The Calgary Stampede 2013 will go on-- "Hell of High Water"

Calgary Stampede CEO Vern Kimball said that despite the devastation the flooding has caused, Calgary will party for 10 days, come "hell or high water". The Stampede grounds were completely flooded, in the Saddledome (our arena where the Flames play) the water was up to I believe the 8th row.

So this wasn't a flippant decision since there was a ton or two of water AND muck to remove. There are some cancellations and changes of venues for some of the events but overall the show will go on, come "hell or high water".

Marc Martel, a Nashville based singer wrote & recorded a song about the show, flood and resiliency of Southern Albertans. The Young Canadians were called in to back it and here is a link to the free download:
http://cs.calgarystampede.com/music/hell-or-high-water.html

The Young Canadians is a group of youth who perform every year at the Stampede (44yrs!). Every year there are new members who join, so it is a fluid group. They were able to rehearse & record it in 48 hrs. while also preparing for their annual Main-stage performance that starts this Friday!

It's a cool song. Quite a good anthem. Canada rocks! (That's because people from outside of southern Alberta have come here to help with clean up).

Photos gathered from Googling "The Calgary Stampede 2013 will go on "Hell of High Water".

Temple Open house

Calgary has a temple, the 3rd for Alberta and it is a beauty! I took a photo with my cell phone and the sky was a beautiful blue...I haven't downloaded it yet. The next day I went with my 'big' camera and took these.

Note the wheat motif...it is throughout the building--celebrating the importance of agriculture in Alberta. 

The main entrance (you can see the reflection of the passageway tents from the meetinghouse to the temple):

The temple is also built to honour our first temple in Canada/Alberta...the Cardston Temple:

In March 2012 it  (the Calgary Temple) looked like this:

 In 2010 the ground was broken for it:

The weather was wonderful. If you can go through the open house ('til October 20) do so! Here's a link to making a reservation (it so 30,000 people don't show up all at once...as of Sunday there had been 77,000 reservations made!) Free reservations for the open house can be made online through www.calgarymormontemple.org or by calling 1-855-537-2000.