The Lacombe Flatiron Building Museum will be unveiling a brand-new exhibition starting on January 12th and this one is sure to be a Canadian classic. ‘Winter Sports in Lacombe’ will be on display until April 15, 2023.  

“We are featuring the history of winter sports throughout the Lacombe region and central Alberta. Participants in the community will have a chance to discover the thrill of skiing, ice skating and more with our images and panels, as well as some interactive displays,” said the Lacombe Museum, Melissa Blunden.  

Information will be available on skiing, ice skating, curling, and more. There will also be the opportunity to check out some interesting items from the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame including the 1988 Olympic Torch as well as Olympic medals from those games.  

“The local community will be able to understand how the torch impacted Lacombe when it visited, not once, but twice in our history,” added Blunden. 

However, the main focus exhibition will be looking at the different challenges that athletes of the past and present have had to overcome to enjoy their sports.

“A central theme to this exhibit is overcoming challenges, not just in a sporting setting, but also as a community and coming together to celebrate each other and each other's achievements. There will be conversations as well circling the evolution of different sporting techniques as well as equipment to be more inclusive for different genders as well as physical abilities,” explained Blunden.  

Community Collaborations 

There are a few community collaborations that helped bring the winter sport exhibition to life.  

The Museum has worked with Team Jigger to put on a full panel about Sledge Hockey. Team Jigger is a non-profit organization located in Lacombe that provides rehabilitation tools for individuals who have spinal cord injuries and neurological disorders. The organization's founder, Jason Lunn was interviewed for the exhibit in addition to sledge hockey equipment being on display. 

Lacombe’s Mary C. Moore Public Library will also be providing snow shoes for a snow shoeing event at JJ Collett. Not only can you learn about snow shoeing but you will also be given the opportunity to learn more about the land. The event will be held on January 14th from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. You can register for that event by clicking here. If you have snowshoes of your own, there will be no need to register.  

Lastly, thanks to a partnership with Red’s Source for Sports the exhibition has been able to happen.  

“Don and Tammy at Red Source for Sports were able to and very enthusiastic to sponsor this exhibit. They are our special exhibit sponsor and partner. They financially have supported the development of this exhibit including staff time to research it,” added Blunden. 

She added that it has taken 60 hours alone just to design the panels and even more hours have gone into the research. 

‘Winter Sports in Lacombe’ will have an opening night at the Flatiron Building Museum on January 12th from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. You can check out the display until April 15th on a Pay What You Can structure.