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Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Estonian Heritage

The Alberta Estonian Heritage Society held its first Jaanipaev, a celebration of summer solstice, at Linda Hall on June 25. The celebration brought together the descendants of Estonians who arrived at Sylvan Lake between, 1899 and 1903. The Kingsep brothers had explored opportunities in Canada, setting up homesteads In 1899 at Sylvan Lake. The reports they sent back encouraged about 25 more families to follow. They homesteaded north of Eckville, south of Settler and near Lethbridge. Here, Deane Kerbes and Marguarite Kerbes kneel at the gravesite of Lissa Kerbes, Marguarite’s husband's grandmother and Deane's great-grandmother. The two were participating in the ceremony’s at Linda Hall south of Stettler and went by the grave to see where some of the Kerbes are buried.


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            For more on Estonian Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.

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