Material Type

Artifact

Date

2017

Materials

LATEX

No. Pieces

1

Length

12

Width

4.8

Description

RUBBER RED BALLOON WITH WHITE LOGO “CANADA 150” WITH 2017 CANADA 150 MAPLE LEAF ABOVE TEXT, DEFLATED; ROUND BALLOON WITH CIRCULAR OPENING AT END OF CYLINDRICAL STEM; OPENING HAS RUBBER ROLL AROUND EDGE. BALLOON HAS TEARS AT BACK EDGES AND TOP; BALLOON HAS SOLILING INSIDE OPENING AND AROUND RIM; BALLOON IS FADED ON FRONT; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

History

ON MARCH 29, 2018, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED LORI HARASEM AND JENNIE SUDO REGARDING THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE DONATION OF CANADA 150 MEMORABILIA. HARASEM AND SUDO WERE INVOLVED WITH ORGANIZING THE JULY 1, 2017 EVENTS FOR CANADA 150, WITH SUDO ACTING AS CHAIR FOR THE LETHBRIDGE CANADA DAY COMMITTEE WITH THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE AND HARASEM AS A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE. ON THE BALLOON, HARASEM ELABORATED, “THOSE WERE GIVEN OUT AT THE CANADA 150 PAVILION AND THAT WAS SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD COME TO THE PAVILION [WITH THE GLOWSTICKS]…[WE HAD] HELIUM BALLOONS AND GAVE THOSE ALL OUT." “WE PURCHASED THE BALLOONS AND THE GLOW STICKS [THEY’RE COMMERCIAL, MASS-PRODUCED]… FROM TORONTO. I THINK THE COMPANY THAT I ORDERED THEM FROM…WAS BUBBLE-GUM.” HARASEM AND SUDO RECALLED THEIR TIME PLANNING AND ORGANIZING THE 2017 EVENTS, WITH SUDO NOTING ABOUT THE PLANNING COMMITTEE, “THE LETHBRIDGE CANADA-DAY COMMITTEE IS A COMMITTEE THAT’S MADE UP OF CITY OF LETHBRIDGE EMPLOYEES IN PART WITH COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS. MY POSITION AS THE COORDINATOR OF RECREATION AND CULTURE, I AM AUTOMATICALLY VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS COMMITTEE ALONG WITH OUR RECREATION AND CULTURE TEAM. THE CHAIRING RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THAT COMMITTEE GET ROTATED BETWEEN OUR TEAM MEMBERS EVERY TWO YEARS AND MY YEAR JUST SO HAPPENED TO FALL ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT, NOSTALGIC YEAR FOR CANADA’S 150.” “[THE COMMITTEE IS] ALWAYS IN EXISTENCE. I THINK [THERE] WAS A LOT OF PRESSURE, BUT REALLY GREAT PRESSURE. I WAS VERY PROUD TO BE ABLE TO BE PART OF THE COMMITTEE. AND BEING ABLE TO LEAD THE TEAM FOR MY VERY FIRST TURN AT CHAIRING THE COMMITTEE. I FELT A LOT OF PRIDE TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT OUR COMMUNITY CAN COME TOGETHER AND CELEBRATE CANADA’S 150.” “[THE] COMMITTEE [WAS] COMPRISED OF THE RECREATION AND CULTURE TEAM, WHICH WAS TWO MANAGERS, LORI HARASEM AND JASON FREUND, MYSELF AS THE CHAIR FOR [2017]. WE ALSO [HAD] MARLENE LAPOINTE, SARAH BURTON, SCOTT CARPENTER AND ONE OF OUR TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES, ERIC SHARP, [AS] PART OF THE COMMITTEE AS FAR AS THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE SIDE GOES. WE ALSO HAD THREE PUBLIC VOLUNTEERS FROM THE COMMUNITY. WE HAD ADELLE HARRINGTON, BOBBY MCCALLUM AND DAVID FRITZ WHO ALSO PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN HELPING COORDINATE SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THERE.” “AS