Westworld Alberta

June 2012

Westworld Alberta

Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/68789

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play PRESSING In a province blessed with so many parks, we take for granted certain summer- time rituals: hiking columbine-specked alpine trails, camping under the stars, gathering around a crackling open fi re. But for those with limited mobility, the barriers to our wild-open spaces may seem insurmountable. Enter the Push to Open Nature Society, which, in collaboration with Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, is working to make Alberta's parks more accessible. Every year, the non- profi t group hosts Adaptive Challenges, which take groups of disabled adventurers into the wilderness using equipment such as TrailRiders (a trail-friendly wheelchair affectionately described as "a cross between a wheelbar- row and a rickshaw"), outrigger kayaks and tandem bikes. This year, there will be two such events in Alberta: the Adaptive Park- land Challenge, July 20 to 22 at Eagle Point Provincial Park, and the Adaptive Kananaskis Challenge, August 10 and 11 in Kananaskis Provincial Park. –C.M. pushtoopen.ca (left) Push to Open Society volun- teers Vicki Perkins and Rob Braun with Adaptive Challenge participant Greg McMeekin at Elbow Lake, Kananaskis Country. The society takes its name from the "Push to Open" buttons that operate doors for wheelchair occupants. FRYING PAN INTO THE (above) Canada Day celebrants heap their plates at the Lac La Biche Mission fi sh fry. 12 WESTWORLD >> JUNE 2012 Set your compass to north this summer for two tasty fi sh fries in Lac La Biche. On Canada Day, Lac La Biche Mission is the spot for fried whitefi sh served with killer (in a good way) potato salad and coleslaw. After you gorge, take a free guided tour of the 159-year-old historic site. Return to the hamlet August 5 for lightly breaded fi sh, served with corn on the cob and another heaping of potato salad, at the Lac La Biche exhibition grounds. Then take in traditional fi ddling and jigging perfor- mances, all part of Lac La Biche's Pow Wow Days celebrations, which start August 3 (laclabicheregion.com). "Some describe my work as art from the guts of the earth, from the guts of Canada," says Calgary- based painter Edward Michell (pictured here) of his work. The artist produces his own paint using bitumen extracted from Alberta's oil sands, as well as raspberries, grass, leaves, Yukon gold and, occasionally, crushed diamonds from the Ekati diamond mines. Michell's dramatic abstracts will be on display at the Calgary Stampede Western Showcase July 12. edwardmichell.com Michell at work in his studio and (right) one of his paintings, Mystical Journey. (top) Parks Division Alberta Tourism, (fi sh fry) Liam Kavanagh-Bradette, (Edward Mitchell and painting) courtesy Western Showcase,

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