Just in time to showcase Cochrane’s history for Canada’s 150th birthday this summer, the Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS) was gifted with a 101-year-old Alberta flag last Thursday.
“It was the first flag to show Alberta is a province – now the new generation can look at the flag in the museum and learn its story,” said Dave Ramyont, the historical collector who donated the flag to the museum.
“Pleased” and “grateful” were the words society members used when presented with the 1906 flag from Raymont and his wife, Jane Raymont.
Bought at a sale in Kawartha, Ont., Dave said the flag sat in a storage locker for years when the opportunity came up to visit friends who recently moved to Cochrane.
As part of the York Pioneer and Historical Society in Toronto, Dave said he knew the flag deserved to be properly displayed with a historical society and with ties to the area – Raymont’s aunt Maud Lewis owned a ranch east of Cochrane – the antique collector said he felt like the flag “belonged” to the town.
“My aunt was travelling through here in 1930 and got off the train and never left,” he said with a laugh.
“I wanted to show some appreciation of the joy she found here.”
Along with the flag, Dave also gifted the society with a summarized history of what he was told about Spencer Creek Ranch and Cochrane from older family members.
Originally from Britain, Dave details his father’s adventure in the letters, “Despite all the contrast with his former life, my father enjoyed life on the ranch … the Immigration department asked clergy to look in on new immigrants to make certain that they were adjusting well. The question amused both my father and his aunt. He was in Canada to stay.”
The 1906 Alberta flag will be on display at the CHAPS Museum when it opens in June. The museum is located at the historic Cochrane Ranche site.
