One of the advantages of being stuck at home for an extended amount of time is that I've been able to see more of my home province. Saskatchewan has a bad rap for being a "fly over province" but there is really a lot of rich history and interesting places to visit. And we are much more than the flat land you see from the TransCanada Highway.
Last summer and fall while Covid numbers were pretty low here I was able to take a few day tours with Engelheim transport and I enjoyed every one. They booked the bus at half capacity so I had two seats to myself, masks were required getting on and off the bus and in every building we visited. The tour guide was there when we got on and off the bus to spurt some hand gel onto our hands. I felt totally safe.
In early November I was on the bus headed Northeast to the Kaposvar Historic Site. We also visited the Western Development Museum in Yorkton.
I have to be honest and say I had never heard of Kaposvar before.
After a couple of hours we pulled into the Historic Site which is just outside of Esterhazy. Why the name Esterhazy? Count Esterhazy arrived in the USA from Hungary in 1868. Through contacts with the Canadian government and CPR in 1885 he became a Canadian immigration agent and brought 35 Hungarian families from the United States to form the Kaposvar settlement. Kaposvar was named after a town in Hungary and was one of the first Hungarian settlements in Western Canada.
The Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic church was built in 1907-8 by Rev. Father Pirot and parishioners and replaced the log church built in 1894. Over 1600 loads of stones were hauled by the Hungarian settlers. The church served the community until 1962.
The parishioners donated altars, statues, the communion rail as well as other furnishings and objects. There were stained glass windows however these were damaged by hail and replaced by clear glass.
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