The Melting Queen

by Bruce Cinnamon

  16 | ISABELLE CONNELLY

  Alberta’s first licensed female embalmer and owner of a family funeral home, Isabelle Connelly had a tough act to follow with her two immensely popular predecessors. She sought to demystify the process of death and start a social conversation about mortality and mourning, but in many ways she was ahead of her time and her death-positivity failed to gain traction with Edmontonians.

  17 | GLADYS REEVES

  The first woman in Western Canada to own a photography studio, Gladys Reeves’ signature initiative was creating the Edmonton Face Book—a photo archive of all 61,045 citizens going about their everyday lives in 1920 Edmonton.

  18 | ELLA MAY WALKER

  Musician, artist, author, historian, and deeply involved Edmonton advocate, Ella May Walker (who created her own middle name as a child, using her birth month as another name because she felt cheated by not having been given one) had a finger in every pie and an iron in every fire. She encouraged Edmontonians to paint, write, play music, and create art about their city.

  19 | CLARABELLE MERSEY

  Head of the Radical Women’s Labour League, Clarabelle Mersey represented a generational shift for the Office of the Melting Queen. She advocated for prisoners’ rights, old-age pensions, equal pay for women, and access to birth-control information—provoking the ire of older Melting Queens, who openly opposed such radical reforms.

  20 | MARITSA SAVA

  Maritsa Sava chaired the Moderation League of Alberta and successfully campaigned to repeal the province-wide prohibition on alcohol, which had been in place since 1916.

  21 | MAUDE BOWMAN

  Maude Bowman founded the Edmonton Museum of Arts, the precursor to the present-day Art Gallery of Alberta. She partnered with the Edmonton Art Club to encourage citizens to paint their city en plein air.

  22 | JOSEPHINE NELSON

  A deeply religious Melting Queen, Josephine Nelson was at first convinced that the Intrusions she experienced and the power she held over Edmontonians were the result of demonic possession. After several months of mental anguish and public meltdowns, she instead became convinced that she was gifted with angelic powers after she saved a drowning child by parting the waters of the river. She refused to give up her position on the following Melting Day and was ultimately committed to a provincial institution.

  23 | JANE MURCHISON

  Jane Murchison was actively involved in the politics of the United Farm Women of Alberta, and used her tenure as Melting Queen to campaign for the UFA in the 1926 Alberta election. This overt politicization of the Melting Queen role provoked a huge backlash against Murchison, and established the convention that Melting Queens—even if they were political—would always be above partisanship.

  24 | LENA PASKAROFF

  In 1927, the Blatchford Field became the first licensed sky harbour in Canada. Lena Paskaroff promoted the aviation industry and Edmonton’s position as the “Gateway to the North,” holding an air circus and free flying lessons.

  25 | ELIZABETH MURRAY

  Elizabeth Murray was a fantastically wealthy widow who suffered from major depression. During her tenure, she slowly recovered from her mental health problems by engaging with her community. She spent all of her money on lavish community events, bringing in performers from around the world and feeding everyone who came. She died six months after her term ended, reportedly very happy.

  26 | JOY BROW N

  A close friend and ally of the Famous Five (the five Alberta women who fought for women to be deemed as legal persons under Canadian law), Joy Brown presided over the celebrations on 18 October 1929 when the U.K. Privy Council ruled that women are indeed persons and entitled to the same legal rights and privileges of men.

  27 | MARIANNE MOSELLE

  The first French-Canadian Melting Queen, Marianne Moselle’s family fled into Edmonton when her father had to give up the family farm to their creditors at the start of the Great Depression. She helped organize donation drives for food and clothing for people in similar circumstances to hers.

  28 | MARGARET MACBURNEY (VASHERESSE)

  Margaret MacBurney was the longest-playing and highest-scoring member of the Edmonton Grads basketball team—one of the most successful sports teams of all time, who won 502 of their 522 games between 1915-1940. Margaret promoted girls’ participation in competitive sports and achieved a world record during her tenure by sinking sixty-one free shots in a row during an exhibition period.

