A Red Deer couple originally from England converted their house into a small slice of their home country to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Saturday, Tracy and Michael Bradford’s home in the West Park neighbourhood was decked out with Union Jack flags, as they threw a party to mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
“We’re making the effort because we look around and from what we can see there’s not much going on (locally), even though the Queen’s the head of the Commonwealth,” said Michael.
“So we thought, ‘What the hell, let’s throw our own little party.’ We know lots of English people around here.”
Saturday was the third day of the Platinum Jubilee extravaganza.
The Bradfords, who have lived in Red Deer for 32 years, set up all of the decorations and expected to host at least 20 people.
“We ordered all of the bunting and a friend of ours, another English guy, helped do all of this. He set up a table with lots of memorabilia of the Queen. We found all of the flags we could and anything that’s from the U.K.,” said Tracy.
Michael added: “Lots of people have said to us, ‘I see a flag from quite some distance.’”
They also prepared traditional English drinks and foods, such as sausage rolls and scotch eggs.
With COVID-19, the couple hasn’t been able to see some of their friends in some time, said Michael.
“This is a good excuse to phone them up and get together,” he said.
Tracy added, “That was one of the main reasons we wanted to do this. We were cheesed off because of COVID and we knew this was coming up and thought we should have a party.
“We can celebrate at the same time as all of our friends back in England and all of our friends here.”
Tracy and Michael did manage to get back to England last year.
“We had such a good time and they treated us well. It made us feel homesick,” said Tracy.
“We would’ve liked to have been there today, but that travel last year was a nightmare, with the flying and the costs of the tests and everything. We said we wouldn’t do it until everything calms down again.”
Already the country’s longest-reigning monarch, which is a landmark she reached in 2015, Queen Elizabeth II is the first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.
She became Queen Feb. 6, 1952, after the death of her father King George VI. Her formal coronation was June 2, 1953.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter