Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire At The Old Fashioned Christmas Festival In Dawson Creek

The annual Old Fashioned Christmas Festival sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dawson Creek is held at Pioneer Village and is free to the public. I went to meet up with some friends and was impressed to see so many people there.

As chance had it, the temperature climbed from a chilly -20 to a balmy -5 on the day of the outdoor festival and the community took full advantage of the reprieve from the cold.

It was already dark by the time the festivities began at 6pm and the Village was all lit up. There were two teams of horses pulling sleighs full of people, bonfires strategically placed around the village for hand warming and marshmallows and Santa hats everywhere.

Christmas carols were being played while hot dogs, hot chocolate and cookies were being passed out to everyone. Chestnuts were actually being roasted on an open fire and the gentleman who was manning the roasting pan was being kept busy by an eager audience of young and old alike. I tried my first one and it was delicious. Kind of Nutty.

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire At The Old Fashioned Christmas Festival In Dawson Creek

Dawson Creek, WWII and the Alaska Highway

My Mom came to the Peace River Country as a young woman in 1939 with her family. They were political refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. She found work at the original Dawson Creek hospital where the nuns taught her to speak English.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the leaders in Washington decided they needed to have a supply route to Alaska. They wanted it done in less than one year. They needed men and equipment and lots of both.

Mom remembered the arrival of the US troops and Canadian civilians along with all the equipment that came to build the Alaska Highway in 1942. She said the quiet agricultural town burst at the seams overnight. There were soldiers and equipment and noise and mud everywhere.

My Dad was one of the civilians who came here as a young man to operate heavy equipment on the construction of the highway. They met at a dance hall on a Friday night.

There are great original photographs of the period at the Alaska Highway House downtown by the Mile "O" Post and also at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery.

The Sudetan Hall at Pioneer Village also houses a great collection of original photos of the Czechoslovakia pre and post WWII as well as the building of a new community in a new land.

Dawson Creek, WWII and the Alaska Highway

Memorial Roses in Gardens North!

There is Chinese proverb that says "A little fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses" and I'm sure the people who tend the flowers at Pioneer Village's Gardens North have experienced that.

At the entrance to the Village is a memorial rose garden. Beautiful rose bushes greet you as you begin your journey into the lives of our pioneers. The roses have little memorial plaques at their bases.

I found plaques with the names of several former community members I recognize and varieties of roses I had never seen before. It is a touching tribute.

The rest of the themed gardens in Gardens North are beautiful and lovingly cared for. There were many folks from the neighboring RV Park strolling through enjoying the flowers. I chatted with a couple from Texas and talked about the differences in climate and types of plants we grow. They had photos on their camera and showed me their desert garden.

I had a pad of paper with me and wrote down a couple of new rose names and went to the local nursery and was thrilled to find both varieties for sale and hardy to this zone.

Memorial Roses in Gardens North!