BELBUTTE — The Belbutte Community Hall celebrated its 75th anniversary July 31, with well over 200 people attending, mostly former residents.
The hall was built in 1940, back in the days when wages were 25 cents an hour and cash was a rare commodity. With donations of all kinds – labour and materials — and work bees the community proved “they could do it.” It’s that same community today that’s keeping the hall going and in repair.
There are too many names to recall of all those who had a part in creating that building, but some go way back – Gatzke, Johnson, Kutz, Larson, North, Bellamy, McKay, Overgard and Berg. Most of these still have family in the district. Then there was Jack Heyden, a carpenter who often worked “for fun” and was one of the main carpenters on the job. He built the kitchen cupboards, put in the wiring for the power that came in 1956 and so on.
The Belbutte Ladies’ Club have managed the hall since 1966, when a cold plate meal was $1.25 and a hot meal was $1.50.
The celebration July 31 was one whole day long – starting out with breakfast, lunch and ending with 218 people for supper. Free ice cream and hot dogs were available all afternoon.
Activities included lawn games, beer gardens, wagon rides behind a decorated team of Percheron horses guided by Jim and Debbie Anderson, a petting zoo and pony rides offered by Willis Larson and Geraldine Croston. A miniature horse they raffled for the hall netted a much appreciated cheque for $900. Don Voss gave the children rides on his Opa Don Kinder Train all afternoon.
Musical entertainment for the day was provided by Dale and Laura Budd, Brian McGown and his sister Marilyn, Dick Scotton, Bernadette Busta, Lynnda Berg and Bill Dexter.
Supper, which was tops, was catered by Debbie Dzialo of Glenbush.
People who came the furthest would have been Terry Jones who rode his motorbike from Belleville, Ont. to Fort St. John, B.C., and stopped at Belbutte on his way home. The furthest motorhome would have come from Salmon Arm, B.C. with Gatzke relatives.
For more information and pictures, go to www.spiritwoodherald.com and see the issue of July 31.
