054 Oil Barons Dream Home

Sure, there are several different dream home lotteries today but nothing in Fort McMurray has ever compared to the Oil Barons Dream Home raffle. It's the talk of the town and everyone purchases a ticket. It's unique to our community in that we can actually walk around the dream house before it is claimed as someones new residence. When I was young I honestly thought that they called it the Oil Barons Dream Home because the guys on the team sat down together every year and decided how the house would look inside and out.

In case you don't already know, the Oil Barons are Fort McMurrays own Junior "A" hockey team. 2014 marks the 21st Oil Barons Dream Home lottery.  Every year thousands of people purchase tickets in hopes of winning the grand prize dream home or one of 99 other prizes. However everyone is a winner with this lottery because it supports our home team!

Now that the dream home is open for viewing I take the kids over for a look. As I wander around the main floor I wonder what I would cook for supper tonight in this gorgeous kitchen and who is sitting where at the interesting dining room table. Upstairs I chase my toddler from room to room and visualize where my laundry piles should be. In the basement I try to refrain from getting comfortable in a recliner and clicking on the TV. It's likely I'm not the first person to believe I already posess the winning ticket, despite the draw still being months away. Nor would I be the first to walk around this house honestly believing that I live there. I realize this to be true as I drive around the back of the property and notice a woman standing at the master bedroom window gazing lovingly into "her" backyard. When the winner is finally announced, who's name will it be?

For more info, visit the Oil Barons Dream Home lottery webpage or take a drive over in person!

Please feel free to comment on you own Oil Barons Dream home experience below. Thanks!

009 Dunvegan Gardens

A fallen blossom

When I was a kid growing up in Fort McMurray my mom used to load up the minivan with all the kids and head up to MacKenzie Market in Gregoire. Their storefront always had interesting trinkets and the greenhouse was always teeming with life. In the spring, we bought flowering plants for outdoor gardening. My sister and I scavenged for fallen blossoms on the floor in order to "sneak" them home with us. We ran up and down the aisles of green plants to the sound of birds chirping and water trickling in the fountains. We even visited the greenhouse during the colder months and bought 3" tropicals for transplanting indoors.


MacKenzie Market was purchased by Dunvegan Gardens in 2001. Following that, Dunvegan also purchased Gray Gardens located in Draper. Finally, in 2009 the Gregoire gift shop and greenhouse was moved to the Draper location. Since then, the property on the banks of the Clearwater River has blossomed into "The Farm" it is today.

"The Farm"

Tunes and a treat for the drive.

No matter the season or the weather you can go for a drive past Waterways, down the meandering Draper Road to visit Dunvegan Gardens. In the spring (pining for summer after the longest winter ever) I grabbed my favourite drink, cranked the Hawaiian tunes and opened the sunroof for the drive down to pick up my gardening favourites. Occasionally throughout the summer I packed up the kids and a picnic lunch to take them to the playground at Dunvegan and to show them the rabbits and chickens being raised there. In the fall they had fresh veggies available for purchase. In recent years they also hosted a Corn Maze, although the spring flood prevented this from opening in the fall of 2013. The gift shop is open year round, but the Christmas decor and charming gift ideas make the drive down in the winter very worthwhile.

For more info, visit the Dunvegan Gardens website or take a drive down in person!

Please feel free to share your experience by commenting on this post or Tweet me a picture!

A classic Wood Buffalo statue greets the Dunvegan visitor