SOON AS CANADA DAY 2016 ENDED, WE WERE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE WERE GOING TO BRING BACK, WHAT KIND OF BUDGET WE WERE GOING TO NEED, WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES WE WERE GOING TO HAVE, HOW WE WERE GOING TO MAKE IT SPECIAL, AND MAKE IT STAND OUT THE NEXT YEAR…FOR THE REST OF THE CANADA DAY [EVENTS], THE ONES THAT AREN’T CANADA 150 OR STAND-OUT, WE WOULD PROBABLY ONLY START [PLANNING] ABOUT SIX MONTHS IN ADVANCE. BUT, THE PLANNING PROCESS FOR CANADA DAY, PERIOD, IS QUITE LONG AND STRENUOUS. WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT SOME PRETTY TIGHT TIMELINES WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PLANNING AN EVENT THAT BIG. WE DEFINITELY NEEDED THE FULL YEAR TO PLAN CANADA 150.” “CURRENTLY, THE ONLY SPECIAL EVENT THAT THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE REALLY HOSTS, AS A CORPORATION, IS THE CANADA DAY EVENT. WE RELY ON OUR COMMUNITY GROUPS TO DO MOST OF OUR OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS." ON THE EVENTS PLANNED, HARASEM RECALLED, “IN ALL HONESTY, FOR THE CANADA DAY ACTIVITIES ITSELF, THOUGH I’M ON THE COMMITTEE, I’M NOT AS INVOLVED WITH THAT AS OTHER THINGS THAT I OVERSAW THAT LASTED FROM JANUARY 1ST TO DECEMBER 31ST. SEEING JENNIE AND THE TEAM AND HOW MUCH THEY WORKED…THEY EVEN CHANGED THE LAYOUT AT HENDERSON LAKE THAT HAD BEEN THE SAME WAY FOREVER AND WE HAD TO GO TO SENIOR LEADERS OF THE CITY AND ASK FOR EXTRA MONEY BECAUSE THE BUDGET FOR CANADA DAY HASN’T CHANGED FOR TWELVE OR FIFTEEN YEARS. TO PUT ON SOMETHING THAT WE KNEW THE PUBLIC EXPECTED A LOT [FROM]…[WAS] MY BIGGEST ROLE WITH THE CANADA DAY. IT WAS A HUGE AMOUNT OF WORK AND IT WAS SO SUCCESSFUL, ESPECIALLY ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA SIDE. AT THE CITY, WE’RE USED TO SEEING A LOT OF NEGATIVE COMMENTS. OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HAS SAID THAT THE MOST POSITIVE COMMENTS THEY’VE EVER HAD ON ANYTHING THAT THEY’VE EVER POSTED ON THEIR FACEBOOK WAS AFTER THE CANADA DAY. I THINK THAT THEIR TEAM, JENNIE’S TEAM, DID AMAZING AT MEETING THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE PUBLIC WHICH WERE VERY HIGH.” “I CAME IN [WITH THE COMMUNITY GROUPS ORGANIZING]. WE HAD A GRANT, ‘CANADA 150’. WE HAD EXTRA FUNDING INJECTED INTO OUR BUDGET FOR 2017 [AT] OUR REQUEST, SO THAT WE COULD HELP LOCAL GROUPS THAT WERE ALREADY DOING EVENTS TO THEME IT AROUND CANADA 150. NORMALLY, THE CITY’S RULES IS YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE GRANT FOR ANY EVENT, EVEN THOUGH THERE’S MULTIPLE GRANTS AVAILABLE. BUT, FOR CANADA 150, WE ALLOWED GROUPS TO GET THEIR NORMAL GRANT, AND WE ALLOWED THEM TO ASK FOR UP TO $750 EXTRA, AND THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO THEN THEME THEIR EVENT. WE DIDN’T CARE HOW THEY DID THAT. IF THEY WANTED TO USE $750 TO BUY RED AND WHITE CUPCAKES AND BALLOONS [THEY COULD]. WE HAD [AT THE] JAPANESE GARDEN A HUNDRED AND FIFTY JAPANESE DANCERS PERFORMING AND THEY BOUGHT SPECIAL RED MATCHING JACKETS WITH THE MONEY THEY GOT. IT WAS OUR WAY OF ENCOURAGING THE COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE