Woodridge to celebrate 125 years with activities, time capsule

For the community of Woodridge celebrating 125 years is all about connection and reconnection. It’s about remembering the past and sharing the present in anticipation of the future. It’s about community.

“We have a vibrant history in terms of how this community was built,” said Cory Jackson, co-chair of the Woodridge 125th organizing committee. “If you think of the pioneer spirit back in the early 1900s and how life probably had many challenges, I think that kind of tradition, this type of spirit, is something I know as a community you carry forward over the decades.”

Woodridge was founded in 1900 as settlers moved into the area with the building of the Canadian Northern Railway. Surrounded by thousands of hectares of forest, the lumber and pulp industries would become an essential component to the economic development in Woodridge and surrounding communities from the 1900s to the 1950s.

The railway came through Woodridge in 1900 and was the main source of transportation for lumber, goods and people. The train station was built in 1902, but with the decline of cordwood as a fuel source, the construction of paved highways and transportation advances, the train station became redundant by the late 1970s. It was dismantled in 1982.

Today, Woodridge has more than 300 year-round and seasonal residents.

Jackson has been in the community for 11 years and has been volunteering there for just as long. She said the thing that warms her heart is how the community comes together in times of crisis such as the wildfires that burned in the RM of Piney from May to June, which led to the evacuation of four communities, including Woodridge.

“I think those are some of our defining qualities. We persevere, we’re generous, we’re thoughtful, we’re community minded, we take a lot of pride in our community,” she said.

Events taking place on July 26 and 27 include a parade, historical exhibit, barbecue lunch and farmhouse dinner, dance parties with musicians Darren Lavallee and Mark Morisseau, vintage bingo, and a social. On Sunday, there will be an unveiling of the Woodridge Memorial and a 22-inch by 6-inch time capsule, which will have a newspaper, a community signed banner, photographs, and a 28-page souvenir program enclosed within. The capsule will be opened in 2050.

“We’re hoping to see a lot of people who know Woodridge as their home or was their home at one time. We’re hosting to reconnect with people who have a connection to Woodridge. We do invite visitors to come and join the celebration. For us it’s a once in a lifetime (event). We’ve built a really great weekend of celebration and we’re hoping that people will take time out of their busy summer schedule and come and join us.”

In the early fall, a wooden Donor Tree of Life will be unveiled at the Woodridge Community Centre where the names of people who have given to the 125th anniversary celebration will be inscribed on 100 leaves.

“We’re small in comparison to a lot of communities, even in this region, but our spirit is big,’ said Jackson.

For the weekend schedule or more information visit woodridgecommunityclub.com.