'An incredible gesture': Memories of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to a Manitoba Hutterite colony
A Manitoba historian is reflecting on the Queen’s visit to a Hutterite colony during a Royal Tour in the province more than 50 years ago.
Milltown Hutterite Colony west of Winnipeg played host to Queen Elizabeth II in July 1970.
It’s a visit teacher Ian Kleinsasser, who studies Hutterite history, has been researching.
“The older I got and the more I learned about the Queen and her role in Canada, the more I was puzzled by why would she, of all the cultural groups and places she could’ve stopped, why did she choose to stop at a colony?” Kleinsasser recalled thinking.
He recently put out a call for information in a Hutterite history group in the wake of her death.
He said one of the stories that emerged was about a Hutterite woman from Rainbow Hutterite Colony who knitted two pairs of red mittens for the Queen one year before the visit, sent them to Buckingham Palace and got a letter in return which stated the Queen wanted to visit a Hutterite colony when she visited Manitoba.
“I can’t know for certain if it was the red mittens that brought her there, but what we do know is that she came,” Kleinsasser said. “The Queen came to a Hutterite colony and I think that by itself was an incredible gesture and I think it speaks to her humility.”
While the visit happened in Milltown, one of the people pictured with the Queen was Kleinsasser’s late uncle, long-time Hutterite leader Jacob Kleinsasser.
Jacob was born in Milltown but lived in Crystal Spring Colony near Ste. Agathe. Kleinsasser said his uncle was working with the Manitoba government on several key issues at the time and that’s likely why he was pictured with the Queen.
He thinks Milltown may have been chosen because of its proximity to Winnipeg and because it was near a train station.
A government news release issued at the time described it as “the province’s oldest Hutterite colony.”
Girls from the nearby James Valley Hutterite community reportedly sang for the Queen while Prince Philip joined two men singing a song in German.
“I think many Hutterites will remember her from that visit,” Kleinsasser said. “I think that’s a beautiful memory that we will cherish and carry forward.”
Kleinsasser said the whole visit was supposed to take about 20 minutes but instead lasted closer to 45 minutes. He sees that as a sign the Queen enjoyed herself.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.