AATTA-6

Chapter 6

Happy 10th Birthday, Alberta!

When the applause died down, Colonel Woods informed the crowd that he would be introducing the dignitaries on stage one by one. After the introductions, everyone would join in and sing “Happy Birthday.” Then there would be food and entertainment.

The colonel first introduced the prime minister of Canada, Robert Borden, followed by Arthur Sifton, the second premier of Alberta. Next he invited the dignitaries who had Alberta towns named after them to stand and wave to the crowd. They included William Lethbridge, for whom the town was named in 1885; Charles Card, who established Cardston in 1886; Carl Stettler; and Senator Matthew Cochrane, a rancher with 100,000 acres that he leased for a penny per acre.

After Senator Cochrane sat down, the colonel instructed the crowd to shout out a big cheer: “Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!”

When the noise died down, the colonel introduced a very special guest, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the elegant widow of Canada’s Governor General Marquis of Lorne. The princess, Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter, was born in Buckingham Palace on March 18, 1848.

The energetic princess went up to the microphone and thanked everyone for the warm Alberta welcome. She felt honoured to have the most beautiful province in Canada named after her by her late husband, the Marquis of Lorne. Princess Louise then read what he had written the day he informed the world of his choice for the province’s name:

Beautiful Princess Louise Caroline Alberta.

In token of the love which thou hast shown

For this wide land of freedom, I have named

A province vast, and for its beauty famed,

By thy dear name.

Rodeo Champion Clem Gardner.

The princess also thanked Tom Wilson for naming Lake Louise after her. She told the crowd that Tom was the only volunteer to go with Major Rogers to explore Kicking Horse Pass in search of Rogers’ nephew, who had been lost for four days. During the search, Tom discovered the beautiful glacier lake.

“Did you know that Rogers Pass was named after Major Rogers?” Roxy whispered to Ray.

The princess said farewell to the crowd and was about to return to her seat when she heard a loud “yeehaw!” A large black horse raising its two front legs in the air appeared below the stage.

In the saddle was none other than Clem Gardner, from Pirmez Creek, Alberta. He had won the Best All Around Canadian Cowboy title at the first Calgary Stampede. Clem jumped from the horse to the stage and gave the princess such a big Stampede hug that she may have let out a Stampede-sized gasp! Clem then shouted into the microphone that the annual Calgary Exhibition was starting the next day and he would love it if the crowd came down to Calgary to take it all in.

Clem also announced that the World Championship Women’s Basket-ball game would be taking place on the exhibition grounds later that afternoon, featuring the Cleveland Favorite Knits and Edmonton’s very own Commercial Grads. With Clem’s encouragement, the hometown crowd started shouting, “Go Grads go! Go Grads go!”

He next invited “the Big Four”—the original investors in the first Calgary Stampede, held in 1912—to come to the stage. Pat Burns of Burns Meats was first to the microphone. He got the crowd cheering by asking them if they were hungry. He had donated enough Alberta beef for two double hamburgers each. Pat also told the audience that a piece of the delicious birthday cake would make a great dessert. Roxy nudged Ray and told him that Pat Burns loved cake so much that for his 75th birthday in 1931 he had a 1.5-ton fruitcake baked and then divided into 15,000 slices!

The wealthy ranchers George Lane and Archie McLean took the stage next, followed by A.E. Cross and his lovely wife, Nell, the daughter of Colonel Macleod. A.E. Cross was both a rancher and beer maker; his Calgary Brewing and Malting Company was one of Western Canada’s largest. He happily informed the audience that he had donated free beer for the adults at the celebration to wash down the hamburgers and cake. He also told them to enjoy the beer because, as of next July 1, 1916, no more booze would be sold in the province. Roxy whispered in Ray’s ear that alcohol was not permitted in Alberta between 1916 and 1923, due to Prohibition.

Pat Burns’ gigantic 75th birthday cake!

The cowboy, Clem, then signalled to Wilf Carter, an energetic 11-year-old boy, to come out from behind the stage. Wilf stumbled to the front of the stage carrying numerous cowboy hats that were stacked up past his eyes. Clem took seven of the hats and handed them out to the group from Calgary. He then presented a special hat with a royal crest to Princess Louise.

After the ceremony, Clem had Wilf perform his echo yodeling act with his blond haired 9-year old cousin Callie Jane. The audience was amazed. Jasper got so excited that he began to howl in unison!

Following his performance, Clem instructed the audience to yell yahoo as loud as they could on the count of three. The loudest folks would receive the five remaining cowboy hats. The hats went flying into the crowd and, luckily, Family Day Ray jumped up at just the right moment and managed to grab one.

After the group from Calgary left the stage, Clem Gardner removed the red bandana scarf he had around his neck and asked Princess Louise to blindfold him with it. He had her spin him around four times. Clem then took his rope and made it into a lasso. In less than thirty seconds he had roped no less than six apples off the lowest level of the cake and tossed them into the wide open mouth of his hungry horse, Tumbleweed. The crowd roared, cheering and applauding. Still blindfolded, Clem did a back flip onto Tumbleweed and galloped away yelling, “Yahoo! Happy birthday, Alberta!”