The town of Chetwynd was once known as “Little Prairie” but with the coming of the Pacific Great Eastern (P.G.E) Railroad in 1957, the name of the community was changed to Chetwynd in honor of the Minister in charge of railroads, Ralph Chetwynd.
The Honorable Ralph Chetwynd first came to B.C. in 1908. He settled in Ashcroft, and later became the manager of a fruit farm at Walachin. After the war he returned to the Caribou and was associated with cattle ranching and transportation there. In 1952, he was elected MLA for the Caribou.
Ralph Chetwynd also became a director of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. He was a staunch advocate of the development of the Peace River Country, with an undying faith in its potential. There is a picture of him in the Chetwynd Pictorial of 1968 that shows him wearing a stack of hats, which he won from scoffers who “bet their hats” that the Pacific Great Eastern (P.G.E). would never get through the Rocky Mountains. He died in April of 1957, missing by a few months the arrival of the railway in the town named for him.
Twenty six years after Little Prairie’s first post office was registered, with P.A. Widmark in charge, a crowd of 3000 people were gathered on its original site, awaiting the arrival of the first train over the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from Vancouver.
It was a blustery March day in 1958. Practically everyone in the local area was on hand to welcome the train, along with hundreds from all over the Peace River District. Many of them had been waiting 30 years for a rail outlet to the west coast.
The train carried cars of pipe; symbolic of natural gas development, steel railway track symbolizing continued extension of the Pacific Great Eastern (P.G.E.), a pig-a-back car with a Northern Freightways van representing the great freight hauling along the Alaska Highway and box cars for shipping the amount of lumber and grain available from the Peace River District.
With rail service established, a developing lumber industry supporting a growing local economy, the Westcoast Transmission pipeline in place, and strong indications that the Peace River hydro-electric project would proceed, the location began to attract business and industrial investors.
On July 1, 1959 there was an official ceremony and parade to dedicate the new name of Chetwynd. The Canadian Girls in Training, who were organized by Korky Grant, marched in the parade, singing lyrics composed by Irene Campbell, to the melody of “Clementine”
In a valley in the mountains, situated mighty fine
Lived a few hard working settlers, life for them was one hard grind.
Little Prairie served the district, news and mail and groceries too;
Come the railway, better living, changed to Chetwynd and the new.
Say goodbye to Little Prairie and the times that were so fine
Pack our memories in a basket; put the lid on for all time
People coming, people going, things are always changing round.
To the old folks there’s a sadness as the signs are going down.
And the new folks of tomorrow, with the future looking bright
Look ahead with hope and promise, change to Chetwynd, from tonight.
Chetwynd Today
Population: 3100
Serving Area: 8000
Elevation: 2019 Feet
Primary Industries: Forestry, oil, gas, & mining, ranching & tourism
In 1962 Chetwynd became incorporated as a Village.
Chetwynd, BC “Windmill Project”
The Winter Lights Celebration judges were in Chetwynd Monday December 6, 2004 and it looks like the town’s theme was successful. It feels to me like we’re at the North Pole, stated Winter Lights judge Angela Vieth who is from Waterloo, Ontario. Vieth and her judging partner, Susan Cheetham, toured around town to look at all of the North Pole projects and also saw how nicely some of the businesses and residences have decorated. I’m, in absolute awe of your community spirit, commented Cheetham who is also from Ontario. Chetwynd is competing in the 5,001-10,000 population categories against Espanola, ON, Kapuskasing, ON, Bay Roberts, NL, and Gander, NL. The judges look at three major components:
- Visual Presentation: Evaluates the illumination and decoration of public buildings and open spaces, the institutional, commercial and residential areas.
- Winter Pleasures: Focuses on Winter activities, carnivals, ice and snow sculpturing, family activities, etc. Judges also look at events that include a heritage and cultural component, highlighting the cultural diversity of the community.
- Festive Celebrations: Includes Santa Claus Parade, choral concerts, food bank programs and other good will programs, parade of lights, Christmas tree programs, etc.
Although this is the fourth edition of Winter Lights, this is only Chetwynd’s first year competing. I think for the first year, Chetwynd has done really well for participation, explained Helene Weightman, Manager of the Chetwynd Chamber of Commerce. Vieth agreed saying, You should be very proud of what you have accomplished. It’s totally impressive and the enthusiasm is apparent. The judges also got to witness the town’s biggest winter project-the official light up of the boulevard trees, which are powered by windmills. Four 90 foot windmills were built, each generating enough power to light up 25 trees and a total of 5,250 lights. There is no limit to what we can do with wind power, says Lucas Thomas, the contractor the District hired to do the wind-powered boulevard. Thomas is originally from South Africa and has an extensive background doing wind and solar power installations. Chetwynd’s windmills need winds of approximately eight miles per hour to operate, but have a back-up battery for less-windy days. You can run the lights 24 hours, non-stop on the battery, says Thomas who explained the boulevard trees are currently on a timer set to light up from 7pm-7am. At the moment the blades we have on can handle up to 120km/hr wind speeds. The windmills themselves have to be erected right into the boulevard beside the trees about 80 feet high. The Lights are white energy efficient LED lights, the trees 71 in total are being sold to members of the community for sponsorship. Right now the trees line one side of the highway. They are huge poplar trees and we put miniature North Poles in front of them with signs and individuals can dedicate a tree to a loved one’s memory. Next year we will ad to the other side of the boulevard and there will be more trees for sale. The trees will be lit year round, for everyone to enjoy.
The Winter Light judges were extremely impressed with the environmentally friendly initiative. I’m so impressed with your being on the cutting edge with windmills, stated Cheetham. It’s very innovative, forward thinking, commented Vieth.
Article from Chetwynd Echo Editor, Denise Everett
