The Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS) has been named parade marshal for the 56th Annual Labour Day Parade.
"As this year is the inaugural Cochrane Discovery Days, celebrating the history of our community begins with recognizing and thanking those who have preserved it for our future," states a news release from the Cochrane & Area Events Society (CAES).
It has been a banner year for CHAPS. Earlier this month, this volunteer nonprofit organization celebrated its 25th anniversary of recording the history and capturing the many stories of the Cochrane area.
During the Aug. 5 celebration, CHAPS unveiled a wooden sculpture created by Widahl Woodcrafts. It also opened the Westerson cabin to the public.
"This is quite an honour, privilege and compliment for CHAPS," says CHAPS president Larry Want. "This points to all the work our volunteers and members have done for the past 25 years."
CHAPS has been working to raise its profile in the community in hopes of attracting younger volunteers to carry their important work into the future.
CHAPS was founded in 1999 in reaction to a historically significant building being threatened with destruction. For about a year and half after that, they focused on preparing for the town's centennial celebration in 2003, says Davies.
"That took a lot of time and energy, and it was wonderful," says CHAPS past president Gordon Davies. "We had so much fun. That's when we sort of discovered Cochrane history. That's when we started getting the old photos from the Glenbow Museum Archives and looking at the old newspapers, finding out what life looked like in 1909 from the old newspaper, and it was fascinating."
He agrees with CHAPS president Larry Want on the vital importance of attracting more and younger members.
"We're all reaching an age where we're not going to be around much longer or want to or have the ability to do much work for CHAPS in the museum. It's really difficult to recruit younger people, but I think all of these kinds of things will hopefully help us get the news out. Maybe anybody with an interest in history will decide to look us up and become members."
Being parade marshal is in addition to an already hectic Labour Day Weekend for CHAPS members, who are playing a role in the brand-new Cochrane Discovery Days.
They are teaming up with the Rockyview Brewing Company to offer a Big E-Bike History Tours from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 from 4 to 5 p.m. that will provide insight on historical buildings in Cochrane.
"Hopefully we'll give people a better idea of Cochrane's history. On main street there's some buildings that go back a long time and have quite an interesting history.
Their Cochrane Historical Museum, located at the Cochrane Ranche Historic Site, will open Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
The countdown has begun for the annual Labour Day Parade. Pre-Parade entertainment begins at 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, followed by the 10 a.m. parade.
