Settler Days a success for Village of Stirling

By Kenyon Stronski
Westwind Weekly News

Beginning Thursday, July 14 and ending Saturday, July 16 – the Village of Stirling’s Settler Days went off without a hitch.
“Settlers Days went off really well,” said Village Chief Administrative Officer, Scott Donselaar. “We didn’t do any hard number counts but we had, based on observation, more people and more activity than there was in the year prior. We were able to have it last year when they opened up the province briefly during the summer for COVID and we had a great turnout that year and an even better turnout this year so it was nice.”
Marking the Queen’s 70 year anniversary of accession to the throne, Stirling also received the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee grant from the government of Canada to further supplement their funding for the event.
“We were able to utilise the grant to enhance our firework display and then we acknowledged the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee as a result so we were fortunate to receive that grant from the government of Canada.” Commented Donselaar. “The 20th Independent Field Battery came out during Music on the Veranda and they did a ceremonial tree planting ceremony to honour the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and her Green Canopy initiative so they planted a Canadian red maple so we’ll have a tree that will have brilliant red leaves in the fall it will be beautiful and we commemorated that honouring the 20th Independent Field Battery and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Other events were also big hits, according to Donselaar. One being a page out of Raymond’s book where they hosted a movie in the park – showing Pirates of the Caribbean.
“We also had the Firefighter slip-and-slide which was probably one of the bigger and wider slip-and-slides in the area that they created. Our Firefighter Department is awesome in that way. The cake walk was big, an opportunity to win a cake who doesn’t like that, and then we rounded it off with the family dance. I know our Operations Department also hosted a Luau at the pool. We’re very fortunate because in our Village we have a lot of volunteers with a strong sense of community and without their support we wouldn’t be able to host events like this without our community partners, volunteers and committees that plan and put it all together. We’re fortunate for a Village of our size to have that many dedicated people that want to really put something forward and showcase ourselves to the region and community members.”
A number of people also came from out of Stirling, with Donselaar noting he met folks from Montana, Utah, and other communities in the area.
The one thing that I enjoy about southern Alberta is that all the communities have their unique and niche things they do and we’re all very supportive of each other. Community involvement on a regional scale is a big deal in southern Alberta and I think Stirling, with Settler Days, we highlight the values that we have in southern Alberta for community, family, coming together and just enjoying a day together.”
Donselaar said Settler Days really showcases what the Village is capable of, and pointed out Music on the Veranda as the prime example.
“It never ceases to amaze me how many local artists we have in the area that are just phenomenal. It’s a great opportunity all around I think. It seems to be how southern Alberta is where we all support each other and all work really well together and I think that speaks volumes about the people we have down here. In my opinion it’s the ideal place to be in Alberta.”

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