It was a joyous Thanksgiving weekend for the Cardamone family as they celebrated the wedding of Ryan and Maria.
One person beaming from the wedding party was grandmother Anna May, 89.
She arrived at the wedding at St. Anthony's Church on Saturday, October 12 to learn that unfortunately one of Maria’s bridesmaids was unable to attend.
“So then we had to quickly decide whether we just go with it and have an odd number of bridesmaids versus groomsman, however then we thought it could be wonderful and special if my grandma filled in as the fourth bridesmaid. Although very last minute, she seemed to be very happy to fill in and be a part of the wedding party,” said the groom, Ryan.
She was happy to fill in.
“One of the bridesmaids was ill, so they just asked me if I would stand in with one of the groomsmen who was going to have to walk down the aisle by himself,” Anna May explains.
“I ended up carrying her flowers and entered the church on the arm of this young groomsman. It was very nice.”
The groomsman was Ryan’s friend Kole Ashbacher. He is a professional saddle bronc rider and is ranked in the top 10 in Canada.
“So after the ceremony, my grandma made a comment that she was lucky she got to walk with ‘such a handsome young man.’ So we told her more about him; he competes professionally in rodeos. She then commented ‘well ooooh maybe I should start watching rodeo,’” chuckles Ryan. “We all had a good laugh about it all.”
She said it worked out well and looked natural.
“It looked like it seemed to be intended that way. I was the only grandmother there, so they figured it would be suitable if I stood in with him,” she said.
She walked down the aisle with the young man (whom she considered very handsome). She said she did not stand with the bridal party during the ceremony but sat in the pew with her son and daughter-in-law.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, she accompanied the groomsman out.
With her bridesmaid duties completed, she enjoyed the rest of the wedding sitting with the parents.
The Groom Ryan was happy his grandmother was able to stand in.
“My wife and I are both so glad that my grandma was happy to fill in last minute as a Bridesmaid and that she enjoyed being a part of our day even more. We really appreciated it,” he tells the Mail. “She enjoyed filling the role.”
“It was an honour for me to do that, and everybody was quite thrilled for me,” said Anna May.

What was started as a humble way to honour veterans six years ago has grown into a fixture in the community on Remembrance Day.
In 2018, the Drumheller Genealogy Club, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 22 and the Town of Drumheller unveiled a unique way to honour veterans. That summer, they offered residents the opportunity to sponsor a banner to be hung in the downtown core with a photo of a veteran. This may have been a family member or friend, or an honoured member of the community who served.
The project was inspired by a Legion in Harriston, Ontario. It has since spread across Canada.
At the time, the organizers of the project aimed to hang 20 banners. In that first year, there were 39 banners. The first hung was World War II and Korean War veteran Stan Baird, a Legion lifetime member.
The project continued to grow, and today, there are 87 banners hung throughout downtown as well as at the Badlands Community Facility.
This year they have added four more banners, including Frederick Lingard George Bermingham, Obeline Leonier Grenier, Claude Barthwick Morden and George Doveton Greentree.
The banners are made by Image Crafters in Drumheller and are hung by the Town of Drumheller staff.
The goal of these banners when they were originally installed six years ago remains today, as Genealogy Club member Debbie LePlante said at the unveiling,
"We hope everyone will walk around and look at these banners and be reminded our wish is to extend the period of remembrance leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, to say thank you to those brave men and women who served, and that we must never forget the sacrifices any Veteran has made so that we can live in a free democratic society like we have in Canada.”