Town of Picture Butte to unveil Centennial plaque in special ceremony on April 15

Posted on April 9, 2026 by Sunny South News

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

The Picture Butte Centennial Committee is gearing up for a special unveiling, that will help celebrate the town’s Centennial in 2026. 

The event is set to take place at 11 a.m. on the morning of April 15, which marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Picture Butte Post Office. 

“Picture Butte from then on was put on the map because with a post office came people, then the CP Rail Line came – Lethbridge Northern, the Sugar Beet factory and intensive farming began in the Picture Butte area,” said Boyd Folden, president of the Town of Picture Butte Centennial committee.

The plaque will be unveiled during a special ceremony and like similar plaques before it, will include photos and a QR code that will share the history of the Picture Butte Post Office and the town. People can take a photo of the QR code and read the history at a later time or at their leisure.  

“There will be some photos that will be embedded into the plaque. We’re taking 100 years of history and putting it into probably 300 words, so every word’s going to mean something,” said Folden. “It’s going to be like a Reader’s Digest version of what happened from then til now.”     

He said members of the public are invited to attend the unveiling and senior residents will be bussed from the community center to the Picture Butte Town Office and back to the community center, following the event. 

Folden noted in addition to the Post Office plaque unveiling in April, there may be other events planned for this year, that are outside of the committee’s focus. The Centennial Committee helped plan for the April 15 event and is also helping prepare for an enhanced Jamboree Days in August – when the big town-wide Centennial celebration will be held this summer.   

“It’s a special year with a special meaning,” said Folden, noting the plaque will be another piece of Picture Butte history that can be shared with the community, with visitors and with present and future generations. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing to experience.”