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Vegreville

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Country
  
Canada

Census division
  
10

Time zone
  
MST (UTC−7)

Local time
  
Saturday 2:36 PM

Province
  
Alberta

Region
  
Central Alberta

Elevation
  
635 m (2,083 ft)

Population
  
5,708 (2016)

Mayor
  
Myron Hayduk

Vegreville httpstcelive2s3amazonawscommediamediab8c

Municipal district
  
County of Minburn No. 27

Weather
  
8°C, Wind N at 6 km/h, 64% Humidity

Relocation of federal jobs will kill town of vegreville


Vegreville /ˈvɛɡrəvɪl/ is a town in central Alberta, Canada located on Highway 16A approximately 103 km (64 mi) east of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. It was incorporated as a town in 1906, and that year also saw the founding of the Vegreville Observer, a weekly newspaper for the region.

Contents

Map of Vegreville, AB, Canada

A large percentage of Vegreville's population is of Ukrainian Canadian descent, and it is home to the world's largest pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg).

Climate

Vegreville experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Demographics

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Vegreville recorded a population of 5,708 living in 2,429 of its 2,734 total private dwellings, a −0.2% change from its 2011 population of 5,717. With a land area of 14.08 km2 (5.44 sq mi), it had a population density of 405.4/km2 (1,050.0/sq mi) in 2016.

The Town of Vegreville's 2012 municipal census counted a population of 5,758, a 1.3% decrease over its 2010 municipal census population of 5,834.

In the 2011 Census, the Town of Vegreville had a population of 5,717 living in 2,429 of its 2,680 total dwellings, a 3.6% change from its 2006 population of 5,519. With a land area of 13.92 km2 (5.37 sq mi), it had a population density of 410.7/km2 (1,063.7/sq mi) in 2011.

Economy

The primary economic base of the town is agricultural.

Arts and culture

Due to Vegreville's close relationship with the 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, a Canadian Forces Reserve unit based in Edmonton, the Regiment is the only Canadian Forces unit with Freedom of the Town and parades held on Remembrance Day in the town.

Pysanka Festival

The Annual Pysanka Festival Occurs during the first weekend of July, being founded in 1973.

The 2015 Festival currently features:

  • 5 grandstand shows
  • Cultural Variety Showcase (dance groups, instrumentalists, bands, vocalists)
  • Pioneer Village with highlights of how rope-making and blacksmithing
  • Ukrainian music
  • A Zabava (evening Dance) featuring Kolomeyka music
  • display of folk arts with instruction on creating Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter eggs)
  • Yarmarok (a fair or market place)
  • The festival is currently organized by the Vegreville Cultural Association, with the help of many community volunteers. The current Community objectives of the Association in relation to the festival are:

    1. To foster understanding among all people and to enrich the Canadian Mosaic by promoting the arts and culture of the Ukrainian people, and of people of other national, racial, or ethnic origins, and of people of other cultures, who settled in Canada.
    2. To promote and afford opportunity for cultural and social activities.
    3. To encourage and foster and developed among all people and recognition of the importance of culture to people.
    4. To enrich the culture of various peoples in Alberta.
    5. To foster understanding among all people of the culture of people in Alberta of various national, racial, or ethnic origin.
    6. To provide a meeting place for the consideration and discussion of questions affecting the cultural interests of the community.

    The festival has hosted many different types of performances, including Cheremosh, the Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton, and the Kubasonics.

    Attractions

    Vegreville's pysanka, the largest Ukrainian Easter egg in the world, was created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1974 and to celebrate Vegreville's ethnic heritage. On July 6, 2009, the pysanka was one of four attractions featured on the first set of the Canadian Roadside Attractions Series of stamps issued by Canada Post.

    Infrastructure

    The town is bisected by Canadian National Railway's Vegreville Subdivision, a rail line connecting Vegreville to Edmonton in the west and to Lloydminster in the east.

    Notable people

  • George Bures Miller, artist
  • Laurence Decore, lawyer, former mayor of Edmonton, Alberta, and former leader of the Alberta Liberal Party
  • Herschel Hardin, writer, playwright, and politician
  • Simma Holt, journalist, author, former Member of Parliament, and Member of the Order of Canada
  • Don Mazankowski, politician and federal Deputy Prime Minister under Brian Mulroney
  • Virgil P. Moshansky, justice
  • David Motiuk, Catholic bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton
  • Brent Severyn, former NHL defenseman
  • Valerie Sweeting, curler
  • References

    Vegreville Wikipedia