For centuries, people have gathered at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Now, with its June 2025 convention, it’s Rotary’s turn.
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I arrive expecting to see mountains. What I get is sky, lots and lots of sky with muscular white clouds coursing across that vast blue expanse like a herd of wild horses galloping over the open range, unbridled and unbroken.
OK, maybe that’s a bit much. Or not. Because when I get off the plane in Calgary, the first thing that greets me at the airport, after a mural of red maple leaves emblazoned Bienvenue au Canada, is a swirling maelstrom of bronze horses in full stride that their sculptor, Calgary native Robert Spaith, has said evokes the “strength, spirit, and maturity” of Calgary. So clouds as stampeding stallions it is.
The 2025 Rotary International Convention is not to be missed. Register by 15 December to receive a discount.
These thoughts occur to me as I travel by taxi toward downtown Calgary. Three centuries ago, this was a traditional gathering site of the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani nations, known collectively as the Siksikaitsitapi or Blackfoot Confederacy. They called this place Moh'kinstsis, which means “elbow” and references the big bend where today’s Bow River abruptly changes course from east to south shortly after its confluence with the Elbow River. “In the old Blackfoot sign language, patting your elbow indicated you were going to Moh'kinstsis,” explains the Piikani scholar and storyteller Eldon Yellowhorn. Even today, “the same sign means a trip to Calgary.”
Following that ancient impulse to gather by the water, other First Nations people, among them the Tsuut'ina and the Nakoda, congregated at the junction of the two rivers, and when European settlers made their way into southwestern Alberta, they too made this place home. A great city arose, and today, with a population of 1.6 million people, Calgary is Canada’s fourth-largest metro area, though one that retains a palpable sense of its place and its past.
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Enjoy eclectic boutiques, patio dining, and people watching at Calgary’s Stephen Avenue pedestrian mall.
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The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland
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Bicyclists ride in the Inglewood neighborhood; Calgary has more miles of bike and walking trails than any other city in North America.
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Craig Stokke of the Rotary Club of Calgary Stampede Park browses at the Recordland store in the Inglewood neighborhood.
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Smithbilt Hats is renowned for Calgary’s signature white hat, but crafts colorful options as well.
And now here am I in late October 2023, come to get a close look at the city that will host the Rotary International Convention in June 2025. It’s not Rotary’s first rodeo (for once the tired cliché is apt): In 1996, 25,000 Rotarians from 126 countries and geographical areas traveled to Calgary for the 87th annual convention with its theme of Rotary Family Roundup. Pay attention to that second word, because when you come to Calgary for the 2025 convention, you will want to bring your family (kids included), as well as your friends and any strangers you meet along the way. Because if you haven’t experienced Calgary and the great North American West, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. It is a city and a country you must see for yourself.
First stop: an ascent into that crystalline cerulean canopy — this place provokes rhetorical excess — otherwise known as the sky.
And mountains? Rest easy. There will be mountains.
Big-city fun without big-city problems
When the Calgary Tower opened in 1968, it was not only the tallest structure in Calgary but the tallest in all of western Canada. Since then, in this city alone, it has been surpassed six times. Yet the tower remains the lofty symbol of Calgary and the lodestar by which visitors can orient themselves as they explore the city. It is also their stairway to heaven.
The Calgary Tower is reflected in one of the many pieces of public art in the city’s downtown.
Make that elevator, which I take to the observation deck that stands near the tower’s 626-foot summit. As you proceed around the deck, there are brief descriptions of everything you’re observing from above and might want to see up close later; that includes the concave-roofed Scotiabank Saddledome, the arena that lies at the center of Stampede Park, the venue for the 2025 convention. For the daring and the bold, there is a glass-floor platform onto which you can step and stare directly down onto distant Ninth Avenue. And finally, off to the west, a craggy apparition beckons: the Rocky Mountains, rising like a gray ghost on the western fringe of the Great Plains.
As the view from the tower suggests, Calgary has a lot to offer. “Anyone who grew up here will tell you that Calgary has all the big city amenities without the big city problems,” says Craig Stokke, the co-chair of the Host Organization Committee. “And though we’ve grown to be a big city, we still have that small town mentality” — as evidenced last year when Condé Nast Traveller readers voted Calgary the friendliest city in the world.
The city of Calgary’s story began in 1875 when the North-West Mounted Police established an outpost at what had been for centuries the traditional gathering place of Indigenous people; the commander’s superior officer, Lieutenant Colonel James Farquharson Macleod, eventually dubbed it Fort Calgary after a castle in Scotland. By some accounts, “Calgary” means, in Gaelic, “clear running water,” a fitting name for this place where the Elbow meets the Bow.