  29 | SAOIRSE BELTANE

  Saoirse Beltane helped organize the 1932 Christmas Hunger March, which brought 12,000 unemployed Edmontonians together to demand government action at the height of the Depression. The march was broken up by police in Market Square, who assaulted the assembled farmers and workers with truncheons and arrested forty protestors—including the Melting Queen—on charges of trying to overthrow the government. The Trial of the Melting Queen created huge sympathy for the labour movement. After her acquittal, Saoirse spent the rest of her term criticizing the government and pushing for more social reforms.

  30 | DOLLY FREEMAN

  Dolly Freeman was a psychic and seer who was able to tell Edmontonians their futures by reading tea leaves, crystal balls, and palms. She used her clairvoyance to help people regain hope in the depths of the Depression, showing them a light at the end of the tunnel and a future worth living for.

  31 | ALICE MARGARET MARSHALL

  A columnist at the Edmonton Bulletin, Alice Margaret Marshall organized the Sunshine Fund to provide needy families with Christmas dinners and gifts. She continued to organize the Sunshine Fund after her term was over.

  32 | BEATRICE CARMICHAEL

  The Grand Dame of Edmonton opera, Beatrice Carmichael founded the Edmonton Civic Opera Company during her term and promoted the fine art of opera in the city.

  33 | GRACE DOBIE

  Grace Dobie became “interim” head of the Edmonton Public Library for three years after the resignation of Edmonton’s first Chief Librarian. She promoted literacy and literature in Edmonton during the lean years of the Great Depression.

  34 | GIOVANNA TEVERE

  In 1937, the provincial government of Premier William Aberhart passed the Accurate News and Information Act, an extremely controversial piece of legislation that required newspapers to print official “clarifications” to stories the government didn’t like and forced journalists to name their sources. Giovanna Tevere led the resistance against the bill, which has since gone down in infamy as an assault against freedom of the press.

  35 | HILWIE HAMDON

  Edmonton’s first Muslim Melting Queen, Lebanese-Canadian Hilwie Hamdon campaigned tirelessly to raise money to build a mosque in Edmonton. With support from Edmontonians of all faiths, the Al Rashid Mosque—the first mosque in Canada—opened during her tenure.

  36 | JOLENE JAMES

  The first Indigenous Melting Queen helped Johnny Callihoo and other band leaders with treaty status organize the Indian Association of Alberta. Her reign was initially opposed by the majority of Edmontonians, who saw her reign as a continued corruption of the purity of the Melting Queen tradition—first an Italian, then a Lebanese woman, now an Indian! But Jolene’s controversy was overshadowed by the outbreak of WW2, and her protests against the internment of Italian and German Edmontonians went unheeded.

  37 | GERTRUDE POOLE

  A prominent community member of numerous clubs and societies, Gertrude Poole opened up her home to a group of forty women who knitted and sewed clothing for the Red Cross to aid in the wartime relief efforts.

  38 | MARGARET CRANG

  Formerly the youngest person to ever serve on Edmonton’s city council (1933-37), Margaret Crang was an ardent anti-fascist and pacifist. She led demonstrations against Nazi Germany, sharing information about the Holocaust and demanding that Allied forces focus on ending the genocide.

  39 | OPAL PEARSON

  Opal Pearson was the second Melting Queen who outright refused to serve. The apocalyptic snowstorm in t
he winter of 1942, which smothered Edmonton with more snow than it had ever seen before, was subsequently blamed on her absence.

  40 | VELVA THOMPSON

  Velva Thompson successfully challenged the Edmonton Public School Board’s policy of terminating female teachers’ employment contracts after they got married. She refused to resign her position and helped push forward Edmonton’s opinion on women in the workplace.

