Several authors and illustrators of beloved children’s and youth books attended the Book Bash on Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13. The event was held as part of the Drumheller Public Library’s centennial celebrations, in partnership with the Muller Scholastic Endowment Fund for Canadian Children’s Literature, Toronto Public Library Foundation, and Toronto Public Library. A group of 20 students at Greentree School were invited to have lunch with guest authors Rachel Poliquin and Leslie Gentile, as well as guest illustrator Mike Boldt on Friday, and had the opportunity to speak with the authors about their books and get to know them a little more. Students were encouraged to nominate or enter their own names into a draw, and winners were chosen at random from various grades and classes. This was just one of multiple events held during Book Bash. On Friday morning, Book Bash kicked off with some 800 students at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) for author presentations, Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) also hosted a luncheon with authors Natasha Deen, Anna Priemaza, and Lorna Schultz Nicholson, and Friday afternoon, connectFirst Credit Union invited children to enjoy storytime with some titles from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which connectFirst helped to fund for the local chapter. Guest authors made appearances at various local spots, and the Napier Theatre played Anne of Green Gables on the big screen with caramel apple popcorn specially created for the showing.

Drumheller has been the backdrop for multiple Hollywood film productions over the years, and last week some residents may have noticed some activity in the community as filming took place on a new production.
On Thursday evening, May 11, downtown Drumheller was closed to traffic for filming, and although the Town is remaining tight lipped about the production, word quickly spread on social media that actors Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult had been spotted locally-and some local residents even got to have an up close and personal encounter with Jude Law.
“(Beckham) was excited to meet Jude Law as he is going to be in an upcoming Star Wars spin off (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) as a Jedi,” Beckham’s mom, Heather Jensen tells the Mail.
Although Beckham hasn’t watched too many Jude Law films, he was really excited to meet the actor because of his love for Star Wars, and was really excited to get to meet a Jedi. Heather adds Jude Law was very nice when they met him.
She says she and her family watched crews begin setting up in Wayne on Tuesday, May 9, and then got to watch as cameras began rolling on Friday. Heather even got an opportunity to speak with some of the production crew about the film.
According to the International Movie Database (IMDb) the movie, called The Order, is directed by Justin Kurzel and is based on the 1989 Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt non-fiction book, “The Silent Brotherhood.”
The story is based on the true story of a lone FBI agent in Idaho, played by Jude Law, who begins to unravel a pattern in a string of recent violent bank robberies, armoured car heists, and counterfeiting operations in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s, and sets out to prove these crimes are by a radical group with a charismatic leader, played by Nicholas Hoult.
Drumheller is just one of the Alberta towns which will be featured in the final production, which is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video, though no official release date has been set yet.
In recent years, the Town has been the backdrop for some big blockbuster films, including the Kevin Costner and Diane Lane 2020 film Let Him Go, which transformed parts of the community into 1963 Montana and North Dakota.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was filmed locally in Drumheller and surrounding areas, including Horsethief Canyon and the Dorothy grain elevators and bridge in 2019 and saw the Town transformed into Summerville, Oklahoma.
It is estimated Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought some $1 million in economic benefits to the community.