CANADA 150 ALL YEAR-ROUND. BECAUSE ALL WE DO IS CANADA DAY, WE HAD TO FIND A WAY TO HELP THE COMMUNITY CELEBRATE CANADA 150 AND TO PUT IT IN THE PUBLIC’S EYES ALL YEAR-ROUND IN ANY WAY WE COULD. WE HAD A LOT OF GROUPS AND A LOT OF EVENTS. THERE WAS THIRTY-EIGHT EVENTS THAT RECEIVED FUNDING OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, SO THERE WAS SOMETHING EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR.” “DURING 'PRETTY, WITTY AND GAY', WHICH IS AN EVENT THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY PUTS ON IN FEBRUARY/MARCH, THEY USED THEIR FUNDING TO [HAVE] A BIG BULLETIN BOARD WHERE PEOPLE [COULD] WRITE DOWN THEIR THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY IN CANADA. AND TO SHARE THEIR FEELINGS ON [BEING GAY IN CANADA] TO CONNECT BECAUSE, OBVIOUSLY, WE’RE A MORE OPEN-MINDED COUNTRY AROUND THAT THAN MOST OF THE WORLD. THAT, TO ME, WAS A REALLY UNIQUE WAY TO CELEBRATE CANADA’S 150TH.” “WE ALSO HAD A SMALL THEATRE GROUP COME TOGETHER, A COLLECTIVE THAT HAD NEVER EXISTED BEFORE. THEY PUT ON A VERY CONTROVERSIAL PLAY ABOUT FORMER PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER WHICH I WENT TO SEE AND IT WAS PRETTY SMALL. IT WASN’T THIS HUGE PLAY WHICH IS DONE IN CASA IN THE BLACK BOX [THE COMMUNITY ATB ROOM] BUT IT WAS FUNNY. IT WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL AND WE DID PUT SOME MONEY BEHIND THAT.” “[THERE WAS] UPPER VICTORIA PARK NEIGHBOURS. I HAD SO MANY NEIGHBOUR DAYS. BUT WITH NEIGHBOUR DAY BEING A VERY POPULAR EVENT IN JUNE, AND WE’VE GOT MORE NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS FORMING, WE REALLY ENCOURAGED THE NEIGHBOURHOODS TO APPLY FOR THE GRANT. MOST OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, AT THIS POINT, THEIR NEIGHBOUR DAY EVENTS ARE PRETTY SMALL, UNDER A HUNDRED PEOPLE. BUT IT’S THE PERFECT PLACE TO CELEBRATE CANADA DAY AND CELEBRATE YOUR NEIGHBOURS. OF COURSE, UPPER VICTORIA PARK IS THE ‘GO BIG OR GO HOME’ NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION FOR NEIGHBOUR DAY. IT’S EXCITING WHENEVER WE’RE ABLE TO SUPPORT THE THEME OF THE EVENT IN ANY WAY BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT PEOPLE FROM EVEN OUTSIDE LETHBRIDGE ATTEND THAT EVENT. WE’RE NOT JUST SUPPORTING THE MEMBERS OF UPPER VICTORIA PARK NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION WHEN WE SUPPORT SOMETHING, SO IT WAS NEAT TO BE ABLE TO PUT SOME MONEY THERE.” “OF COURSE, WINTER LIGHTS FESTIVAL AT JAPANESE GARDEN IS A VERY NEW EVENT. THIS WAS ONLY ITS SECOND YEAR, EVER. THOUGH IT IS A TRADITIONAL, JAPANESE, CULTURAL WINTER EVENT, WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE THEM SOME FUNDING, TOO, BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY [HAD] THE FIRST EVENT IN 2017 BECAUSE THEY START IN EARLY DECEMBER AND GO TILL FEBRUARY. THEY WERE THE LAST EVENT, ‘CAUSE THEY WERE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE IN 2017. THAT FESTIVAL, THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF IT, KICKED OFF THE BEGINNING OF CANADA 150 AND ENDED CANADA 150 FOR US. IT WAS NEAT TO HAVE SUCH AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL