Gonzalo 'Gonzo' Franco, 22, of Red Deer works in the blacksmith house at Sunnybrook Farm Museum during Pioneer Days 2019. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

DAYS OF YORE

Celebrating the legacy of central Alberta farming at Pioneer Days

Aug 17, 2019 | 10:42 AM

Pioneer Days, which is happening this weekend at Sunnybrook Farm Museum, continues to carry on the farming tradition of the Bower family which once owned the land in south Red Deer.

Doors are open from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $15 for a family or $5 per person.

Executive Director of Sunnybrook Farm, Ian Warwick, says it’s amazing that 120 years after the Bowers originally bought the land (in 1899), the community is still celebrating their legacy,

“The museum is all about the kind of work that we did before electricity, so steam power, gasoline, diesel engines, and manual labour. That’s what people are going to experience when they come here,” says Warwick.

“You experience what life was like and how hard it was for our ancestors. We have all these modern conveniences, but it was a little tougher back then.”

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Ian Warwick, Executive Director, Sunnybrook Farm Museum. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

It was in 1988 when Norman Bower donated the land to, as Warwick puts it, the citizens of Red Deer.

“It’s here being preserved for all time. All the original farm buildings are here, and our volunteers spend so much time preserving them. We’re (also) building new buildings that tell the story of the farm community; the garage, the Co-op store, and the new Calder School,” he says.

“The farm life was so important to the people that lived here and we want to celebrate that.”

Among other opportunities, a pioneer breakfast is happening each morning, and the days will include tractor pulls, a tractor parade, homemade pie and ice cream, as well as guided wagon rides.

Sunnybrook Farm Museum is located at 2879 Botterill Crescent.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Celebrating the legacy of central Alberta farming at Pioneer Days

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