The legacy of Carlyle's Dicken's Village Festival continues to grow, with two permanent projects.
Both the permanent Dickens carriage display in the town's Centennial Park and a plan to place a Victorian park on Main Street will be year-round reminders of the festival.
Dickens committee chair, Shelley Slykhuis of Carlyle, says that both projects will not only be lasting legacies of the Dickens festival, but also a permanent reminder of community contributions and volunteerism.
“Like the Dickens festival, these projects are only possible because of the countless volunteer hours and contributions by people, organizations and businesses in the community,” says Slykhuis. “ The permanent carriage display came about when Ron Paul bought the carriage, used it for the parade, and then donated it to the Dickens committee to use for display. He also had a blueprint made for the permanent structure that houses the display.”
“From there, I applied for a grant through the Bear Claw Community Development Corporation and received a total of $2,885,” she continues. “But that was only the beginning. Dale and Larry Brady donated many, many hours and their knowledge to build it. Moose Mountain Auto Glass also gave us the glass at cost.”
“We had the carriage and a place to display it. Then Wade Sauter of Maryfield donated a life-size fiberglass horse and Jason Humphries of Regal Auto Body donated the labour and material to paint the horse. Dale Brady gave us a harness, Ron Paul gave us the beam, and Che Cormier and Jerri Lenius decorated it for Christmas, using some of the Dickens decorations.”
“I call it our 'cart before the horse' project,” laughs Slykhuis. “But I'd like to give a big thank you to all of the individuals and businesses for the time and the supplies that allowed us to complete this vision.”
Slykhuis says the second Dickens project-a Victorian park to be located on Main Street-will hopefully be completed by May, 2015.
“It will have Victorian benches with real and artificial greenery, and will be located where the chowder shack is currently located,” she says. “Jason Humphries has very generously given the Dickens committee permission to put in a portable park area, right next to the sidewalk. Later on, if he ever decides to build on that property, the benches and planters would be moved to Centennial Park.”
“The town would also like some benches between the Capstone Restaurant and the Town Civic Centre,” adds Slykhuis. “Just like we did with the lanterns, families and businesses can sponsor a bench. We don't have the final quotes in yet, but the cost per bench will be about $1,500 each.”
“Each bench weights about 400 lbs., so our plan is to use heavy materials, to ensure that the weather conditions don't cause any concerns.”
“The benches will also need to be painted,” adds Slykhuis.
The Dickens committee has already received a letter from the Bear Claw Community Development Corporation advising them of a grant donation of $958. Slykhuis says that anyone who would like to contribute to or receive more information regarding the park project “is welcome” to contact her at (306)-453-2878.
“This year, at Dickens, somebody told me that the writer Thomas Carlyle and Charles Dickens were friends. These projects are another way to honour our town's history and its future.”