GROUP AND ATTRACTION IN LETHBRIDGE…BE THE FOCUS OF THAT. THERE WERE EVENTS OF ALL SIZES. WE EVEN HAD THE DOGS THAT [ON] THE LAST DAY OF OPERATIONS [AT WESTMINSTER POOL] IS JUST FOR DOGS. EVEN THE HUMANE SOCIETY GOT MONEY TO [HAVE] DOG CANDIES THAT WERE RED AND WHITE…DOG TREATS DECORATED WITH RED AND WHITE BALLOONS AND RIBBONS. I WENT TO IT AND IT WAS HILARIOUS. THE DOGS [TOOK] OVER THE POOL AND THEY’RE SO HAPPY, IN CELEBRATION OF CANADA’S 150TH.” “WE ALSO HAD FREE SWIMMING AND SKATING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THAT THE CITY SPONSORED AS A CELEBRATION. THAT WAS BECAUSE WE OBVIOUSLY WANT PEOPLE TO BE ACTIVE AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO USE OUR FACILITIES, AND WE KNOW THAT COSTS CAN BE A BARRIER. EVERY MONTH WE HAD AT LEAST ONE FREE SWIMMING WHERE THE FIRST HUNDRED AND FIFTY PEOPLE WERE FREE. IN THE SUMMER THAT INCLUDED BOTH OF THE OUTDOOR POOLS, HENDERSON AND WESTMINSTER. HENDERSON WAS REALLY POPULAR ‘CAUSE IT’S ONLY SECOND YEAR OF OPERATIONS…IT’S STILL [A] VERY POPULAR PLACE TO GO. THEN, WE HAD FREE SKATING AT ALL OUR ARENAS, INCLUDING THE NEW ATB CENTRE AND WE HAD THOSE AT LEAST [ONCE] A WEEK THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE YEAR. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN LETHBRIDGE GOT TO PARTICIPATE IN SWIMMING OR SKATING FOR FREE AS [PART OF THE] CELEBRATION. AT SOME OF THOSE, WE HANDED OUT LITTLE CANADA FLAGS OR CANADA TATTOOS OR HAD BALLOONS.” ON THE DONATION OF CANADA 150 MATERIALS TO THE MUSEUM, HARASEM NOTED, “I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS IMPORTANT TO GO TO THE GALT BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WHEN WE FIRST REALIZED WE NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE THE 150TH, THE FIRST THING WE DID WAS LOOK BACK TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED AT THE 100TH AND WHAT WE HAD IN THE MUSEUM AND ELSEWHERE IN LETHBRIDGE FOR CELEBRATIONS THAT OCCURRED AT THAT TIME. [WE WERE LOOKING TO] SEE IF THERE WERE THINGS THAT WE COULD MIMIC OR SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. WE USED A LOT OF PHOTOS THROUGH OUR REC AND CULTURE GUIDE FOR THAT YEAR TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT, FIFTY YEARS AGO WAS THE BIG CENTENNIAL. WE THOUGHT THAT WHEN THE 200TH COMES, THAT PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY BE WANTING TO LOOK BACK TO 2017 TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED.” SUDO ADDED, “I THINK CANADA’S SESQUICENTENNIAL [150TH ANNIVERSARY] WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER BECAUSE FIFTY YEARS IS A LONG TIME AND A LOT HAPPENS IN FIFTY YEARS. IT’S GREAT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK AT ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID FOR CANADA’S SESQUICENTENNIAL AND REMEMBER ALL OF THE HARD WORK, AND THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER AND SHOWING THEIR CANADIAN PRIDE.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20180006007-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20180006001

Acquisition Date

2018-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail