$1 including gst
Tofield School students enjoy a day of skiing and snowboarding photos inside
Your LOCAL Media since 1918! VOLUME 107: ISSUE 29
www.tofieldmerc.com
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Return of third annual Snow Goose Festival brings more bus tours Kari Janzen Staff Reporter
A few pairs of Canada Geese have been spotted in the area lately, the first sightings of migratory birds coming back to their birthplace. The much-anticipated arrival of the celebrated snow goose is also growing closer, and with them, the return of the newly-revived annual Snow Goose Festival, Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27. Town of Tofield Recreation and Facilities Coordinator Vanita Eglauer attended the last Tofield and District Chamber of Commerce meeting on Wednesday, March 5, to provide an update on the plans that are well underway. “The festival is returning for its third year. We’ve made a few changes based on some feedback, and I think the biggest change is that we’ve added some additional tours midday. We found that there’s gaps, because our tours go early morning and late afternoon, because that’s prime birding. But that left the midday quiet, so we’ve added two and three-hour bus tours midday,” she said. “The second thing that changed this year is that we are going to be headquartered in the curling rink, not the arena,” she said. The Tofield 4-H Beef and Multi Club is holding their club show and sale on Monday, April 28, and need to ready the arena for the show during the weekend of the Festival. “So, the trade show location has been moved to the curling rink for this year, with a maximum of 40 exhibitors. For the first couple of years, we were trying to keep it more nature and environmental-related, but we’ve thrown the doors wide open. The quilters are going to
have a booth, we’ve got a few individuals in the community that are doing things, so if you’re interested, you can apply online at snowgoosefestival.ca or call me at the Town Office,” Eglauer said. The Festival was very popular in the early 90s, but after many dry years, the water levels in Beaverhill Lake dropped and the snow geese were no longer passing through there. “We had some very, very dry years in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, and water levels dropped. The sightings here in the area were not as good for migration, farther west or farther east, absolutely, in the Viking-Holden area, but Holden’s always been a hot bed for snow geese. “In the 2010s, the water levels, snow, everything was rising. The migration was getting here again and there was a group of interested birders, including the Beaverhill Bird Observatory, and some people from Edmonton who wanted to revive the Snow Goose Festival. In 2020 we were going to, and then COVID hit, so it paused for a couple years and we held the first in 2023. It’s growing every year; people are on the website purchasing tickets for the tours already. The word is getting out and people are looking for it now,” she said. Kari Cameron, representing the Tofield 4-H club, asked what the demographic of attendees are, and asked if the event has patience for kids. “We really get a lot, but I would say predominantly, they are probably 40plus. There are family tickets available for all the tours, and families have said the tour guides are really good with the kids as well. Nature Alberta does kids activities right at the trade show as well.
KATE PRIESTLEY PHOTO
Some vendors have animals there, there’s lots of stuff to see, a lot of interesting things for kids,” Eglauer said. There is also a souvenir program produced, which includes the event schedule, featured articles, and provides the opportunity to advertise local businesses. “This is produced for distribution by the beginning of April, and there are multiple thousands of copies that go through the Great Canadian trade show and sale, and are also distributed in the Camrose, Edmonton, and Strathcona area. If you’d like to participate in that, it’s an excellent opportunity to showcase your business,” Eglauer said. Jessica Melsted with Canadian Wildlife Service will be the speaker at the banquet on Saturday night. “Sandy Lusk is doing the catering, so we’re keeping it local, so hopefully we’re going to get 150 people for that. There is a silent auction that we do run in conjunction with the banquet, if there
Town of Tofield Recreation and Facilities Coordinator Vanita Eglauer. KARI JANZEN PHOTO
are businesses who might be interested in donating something, and the proceeds from the entire event, including that silent auction, go back to the Snow Goose Festival, just so that if we do have a dip in years, we’ve got a little bit of money to fall back on,” Eglauer said.