Costume parade to begin St. Ann's Academy 150th

By Laureen McMahon

The Society and Friends of St. Ann's Academy will host 150th anniversary celebrations for the former school and convent from June 5-8.

Kim Campbell

The Academy, founded in the western frontier town by the spirited pioneering Sisters of St. Ann, has been called a jewel in the crown of the B.C. capital of Victoria.

The jam-packed anniversary agenda will begin on Thursday, June 5, with a historical re-enactment of the arrival of the first four sister in 1858.

Everyone is being encouraged to dress in 1850s costumes and join the procession to the pioneer log-cabin schoolhouse on the grounds of the Royal B.C. Museum and then on to St. Ann's Academy National Historic Site on Humboldt Street.

On June 6 the public is invited to view displays of archival materials and join a self-guided walking tour entitled In Their Footsteps. A free concert by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra will take place on the academy grounds in the evening.

The Mass will be offered on Saturday, June 7, at 11 a.m. at St. Andrew's Cathedral in downtown Victoria.

That evening the Society of Friends of St. Ann's Academy will host a fund-raising gala dinner featuring the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, former prime minister and a St. Ann's alumna, as keynote speaker. Proceeds will support an endowment fund for education and nursing bursaries at the University of Victoria. Dinner tickets, on sale now, are $100 each and can be ordered by phone at 250-953-8829 using VISA or MasterCard.

An old-fashioned Victorian Family Picnic on the Academy Green complete with children's entertainment on Sunday will complete the historic anniversary.

More information is available from the Society of Friends of St. Ann's Academy, 250-953-8820, info@friendsofstannsacademy.com, and at St. Ann's Academy National Historic Site, stanns.academy@gov.bc.ca.