Last weekend I had that pleasure of attending the Stampede 4 Corner Event in southeast Calgary. I was there with my fellow Next Generation Committee team members not only promoting our latest project but as a Calgarian getting excited for Stampede.

The smell of pancake breakfast, the western garb, the smiling faces, the country music … I had tingles on the back of my neck as soon as the event started. It really marked the start of Stampede season for me.

The 4 Corners events are the perfect blend of Stampede and community. The community crowd was gathering not only for the free Stampede breakfast but also to support local community organizations and cheer on community entertainment.

It really is the perfect event to tell Calgary about the Next Generation Committee’s time capsule. You haven’t heard of the time capsule? Check out the news release for more information, but in a sentence the time capsule is the Next Generation Committee’s way to captured the first 100 years of the Stampede and share it with the Calgary 100 years from now. Pretty exciting actually!

How exciting? Well I watched a child no more than 6 drop in her favorite Stampede memento into our time capsule at the 4 Corners event. Her eyes were wide as she exclaimed, “off to the future!!” Now that’s exciting!

That’s what the time capsule is. It is about sharing your Stampede story in 100 years. Not ours, not a famous country star’s, and not a world famous cowboy – we want to share Calgary’s story.

We walked around the breakfast taking video of community members. We asked them to tell us their favorite Stampede moment and followed up with what they thought Stampede would be like in 100 years. All of these videos will be captured and put into the time capsule. In 100 years the Stampede volunteers that open the time capsule up will see the faces of Calgarians and hear them gushing about why they love Stampede. They will know the stories of Calgarians from all walks of life and from all 4 corners of the city.

One of the favorite stories that someone shared was a gentleman who volunteered on the Stampede Lotteries committee and selected the winner of the Dream Home a decade ago. He described reaching his hand deep in a drum filled with a million tickets; when he couldn’t reach anymore he grabbed a ticket. He said he will always remember the winner’s name. What a moment!

Stampede is so many things to so many people. I hope that you will seek out the Next Generation Committee at the next 4 Corners Breakfast or at the Lilac Festival so that you can share your story and have it placed in the time capsule.

There are other ways to participate too – we are looking for submissions to the time capsule. If you have an item with a fascinating Stampede story that you want to donate to our capsule please email us (calgarystampede.ngc@gmail.com) with your contact information, a photo of the item and with the story.

Help us tell the Stampede story to Calgarians in 100 years – and make sure we tell yours.

Yahoo!
Christina