Hurry hard at Alberta House

Alberta House proudly displays the Albertan slogan: Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve.
WILL COLFORD/SnowSeekers

WILL COLFORD

- Feb 18/10

Across the street, the Check Republic is battling it out against Slovakia. At Cypress, Shaun White is winning gold for the Unites States, again. But, as far away as the events of the games can transport someone, it’s always familiar times at the Alberta House, especially on Alberta day.

Many of Canada’s athletes hail from Alberta, including silver medalist, Jennifer Heil and silver medalist, Mike Robertson. As such, there’s a great chance you’ll end up sharing a beverage with one of the athletes.

Small-town pros

Tonight, the line up was long. People waited about an hour to get into the open-air patio. However, once in, they were rewarded with a number of great Alberta-based muscians belting out classic tunes, an Alberta centric menu, some home-grown Big Rock selections, and a chance to share a brew with Kevin Martin.

WILL COLFORD/SnowSeekers

One enthusiastic Albertan recognized the curling guru and shouted, “Hey Kevin, let me get a picture for my Grandmother.”

The crowd laughed and Martin responded, “Well you’re gonna at least get in the photo aren’t cha?”

What can I say – even the pro athletes are small-town Albertans. Even though the entire men’s curling team had a game against Sweden the next morning, they couldn’t pass up such a great time.

Get your hee-haw on

At one point, a Calgarian – appropriately named Mike – asked if it was okay to set his empty glass down on our table. Since our table had been turned from a dining platform to a booze station, the question caught us off guard.

Because the question caught us off guard, Mike retracted his glass in polite embarrassment. Once everyone realized what just happened, everyone all had a good laugh at our over-the-top manners, shook hands, and stuck together for the rest of the night.

Alberta House is a fantastic embassy for a province contributing so much to the 2010 games. Even if you’re not from Alberta, come down, make some friends, and get your hee-haw on.