Today, Fort Calgary is a 40-acre campus devoted to the city’s origins. In May, it was renamed the Confluence Historic Site and Parkland (or I'táámito'táaattsiiyio'pi — “harmonious meeting place” — in Blackfoot), aiming to present a broader and more comprehensive narrative of the area’s history.
Viewed in person at the Confluence Historic Site and Parkland, the wooden installation called Marking transforms into three-dimensional shadows of people and horses.
I already see that as I walk through the campus, reading the copious signage outside the replica of the military barracks and spending a few enlightening hours touring the interpretive center. Alongside and intertwined with the settlers’ stories are the tales of those who were here first. There are some beautiful artifacts — such as the brightly beaded Métis octopus bag, named for the four pairs of decorative tabs that hang from its body — but what I primarily see is a progression of losses. The Great Slaughter, a three-dimensional piece by the Saulteaux Métis archaeologist and artist Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman), evokes the near-extermination of the bison and the decimation of the people who relied on and revered them. There’s a reproduction and explanation of Treaty 7, by which the Blackfoot and other First Nations ceded their lands in southern Alberta. It’s accompanied by an interactive exhibit that focuses on truth and reconciliation and their relationship to the treaty.
Before leaving the Confluence site, be sure to explore the grounds. Pay close attention to an unassuming assemblage of lumber that, on close inspection, turns out to be a remarkable optical illusion. Called Marking, the wooden framework delineates in part the outline of the original fort. Its vertical uprights are irregularly shaped and in some instances resemble the silhouette of a face or a body’s curve. Ignore that. Instead, stand back from the structure and pace alongside it. Look at it without looking at it, and from behind the unfinished palisade wall emerge three-dimensional shadows of people and horses. Stare directly at those ephemeral figures and they vanish. And yet …
Earlier, on my walk to the fort, I passed a theater whose exterior wall was draped in green artificial grass. From it, four words had been cut: THIS FEELS SO REAL. Exactly.
Saddle up
The Calgary convention ends on 25 June; stick around for the world famous Calgary Stampede, which begins 4 July. Those intervening days are the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the unparalleled opportunity to visit a few of Alberta’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks consists of seven contiguous national and provincial parks. One of them, Banff, is justly celebrated, but with their waterfalls and lakes, their snowcapped mountains and starlit nights, the other parks warrant a visit — and perhaps an extended stay.
Over the years, Alberta’s boundless Badlands have yielded a treasure trove of Cretaceous jewels. See for yourself at Dinosaur Provincial Park, followed by a swing up to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller.
A vivid insight into Plains culture, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is more than just the 33-foot-high cliff where, beginning more than 5,500 years ago, Indigenous people on the hunt drove bison to their deaths.
Straddling the border between Alberta and Montana and comprising Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park and the U.S. Glacier National Park, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is both a monument to global amity and a breathtakingly beautiful natural wonderland.
A sacred Blackfoot site, Áísíai'pi (meaning “it is written” or “it is pictured”), also known as Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, is one of the largest aggregations of petroglyphs in North America, carved either by the Indigenous people who once lived here or by the spirits said to dwell among the adjacent hills.
A 14-hour drive from Calgary, the vast Wood Buffalo National Park is home to about 3,000 free-range bison, in addition to bears, moose, wolves, owls, and whooping cranes. Stargazers take note: It’s also the world’s largest dark sky preserve.
A pedestrian paradise
In the heart of Calgary’s revitalized East Village, Studio Bell offers an irresistible array of euterpean delights (look it up). Home to the National Music Centre and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, four of the five floors are devoted to different aspects of music, and there are endless opportunities to listen to it, learn how it’s made, perform it, and comment on how it makes us feel, as scores of people have done in a variety of languages. Start on the top
Top: From left, Mark Starratt and his son Alex enjoy the Calgary Zoo, joined by Rotarians Luanne Whitmarsh, Craig Stokke, and Corinne Wilkinson. Starratt and Stokke are co-chairs of the Host Organization Committee. Bottom left: Calgary’s light rail system is part of the city’s public transportation network. Bottom right: Studio Bell is home to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
The same holds true for the Calgary Zoo, which when I visit is a work in progress. There are signs announcing what is temporarily closed and what will be open when Rotary members arrive in 2025. Chief among these impending attractions is a new exhibit called Wild Canada, devoted to gray wolves, polar bears, and other wildlife that dwell in the country’s untamed regions. Despite the closures, I stroll leisurely through lush gardens and see lots of animals, including zebras and giraffes, lions and lemurs, and a water-loving waddle of king penguins. And in Prehistoric Park, I encounter animatronic dinosaurs that disconcert and delight the enraptured children.
