At least three times in the past month someone has said to me, "Aren't we lucky to have a facility like the Memorial Centre" (or words to that effect). Needless to say, I had to agree with them.

The building was originally constructed in 1942 at the High River Airport where it served as a recreation hall for the pilots-in-training at #5 Elementary Flying School. In 1947, it was dismantled and moved into High River, where it was rebuilt and enlarged to become the Highwood Memorial Centre memorial to the men and women who served their country in war time, and to the pioneers who established this community.

The first event held in the new centre was the high school Christmas banquet. This month the Centre marks its 56th year of service to the town and district. In it's early years the Centre housed the town office, the court room, library, Legion lounge, Teen Town, and rifle range, in addition to the main hall, banquet room and old timers room.

For those of us who have lived in High River for all those years, it is interesting to think back on the variety of events that have taken place within the walls of that beautiful edifice. I was just a child, of course, when it opened but I can remember visiting the Centre to see such diverse events on stage as western recording star Wilf Carter, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the RCMP band, and the University of Alberta Chorus.

Local events I remember included Norm Ray's Grade VIII One-Act Plays, Amateur Night (which preceded today's Music Festival), the fall car show and trade fair, and the annual high school banquet. Flower shows, hobby shows, art and craft shows all have found a home at the Memorial Centre since its opening.

I remember some pretty lively political forums and protests over the years - federal, provincial and municipal. At election time you didn't have to ask where the polls were. They were always at the Memorial Centre.

How many times have you lain on your back staring up at the Center's high ceiling waiting for your blood to fill the plasma bag? How many banquets, teas and dances at the Centre have been graced by your presence during the past half century? For some of us the list is immeasurably long.

On a sad note, the Centre has hosted funerals of well-known citizens, fund-raising events for distressed families, and Remembrance Day services. But it has also been the site of wedding and anniversaries dinners, rock concerts, and cultural performances of every description.

Windmill Theatre Players has called the Centre home since the group's inception 30 years ago and has performed musicals, comedies, and one-act play festivals every year since on the Centre's stage.

Among the bigger events held at the Centre were the Western Stock Growers Convention and the Pow Wow Dinner at which the history book "Leaves of the Medicine Tree" was launched.. Former Prime Minister Joe Clark made his stage debut at one of the first Amateur Nights held in the Centre. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, on a visit to their EP Ranch, toured the Centre shortly after it was opened. One-time Progressive Conservative national leader Robert Stanfield was made a Stoney tribal chief here. Alberta's former premier, Peter Lougheed, was nominated for party leader at a Conservative gathering at the Memorial Centre. Numerous other personalities have visited the Centre to perform, to speak, or to meet and mingle with local residents.

The town office now occupies a beautiful new building across the street from the Centre, shared with the M.D. of Foothills. The Library has a spacious and attractive building on 1st Street W. The Legion has its own facility east of the railway tracks. Teen Town died. The provincial court is gone. These are no longer part of the Memorial Centre, but they will always be a part of its history.

When the Centre was built, the town's population was 2,006. It is now close to 10,000, and yet the Centre still manages to serve the needs of the community well, thanks to some creative remodeling which has taken place over the years.

We should be truly thankful to the townspeople who had the vision and energy back in 1947 to bless High River with this beautiful multi-purpose community facility. It truly has been a functional and inspiring memorial to our pioneers and those who fought for our country in World War II.