Since the early 1900s, the Didsbury Museum archives show that there have been four tornadoes that have occurred right in the area on July 1st.
A devastating tornado struck Mountain View County on Canada Day last year.
Kathleen Windsor – who is Chair of the Canada Day festivities hosted by the Didsbury Museum – says this Monday they will be saluting and honouring the community members who worked so hard to help during, and in the aftermath of, the tornado in 2023. She says “At last year’s Museum celebration for Canada Day, we had story tellers in who were telling a story. Then we got the call, we had to go down. I had a hundred people we had to take downstairs to be safe. When we got the all clear, everybody came back up. They wanted to hear the rest of the story. They didn’t go home and that’s a tribute to community spirit and the rural lifestyle that we all lead.”
She points out that it was a horrible incident but the response from the community was wonderful. Windsor says “I think that is just what the community is all about. All of us here in Mountain View County. We all pitch in to help each other when we have struggles. The fact that Didsbury has had four of them. Let me think if I can remember. 1909, 1912, 2016, and 2023 we had tornadoes right in the area on July 1st. There were other ones too but these ones all seem to land on July 1st.”
Windsor says there is no cost for any of their activities from 1 until 4pm on Canada Day thanks to some funding from the Town of Didsbury and a grant from Canadian Heritage that is directed to all the celebrations happening at the Didsbury Museum.
Visit the Facebook pages of the Town of Didsbury or the Didsbury Museum for more details.
The Didsbury Fire Department’s fireworks display will happen after dark on Monday, July 1st.
Listen to 96.5 CKFM’s Community Hotline conversation with Kathleen Windsor.