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Golden Moments: The many changes to the landscape in Golden

Florence Muir came to the Golden area from Saskatchewan in 1966.
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Florence Muir has seen Golden grow over her 47 years in the area.

Florence Muir came to the Golden area from Saskatchewan in 1966.

Muir and her family moved when her husband got a job at one of the local mills.

One of the first adventures for the family was coming to Golden from the flat plains of the prairies to the Rockies.

“We came from Saskatchewan so the mountains were so different. The road was not as good as what it is now so it was interesting,” she said.

The family moved to an area around eight mile to live on a farm even though they did not use it for farming.

“The kids had a great time. They could get up and they would always find things to do,” Muir said.

One major difference the family noticed in the first winter was that it was not as cold as Saskatchewan.

“It was a nice place to stay and work. It was quite different. The first year we did not even need our winter stuff because it was so mild (compared to Saskatchewan).  I always liked that better.”

Muir kept herself busy after moving to Golden by working with local children.

“I was raising my family. I worked in a second hand store and did babysitting at the Civic Centre,” she said. “They would bring the kids over there for us. It was along the line of a day care. It was a nice building. It was warm and we had a good time looking after the kids.”

Muir also enjoyed heading to Civic Centre to play some of her favourite games.

“I enjoy playing bingo over there. The building used to be filled. I won some big prizes over there but I enjoyed it,” she said

Over the years Muir has seen Golden change in size.

“It has been interesting to see it grow. There are many places that used to be open which now have houses on them. There are so many more houses,” she said.

Muir has lived near the Kicking Horse River since moving to Golden in 1985.

“We used to walk across the river in winter before the Pedestrian Bridge was put in. It was solid enough that you could walk across it,” she said.

Muir said the day was an exciting one for Golden.

Many people came out to the river, including many excited children, to watch the bridge be hosted in the air and put in place.