Wednesday, 30 September 2015, 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM
Led by Dr. John Lehr and Ed Ledohowski
This one-day field trip will explore Manitoba’s Eastern Interlake region, visiting areas settled by Icelanders, Ukrainians, and Jews as well as the resort communities developed by the Canadian Pacific Railway along the shoreline of Lake Winnipeg. The tour will visit and explain the history of the CPR resort community of Winnipeg Beach, the Icelandic community of Gimli, and the later Ukrainian settlements that lie behind it. The story of Jewish settlement on the prairies is well represented by the settlement of Bender Hamlet, now a ghost town, which we will also visit. Collectors of roadside symbols of place will have an opportunity to photograph Komarno’s giant mosquito, Gimli’s Viking statue, and Narcisse’s garter snake monument. Lunch will be at the Lakeview Resort and Conference Centre in Gimli and a traditional home-cooked Manitoba Fall Supper will be provided in Teulon.
Departure from Grant Park Shopping Centre in Winnipeg at 8:30 AM
The cost per person will be $92.00 ($97.00 for non-members), including both meals, transportation by a modern restroom-equipped bus, and all taxes and gratuities. To reserve your place on this trip, please contact the MHS Administrative Office.
Lehr is a retired Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Winnipeg, specializing in Ukrainian settlement in western Canada and South America, communal settlements in Canada and Israel, and provincial parks in Manitoba.
He was President of the Manitoba Historical Society from 1998 to 2000, and he has organized numerous popular and informative field trips for the society.
Ledohowski is a retired Municipal Heritage Consultant, formerly employed with the Historic Resources Branch of the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage, and Tourism. He has done historical research on a wide range of subjects, including settlement in the Interlake region of Manitoba. He served as a consultant on a recent television documentary about steamboats on the Red River during the 19th century.
Page revised: 6 May 2015
