YQL Culture Crawl gives students access to city’s attractions

By Cal Braid - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 8, 2022.

Herald photo by Cal Braid Coun. Belinda Crowson, left, University of Lethbridge student Sanya Mateen and Tourism Lethbridge CEO Erin Crane helped showcase the YQL Culture Crawl transit project.

On Friday, students from the city’s post-secondary institutions were invited to take a ride on the cultureLINK bus and get acquainted with the historical and cultural spots that make Lethbridge unique.

The YQL Culture Crawl ran the bus to locations between the college and university, dropping students off at the Galt Museum, the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, and the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden.

Erin Crane, CEO of Tourism Lethbridge, said, “This idea was inspired by cultureLINK, which ran all summer long. It was a service provided through efforts by the Galt Museum and Archives, along with all of the attraction partners and the City of Lethbridge. It was a hop-on, hop-off bus, (and) it took people around all the attractions all summer long. So, with the students coming back, why not just expand that?”

Coun. Belinda Crowson joined the tour on behalf of the Lethbridge Historical Society, which she has been a part of for over 20 years.

“I’m here to tell stories if people have questions about the history, and because it’s October I also brought along some ghost stories. I have all sorts of things I can share with them about the architecture of buildings, but it’ll really be depending on what the students are interested in and if they have any questions,” she said.

Crane and Crowson waited for the bus to arrive at the Galt Museum, looking forward to meeting and talking with students on the tour.

“We’re going to be on the bus welcoming students, and then as they go around to each one of the attractions, the hosts and attendants at each attraction are ready to welcome them. They’ve got some fun stuff planned for the students,” Crane said. “They all get free entrance into the attractions to learn more about Lethbridge and get engaged with the community, so hopefully they stay here after they graduate and make Lethbridge their home.”

Tourism Lethbridge had teams in Festival Square, ready to engage with students, provide them with swag, and offer them fun ways to explore the city.

Crowson is a southern Alberta native and has a broad knowledge of the city and region’s history.

“If you’ve seen any of the plaques around the city, we’re usually the ones who write and draft those. We have over 50 books that we’ve published in the last 50 years. If there’s a researcher working on a book, we provide assistance with that. Basically, anything to do with local history, we’ve been involved in.”

The self-guided tour was designed to give curious students all the time they wanted to explore each site while meeting connected locals.

“We drop them off and we leave them there,” Crane said. “They can explore not only the attraction, but hopefully all of the businesses and everything that’s around those attractions and just kind of explore the city. This our first time doing it. This is a pilot project and hopefully we can get to it again. We’ve got a goal of trying to get to it every semester.”