Sir Sam Steele Collection at the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta holds a very significant collection of letters, diaries, photographs, scrapbooks, and other items from Sir Sam Steele and his family. The collection is currently being processed and some is available online to view at this link. http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/?page_id=2. There is even a recipe for 'Johnny Cake' at this link, still a favourite for visitors at Fort Steele Heritage Town, where it is served with our own blend of cinnamon ice cream!

Heritage Christmas

The Christmas season begins November 1st with the opening of our Christams Gift Shop at the Fort Steele Mercantile. A festive season of family activities is planned, including sleigh rides (wagon rides if the snow eludes us!), showings of 'The Polar Express' holiday favourite (come in your pj's for this one and hold onto your ticket so the Conductor can help you aboard!), 'Christmas on the Town' (enjoy a holiday feast, then take a horse-drawn sleigh ride to the theatre for a special viewing of the film 'Joyeux Noel'. An ice rink will be built and maintained in the townsite as weather permits. Father Christmas will visit us as well so come and have your picture taken (furry friends welcome for pictures as well!). Check out our event listing link for dates and times for all our Christmas events.

Wild Horse Theatre Project

We'll begin a project shortly to upgrade the stage infrastructure in the Wild Horse Theatre. Funding received through the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance is assisting with this upgrade. The project will include improving the catwalk area above the stage and installing a self-supporting metal post and truss system to enable us to remove the old rope rigging that is past its prime. The new structure is very versatile and will enable us to retain the flexibility required to build sets from scratch for each new play written at the beginning of each summer theatre season. The new system will also be very functional for community groups who use the theatre for a variety of different performances throughout the year.

3300 people on site for Halloween Spooktacular!

3100 participants and 200 volunteers came out for the event this year. The zombie fashion show was a hit and had enough makeup on between them to last a lifetime! Great weather, great fireworks, several hundred carved pumpkins, and one of the best Halloween theatre performances ever! A couple of clean up days and this event is a wrap but we're already starting preparations for next year!

New Book by Keith Powell

Keith Powell hosted a launch party for his new book this past week in Cranbrook, BC. His book is a fictional story based in Fisherville, BC, the location of the gold rush in our area. If it wasn't for Fisherville there likely would not have been a Fort Steele as our little town became the arrival, departure, and supply post for this gold rush - twice! Gold was first struck by Jack Fisher in 1864 and a resurgence of mining occured in the 1880's. Prior to this book there was little collective knowledge about Jack Fisher himself. Can't wait to read it!

Murder Mystery Endowment Fundraiser

We are so excited! We've sold out our very first fundraiser for our endowment fund! One day to go to the big event. Our guests are in for a wonderful four course dinner with a 'harvest' flair and will be entertained by a dinner theatre performance with some Victorian charm. We're already looking forward to hosting another dinner in the future.

Halloween

Our Halloween Spooktacular is coming soon! Get your tickets today! Call us at 250-417-6000.