Country Roots Tour to showcase Flagstaff museums and agriculture

Inspired by the success of last year’s one-day, County-wide Museum Tour, and by Alberta Agriculture’s Open Farm Days, Flagstaff Business Economic Development and Ag. Services departments have partnered for a Country Roots Tour on Saturday, Aug. 15.

The event will feature two different tours, one being a Museum Tour, which will visit the Lougheed, Sedgewick, Alliance, Forestburg, and Strome Museums, as well as the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site, with a stop at C.J.’s Deli in Forestburg for lunch.

At the same time, the second tour, the Agriculture Tour, will depart for a visit to Ruzicka Sunrise Farms, then to the Lougheed Hutterite Colony, stopping for lunch at Haus Falkenstein, (the Lougheed Hotel) for some world-famous schnitzel.

Visitors to the Alliance Doll Museum will have the opportunity to view this display, featuring all Coca-Cola based dolls.

Both tours run from 8:30 a.m. until around 5 p.m., and after their departure from the county office, the grounds there will undergo a transformation to host a long table dinner featuring a menu with items grown within a 100 km radius of Flagstaff.

Along with the meal will be live entertainment from the Electric Hillbillies, a country-rock band featuring local musicians Tom Lichak, Chad Szott, Jeff Borom, and Garrett Richaud.

Also featured during the meal will be the owners of Ribstone Creek Brewery out of Edgerton to tell their success story.

“This will be a real made in Flagstaff meal,” says Business Development Coordinator Jennifer Fossen. “We are excited to be showcasing different producers.”

Fossen says the event also got its inspiration from Beaver County’s ‘Bounty in the County’ and ‘Prairie Farm Days’ in Stettler. She says coordinators from both events helped with ideas for setting up Flagstaff’s Country Roots tour.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to highlight the diversified farms we have here.

“Ruzicka’s Sunrise Farm is a certified organic producer, practicing holistic farming methods, while the Lougheed Colony is a self-sustaining communal society, with very up-to-date farming methods.

“The two work together so well to showcase diversified farming with different management styles.”

Both producers also practice direct marketing as well, she says.

The tours have limited seating, the farm tour can accommodate 50, while the museum tour will be limited to 30. Unlike last year, the museum tour will not be able to accommodate an overflow.

Flagstaff County has partnered with Travel Alberta for this event, and at $40 for the tour and the long-table meal, it’s a good value.

“Travel Alberta told us that at similar meals, the meal-only ticket sells for $50 to as much as $100,” Fossen says.

Ideally, they are hoping to fill the seats with visitors from out of the area, as well as Flagstaff and area residents. “It’s a day to be a tourist in your own county.”

The Museum tour will travel to Alliance to start the day, with one of the last opportunities to see the CN linesman house as part of the museum before it gets moved to become the train station, as well as the doll museum, and original museum, which includes the Norman Johnson memorial room.

From there, the tour will travel to the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site, Canada’s only surface coal
mining museum.

Then it is on to the Forestburg Museum, featuring a 1920s kitchen, and a special display celebrating the 90th anniversary of the United Church of Canada, as well as early mining artifacts and
other treasures.

After a stop for lunch at Forestburg’s CJ’s Deli, the tour will travel to the Sodbuster’s Museum in Strome, where visitors will tour their spectacular wedding dress display, 1800s general store, view the original Jail House, old cars, and a special display featuring RCMP and veteran’s memorabilia.

The tour will then travel to Lougheed’s Iron Creek Museum, with its old-time village display along the board walk, including a church and school, farm machinery, and an opportunity to view a scale model CPR farm that is new this year.

The last stop on the museum tour is the Sedgewick Museum, featuring both the Main Street building and the original Goose Creek School, which still has the original chalk board, as well as sports memorabilia from local teams.

History buffs are sure to get their fill of early life on the prairies, as well as have an opportunity to view unique and creative displays set up by volunteers that preserve the rich history of the area.

“It is our hope that visitors will return to the museums to view the displays in a more leisurely fashion on their own after the tour, too,” Fossen says. And for those interested in more farm tours, Alberta Open Farm Days offer a great opportunity for both producers and visitors.

When county staff met with Travel Alberta representatives while planning the tour, they held the meeting at the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site, “and they were amazed and awed,” says Fossen, “and that’s just a single stop on this incredible tour.”

The only physical requirement for participants is that they are able to climb the bus steps by themselves. In addition, participants in the farm tour will be asked to wear closed-toe shoes and pants, and to cover their shoulders out of respect to the colony residents during that portion of the tour. Cameras will not be allowed on the colony tour, but otherwise are allowed.

“The colony is very excited for us to come,” says Fossen. “They are literally opening their world to us for the tour.” She says dessert for the long-table meal will also come from the colony.

There will be a very limited number of tickets for the long-table meal only.

All lunches are self-pay, and tour participants will pre-order when they get on the busses. County staff will be guiding each of the tours.

“It will be great to have both tours filled,” Fossen says. The deadline to book a seat is Aug. 5 through Flagstaff County.