I was born in Alberta, (a prairie province). It is Alberta's 3rd largest city with almost 80,000 people who live here.
Lethbridge was built near the old fort Whoop-Up.
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A First Nation Person Dancing.
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The Hudson Bay Company started the village as an outpost to collect hides and furs. Lethbridge was named after a town in the UK, and both were named after Lord Lethbridge. Lethbridge sits on both sides of a coulee. There is The Old Man River (yes, this is really its name, and it does flow into the Mississippi River).
The city was built by settlers who came from Eastern Europe, England, and China; and the Mormons. The Chinese stayed after they helped build the railroad, the Eastern Europeans fled from the Communists, the English came because conditions weren't good for getting jobs, and the Mormons arrived because there was no prohibition on how many wives one man could have (until quite a while later).
My Grandparents immigrated here in 1910.Half of the population is Mormon. There are two First Nation Tribes that live in the city and on their reserves. They are the Blackfeet and the Cree. In public school I went to school witha Blackfoot Princess.
Every religion in the world has a church or a temple here. I had a good time visiting the Catholic Christmas Mass, (I fainted from the incense), a Buddhist wedding, a Ukrainian wedding and an Anglican service. Once a month we all went to a Friday night dance at the Mormon Church's hall. All of my friends came to a Saturday morning service at the Jewish Temple.
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| Favourite spots: |
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You Now Can Walk
Across The Highlevel Bridge
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The Chinook winds (warm winds from Japan that drop their moisture while they cross the mountains) make this city's weather quite mild. A legend says that because these winds blow every day (the wind is at least 20 miles an hour up to gale force), the people who live in the Chinook belt are a little crazy. I guess that explains why I am! The city had a library, a lot of parks, a manmade lake, a Japanese tea house, and, as I mentioned before, a university that is built on the side of the Coulee.
There is a Canadian Junior Hockey League team, and minor soccer, baseball and football teams (they play these sports from grade one through high school). Lethbridge's claim to fame is the railroad bridge that spans the Coulee. There are higher bridges in the world (but not as long), and there are longer bridges but not as high.
We use to swim near the bridge when I was younger. That is until I saw a rattle snake swimming next to me. I don't remember how fast I got out of the Old Man River
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| What's really great: |
On a side road there is a small hill and if you drive fast down the dirt road and hit it you seem to be flying in air.... until you bump down. I’m surprised no one got whip lash!!
The farms around Lethbridge were the first to have irrigation in Canada.
The industries are sugar beet farming, growing wheat, cattle, sheep, coal, gas and packaging spaghetti, brewing beer, and selling the cattle. Molson had their first Brewery here.
The city is divided by the railroad tracks, into the north and south sides. I lived on the south side of the city. At that time there were two highschools, the Public, (Lethbridge Collegiate Highschool and the Catholic Highschool). We intermingled with each other when we weren’t in school.
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| Sights: |
The University of Lethbridge is across the river. It is a modern building that specializes in teaching acting/fine arts.
Fort Whoop-up has been rebuilt. It is open from May 16th to September 1st. Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday from noon until 6pm. The admission prices are: Adults: $2.50 per person, seniors and students: $1.00, children under six can see the Fort for free. There are guided tours and train rides. Near the Fort the discovered dinosaur eggs that had baby dinosaurs in them.
We went skiing and skating in the winter. We can rode horses all year. Golf season begins in March, we could swim by April and climb and go spelunking in Waterton by June.
We had so much to do that I had a difficult time making time for homework.
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| Accommodations: |
I like to stay at the hotel at the Convention Center. It is a block from Henderson Lake Park, in the south end of the city.
I have also stayed at the Heidelberg Inn (on Mayor Magrath Drive), and the Holiday Inn and Hotel and Suites, (about 2km from the city Center).
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| Nightlife: |
Today I just go back to visit friends but when I was a teenager we went to a dance every Friday night, (during the summer), at the Pavilion at Henderson Lake. In the winter the dance on Friday was a the Mormon Church in the Basement.
Every Saturday night we went to a movie and then to a dance at the YMCA. My partner and I were Jive Champions of Alberta.
Now when we visit the men seem to go golfing and watch TV and drink beer at night. The women go out to bars alone. That’s why we stopped going back.
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| Hangouts: |
We went bowling a lot. It was 5 pin bowling not 10 pin.
In the winter we went to see the Native Sons, a junior hockey league team. Now the only hockey team is at the University. I also went curling a lot.
In the summer we went swimming at one of the swimming pools.
I was a cheerleader so we started practicing right after the Labor Day Holiday, (September 1st).
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| Restaurants: |
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Turtle That Lives In Henderson Lake
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Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens on Mayor Magrath Drive and 7th Avenue, overlooking Henderson Lake. It was built as an apology for the treatment of Japanese-Canadians when they were interned in this area. There are 4 gardens, a pavilion of cypress wood handcrafted in Japan perpetually laid out for a tea ceremony. It is open from May 16th to September 30th, every day from 9am to 8pm. I'm not sure what they charge now, but I do know that children under 12 can see the garden for free. There is a pagoda, a dry garden, a bell tower, and in the Pavilion, they perform a tea ceremony.
The Regent Restaurant, Honker's Pub, 2 for 1 Pizza, and the Urban Taps and Grill.
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| Other recommendations: |
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Ukrainian Easter Egg In Vegerville.
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Sir Alexander Galt Museums west of 5th Ave. South. It is open all year, and there is no admission fee. The museum shows you how coal was mined, how and why irrigation canals were needed, the immigration (from before WW II), and the artifacts of the Prisoner of War Camp, (we were very upset when we learned that they had colored bathroom fixtures), when every home in Lethbridge had white). They did work on roads, (like a chain gang), and I was very scared when we drove by them.
Lethbridge is half an hour drive from the United States border and a half a hour’s drive from Waterton Lakes, in the Rocky Mountains.
We spent a lot of time in Montana, where there is no speed limits, no drinking limit and we could gamble in the bars.
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Published on Wednesday September 13th, 2006
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Publish on Facebook
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Sun, Sep 24 2006 - 01:23 PM
 by st.vincent
| You have some great memories from your hometown Lyla, I really enjoyed reading this report. Fisrt time I have heard the word spelunking |
Sun, Sep 24 2006 - 05:03 AM
 by marianne
Lyla,
It is very difficult to wtrite about one's own hometown, but this report is really good. I just wonder why would you stay in a hotel inthe place where you live? |
Fri, Sep 15 2006 - 04:06 AM
 by rangutan
| Nice report but the pictures copied from www.lethbridge.ca should be replaced! |
Fri, Sep 15 2006 - 03:12 AM
by ravinderkumarsi
| nice report and excellent pictures in the report. |
Thu, Sep 14 2006 - 06:17 AM
by davidx
| If you're really crazy, which I doubt, there's certainly no sign of it here. A really good informative report. |
Wed, Sep 13 2006 - 04:47 PM
by terje
| Hi Lyla! A personal and good report! :-) Terje |
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