  41 | EDA OWEN

  After accurately predicting Melting Day every spring for twenty-two years, Canada’s first female professional meteorologist had long been tipped as a potential Melting Queen. She used her position to educate Edmontonians about the emerging science of meteorology and the importance of good data.

  42 | MAY ABASHIRI

  May Abashiri was born in Edmonton in 1925 before her family moved across the mountains to British Columbia. When she was Named, she had to be retrieved from a Japanese internment camp in Lethbridge. Her appointment divided the city like no other Queen before her, with many Edmontonians demanding a replacement be Named instead and accusing May of being an enemy spy. Ultimately, May tried to remind Edmontonians about the shared humanity of their enemies and their responsibilities as victors in the war. She created a rock garden and a peace monument in Coronation Park following the atomic bombings.

  43 | JUNE SHEPPARD

  A journalist and radio broadcaster, June Sheppard is widely regarded as one of the most well-read Melting Queens in Edmonton history. She inaugurated the Great Debates, an annual festival which brings two panels head-to-head to argue controversial topics of the day—like whether the use nuclear weapons against civilians is ever morally justified.

  44 | GISELLE SCHAFT

  On 13 February 1947, the Leduc No. 1 well struck oil. Giselle Schaft was one of the thousands of young immigrants who rushed to Edmonton to share in the plunder. She was Named as Melting Queen after only one week in Edmonton, and spent her term exploring her new city and sharing her discoveries with other newly arrived citizens. She also organized a campaign to name the marigold as Edmonton’s official flower.

  45 | ATHENA ALMOND

  At the Melting Queen’s Picnic in 1948, Athena Almond agreed to take on every single initiative that was proposed by her petitioners. She soon discovered how much of a mistake this was, and after failing in her attempts to be everything to everyone for several months, she finally just helped construct more playgrounds for Edmonton children.

  46 | FAITH CLIFTON

  Faith Clifton opened the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and focused on making Edmonton more inclusive for citizens with physical impairments.

  47 | PONCELLA BEAUCHAMP

  Poncella Beauchamp was born on the High Level Bridge on Melting Day in 1935. When she was a child, she and her brother had to live at an orphanage while their mother worked, so her signature initiative was focused on creating day care spaces to help working mothers.

  48 | FRAN FLETCHER

  Although she did not refuse to serve, Fran Fletcher effectively ignored all the duties of the Melting Queen and made a mockery of the events she did attend.

  49 | ALMA LAKE

  The first Melting Queen to make a deliberate attempt at a reunion, Alma Lake visited many of her predecessors and learned about their experiences and Intrusions. She failed to achieve the grand reunion she desired, but she created The Melting Queen’s Cookbook as a tribute to the four dozen queens before her.

  50 | KATHERINE HELD

  A history student at the University of Alberta, Katherine Held had many personal problems when her father died during her term, but she also helped inform the public during a polio epidemic that affected 319 citizens and killed sixteen.

  51 | ELSIE PARK GOWAN

  Acclaimed Edmonton actor and director Elsie Park Gowan wrote a play for Edmonton’s Golden Jubilee (titled Who Builds a City) that traced the community’s fifty-year growth through the story of one family.

  52 | DR. ANNE ANDERSON

  Dr. Anne Anderson created a 38,000-word Cree-English translation dictionary, the first of its kind, and fought to preserve Indigenous language, religion, and social practices during an era of cultural genocide.

  53 | WINNIFRED STEWART

  Winnifred Stewart’s son Parker was born with a developmental disability, and she refused to give up on him when the education system (not to mention society at large) didn’t believe that he could achieve anything. She founded the Edmonton Association for the Mentally Retarded, creating an educational program that achieved a level of development that was previously considered impossible. During her tenure, she helped thousands of Edmonton families access the educational resources they needed and thrive despite the stigma against developmental disabilities.

  54 | NENA TIMPERLEY

  An immigrant from England, Nena Timperley worked for the Red Cross in Edmonton and, along with organizing cultural events, inaugurated the city’s first blood bank.

