Community Growth Initiative Put Forward by the Village of Lomond and the Village of Milo for Rural Post Office Service
Please see the following proposal as included in the agenda package for the County Council meeting of December 4, 2024. It can be read here, as well as downloaded to pdf.
October 2024 Infographics for Champion Chronicle
These infographics were prepared by Mark DeBoer, Director of Corporate Services with Vulcan County.
Update on MITACs Locating Missing Graves Cemetery Project
The following update is provided on behalf of Councillor Laurie Lyckman and myself, with gratitude to the university researchers for the detailed overview, as well as our local volunteers for their ongoing work on this project.
Global New Lethbridge news story from November 23, 2023, can be found, HERE.
Calgary Herald Article from November 12, 2023 can be found, HERE.
Alternate link to Calgary Herald article as distributed in the Ottawa Citizen, with comments, can be found, HERE.
The University of Lethbridge Press Release from November 6, 2023:
collaborative_research_project_utilizes_geospatial_technology_to_locate_lost_graves_sites_in_vulcan_countynov0623Download
The November 2023 Project Update:
Additional photos from September with some description. The first two are from Carmangay Cemetery and the third shows the outline of a church foundation in the Marquis Municipal (Milo East) Cemetery:
Locating Unmarked Graves in Vulcan County: The Frontiers of Remote Sensing Technologies
Earlier this year, the Department of Geography at the University of Lethbridge and Vulcan County successfully applied for a MITACS research grant, funding for a project that pushes the limits of remote sensing technologies in looking for unmarked graves in Vulcan County.
To make this project happen, MITACS provided 50% of the funding or $15,000. Vulcan County has funded 25% of the project or $7,500. The remaining 25% of the funding came from the communities of Carmangay, Lomond and Milo, with each village contributing $500 and each community contributing $2,000. The sponsoring community groups are the Carmangay Historical Society, the Carmangay Agricultural Society, the Lions Club of Lomond, and the Lions Club of Milo.
This project will help resolve a longstanding problem of “lost” graves, enhancing our awareness of local history while contributing to the respectful management of our cemeteries. The data generated will have significant practical applications, especially as it concerns creating and updating cemetery profiles to local geographic information system (GIS) profiles that then identify unmark graves.
In this effort, we are fortunate to be working with Dr. Craig Coburn of the University of Lethbridge, benefiting from his expertise as well as the additional resources that he has at his disposal. Supporting his research and field work is research intern Paul Novoseltzev.