VENICE - It is a century in the making.
Over the Labour Day long weekend, people came from near and far to the Venice Heritage Park in northeastern Alberta to celebrate a special centennial event marking 100 years since the first church was established on the site.
The Venice community is located approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Lac La Biche and was named by Italian settlers who arrived in the area in 1914. The community’s first church, Holy Redeemer, was built in 1924.
St. Anne’s, which replaced Holy Redeemer in the early 1960s, was closed as an operating parish within the Diocese of St. Paul in 2013. The building has remained open for historical purposes.
The centennial celebration, which was hosted by the Venice-Hylo Heritage Historical and Preservation Society, featured various events and activities for people of all ages to enjoy. The activities included a display of vintage automobiles and agricultural equipment, horse and buggy rides, bocce games, musical entertainment, a spaghetti, and meatball supper, as well as a 1920s costume contest. On Sunday afternoon, the current bishop of the Diocese of St. Paul, Gary Franken, and former bishop, Paul Terrio, presided over a special centennial mass celebrated inside the historic church.
Transfer
The religious service to mark the 100th anniversary of Holy Redeemer and St. Anne’s churches was followed by the official transfer of the site from the Diocese of St. Paul to the Venice-Hylo Heritage, Historical and Preservation Society.
Terrio and Franken, along with Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov, Coun. Kevin Pare, and Venice-Hylo Heritage Historical and Preservation Society President Les Biollo attended the official opening ceremony, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Zach Bourassa, the secretary of the preservation society, explained that the group, which was formed in 2022, decided that this weekend-long celebration would be an excellent opportunity to not only commemorate a century since the first church was constructed in the community, but also to treat it as the grand opening of the society and the Venice Heritage Park.
“That’s basically one big reason that motivated us to do all these events for this…but just celebrating 100 years alone is a big thing,” Bourassa told Lakeland This Week.
Pare stated that in addition to marking a 100-year milestone and recognizing the work of the society, the event is also a great way to bring people together for a social gathering.
“It’s an excuse to bring families and people close together celebrating 100 years… a very momentous occasion,” he said.
The site of the current Venice Heritage Park, Pare explained, is a place that he has very fond memories of coming to since childhood for various events, including ballgames and outdoor bingos. Going forward, the Lac La Biche County councillor added that he will be trying to secure funding for the preservation society through the County in a bid to rejuvenate the ball diamonds and spruce up the grounds that have been the site of the Venice Picnic since 1946.
In keeping with the Italian heritage of the area, a bocce tournament took place throughout the weekend. Bocce, an Italian bowling game, sees two teams rolling four balls each towards a smaller target ball.
The objective is for players to try to get their ball as close as possible to the target ball – the pallino. The more balls they have around the pallino, the more points are scored.
This tournament attracted quite a few players, including Lisa Holubowich. Of Italian descent – her maiden name is Giammarioli – she is originally from the Plamondon area and grew up playing the sport in her backyard with her dad.
The trip back for the centennial event felt like a nice throwback for Holubowich and many others at the event.
Now living in Morinville, she told Lakeland This Week that she enjoyed the family event, the history, and the games.
“The social gathering… the fact that you’re out and about and playing, and overall ambience and the kinship.”