A bustour of Estonians arrived in Calgary from Toronto on June 28th and that evening were warmly greeted by Estonian Calgarians, at the Ranchman's Restaurant.
Thank goodness, Canada's greatest Honky Tonk and Country Night Club was quiet that evening, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to enjoy speaking with the numerous people who had come to make our first evening away from home a memorable one.
The following day, our group, which consisted of 20 Estonians, 1 Latvian, 1 Dutch and 2 “regular Canadians” [the bus driver and the tour guide] headed toward the Badlands, Hoodoos, Drumheller and to visit historic Estonian sites near Stettler.
None of us were prepared for the emphatic, clear, cheerful greeting of "Tere, tere, vana kere" given by Evelyn Shursen upon her entry into our bus. Evelyn proclaimed there and then, that her Estonian vocabulary didn't extend much further than that. Instantly, we all sensed that her pride in her Estonian roots was considerable.
She, along with another lady, was our initial welcoming committee and guide. We were taken to road 56 N, where a plaque printed in English and Estonian, commemorates the pioneer of Estonian heritage.
A short ride took us to Linda Hall, which is a community centre proudly flying our blue, black and white flag beside Canada's flag. Inside is a roomy versatile kitchen, a stage and plenty of room for dancing and partying [typically Estonian].
As we stepped off the bus, we were greeted by several men and women and were given a County Of Stettler, No. 6 lapel pin by Ron Hennel. Last year, the Hennel family celebrated their working homestead's 100th anniversary.
We then visited the nearby well-cared for Estonian Cemetery that has a small, painted white chapel, which is no longer in use. The gravestones carry surnames like Rahu, Kerbes and several others with birth dates in the late 1800’s and death dates starting in the early 1900’s.
We then were led to the Community Museum in Stettler. Among donated articles from other times and cultural groups is an authentic Estonian log cabin, contents and all, donated by one of the families. Here, we were served refreshments by yet more Canadians, whose ancestors came as pioneers from Estonia. People who had married into the community were there as well,to make us welcome.
A few older persons spoke Estonian, the younger ones did not ... but they are all very proud of their roots. They still make "jõuluvorst" at Christmastime! The ingredients are somewhat different from what we use today, but nevertheless, they carry on this tradition as well as others, including celebrating Jaanipäev.
Touring these sites, meeting and talking with these descendants of Estonian great-great grandparents was awesome, enlightening and heartfelt with many emotional moments.