Darren Campbell
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 10/98) - The opportunity was missed in 1948, so something is being done about it now.

That is what the 50th Anniversary Mackenzie Highway Committee is doing to commemorate the birth of the highway.

In October 1948, when the 612-kilometre highway that stretches from Grimshaw, Alberta to Hay River was finished, there was no official opening ceremony. The weather had made the road too bad for anyone to travel on.

Now, 50 years later, the highway that opened up the Northwest Territories to development will get a proper opening. The ceremony will be held at the Alberta/Northwest Territories border on Aug. 20.

For Ron Courtoreille, chairperson of the committee in Hay River, the official opening will be a fitting way to mark the anniversary.

"The Mackenzie was of great importance in the development of Hay River and this Mackenzie region," said Courtoreille.

It was pressure from gold mining, fishing and oil industries that caused the federal and provincial governments to build the all weather road. The cost to build it was $4.3 million.

The highway led to the development of a trucking industry in the North. Freight was sent from Grimshaw to Hay River, stored in warehouses and then shipped North.

Fishermen also moved into the Hay River area to fish on Great Slave Lake. The fish caught there was then hauled to Grimshaw and shipped all over North America.

Hay River isn't the only community with representatives on the committee. Several towns in northern Alberta are also involved and Grimshaw is one of them.

Grimshaw will actually be the starting point for a cavalcade of vehicles that will travel to Hay River for the opening.

Bernice Lorenzen, the chairperson for the Alberta portion of the committee, said as of Wednesday there are 125 vehicles registered. She said 30 of them will be antique vehicles.

Lorenzen, who is from Grimshaw, said she and her husband made their living in the trucking industry. And that is one reason she is so interested in celebrating the anniversary.

"It's been very important to us on a personal basis," said Lorenzen. "And many, many people in our area were pioneers in the building of the highway."

Courtoreille said he is looking forward to the celebration and hopes it brings Hay River and the Northwest Territories some exposure down south.

"Our hope really is that it creates some awareness of the Mackenzie Highway system and of the Northwest Territories and that it helps tourism here," said Courtoreille.