Evening at The “Ledge”

The other night, we took a stroll around the Legislature grounds when the sun was low and the shadows long.

The plaza is very large and there were plenty of families and friends taking advantage of the lovely evening light.

Terry rented a scooter and I had fun watching him zip around. He offered to let me try too but I didn’t think I had the knees for it…ha ha. ( It was surprisingly expensive….50 cents a minute! I can only imagine the dollars these young kids rack up when they rent them for hours. Yikes!) I saw a hot air balloon drift by the “Ledge”, which is being renovated yet again.

There are so many interesting sculptures to be found at the Ledge.

The Francophone Monument:

Nestled between the wading pools and the periscope near the Alberta Legislature Annex building stands a work by Franco-Alberta artist Herman Poulin. The work combines a fleur-de-lis and a wild rose, the official flower of Alberta.

"The wild rose is designed like an open book, so it represents the importance of Francophone culture, literature and the language in Alberta," says Piper, who confesses this is his favourite work on the grounds.

He points out small impressions on the work, the fingerprints of 1,166 Franco-Alberta children from across the province.

The Ukrainian Monument:

This monument was dedicated to the Ukrainian people that settled in Canada over 100 years ago. There is a significant Ukrainian population in the area of Edmonton, Alberta.

The Alberta Teacher’s Association Monument:

The sculpture itself depicts seven student faces looking outward. Taken together, they form a tree. The poem is scrawled like graffiti (in Pemberton’s own hand) all over a massive steel and bronze sculpture. Symbolically, it speaks to the vital relationships between teachers, students and their communities. (Rollie Pemberton was Alberta’s Poet Laureate at a young age and he went to high school with our son, Jared).