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Delburne to celebrate centennial in style

Delburne is getting ready for a party.

Delburne is getting ready for a party.

To celebrate its 100 years, the town’s centennial committee is throwing a big celebration from June 28 to July 1. There will be community breakfasts and suppers, class reunions, ongoing entertainment and helicopter rides over the weekend and on Canada Day.

Organizers are expecting 2,000 to 3,000 people to flood into the community for the festivities, which will get underway at noon on June 28.

The next day will feature a good variety of events, from ‘zorbing’ in water balls to vintage machinery displays, century family exhibits, and shepherding demonstrations.

Then, at 8 p.m., Emerson Drive will play a concert at the village’s Agriplex.

Sunday will follow with more of the same, plus an interdenominational church service at noon, class reunion photos throughout the day, and a dance with music by renowned Edmonton band The Emeralds at 8:30 p.m. A community buffet supper will precede the dance and fireworks will follow at midnight.

Finally, on Monday, there will be a centennial parade at 11 a.m., and a gymkhana and tractor pull in the afternoon.

From Friday to Sunday, there will be helicopter rides from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. where anyone can go up for a ride to get an aerial view of the village and its environs.

“It has been a tremendous effort on the part of a lot of people to pull this off and we’re just hoping that everybody who comes is going to take away tremendous memories from it, and really appreciate what’s happened in the community in the last hundred years and how strong it is going forth into the next century,” said Karen Grant, one of the centennial organizers.

Tickets are being sold in advance for the celebration’s three big events — the Emerson Drive concert, the community buffet supper and the Emeralds dance.

For a full schedule of events, and information on how to get tickets or how to become involved, visit www.delburne.ca or check out the Delburne Alberta 2013 Centennial page on Facebook. Anyone with historical photos of the town or its residents is encouraged to share them with the centennial committee.

mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com