

A CP Rail house still stands in Countess, it has undergone some renovations and tweaking over the decades from the original floor plan.

Take a look at the slideshow at the end of the article for how history has been re-imagined for living today.

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A Walk Down Mainstreet

Whether a warm summer’s day or a chilly winter morn, a walk down Countess’ main street is a like a trip through the Doctor’s TARDIS… time and space melt away…

Enjoy the stroll, can you identify the historic buildings?

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