Silver Skate Festival at new location in Laurier Park
Edmonton’s longest running winter festival, is back Feb 9-19, at Sir Wilfred Laurier Park. The new location is across the river from the festival’s historic location of Hawrelak Park, which is closed due to renovations. The free 10-day, family-oriented festival celebrates prairie winter life and creates winter experiences for Edmontonians of all ages.
What began as a small annual skating event rooted in Dutch winter traditions has blossomed into an all-embracing celebration of winter sport, art, music, and recreation. You will be able to glide along the river valley’s newest outdoor public skating surface, marvel at the artistic talent on display in the Snow Sculpture garden and be dazzled by roving performers on the Folk Trail.
Experience renewal by writing out a fear or a wish to be added to the nightly Fire Sculpture burn, visit the Indigenous pavilion in the Heritage Village, and push yourself, or a team comprised of family and friends, to frosty victory in the Duathlon or Triathlon. All types of skate blades and skill levels are welcome. Festival info at https://silverskate.ca/
Eda Owen - weather woman of Highlands and Alberta
In an era where women were not considered persons under the law, let alone considered qualified to be working as scientific professionals, Eda Owen was officially appointed in 1921 by the Department of Marine and Fisheries as the Provincial Agent and Weather Observer for Alberta. Eda became the only woman in Canada to hold such a position.
“Her work was incredibly demanding,” notes the Alberta Register of Historic Places, which designated Eda Owen’s home office-meteorological station as a historic resource in 1994. “The Highlands station was arguably the most significant meteorological post outside of Toronto. Eda was required to take hourly readings from 36 different instruments throughout the day and compile reports from over 140 stations in the region.”
For 22 years, Eda continued the daily grind of her labour-intensive and time-consuming work. Eda woke up at 5:30AM every morning, read her instruments before getting dressed, and phoned in the information to the telegraph office to pass along to Toronto.
Eda Owen’s house at 11227-63 Street looks much the same as any of the other historic homes in the Highlands. But when Eda lived there, the house stood out. A 60-foot-tall wooden tower, painted bright red, was perched atop the roof, holding a rotating anemometer to gauge wind speed.
Lynx, cougar or bobcat
Gerald Romanchuk photo
Canada Lynx have a very helpful identifying feature. They have very long black tufts of fur on the ends of their ears, which neither of Alberta’s other wild cats have. Lynx are smaller than cougars, but larger than bobcats. Canada Lynx also have a black-tipped tail, which is useful in trying to identify what species of cat you are seeing, especially if the animal is running away.
Cougars are the largest of the three species of wild cats in Alberta. They are usually between 100 and 150 pounds or about the size of an average teenager. Cougars are easy to identify because they have very long tails, ranging between two and three feet in length, whereas Lynx and Bobcats have short, stubby tails.
Bobcats are the smallest wild cat in Alberta. Despite being the smallest wild cat, bobcats are still larger than domestic cats, sometimes getting up to two feet tall. Bobcats are usually found in the very south end of the province and are very unlikely to be spotted in the Edmonton region. They are distinguishable from Cougars because they are much smaller and have a very short tail. Lynx and Bobcats are harder to tell apart, but size and pattern are usually good indicators. https://www.ealt.ca/blog/fun-facts-lynx-cougar-or-bobcat
War on Cars live podcast part of Winter Cycling Congress
As part of the Winter Cycling Congress being held in Edmonton, Feb 22-24, the ironically named, War on Cars podcast, is doing a public live show on the evening of Friday, Feb 23. Their special local guest will be former Mayor Don Iveson.
The cycling congress will explore the ingredients of winter cycling and being a healthy city, and feature international and local experts and enthusiasts, discussing policies, best practices and research that supports year-round well-being in cities and communities.
With episodes like “Making the Bus Sexy Again,” “Infiltrating the Auto Show” and “The Problem With Public Meetings,” the War on Cars podcast takes a decidedly different view on the future of urban transportation. Tickets for the Edmonton live podcast at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/live-podcast-recording-the-war-on-cars-tickets-809663173347
All Out by Maggie Ray Morris, 10351-96 Street, Edmonton
https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/all-out
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Please note that articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the wide variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley. Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com