Photo by Shaun Penner

By Shane Clausing

Community

Reverend Forbes Homestead continuing afternoon tea tradition

Aug 17, 2020 | 5:30 AM

The Reverend Forbes Homestead Museum in Grande Prairie is getting ready to continue a long-standing tradition.

On Wednesday, August 26 and Thursday, August 27 the homestead will be hosting the general public for afternoon tea.

The annual event is in its fourth year and features canopies set up on the front and side lawns, with tables set for 4-6 people. Scones with jam and butter and a choice of tea, coffee or lemonade are being served.

Charles Taws, the Curator and Collections Supervisor with the City of Grande Prairie, says the tradition of having tea at the Homestead has been going on for a long time.

“It ties in with the history of the site. It’s the oldest house in Grande Prairie and was constructed for Reverend Forbes and his wife Agnes. In those days the hospital was attached to the house and Mrs. Forbes was very instrumental in the early health care in this region.”

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“Sometimes people just needed somebody to talk to or a special event to go to and Mrs. Forbes was known for putting on these afternoon teas.”

The Forbes family house was built in the early 1910s.

Taws explained that when the Forbes family was coming to Grande Prairie on the Athabasca Trail from Fort Saskatchewan, it took them 73 days to get here. Mrs. Forbes lost most of her clothes on the journey because a crate the clothes were in fell off of a raft they were in when crossing a river, but her tea set survived.

“It was quite an honour to be invited to afternoon tea with Mrs. Forbes in those days, so we’ve tried to continue that by having afternoon tea.”

This year’s event costs $5.00 per person and will follow all physical distancing protocols laid out by Alberta Health Services.

Tables will be spaced out six feet and a maximum amount of 32 people will be allowed for each seating.

Taws tells EverythingGP that normally they’ll have two seating’s in a day, but because of COVID-19, they wanted to take extra precautions and make sure that all of the dishes are cleaned to perfection.

Those interested in attending the tea, are asked to book tables through the Grande Prairie Museum at 780-830-7090.