Image: A film still showing a pickup truck travelling along a muddy trail (SPRA 198.02.02, Fonds 198: Ward-Marcy family fonds)
Movie Monday highlights videos from the Archives’ film collection. Every week, an archival film will be featured on our YouTube channel and here on our blog. The Movie Monday project is made possible with the generous funding support of Swan City Rotary Club of Grande Prairie.
Today’s Movie Monday features an 8mm from the Ward-Marcy family fonds, taken circa 1960. Marion Ward grew up on a farm near Sexsmith, where she attended school. As a child, she enjoyed family picnics at places like Bear Lake. In the early 1940’s, she worked as ward aide in a hospital and later at a Sash and Door Factory; as a result, she was able to save enough money to attend Vermilion School of Agriculture.
Marion married Miles Marcy in 1946, and together they had five children: Ken, Marilynne, Greg, Kevin, and Colleen. Marion continued to enjoy the outdoors as an adult. Today’s film focuses largely on a trip she and Miles took to Kinuseo Falls with a group of friends. Several trips such as this one took place in the early ‘60’s; they would truck their packhorses to Stoney Lake, then ride the remainder of the distance to the falls.
In this film we also see the Marcy children in front of their home in Avondale. They are in costume and are later seen participating in a Grande Prairie parade wearing those same costumes. The parade includes floats from local organizations such as the 4-H club, UFA, and Holroyd Drugs.
Finally, at the end of the film, we are treated to scenes of an outing at the lake, where a number of good-natured participants try their hand at water skiing.
Content note: This film contains parade floats and/or costumes depicting Indigenous people. For more information, see here.