- September 20, 2012
Join John C Lehr on a visit to French and Ukrainian settlements in southeastern Manitoba and examine the settlement process, the roles of religious and secular institutions in community building and how these two groups put their distinctive stamp on the Manitoba landscape.
Organized by Creative Retirement Manitoba, this day-trip will leave from the Grant Park Shopping Center parking lot at 9:00 am and return by 5:30 pm. (For more information, see the Creative Retirement website.)
The route takes us through the Métis settlement of St. Norbert en route to the French community of St. Pierre Jolys (where we stop for coffee), the Roman Catholic grotto and pilgrimage site at St. Malo, through Rosa and Tolstoi (we will visit the tall grass prairie reserve if the weather is fine), St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Museum in Gardenton for lunch (traditional Ukrainian fare), through Vita and the now abandoned former Icelandic settlement of Arbakka, to St. Elias Ukrainian Orthodox Church at Sirko, through Zhoda to the Mennonite community of Steinbach for a refreshment break (coffee and a pastry) before returning to Winnipeg.
John C. Lehr is a professor in the Geography Department of the University of Winnipeg and the author of the award-winning Community and Frontier: A Ukrainian Settlement in the Canadian Parkland.
