Dickson, Alberta
In the fall of 1902, a number of men living in and around Blair and Omaha, Nebraska, decided to establish homesteads in Western Canada.As a result of this encounter, the agent set aside a tract of land approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Innisfail, for the purpose of the settlement.Two of these men, Henry and Jim Larsen, traveled to Alberta to inspect the prospective homesteads for farming suitability.Once this was established, the first settlers to leave were Fred Pedersen, John Jensen and Laus Christensen in March 1903; a second group left in June.This resulted in the preservation of their Danish heritage, as they did not feel the need to learn English or adjust to Canadian cultural ways of life because they were the only settlers in the area.After the original group of settlers of Danish descent settled in Dickson, there was a so-called second wave of Danes who took up land on Townships 35 and 36 north of the Red Deer River, west of the 5th meridian.The active church community and educational components such as the Luther League, skating rink, Boy Scouts, choir and the Fish and Game Association made the Dickson area attractive to further settlement.Over the years, highlights for the Church community were; planting spruce trees around the hamlet (1929), starting a Bible camp at Sylvan Lake (1933), built new church (1967), arena built (1980), largest rural Lutheran congregation in Canada (1983) and the Danish Queen visit (1991).