After missing for nearly nine years, the 50th Anniversary Alaska Highway Commemorative Quilt has been returned to its rightful owners! The July 12, 2001 issue of the Alaska Highway News spread the good news. In March 2001, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police received an anonymous tip that the quilt was in Kelowna. It had been left abandoned in a home when the previous occupant moved.
The quilt was made by the Fort St. John Country Quilters’ Guild. It had been presented to the North Peace Cultural Center in July 1992 and it was stolen in October 1992. Now that the quilt has been returned, the quilt guild is planning on providing a secure display case so it can be displayed at the center again. Until then, the guild plans to display the quilt at the Blue Iris Quilt Shop.
The following article has been reprinted by permission. It was first published in the Alaska Highway News on July 12, 2001.
The return of a quilt commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway which was stolen from the North Peace Cultural Centre nearly 9 years ago, brought out many of it’s original quilters from the Fort St. John Country Quilters’ Guild.
“When I first started in the quilter’s guild I think that’s what we were working on,” said Rose Fuhr, who was at the cultural centre Thursday morning when the quilt was returned by local RCMP.
Cpl. Ryan Singleton, who has been working on the case, said Fort St. John RCMP received an anonymous tip in March indicating the quilt was in a residence in Kelowna, and then worked in cooperation with RCMP from both Kelowna and Keremeos to recover the stolen item.
The quilt had been left behind by a previous resident, and was obtained by police from someone who had since moved in, said Singleton.
“All I know is they were cooperative and they handed the quilt over to us,” he said The quilt was given to the cultural centre by the guild in July of 1992. It was stolen in October of that year, said Fuhr and she can still remember the weekend the theft took place.
She said several guild members were at the centre attending a quilting workshop when one of their instructors went off to admire the quilt.
But she couldn’t find it.
“About four or five of us go barreling up the stairs and it’s gone,” remembered Fuhr.
Apart from Fuhr, quilters Moneca Tanner, Heather Blackall, and Carol Ingalls were at the centre to see their quilt returned.
Judy Hein and Shelly Blackall originally worked on the quilt as well, but were not present Thursday.
Singleton said a possession of stolen property charge won’t be laid because to do so police would have to show that the person who had the quilt knew that it was stolen.
“The most important thing here is that the quilt has been returned,” he said.
Possible suspects and locations of the quilt had been received in the past, but Singleton said nothing had ever come of those tips.
“This was the first one that actually panned out,” he said.
Singleton said he couldn’t speculate as to why someone might steal such an item, adding that its value is mostly sentimental.
Fuhr said before the quilt is returned to its rightful place in the cultural centre, the quilter’s guild is going to make sure it can be viewed from a secure place.
“We’ll get a display case built for it, then we’ll hang it up somewhere in the cultural centre,” said Fuhr.
She said until then, the quilt will be on display at the Blue Iris Quilt Shop.
“They always say the RCMP get their man, well, they get their quilt too,” added Fuhr.
