By Adam Eisenbarth
Sure, catching up with friends and family works on Facebook and other social networking websites, but they don’t compare to the face-to-face visits that participants enjoyed at the Rimbey and District Annual Reunion.
More than 220 seniors gathered into the Rimbey Community Centre June 28 to enjoy the popular event that has been running since 1955.
“A group of seniors at that time thought it would be a good idea to bring everybody together that had ties to Rimbey,” says Gladys Johnson, president of the Rimbey and District Annual Reunion. The event has since been passed on over the years and has become a treasured Rimbey gathering for many.
“It’s proven very popular. A lot of people get a lot of pleasure coming back home year after year.”
Participants flock in from throughout Western Canada and even a California license plate was spotted in the parking lot.
“It gets to be like a family reunion because you see the same people year after year and you get to know them and look for them the next year.”
Johnson says the event is a good celebration of the community.
“We also honour the classes of 50 years ago that came through the Rimbey High School. So every year we have a Grade 12 class that we introduce and they get to tell us what they’ve been doing for the last 50 years.”
The event also highlights a family with historical roots in Rimbey each year.
This year the Peabody family was recognized.
“It means a lot. I like history and I know that my grandparents contributed to Rimbey and so it’s kind of nice that we don’t forget these people,” says Dick Peabody, who now resides in St. Albert.
Peabody’s grandfather, Frank, was an entrepreneur who owned the first livery stable, a hotel and more. “He just owned a lot of businesses and did a lot of things.”
Peabody was happy to see the organizing committee recognized the need to remember pioneers.
“The early pioneers that came here in the early 1900s and contributed to Rimbey, I don’t think we should forget them.”
The event was another success with about the same number of people participating as in previous years. A pancake breakfast was served the next day.