A Calgary Stampede bestseller is giving Albertans a fresh look at our history, with a unique Drumheller perspective.
On February 1, students from Drumheller Valley Secondary School were given a special presentation from Rob Lennard, Director of Alberta Heritage School Fairs.
Lennard, whose passion is Alberta history, spoke about his two novels, the first of which prominently features Drumheller and The Drumheller Mail.
The book, The Amazing Alberta Time Travel Adventures of Wild Roping Roxy and Family Day Ray, follows the titular twins Roxy and Ray as they travel through time to different major events in Alberta’s history, including the first ever Calgary Stampede.
The twins attend DVSS. Roxy is a roper and Ray captains the Drumheller Dragons. The two discover magic dinosaur eggs that allow them to travel through time.
When testing the eggs for the first time, they send their dog back to 1915
“They want to find out if this magical time travel formula works. They send their dog, Jasper, back and tell her to fetch a newspaper. Jasper gets back an hour later, opens her mouth, and there’s a 1915 Drumheller Mail (which at the time was The Munson Mail),” said Lennard.
The story is fiction, but woven into it is the genuine history of Alberta.
“The beauty of it is within the fiction there are 320 historical facts about Alberta,” said Lennard.
The book was a bestseller at the Calgary Stampede and Lennard received the Centennial Medal. He followed up with a second novel along a similar vein, but exploring aboriginal history and themes.
For Leannard, the book gives Drumheller a large role in the history of Alberta, in addition to teaching our history.
“It’s really neat from a Drumheller perspective and it’s great to be back here,” said Lennard. “I wanted to give something back to Alberta for the centennial.”
