City championing 125th celebrations

BY VICKI GILHULA

Special events planned for the 125th anniversary of the founding of the community in 1883 will bring citizens of the City of Greater Sudbury together for the first time since amalgamation to celebrate their roots, current successes and future.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway which opened this area up for settlement and trade.

It has been many years since the community has had a really big bash. The former City of Sudbury celebrated its 100th birthday in 1983. The community of Rayside Balfour (Azilda and Chelmsford) marked its centennial in 1991. Capreol marked its 75th birthday in 1993.

There was no party at the turn of the century in 2000 or when the City of Greater Sudbury was born a year later.

To make up for that, city staff and the Greater Sudbury Community Champion Committee are planning a number of events. In addition, community groups are encouraged to consider the anniversary when planning their annual festivals and activities.

The party budget is $169,000 and the committee has requested funding from Heritage Canada to help out with some of the heritage-based activities

The year of celebration started Feb. 17 with a community bonfire at city playgrounds sponsored by the Neighbourhood Playground Associations and Community Action Networks (CANs).

On April 5 and 6, the community is invited to attend the Northern Aboriginal Festival at Sudbury Arena. The event is hosted by the native student associations at Laurentian University and Cambrian College.

Although there have been powwows held at both schools in the past, this is the first time the organizers have worked together on a powwow and festival.

The emphasis is on nation building," said Angela Recollet, festival co-chair.

She said she hopes  people "from other nations" will attend and learn about native culture.

The festival will include a powwow with grand entries at noon and 7 pm Saturday, April 5, and at noon Sunday, April 6. A variety of native food and crafts will be sold at the vendors' market. Entertainment will include an aboriginal opera singer.

Although the festival is part of the city's 125th celebration, "let's not forget the First Nations People have been here since time immemorial," Recollet said.

The city will hold a birthday bash, Saturday, June 7 at Tom Davies Square. It will spill over to Memorial Park, the VIA Rail station (formerly the CP station), and throughout downtown Sudbury, says Jim Fortin, curator of Greater Sudbury Heritage Museum.

He is involved with a variety of projects which include a celebration of Finnish settlement that will be held this summer at Anderson Farm in Lively, and the Open Doors tour of heritage buildings July 18 and 19.

Heritage sites on the tour will include the home of the Barry family in Minnow Lake (now the offices of Financial Decisions), St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Church, St. Joseph's Church in Chelsmford, and the  Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue.

Other activities planned for the 125th celebration include photo and art exhibits at the VIA station in downtown Sudbury, and the rail museum in Capreol, the launching of the History of Sudbury DVD, the publishing of a special edition of Healing the Landscape, a heritage quilt project, and the establishment of a heritage route walking tour.

Laurentian Media Magazines Group will be publishing the city's official 125th anniversary souvenir magazine this summer.

Activities planned for the fall include a "spirit walk" in city cemeteries, the publication of a visual history of the Franco-Sudbury community, and a dramatic presentation based on the writings of pioneer Aeneas McCharles.