Two local volunteers at Fort Battleford have been honoured along with 98 other Parks Canada volunteers for Parks Canada's centennial.
For the hundredth anniversary of Parks Canada, the organization gave awards to 100 volunteers from around the country who "made exceptional contributions to our National Parks and National Historic Sites." Jim and Leslie McFarlane were two of the 100 who received the awards.
Jim is likely a familiar face to many Battlefords residents, after he was featured in a photoshoot for the Fort that ended up everywhere from brochures to VIA Rail stations to the Saskatchewan pavilion at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. At the Fort, he works as a volunteer and in the historic weapons department, putting on demonstrations for both Fort Battleford and other historic sites throughout the province. His work has taken him from the RCMP Depot Division in Regina to the Calgary Stampede to Ft. Walsh in the province, where he has appeared in period costume, sometimes with period weapons, for historic reenactments and demonstrations.
Leslie, in her own words, does "a little bit of everything," having worked as a guide, repaired period costumes, and worked on the garden at the Fort. For the historical gardens, she did research to find which kinds of plants would have been used around the time of the 1885 rebellion and found a catalogue that still had the heirloom seeds.
Both Leslie and Jim have also worked at a large number of special events at the fort and other historic sites through the province, including the annual Hallowe'en Ghost Walk.
"It's just knowing that there are people in the community that take ownership, that they're looking out for us," explained Scott Whiting, Fort Battleford Site Manager.
