Red Deerians celebrated 100 years of the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary with cupcakes, face-painting and more on Thursday.
Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, Alberta's oldest federal migratory bird sanctuary, is set on about 122 hectares of protected land within Red Deer city limits and serves as a refuge for native plants and animals.
"For 100 years the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary has benefited from official legal protection at the federal, provincial and municipal levels against harvesting, hunting, poaching and/or land development, including the draining of lakes or stripping of the land's resources," Mayor Ken Johnston said just before declaring June 27 as Gaetz Lake Sanctuary Awareness Day.
"The people of Red Deer have for 100 years banded together to protect this remarkable piece of land from human interference and to help it recover from disaster."
Catherine Gaetz and her son John Jost Gaetz had a house atop Michener Hill in the late 1800s. The family sectioned part of the land as a sanctuary for animals and a natural space for Red Deerians to use. They donated that section of land to the government in 1924 and it became the Red Deer Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
"It's a great space and Red Deer's really lucky to have it," said Kathryn Huedepohl, public programmer and special events coordinator with Waskasoo Environmental Education Society.
"There aren't a lot of cities that have a federal migratory bird sanctuary right in the middle of them – if you look at a map we're pretty much right in the middle. We thought it'd be fun to have a little bit of a celebration."
In addition to Thursday's event, there was a beer-tasting fundraiser earlier this month that served as another 100-year celebration.
Huedepohl said the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary has had a long storied history.
"Way back before ... any European descendant folks were using this land, it was used as a First Nations meeting ground because the water and rivers are very important," Huedepohl explained.
"After the City of Red Deer started to develop, it had a bunch of different (uses). The military trained here, it was partially a garbage dump at one point, it was a pasture for a dairy farm. Now it's designated as a natural history place and I think Red Deer has a certain love for it.
"I'm sure some people are sad they can't paddle in the lakes, walk their dogs or ride their bikes, but it's a place for quiet nature study and contemplation. You can settle in to all the good things nature does for us."