A Rosebud family with deep roots is celebrating  its more than 100 years connection to the community this weekend.
    The Comstock family is celebrating it family farm centennial. While the family has had a presence in the community since 1909, they are marking this with an open house at the Rosebud Community Hall.
    Surprisingly after 100 years it is only the second generation living on the land.
George Comstock tells The Mail, his uncle did well on the Winnipeg Grain Exchange and contacted George’s father Lester, convincing him to come up from Norwalk, Connecticut and buy some land.
    “Up until that time my father never really knew anything about farming. He bought several sections of land, became a member of the community and a Canadian Citizen," said George.
    Yet he managed as a bachelor setting up the farm, at only 24 years old.
    He worked hard and never married until 1929 at 44 years of age when he and Margie were hitched. They had three children; George, born in 1930, Catherine in 1932 and Robert, born in 1934.
    George was married to Jewel Evelyn Marshall in 1950 and began to get involved with the family farming. Their children include Pamela, Gayle, Yvonne, Vera Lynne, Debby and Craig.
    Lester passed away in 1956 at 70 years of age, and Margie moved to Drumheller and then Calgary.
    A lot has changed in those years.    
    “Back in the beginning of course with all the farms we had everything. We had chickens and sold eggs, we milked cows and sold cream. We had beef cattle, pigs and turkeys, the whole bit,” said George. “The last few years we have been just grains; canola, peas and wheat mainly.”
    George at 84 still resides on the farm but crop shares much of the land out.
“We have a quarter section I still play around with and sell some hay,” he said.
    He explains while the family has had a presence in Rosebud that predates 1914, they have now completed the process to be recognized as a Centennial Family Farm and received plaques to mark the occasion.    
    Reeve of Wheatland County Glenn Koester and Strathmore-Brooks MLA Jason Hale are expected to be in attendance to make presentations to the family.

The province provided an update late  Wednesday afternoon on flooding and flood watches and warnings in the Southern part of Alberta.
    No mention was made of the Red Deer River Basin as an area of concern.
  Evan Friesenhan of Alberta Environment said  Tuesday night’s storm centered in a section over the Waterton Lakes area, with amounts of up to 170 mm of rain, but in a small area.
    Friesenhan said the upper Waterton basin received about 100 mm rainfall.
  He stated the Oldman river basin has experienced sewer back up flooding and overland flooding in a number of areas.
    River related flooding has also occurred in spots along the Crowsnest River.
  Friesenhan said current predictions have the Oldman River, which is still rising, peaking at 1800 cubic metres per second in Lethbridge Friday afternoon, and the South Sasketchewan peaking in Medicine Hat Saturday morning.
  As of 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Flood Warnings were in effect for the South Saskatchewan, Waterton (including Waterton Lake), Belly Rivers, Willow Creek and tributaries of the Crowsnest River.
  The remaining streams in the Oldman Basin are considered on flood watch .
  A flood watch remains in effect for the Little Red Deer River, and a high stream flow advisory is in effect for rivers in the Bow and Milk River basins.
  A local state of emergency had been declared in nine communities in Southern Alberta as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.