It was a weekend of celebration. A chance for old friends to reunite, a time to set aside political differences and appreciate the men and women who have lived and still live the unique lifestyle that remains such a Canadian icon; the park warden.

Earlier this month on Sept. 11-13, the Park Warden Service Alumni Society of Alberta (Warden Alumni) held its centennial celebration of national park warden services in Banff. With more than 600 people attending from all over the country, the event hosted in part by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, the Town of Banff and Banff National Park, was a historical moment for the past and present serving wardens, including many from Jasper.

The warden service in Jasper has a long history, just as long as any other park - the warden alumni are giving 1909 as the starting date for the first employed individuals, then called fire and game wardens, making it 100 years this year.

“There were lots of good stories told, a lot of good camaraderie, and people reacquainting with each other over the years. It brought people together nationally across the country and from the north,” says retired Jasper park warden and vice-president of the Warden Alumni Gord Atoniuk. 

Out of all the national parks, Jasper and Banff had the biggest turnout.

“Jasper being very close and having such a large number of wardens having worked here, Banff and Jasper were the parks that were represented the most, although there were folks from across the country,” said Mike Dylan, cultural resource specialist for JNP and formerly a park warden for 24 years, who was also in attendance.

In a time when the warden service has been going through rough waters after what Atoniuk calls a ‘heart-wrenching decision by management’ to change the duties and the name of current wardens, he says the weekend celebration of the past 100 years of warden service, was attended by retired wardens, current serving wardens and resource conservation and public safety specialists.

Starting with a four-day horseback trip from the backcountry from Ya Ha Tinda Ranch into the Banff town site by close to 30 riders, they were joined by even more as they arrived in town and paraded down Banff Ave. to the front of the Parks Canada administration building as hundreds of tourists lined the street to clap and cheer for the iconic men and women.

During that four-day ride, Dylan says there were many stories told by retired and current wardens, many of whom had worked in Jasper. Once they arrived in town, there were so many people and so much going on Dylan says there wasn’t as much time for storytelling. “That ride was a great time, we had four days of traveling to tell stories, and there were some retired wardens on the trip.”

Followed by a wine and cheese meet and greet that night, the rest of the weekend included music and poetry readings from retired and serving alumni, including music by Jasper’s public safety crew manager Steve Blake, horse packing and search dog demonstrations and a sold out evening banquet and silent auction Saturday night at Banff Park Lodge.

Dylan estimates that there were close to 100 people from Jasper throughout the weekend, including silent partners. Those are the wives of wardens that worked with their husbands either in the backcountry or remote stations over the years. “They were the unpaid partners that did a lot of the work,” he says. “I would include them as being part of that warden service.”

As well, the Whyte Museum in Banff is holding an exhibit called A Way of Life, A Legacy to Protect: 100 Years of the Warden Service until Nov. 15.

“You can see the magnitude and professionalism that went into this. Nothing but accolades from the individuals who did attend, and the ‘when are we doing this again’ (feeling) - it was so well received,” Atoniuk says.

The celebration, put on by the Warden Alumni, was at first disagreed upon by Parks Canada, but later received its support. It wasn’t intended to be political in nature or condescending of senior management, Atoniuk says, it was simply decided to be a celebration and there wasn’t any intent to be negative. That’s for another time and place, he adds.