Indigenous War Monument Grande Prairie

10/12/2024

Women of War Symposium: Building Resilience in Uncertain Times
🗓 March 7-8-9, 2025
📍 Veterans Memorial Gardens + Interpretive Centre

I’m excited to share something that has been lighting me up! This March, we are hosting the Women of War Symposium, a transformative event dedicated to honoring the incredible women who shaped and are shaping history—female veterans, serving soldiers, volunteers, employees, and business leaders—and learning how their resilience during the most challenging times can inspire us today.

We will journey through the history of women in service, from those who bravely fought, served, and volunteered during the First and Second World Wars, all the way to present-day trailblazers. These women ran farms, built and engineered aircraft, and broke barriers in every sector. Their stories of strength and leadership in uncertain times offer powerful lessons for us today.

Through inspiring talks and workshops, we’ll look to the past to equip ourselves with the tools to navigate the future. Whether you’re seeking resilience, leadership skills, or simply want to honor the women who paved the way, this event is for you.

Join us for this unforgettable experience and learn how these women, across generations, faced uncertainty with courage and tenacity. Together, we’ll grow stronger, learn from one another, and honor the legacies of the women who came before us—all while preparing ourselves to meet today’s challenges head-on.

✨ Let’s come together, celebrate the past, and build resilience for the future. I’d love to see you there!

08/07/2024

Some big news for my veteran friends: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced the expansion of its Military Appreciation Program, offering program eligibility to active Canadian service members, veterans and their dependents from the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Coast Guard. Beginning Aug. 6, eligible members of the Canadian armed forces will receive special onboard experiences, amenities, and a 10 percent cruise fare discount across all sailings on all ships throughout the entire NCL fleet.

06/11/2024

06/02/2024

What an amazing day!

Indigenous geneology is quite the task - between churches just assigning names, to people literally being adopted as family without paperwork to those who signed up for the military and changed their name so the Indian agent wouldn't find out, what a challenge.....

So grateful to so many elders and historians who are so willing to share their research and stories!

05/31/2024

ONLY 6 TABLES LEFT!
Join us for a fabulous night filled with FRENCH food, wine and fantastic entertainment!
We're thrilled to present live music by Darlene Woodward 🎶 🎤
📅 Date: June 8th, 2024
🕕 Time: 6 PM - 12 AM
📭Location: D Company Armouries at 9005 101 St,
Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6V3
THERE WILL BE:
- A tantalizing buffet dinner 🍽️ of french comfort
- Mouth water French Desserts🥐 + Coffee Station ☕
- Silent auction with incredible items 🛍️
- Spot Dance Prizes 🕺💃
- Incredible door prizes 🎁
- 50/50💰
SPECIAL GUESTS:
45 Fallen from D-Day & The Battle of Normandy will be joining us through their storyboards! ❤️ ❤️ Learn all about them! 🕵️‍♂️
All proceeds support the preservation of our regional military history an the educational + victory garden programming and more offered by Veterans Memorial Gardens & Interpretive Centre.
Help us honour the service and sacrifice of 45 Regional Killed in Action Soldiers, 👨‍✈️meet 11 Silver Cross families and learn what the act of remembrance 💔 means to them!
Let's come together to show our appreciation and support for those whose loved ones never made it home!
ONLY 6 TABLES LEFT!
Table of 8 - $600 and includes wine🍷, dinner, live entertainment & Karaoke, Second World War Photo Booth📸
Individual Tickets- $75
Join us for a night of Remembrance & Fun!
To purchase tickets contact:
Renee Charbonneau (780) 933-0182
Want to have a few bevvies🍸? We Got You!
🚖
FREE 7 SEATER SHUTTLE SERVICE by Karyn4u Designated Drivers Inc. - Running from the Sandman Inn (Our Host Hotel) to D Company Armouries. In Town service also supplied for free.
Shuttle starts running at 5:30 PM and goes to Midnight or so!

Tap the QR Code to buy your tickets on ZEFFY - the only Canadian platform that is free to nonprofits for fundraising, events and more.

04/03/2024

I can not wait to see all of the story boards, this Veteran's wall and the Jim Stone Wall all set up in Blueberry Mountain.

Thanks to a volunteer crew from Weyerhaeuser and Kevin Lavallee and the crew from Brandt Tractor Ltd. that will be done on April 12th! Rain date of the 26th....

This has truly been a labour of love. I feel like I know these verterans personally, they have become part of my soul.

If you zoom in and give the image time to load you can almost read the stories here - any larger and the image won't load...

04/03/2024

HAPPY MILITARY BRAT MONTH!

Dandelions put down roots almost anywhere and it is almost impossible to destroy. It is an unpretentious plant, yet good looking. It is a survivor in a broad range of climates.

Military children bloom everywhere the winds carry them. They are hardy and upright. Their roots are strong, cultivated deeply in the culture of the Military, planted swiftly and surely. They’re ready to fly in the breezes that take them to new adventures, new lands, and new friends.

Military children are well-rounded, culturally aware, tolerant, and extremely resilient. They have learned from an early age that home is where their hearts are. That a good friend can be found in every corner of the world.

They learn that to survive means to adapt. That the door that closes one chapter of their life opens to a new and exciting adventure full of new friends and new experiences.

04/01/2024

If you know any of the families on this list please reach out to me.
On June 9 we are unveiling a memorial to the 46 soldiers listed here and Col James Riley Stone.

We'd like to invite these families to a BBQ luncheon and ceremony to honour them.

02/28/2024

So filled with Gratitude to announce that the County of Grande Prairie No. 1 has become a Corporal Level sponsor for the D-Day Battle of Normandy/Bluebeery Mountatin Commemoration Weekend! Thank you for all who are looking at our kits and thinking about buying a table or sponsoring. It takes a village!

02/27/2024

It is with much gratitude that I announce Veteran's Affairs approval of a grant to help us build a Women of War Memorial.

We will be reaching out to funding partners to help top up what the grant does not cover.

In September we will have a beautiful war memorial that thanks the women who flew planes, handled radar, were nurses and administrators, translators and farmers, and mothers, and so so much more.

I am so grateful to our partners at Veterans Affairs for making this possible.

02/23/2024

A HUGE Shoutout to our newest sponsors for the our Commemoration Weekend 2024:
Municipal District of Greenview No. 16
Eagle Eye Drone Services
Canadian Military Police Association
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum
Frontier Eatery & Seafood

So thrilled to have the help of so many!!!!