2012 Centennial Celebrations - Town of Beausejour

Photo Gallery of Beausejour's Centennial Weekend!

Please click on the following links to view:

Aerial Views:

What a success it was!

Merchandise

The history book "Our Home Your Home - The Changing Face of Beausejour" is now available for purchase ($30.00) at the Town of Beausejour Municipal Office. The book includes a 45 minute DVD compiled of pictures from past and present, showing how Beausejour has changed and progessed over the last 100 years. Other centennial merchandise is also available for purchase at the Town Office. Click on the following link for the list of items. Link to: Town of Beausejour - Items for Sale

Beausejour Song

Local Artist Norm Voss has written and recorded the "Beausejour" song with the help of a number of local artists. Norm has kindly donated this song to the Town of Beausejour in honour of i'ts Centennial. Norm had the pleasure of signing it to the town council the evening he made the presentation. Additional copies of this beautiful song are available for purchase at the Town Office.

The History of Beausejour

The history of Beausejour begins with the Canadian Pacific Railway and the national dream to connect both sides of the country. The railway came into the region in the early 1880’s and a post office was erected shortly after that. Prior to the arrival of the railway, the area was known as “Stony Prairie” once the railway was here it was changed to “Burgoyne Station” and then finally christened “Beausejour”, meaning “beautiful resting place”.

First settled by people of Polish, German and Ukrainian descent, the Village of Beausejour was incorporated in 1908. The first council consisted of T. T. Wyrzykowski, W. R. Shaw, Wm. Bachman, E. A. Kielback and M. J. Hoban. Much of the early economy of the area was helped by the establishment of the first glass container factory in western Canada built by Joseph Kielback in 1906. The glass factory would have employed several hundred men with professional glass blowers coming from eastern Canada and the United States. There was also a brick factory and a saw mill in the area. The Manitoba Glassworks Factory is now a designated provincial historic site

The settlement area served as a business / service center to the outlying farming community in the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead. The railway served as the hub bringing supplies in and taking finished products out. As the farming community prospered, so did the business community. Pacific Avenue located opposite the C.P.R. Railway station, was the first business section and then it gradually spread out along Third Street and eventually Park Avenue, which was once nicknamed “The Golden Mile”. The Town of Beausejour was incorporated in 1912 and its first council consisted of Mayor Wm. Bachman and councillors Joe Shaw, Marian Mylyicki, Joe Watson and Wm. Bethel.

Electricity was provided to the town in 1915. The electrical system was owned by the town and power was supplied by Winnipeg City Power. In 1957 The Manitoba Power Commission took over all electrical systems in the province. The orginal Trans Canada Highway was routed through Beausejour in 1927 and continued until the early 1950’s when it was relocated south to its present day location. Manitoba Highways has recently placed a number of road signs along our divided highway, P.T.H. # 44 commemorating the route of “Historic Highway No. 1”.

In 1957, council of the day held a vote of all the town ratepayers to determine if sewer and water services should be installed. If the town was to grow and prosper, it needed water and sewer services and in 1958 this came to be. In 1966 Polaris Industries established a snowmobile manufacturing plant in Beausejour. This was probably due in part to the success of the Canadian Power Toboggan races that were started earlier in the area in 1962. Coincidently the Canadian Power Toboggan Championship will be celebrating its 50^th. anniversary in 2012 as well.

With the provincial election of the Schreyer N.D.P. government in 1969, Beausejour was destined to grow. With the construction of the Manitoba Highways Maintenance Garage at the corner of James Avenue and P.R. 302 and the Provincial Building at the corner of First Street and Park Avenue, many well paying civil servants relocated to the area and it also provided job opportunities for local residents as well.

As the population grew so did the demand for services. The business section expanded to meet the demands of its new customers, the recreation facilities were expanded and new ones built, the infrastructure was upgraded and housing developments to meet the demand of young families and our senior citizens were created. The Beausejour Hospital was renovated and expanded a couple of times since its first construction and our schools were renovated and expanded to meet the educational demands of our children.

In 2012 Beausejour will be celebrating its centennial, 100 years of incorporation as a town. The August long weekend has been christened our “Homecoming Weekend” and we invite all former residents to come home and celebrate with us. Our centennial slogan is “Our Home, Your Home, Come Home in 2012”. We have a number of activities planned for the young and old alike. The highlight of the weekend will be a performance of the RCMP Musical Ride followed by a huge fireworks display. We are hoping to have a military fly-over before our opening ceremonies and our closing ceremonies will include the dedication of our time capsule. The Pioneer Village Museum will be hosting its Heritage Days during the “Homecoming Weekend” and we have lots of children’s entertainment as well. We will be hosting a Show and Shine by the local car club, Shades of the Past. We are hoping to have the CP Heritage Train in attendance for at least one day as well as demonstrations of the lost art of glass blowing. Some class reunions are being organized as well as a slow-pitch reunion tournament. There will be plenty of good entertainment for young and old alike. Beausejour is the place to be this August long weekend, come out and help us celebrate our centennial. Remember our slogan, Our Home, Your Home, Come Home in 2012.