Calgary Stampede & Southern Alberta Heritage

Carol Parsonage
Jul 14, 2016
2 min read

I decided to participate in the Calgary Stampede and Southern Alberta Heritage Exchange because Banff and the Calgary Stampede had long been on my “must see” list. Together with 40 other “ambassadors” from the US, New Zealand and Australia, plus one Korean, I spend 17 days in communities across southern Alberta.

Banff, the Canadian Rockies and the Calgary Stampede did not disappoint. Banff was charming, Lake Louise beautiful and the Banff and Lake Louise Fairmont hotels huge and luxurious. In Calgary we had grandstand tickets for the Stampede parade and attended both the rodeo and the chuck wagon races. Merge the Texas State Fair with the Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo and add a big parade – you have the Stampede.

As part of the Exchange I also visited Medicine Hat (pop. 63,000) and Lethbridge (pop. 96,000) where our hosts introduced us to the present, past and future of their communities. In Medicine Hat I enjoyed seeing the work of local artist James Marshall and touring the restored pottery plant and abandoned brick plant in the historic clay district. In Lethbridge we participated in Canada Day activities and on a free morning I visited their lovely Japanese Garden with several other ambassadors. Not to be overlooked as a destination – the Alberta prairie. We heard about irrigation from one of our hosts, toured several farms, traversed lots of fields and heritage sites, and visited with the Prairie Gleaners – a nonprofit organization that takes in not quite perfect produce, drys it, packages it as a soup mix, and sends it to hungry people around the world.

A recap of my travel would not be complete without a mention of my hosts. In Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge I stayed with members of the local chapter of Friendship Force International. The local chapters held welcoming and farewell events and hosted smaller groups of ambassadors at dinners in members homes. There was lots of opportunity to get to know one another. This personal connection, to me, was the gem of my trip. Thanks to our electronic world I continue to communicate with several of my hosts and other ambassadors. I hope they will decide to visit Georgetown and central Texas. As for me, I had such a great experience that I have signed up for a Friendship Force exchange to Morocco in 2017.