In this pedestrian- and bike-friendly city — with more miles of bike and walking trails than any other city in North America — I had walked to the zoo. With various stops along the way, that took a couple of hours. To return downtown, I hop on the CTrain light rail — part of Calgary’s extensive public transportation system that will be free for full registrants for the 2025 convention — which makes for a significantly shorter trip. I’m back at my hotel, the venerable Fairmont Palliser, with plenty of time to prepare for my dinner reservation. Just as Calgary has world-class architecture, bike trails, bonhomie, and nightlife, it is also a gastronomical paradise, with opportunities to sample every imaginable cuisine. But tonight I plan to dine on what I’m led to believe is the city’s signature dish.
Calgary is a cattle town, and residents are proud of their beef, whose rich flavor is a result of the Alberta cows’ barley-based diet. And so tonight I find myself at the convivial and cozily lit Vintage Chophouse & Tavern, where I enjoy a 24-ounce bone-in New York strip streak, dispatched with the aid of a knife masquerading as a small saber. The meal leaves me well fortified for what lies ahead.
‘Matchless scenes’ in Banff
It had snowed for much of the night and traffic was a mess. “If you don’t have to drive today,” advised the stern voice on the radio, “stay home.”
I ignore him. I must drive. Blame it on Cindy Walker, the central Texas girl who in 1950 composed a quintessential lyric of the Canadian West. It begins:
In the blue Canadian Rockies,
Spring is sighing through the trees.
And the golden poppies are blooming
Round the banks of Lake Louise.
Because of that plaintive song, I had always wanted to visit Lake Louise, and now it was a mere 115 miles away. It was going to take more than an October blizzard to kibosh my quest.
Charming Banff and the majestic Rocky Mountains are a short, astonishingly beautiful drive from Calgary.
I find my way to the Trans-Canada Highway and point the car toward Banff, where I plan to spend the night. The snow has let up, but the skies have not cleared and visibility is minimal. An hour or so into my journey I appear heading directly into a big, densely black thunderhead, which only at the last minute reveals itself to be the side of a mountain huddled close to the road.
I finally arrive in Banff, having accomplished the usual 90-minute drive in about three hours. It is a charming, little low-rise town. Because it’s between seasons, the streets are relatively quiet. After checking into my room, I walk through the town, stopping into two or three shops before I make my way to Chuck’s. There, I launch into an 8-ounce tenderloin, wielding the small cutlass that will be the second entry in my forthcoming treatise, The Steak Knives of Alberta.
The next day, in the moments before sunrise, I open the curtains on my first-floor window and discover two towering lodgepole pines holding aloft an azure sky touched by gold. I’m soon back on the Trans-Canada, and in less than an hour I am a sigh among the trees of Lake Louise.
In the summer of 1882, Thomas Edmonds Wilson, a seasoned 23-year-old Alberta trailblazer, followed his Nakoda guide Edwin Hunter through the thick, virgin timber of the Rockies until they emerged on a pristine body of water. Wilson was astounded. “As God is my judge, I never in all my explorations saw such a matchless scene,” he later recalled. “On the right and the left forests that had never known the axe came down to the shores, apparently growing out of the blue and green waters. The background, a mile and a half away, was divided into three tones of white, opal, and brown where the glacier ceased and merged with the shining water.”
The Nakoda called this place Horâ Juthin Îmne, the “lake of the little fishes.” Wilson changed it to Emerald Lake, and in 1884 it was changed again, this time to honor Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the wife of the fourth governor general of Canada, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, and the woman who gave this province its name. The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived at about that time, and today’s 539-room Chateau Lake Louise, a magnet for politicians, movie stars, and tourists from around the world, had its origins with a single-story building erected in 1894. Things would never be the same, and despite today’s snow and cold weather, dozens of people jockey for position along the shoreline so that they might return home with a memorable photo.
Yet the scene remains exactly as Tom Wilson described it, with the aquamarine water, the white fields of snow, and the differently shaded green trees and brown mountainsides layered in a series of overlapping and magically integrated planes. Immutable, Lake Louise is still capable of instilling a sense of wonder.
I close my day serenely soaking in the mineral-rich waters of the Banff Upper Hot Springs. The vertical panorama is unsurpassed: a forest of snow-laden firs giving way to the summit of Mount Rundle, its jagged peaks flush with the rays of the setting sun. If there are any sighs this evening in the blue Canadian Rockies, they are only sighs of contentment.
The tastes of Calgary
Calgary is cattle country, as attested by its world-class steakhouses, such as Caesar’s, Chairman’s, and Vintage Chophouse & Tavern. But the city also offers a wide variety of dining experiences that will tempt even the most discerning palates.
- Owned and operated by the gastronomically gifted Sal Howell, Deane House on the banks of the Elbow River and River Café on Prince’s Island Park serve memorable meals in, respectively, historic and verdant settings.
