Fifty years ago, on January 15, 1954, Irma Praeger married Leo Bourassa in Whitehorse, Yukon.

On October 12, Leo and Irma Bourassa celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the company of family and friends at Newlands Golf and Country Club in Langley, British Columbia.

Guests signed the guest book, which was adorned with a recent photograph of Leo and Irma. The pen and guest book were covered with white satin and embellished with white and gold lace. They were made by Leo and Irma’s daughter, Karen.

At the entry there was a beautiful framed photo montage of Leo and Irma’s wedding.

Guests entered the ballroom through a wrought iron archway that was decorated with dusty rose coloured roses that were edged in gold. The archway was decorated with tulle and twinkly white lights. The ballroom and tables were decorated in the same colour accents.

The tables were set with a white candle surrounded by roses edged in gold. A gold, heart shaped table marker was placed on each table. Guests were given a mini gold wine glass filled with mints and decorated with tulle, gold ribbon roses and wedding rings. They were also given a hand crafted chocolate bar with a specially created candy wrapper that was decorated with a photograph of Leo and Irma and adorned with gold wedding bells and ribbon.At each table, guests were able to pass the time reading a time capsule of 1954, the year Irma and Leo were married. Guests were also given hand made white chocolates embossed with the words “50 years”. The red and white wine bottles on the tables had special labels featuring a wedding photo of Leo and Irma. The bottles were further decorated with garlands of ivy leaves and red or green grapes.

A beautiful 3 ft hand carved ice sculpture of two doves and a heart glowed magically throughout the evening. The ice sculpture had Leo and Irma’s names carved into the heart.

Guests were gathered together and welcomed by Brett Barden, Leo and Irma’s 18 year old grandson who acted as the master of ceremonies for the evening.

Brett prepared and presented several imovie presentations to guests. The first one titled “The wedding” was set to the Kenny G song “The Wedding” and showed photos from Leo and Irma’s wedding. The second presentation titled “50 Golden Years” showed special moments in Leo and Irma’s life. This presentation was set to Louis Armstrong’s song “It’s a Wonderful World.”

Leo’s brother, Al Bourassa, said grace before dinner.

Guests were treated to a magnificent buffet that snaked over the dance floor. The food was mmm mmm good!

During dinner and toasts, photos of Leo and Irma were projected on the screen.

A toast was given to Leo and Irma by Leo’s brother, Gerry Bourassa who was the best man at their wedding.

A second toast was given by long time family friend John Misurelli. John has known the family since the early sixties and taught both Karen and Ernie.

A third toast was given by Bill Craig, another long time family friend and neighbour of Leo and Irma from the 1950’s in Whitehorse.

Irma and Leo then proceeded to cut their anniversary cake, which was modeled after their original cake. A photo of their original cake was on the cake table.

A bouquet of 50 golden roses, made from gold Hershey kisses, was presented to Irma and a heart-shaped jar of jelly beans given to Leo. Brett read the following poem:

50 years together
of rainbow days and fun.
A life full of flavours
of things you've said and done.
Red jelly beans for love.
Blue for memories shared.
Yellow for forever.
Orange for times you cared.
Best wishes on this day
of 50 years of bliss.
Enjoy these jellybeans
as you sit and reminisce.

Irma and Leo were presented with a hand crafted satin memory album that matched their guest book and pen set. This album will contain memory pages of their anniversary celebration.

On display were memory albums given to Leo and Irma in honour of their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Their daughter Karen created 2 albums of Leo and Irma, and an album each of Ernie, Karen, Warren, Rhianna and Brett.

Congratulatory messages were read from many friends including: Bev and Gordon Dohm, Ian and Kay Campbell, John and Lorna Naherny, and Les and Shirley Middlebrook.

Certificates of Congratulations were presented to Leo and Irma from :
- Governor General of Canada - Adrienne Clarkson
- Prime Minister - Jean Chretien
- Premier of BC - Gordon Campbell
- Surrey MLA - Brenda Locke - who personally delivered a flower arrangement to the house

Ernie Bourassa, Leo and Irma’s son and the mayor of the City of Whitehorse presented a special congratulatory letter to his parents.

A special congratulatory photo and greeting was presented to Leo and Irma from the Statler Brothers.

Unknown to anyone other than Karen, Neale, Rhianna and himself, Brett asked the guests to welcome the Motherlode Band who came into the ballroom dressed in red sequined vests. During the evening, the grand piano and drums were semi hidden by the projection screen and people did not realize that there was entertainment ahead! The group played a song and then asked the guests to welcome the Gypsy Dancers, who wowed them with an energetic can can dance. Their energy was incredible and guests enjoyed their performance.

The band leader announced the entrance of the star of the show, Gillian Campbell performed a Klondike routine that put guests in the Yukon spirit. Gillian is an international entertainer who has delighted audiences all over the world with her Klondike tributes. Her energy was infectious as she teased guests with her wit and vivacious personality. She even involved the guests by having them participate in her program. No one will ever forget Gillian bouncing on Leo’s lap or his face as he placed his head on her thigh!

Her performance included inviting nine male guests to the dance floor and having them change into long red underwear and crazy hats. She then proceeded to teach them how to do a kick line. Guests were howling with laughter at the dancing ability of the men in red! Arthur Murray has lots of potential clients from this group!

Click here to visit Gillian Campbell's Web Site

Guests will not forget their involvement in the show from standing up, holding hands, swaying back and forth, clapping and cheering wildly. Nor will they forget bouncing balloons in the air or waving them goodbye to Gillian, the Gypsy Dancers and the band.

We will never forget the guests from the other wedding receptions who crashed the “old people’s” party. Nor the many faces who peered through the windows wondering about the laughter and cheering.

We thank Gillian for bringing the character and energy of the Yukon to our visiting guests. Gillian’s performance will likely be a highlight for the many guests at the anniversary celebration of Leo and Irma.

We thank Gillian for making this night totally unforgettable and for making us laugh all night long and the next day. Looking at the photographs the next day brought tears of laughter to many!

Leo and Irma danced their anniversary waltz to the Anne Murray classic “Could I Have This Dance”. After the dance, Brett presented them with a congratulatory photo of Anne Murray who wished Leo and Irma a Happy 50th Anniversary. Brett informed guests that Anne Murray was probably the only relative not invited to the anniversary celebration. Guests were surprised to learn that Anne Murray is a distant 12th cousin of the Bourassa family.

The evening continued with dancing and visiting until midnight. Linda, the house DJ led the remainder of the evening with energetic dance music. We loved the chicken dance!

Congratulations Leo and Irma on achieving a major milestone in your lives. 50 years of marriage filled with love and family is truly more valuable than gold! We wish both of you fond memories of your 50th wedding anniversary celebration and wish you many more years of health and happiness.