Coaldale Mennonites celebrate 80 years

When Mennonite immigrants from Russia arrived in Canada in the 1920s, many dispersed in small groups throughout Alberta and elsewhere. There was a desire, however, to share in a community of common faith, common past experiences, a common language (German), and common aspirations.

Sugar beet farming in Coaldale, Alta., offered an economic foundation for these immigrants. Coaldale thus became a larger centre of both Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites.

The arrival of Mennonites in the Coaldale, Alta. area 80 years ago was celebrated June 2, in events sponsored by the Mennonite Historical Society and held in the Gem of the West Museum, formerly the Coaldale MB Church building.

Former Bible school and church

Historian John B. Toews, a native of Coaldale, traced the events of the lives of Mennonites in Coaldale from their beginnings in 1926: from abject poverty to a level of affluence, and from church services in a hayloft, then in a small school, to the building of two large churches, a Bible school, and a Christian high school. The Mennonites started the community hospital, a cheese factory, and lumberyard.

The celebration also included a walking tour of the cemetery, with visits to 12 gravesites, such as that of B.B. Janz who assisted about 20,000 Mennonites to come to Canada before he himself escaped from the communists.

—Elvira Dueck