- A contemporary supper club, Fortuna’s Row transports diners from the plains of Alberta to the climes, cultures, and cuisines of Central and South America.
- To discover fresh, coast-to-coast Canadian cuisine, travel to Klein/Harris on the Stephen Avenue pedestrian mall.
- Situated in the lively 17th Avenue neighborhood, yet with a Pacific Ocean vibe, Lulu Bar showcases fare influenced by the cuisines from nearby — think California and British Columbia — and afar (Hawaii and Asia).
- Situated on the 40th floor of Stephen Avenue Place, the lofty Major Tom accompanies its divine food with heavenly views.
- Deemed one of Calgary’s best new restaurants in 2022, Orchard dishes up Asian-Mediterranean cuisine in a casually elegant setting.
- A great spot for lunch, Park by Sidewalk Citizen welcomes guests to its solarium-style space in Central Memorial Park (Calgary’s oldest park) situated in the Beltline neighborhood.
- Celebrity chef Darren MacLean’s Shokunin, which offers Japanese-influenced dining, perennially lands on the list of Canada’s 100 best restaurants.
A day of welcomes
My last full day in Calgary is a day of welcomes. The first comes at the midday meeting of the Rotary Club of Calgary at Stampede Park, where I am the guest of Craig Stokke. As much as anyone, it was Stokke who ensured Calgary got the opportunity to host its second Rotary International Convention. He was not a member of Rotary 28 years ago, so did not attend the 1996 convention. But nine years ago, while in Rome, he met another member of Rotary. When he learned that Stokke was from Calgary, the Italian Rotarian described his marvelous experience at that ’96 convention and vowed that, if Calgary ever hosted another convention, he would not fail to attend.
Wilkinson and Stokke relax along the extensive Mattamy Greenway, created in part by Calgary’s Rotarians.
Working alongside Mark Starratt, the other co-chair of the Host Organization Committee and a member of the Rotary Club of Calgary, Stokke got to work at bringing another convention to his hometown. They were assisted by scores of enthusiastic Rotary members, by the city’s civic leaders, and by its most prominent public face: the Stampede, the annual rodeo, parade, and 10-day festival that each year attracts more than 1 million visitors to Calgary. “The people at the Stampede are skilled at working with crowds,” says Stokke. “We’ve got thousands of volunteers who know what to do, and they’re ready to go. Their participation helped make our case that Calgary deserved the convention.”
In 2017, Rotary made it official: Calgary would host the 2025 convention. Stokke, Starratt, et al. quadrupled their efforts. “The ’96 convention set the bar high,” Stokke admits, “but we didn’t want to do a redo.” He doesn’t provide any specifics, but he does make one promise. “We can put on a great party,” he says. “People are going to know they’ve been in Calgary.”
Stokke explains all this as we tour the Stampede grounds prior to the meeting. Situated on the perimeter of the park, the club’s gathering space is a rustically modern cabin. Today it’s packed, with roughly 125 people filling nine tables. After lunch, the meeting gets underway with an official welcome to visiting guests.
I meet many Rotary members, and even 18 months out, they share a mutual excitement for the upcoming convention. On more than one occasion I hear about one benefit of holding the convention in Calgary that these folks plan to press to maximum advantage. “There are a lot of things we hope to do by bringing people in from the community and letting them know about Rotary and the great things it’s doing locally,” Stokke says. “This is our chance to show who Rotary is.”
Steve McDonough, past president of the Calgary Stampede, and Wilkinson, a member of the Rotary Club of Calgary at Stampede Park, stop by Smithbilt Hats, where one of the city’s signature white hats is steamed.
After the Stampede Park meeting, I dash to my lunch date with the folks from Tourism Calgary. My three hosts — Aviva Kohen, Shelley Zucht-Shorter, and Fraser Abbott — treat me to a delicious meal at Deane House, one of Calgary’s finest restaurants. It’s one of two, along with River Café, run by Sal Howell, a champion of locally sourced ingredients and sustainable dining.
But the highlight is the surprise premeal ceremony where Abbott officially welcomes me to Calgary. “‘It’s not relevant where you come from or what you look like or how you worship or whom you love,’” says Abbott, quoting a former mayor. “‘What really matters is that you are welcome here and you belong here, and you’ve come to a place where you can be your best.’”
Abbott presents me with one of the city’s signature white, red-beribboned Smithbilt cowboy hats. I don the chapeau as instructed and join Abbott in reciting the traditional white hat oath of hospitality, which concludes with a rousing “yahoo!” With that, I saunter into the dining room. And were I wearing spurs, they would undoubtedly be jingle-jangle-jingling as I go stridin’ merrily along. All that’s missing is a horse.
This story originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Rotary magazine.