Nice to be Honoured by University of Alberta in such a Special Way

I was honoured to be part of the University of Alberta Board of Governors retirement dinner last week.  I was there becuase of my part of a government relations committee that was disbanded because Karen Wichuk and company have done such a great job in the government relations area they really did not need outside advice anymore.

Nice to be part of the celebrations though and really touched by the gifts from the University.  Instead of a plaque or certificate, they actually dedicated a digitized Alberta book from the Library collection for each of us.  My commemorative book is the 1930 edition of the College Saint Francois-Xavier.  In addition they gave us a copy of the recently published translation of the Prayer Book in Cree Syllabics done originally in 1883 by Father Emile Grouard in Lac La Biche.  This is believed to be the very first book written in Alberta.

The company honoured at the retirement dinner was pretty good too.  It included, amongst others, Lou Hyndman, one of my early mentors, and good friends Eric Newell, Gerry Protti, Audrey Poitras and Michelle Stanners.  Here is a link to the Peel Priairie Collection at the University of Alberta Library where the digitized books are housed.  Give it a visit if you are interested in exploring the history of western Canada and the culture of the prairies.