Editing Luke

Dec 21, 2012

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2012

On a very chilly December 8th evening, Andrea and I went down to the rail yard to see the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. Decked out in lights, and featuring a box car stage with live music, the stop in Medicine Hat, Alberta was just one of 150 that the train made across the country from Quebec to British Columbia with the purpose of raising money for local food banks.

We caught the tail end of Doc Walker's performance, and walked the length of the train so I could take pictures. In all fairness, we were probably only there about 20 minutes before we both felt uncomfortably numb and decided to head out for supper. It was a cool display in any case, and despite the cold and icy conditions, the short visit drew an impressive crowd of onlookers.

Dec 20, 2012

Beveridge Block in Medicine Hat

This structure in downtown Medicine Hat, Alberta was constructed in 1911 for John C. Beveridge and his successful furniture business, the Beveridge Furniture Company. He operated it until his passing in 1950. I was particularly interested in this building early on because the faded furniture sign painted on the side was still visible. I kept coming across postcards where the sign was very bold, and after seeing them I went out of my way to look for it.

The Beveridge Block today features a giant western mural on one side, showing a large horse-drawn stagecoach. The beautiful Merchant's Bank used to be located there, but was demolished a long time ago and I imagine the mural was added later to beautify the vacant spot. You can see the old bank in several archival images below.

In my own memories I recall this being the location of the Salvation Army thrift store for years, before it moved to another downtown location. Today the building is vacant, although it appears that the city art walk might be displaying some work inside. The store front windows had a bit of local memorabilia in them, with some old movie posters peeking through the curtains. The building is just across the street from the Monarch Theatre, so the display seems fitting even if it is unrelated. It's a beautiful old building, but it desperately needs some work. Explore more of this location through my Around the Hat series.