  55 | PHOEBE MCCULLOUGH

  A member of the Deaf Detection and Development Committee, Phoebe McCullough helped direct resources to services for hearing-impaired Edmontonians. She also organized sign language classes for citizens.

  56 | ORIANA KURULIAK

  Oriana Kuruliak helped found Edmonton’s Ukrainian Shumka dancing group, promoting her home country’s culture and heritage through a whirlwind of motion.

  57 | ASTRID KNUDSON

  When Astrid Knudson was five years old, she was hit in the head by a meteorite fragment that lodged itself in her temporal lobe. This injury sparked her interest in the universe and led her to become an astronomer. In 1960, the space-obsessed Melting Queen opened the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium and provided telescopes to communities across the city, educating Edmonton about its place in the universe.

  58 | DR. RUTH CARSE

  After a storied dancing career in Toronto and New York, Dr. Ruth Carse returned to Edmonton and founded the Alberta Ballet, promoting the art of dance in the city.

  59 | VIVIAN TEGLER (AND EVELYN TEGLER)

  Vivian Tegler had a controversial relationship with her twin brother, Evelyn, with many rumouring that they were lovers and others suggesting he was a corrupting homosexual influence on her after she declared him her co-

  Melting Queen. Vivian spent more time hosting fancy cocktail parties than doing community work, and, as such, she has no widely recognized signature accomplishment.

  60 | ZOIE GARDNER

  Zoie Gardner was Edmonton’s foster mother par excellence. Over the course of her life—starting when she was only nineteen years old—she took over one hundred children into her home and continued to care for many of those with developmental disabilities into their forties. The model Melting Queen, Zoie never expected recognition or praise and used her position to humbly advocate for Edmonton’s orphans and homeless children. Thanks to her efforts, hundreds of children were adopted into caring households.

  61 | DOREEN MCLEOD RYAN

  An award-winning speed skater, Doreen McLeod Ryan was warned against continuing her sport because it would negatively impact her ability to have children. She ignored this advice, gave birth to three children, competed in two Olympics, and spent her time as Melting Queen encouraging girls to get involved in competitive sports.

  62 | MARGARET CHAPELLE

  Margaret Chapelle was an artist and social activist. During her tenure, she fought against the City’s plan to build a freeway through the Mackinnon Ravine—even going so far as to lie down in front of a bulldozer to halt construction.

  63 | TANYA SCHMETTERLING

  A devout atheist, Tanya Schmetterling tried to educate Edmontonians about the Roman origins of Christmas and attempted to replace Christmas with a Saturnalia festival. To no one’s surprise, her efforts were an abysmal failure and she provoked a huge backlash from both Christian communities and the general population, which painted her as a Grinch trying to steal Christmas.

  64 | GLORIA TREMBLAY

  Gloria Tremblay’s signature initiative wa
s largely decided before she was ever Named. As Canada’s centennial year, 1967 saw celebrations across the country—including those presided over by that year’s Melting Queen in Edmonton.

  65 | ESTHER MATCHAM

  Having recently moved to Edmonton from Winnipeg, which hosted a Christmas lights competition, Esther Matcham organized the first Candy Cane Lane in her neighbourhood, establishing a Yuletide tradition that continues to this day.

  66 | ELIZA LAKE

  The only deafblind person to have been Named as Melting Queen, Eliza Lake helped educate Edmonton about the unique experiences and the struggles of her community. She also promoted the establishment of 911 emergency services, making Edmonton the first Canadian city to have a 911 system.

  67 | JESSICA HANNA

  Jessica Hanna focused her reign on helping women who were experiencing domestic violence. She formed the Women In Need (WIN) House and the Women’s Emergency Shelters.

  68 | DR. LILA FAHLMAN

  Dr. Lila Fahlman was a teacher and community activist who saved Rutherford House from being demolished (which earned her major respect from ECHO) and who led the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. She worked to integrate Muslim education into Edmonton Public Schools and fought for interfaith dialogue and respect.