Westworld Alberta

up front Dinner Roll (left) Rolling Pin Bakery owner Russ Dueck prepares baked goodies; (right) scenes from the bakery café, where Dueck and his family host weekly community suppers. FIRE ON ICE The Edmonton Indy may have left town, but Alberta still has one racing event worth bragging about: the Winter Festival of Speed on Lac La Biche, 220 kilometres north of Edmonton — the biggest sanctioned winter motoring event in Western Canada. Every March, more than 1,000 spectators attend the two-day event to watch tricked-out Volkswagens, Chevrolet Chevettes, motorcycles, quads and other vehicles race on an icy track. "You're pushing your car, and yourself, to the limit," says When Rolling Pin Bakery owner Russ Dueck tried to switch his famous Thursday dinners to Fridays for 2013, he learned just how much the citizens of Bow Island (pop. 2,025) had come to anticipate the weekly home-cooked meals. "They wouldn't let me change it," recalls Dueck, who started offering the family-style suppers just a year ago. The suppers typically run from January until June and cost between $12 to $20 per person, depending on the order. Ribs, steak, chicken, sausage and perogies have been known to grace the menu. The Rolling Pin itself has been around for more than 50 years, the first 45 as a Dutch bakery under a previous owner. In 2000, Dueck, who had been a farmer in Manitoba, decided he wanted to try something new that would still include his family and bought the place. "I was green as grass," he laughs. The previous owner taught him how to bake and left the original recipes. Now, having moved to a larger space that includes a café, the Rolling Pin has flourished. From fresh-baked doughnuts and cinnamon rolls to soups, sandwiches and its popular barbecue pockets, the bakery makes everything onsite, from scratch. And the community suppers are still on Thursdays. –S.R. six-time rubber-to-ice champion Danny Bracken, who got into the sport after watching a friend race. Even more impressive is that Bracken drives with one arm. "People think there's not a whole lot I can do with one arm, but I proved them wrong," he says. Head out to the lake March 2 and 3 to watch Bracken defend his title. laclabicheregion.com –T.H. Six-time Festival of Speed rubber-to-ice champion Danny Bracken and his faithful pooch. 14 W e s t w o r l d p12-15_Up Front.indd 14 >> February 2013 (top) Fred Monk, (above) Tracy Hyatt 13-01-16 12:26 PM

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