The quiet streets of Rowley will be lined with classic cars this Saturday as the hamlet celebrates it centennial during Pizza Night. Though Rowley was never officially incorporated, businesses first started to appear in 1910 and a post office established in 1913.

    The hamlet that never became a town is celebrating 100 years…and then some this weekend.
    The Hamlet of Rowley is having its centennial celebration this Saturday at Pizza Night. The afternoon and evening celebration includes entertainment from Dew Carver and, the Rowley house band Nort and the Nerds, face painting for kids and a street full of classic cars.
    Lorraine Foesier of Rowley explains the history book shows the first business, a general store, opened in the hamlet around 1910-1911. It changed hands in 1911 and then the post office was established in 1913.
    “The problem is, Rowley was never incorporated. That is why we are calling it 100-plus years,” she tells The Mail.
    They decided to go with when the post office was established as the date. This also coincides with a classic car cruise coming from the north.
    The same group that hosted the Ukrainian Triangle Cruise, passing through Glendon, Vegreville and Mundare  in 2012 is hosting the Old Cars and an Empty Town Cruise. This starts just South of Edmonton at Looma and heads south down Highway 21 and over to Rowley. They are expecting to arrive at about 2 p.m.
    The community is planning a cake cutting at 4 p.m. and MLA Rick Strankman has accepted their invitation to the event. In fact, Foesier says he has a classic Ford Fairlane that may even show up.
    She explains the early history of the community is not well documented simply because it was not incorporated. Much of what appears in history books comes from memory.
    It is not known when Mr. Deering started his general store, but it is documented that George Swallow purchased it in 1911. In 1913, his wife was appointed the first postmaster.
    The hamlet thrived in the early part of the century and a garage, a church, livery and of course a restaurant, which is Sam’s Saloon, was established.
    The garage lasted until the 1940’s, Sam Leung shut down his restaurant in 1968 and the general store closed in 1973.
    This didn’t spell the end of Rowley. Today the dedication of the community has added the soul to the ghost town. Heritage buildings have been refurbished and maintained, the famous elevators have been extensively restored and Sam’s Saloon attracts a great crew for Pizza Night.
    In addition, the hamlet has become the backdrop for a number of motion pictures, domestic and international. Its most famous credit, and the project that got the motion picture industry interested in the hamlet was Bye Bye Blues in 1988, earning its moniker Rowleywood.
    The celebration of the Centennial, and then some is Saturday, July 27. Cars are expected to arrive at 2 p.m. and cake cutting is at 4 p.m. In addition to Pizza Night, There will also be hot dogs and beef on a bun.

Another highway  project is ramping up as crews begin micro surfacing Highway 838 from Highway 9 to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Motorists can expect delays for the remainder of July and into August as crews work their way down Highway 838. This is the second major Highway project this summer. Earlier this year crews resurfaced Highway 10.

    Crews have been making a lot of progress on highway work in the valley this summer, and the next project is ramping up to get going this week.
    Drivers can expect a few delays along Highway 838, North Dinosaur Trail, as crews complete a micro-surfacing. Even in the face of the rebuilding efforts following the flooding in Alberta communities, public affairs officer for Alberta Transportation Nancy Beasley Hosker says it is important these projects are completed.
    “The Minster committed as did the premier, that as we are working on the recovery we will continue with the work of moving Alberta forward,” said Hosker.
    The project will span about five kilometres, from the intersection of Highway 9 to near the entrance of the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
    “We are providing local residents with good, safe roads to travel on and it will also extend the life of Highway 838 up to 10 years,” said Hosker. “If it were to go untreated, the road would actually take more extensive rehabilitation work. This is a good investment which will slow down the deterioration of existing pavement.”
    This week crews were stripping some of the markings off the highway and compacting some of the cracks before beginning the resurfacing.
 Hosker explains micro-surfacing. Coarse sand and water is mixed with liquid asphalt and it is applied to the road surface.
    For this project, they will use about 650 tons of the material, enough to fill 40 tandem dump trucks. After the mixture is applied to the road top, it takes several hours for the mixture to “cure” and be ready for traffic.
    “People may say it looks done, but before the curing is complete the mixture is very sticky and difficult to remove from shoes, clothing and vehicles,” said Hosker.
    The project has an estimated price tag of $300,000.
    “We expect the work to go  ahead in July and August, and it will be signed along the highway as they move forward.  There will be some delays and speed reductions,” said Hosker.
    This will be the second highway project to occur in Drumheller this summer. Earlier in the summer, crews resurfaced over 20 kilometres of Highway 10.
    “We are continuing to provide safe roads and protect our investments. We are living within our means, but still moving forward on working on the core transportation network."