Valley residents are invited to relive an evening with perhaps the most colourful character in the history of Drumheller. An Evening at Fanny’s, on Saturday, February 11 at Fanny's Place
will take guests back on a roaring trip to the prohibition years.
    Fanny Ramsley is a legendary figure in the seedier annals of Drumheller history. Fanny opened a brothel in Drumheller in the late 1910s, and was in business for the roaring twenties and dirty thirties.
    Fanny and Mary Roper, who also owned a brothel, were two of the most generous people in the Drumheller valley during the years of the Great Depression. The two madams would load a taxi with food and have it delivered to the home of a family in need. Sometimes those in need were the grieving families of miners who had died while working in the mines.
    It is because of the generosity of the madams that the Atlas Coal Mine Historical Society chose to hold a fundraiser based, to some extent, on the houses of ill repute. The evening is aiming to recapture that exciting atmosphere.
    Guests can mingle with historic characters such as Fanny herself, have an ol’ fashioned fried chicken dinner, listen to some good ol’ honkytonk music, play some games of chance, and witness a live stage show. Guests are encouraged to dress up in their favourite retro finery. Flappers are encouraged.
    Tickets can be purchased by phoning the Atlas Coal Mine at 403-822-2220, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Inquiries can be emailed to info@atlascoalmine.ab.ca. The event is restricted to those 18 and older. Guests are asked to arrange a safe ride home.
    Proceeds from the evening will go towards the Miner’s Memorial. The memorial will be unveiled in 2012 and the monument will name all of the men who perished in the Drumheller coalfield.

    The Source Electronics is setting up a corporate store in Drumheller.
    The valley is currently served by a dealer shop operated by Wave Electronics. The Source is planning to open come April.
    “We will be opening a new store in Drumheller that will be a The Source corporate store, operated under new management … The current dealer will no longer operate as The Source effective April 2012,” said Kristy Linklater, marketing content manager for The Source, in an e-mail.
    The plan is for an approximately 2,400 square foot store in the valley. Linklater said the management team and location would be announced at a later date.
    “Drumheller was selected as an excellent location for The Source, given the cities strong market and retail demographics,” said Linklater.
    The Source has about 700 locations across Canada. In 2004 InterTAN, which operated as RadioShack, was acquired by Circuit City. The new ownership rebranded the stores as The Source by Circuit City. This was purchased in 2009 by Bell Canada, and has since dropped the Circuit City brand.
    Linklater said the opening of the Drumheller store is part of a larger expansion.
    “The Source is expanding the company’s corporate and dealer operations in the Canadian market with significant growth out west, primarily in BC and Alberta, and will continue to assess our market presence across Canada to ensure we are meeting our customer needs as a leading consumer electronics and wireless retailer,” she said.
    Eileen Wood of Wave Electronics would not comment, however a number of residents appear to not support the change. Discussion on Facebook  has some calling for a boycott of The Source corporate store when it opens in Drumheller, to others rallying to help Wave Electronics reduce its inventory.