ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF CALGARY
  • Blog
  • About
  • Give
  • News & Events
  • Ministries
  • Contact Us
  • Parish Finder
Picture

The Beaver Tale

2/14/2023

4 Comments

 
This St. Valentine’s Day, Jessica and Joseph Cyr celebrate a champagne wedding anniversary of sorts, with 14 years of marriage on the 14th. In that time, just as their family has grown to include five children, so has their extended family of faith.

The ceremonial ‘passing of the beaver pelt’ from one newlywed couple to another is a seemingly silly tradition that the Cyrs started in their Calgary Catholic community shortly after they were married, and never imagined would still be going strong today.
“I thought it would be fun to start a tradition within the Catholic community,” said Joseph Cyr. “I had the beaver hanging on my wall. It was unique to me, no one else had a homemade beaver pelt. I thought, ‘hey we can use that, and it’s something very Canadian, something that represents our heritage.’” 

At the time of publication, 48 couples, with more than 100 children combined, have written their names and wedding dates on the back of this storied beaver pelt. ​
PictureJessica and Joseph Cyr
History of the Pelt

​Back when Joseph was in high school, he earned his trapping license and trapped a beaver in a creek near his hometown of Pincher Creek, Alberta. He proceeded to prepare the beaver’s pelt for mounting onto plywood. While he had hoped to continue pursuing this hobby, the beaver was the only animal he ever trapped. 

Shortly after he and Jessica married, Joseph hung the pelt in the living room of their first home, but as it happened Jessica did not exactly share Joseph’s taste in home decor. Joseph then had the idea to gift the pelt to another young couple; Jessica was very receptive to the notion and thus a tradition was born.

The Cyrs presented it to Jared and Natalie Fehr at their wedding reception with the stipulation that they must display the pelt prominently in their home until the next Catholic couple involved with their young adult community married, at which point the ceremonial bestowing of the beaver pelt would continue. 

“Every time I hear the beaver pass to another couple, I say a quick prayer: “God be with them in their first years and keep them close to you,” said Jessica, a parishioner at St. Bernard’s Parish in Calgary.  

“I feel connected to the couples in the wider Catholic community by the beaver tradition in a maternal sense, especially now that over a decade has passed and a new generation of couples - the age of kids I used to babysit - are having it passed to them.” ​
Picture
PictureAdam Pittman presenting the Beaver pelt at the Toner's wedding.
The beaver’s lodge

Currently, the pelt is in the possession of Brian and Jennifer Toner. Per the directive, it is displayed above their living-room television in Cupertino, California – one hour South of San Francisco. 

Adam Pittman presented the pelt on behalf of the Catholic community at their wedding reception in November in Saskatoon. 

“For us, receiving the beaver pelt was a huge honour,” said Jennfier Toner.

“It felt like our marriage was being uplifted by the prayers and thoughts of the whole group, whether we knew each couple or not. We also felt excited, because it is a delightfully ridiculous ‘gift and re-gift ' process that we now get to partake in,” Toner added.  

The beaver travels abroad 

A large part of the fun of this tradition is figuring out logistics as it travels from one couple to another. Now that it was in the Toner’s possession, they needed to figure out how to bring it with them across the border.

To get home, they needed to pass U.S. Customs. They had to assure the border guards of their plan to wrap it in a white garbage bag and take it as carry-on luggage on the airplane and stow it under their two seats. The first guard they met started laughing when they told her they had a beaver pelt. Then they were brought over for a secondary inspection.

“The second guard was enthusiastic about the pelt, because he’d always wanted to see one,” said Jennifer. “He told us a lot about the history of the Canadian fur trade and asked if he could touch the fur on the sides where the beaver is the softest.”

This second guard then called a third person from Agriculture Canada.

“He referred to it on the phone as a “family heirloom” that gets passed down from person to person. Beaver isn’t an endangered species in Canada, and because it was tanned, came from Alberta, and had been across the border before, everything checked out,” said Jennifer.  

The whole process took about 20 minutes.

Years ago, one couple had taken the beaver across the U.S.A./Canada land border while on their way to present it at their friends’ wedding in Vancouver. Following a long back-and-forth involving both American and Canadian customs agents, the beaver received official "papers," and the pelt was officially stamped on the back, from both sides of the border. These papers have traveled with the beaver ever since, and proved helpful to the border guards in the Toner’s recent travels.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Brian & Jennifer Tonner
PictureThe Beaver Pelt (2023)
A silly or serious tradition? 

In his own way, Fr. Cristino Bouvette feels very much part of the beaver pelt tradition. He has celebrated the weddings of at least half of the couples associated with the beaver pelt, and witnessed time and again the passing on of the pelt at wedding receptions.

“It is clearly a silly tradition, but not merely a silly tradition. It is also a sign of married life being one of openness to the wider community. People marry for the sake of expanding the community of believers, expanding the community of the world,” said Fr. Bouvette.

“In receiving this memento, albeit tacky, it’s a sign of belonging to a wider community outside of your married life, which is a very important testament to the mystery of marriage. You give yourself to the other for the sake of the other, and then in that one flesh union that opens up to all others,” Fr. Bouvette added.

“It’s such a great sign to me of our ever-expanding faith community.” 


Picture
Written by Sara Francis for Faithfully. Sara is a writer living in Calgary with her husband Ben and their six children. They attend St. Bernard's / Our Lady of the Assumption Parish 

​Photos submitted by Sara Francis. Used with permission. 
Vertical Divider
Subscribe to Faithfully to read more stories like these! 
Subscribe Now
4 Comments
Lynn Revering
2/14/2023 08:27:13 am

I found this to be a lovely tradition, yes alitte different but has a bond with other couples!

Thanks Joseph for sharing.
Also from Pincher Creek so even I in my older age really enjoyed the story.
Never got a beaver pelt but got married at St. Michael's in Pincher nearly 53 year's ago. Think their is good luck and I know a very loving Heavenly Father that has guided us in our marriage.

Love and Blessings to all the Beaver marriages!

Reply
Susan Heimbecker
2/14/2023 01:08:10 pm

I love this story! Such a great, but silly tradition. Happy anniversary Jessica and Joseph
X Sue

Reply
Joyce Loftson
2/14/2023 02:56:59 pm

What a great article. It’s obviously funny yet paints an endearing picture of the young Catholic community and the welcoming support it extends out to newly married couples. Thank you Joseph and Jessica for the original idea. Thank you to all the couples who have kept the tradition going. Thank you Sara for capturing the spirit of this unique tradition in your article.

Reply
Maureen Williams
2/14/2023 04:12:45 pm

I think this is a great, fun “friends in Jesus” story. I am the proud mom and grandma of the bride Jessica Cyr( nee Williams). So happy for their 14th wedding anniversary on Valentine’s Day.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Catholic Pastoral Centre Staff and Guest Writers

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    Categories

    All
    Advent & Christmas
    Art
    Bereavement
    Bishop Emeritus Henry
    Bishop McGrattan
    Book Review
    Care For Creation
    Catechetics
    Catholic Charities & Development
    Catholic Education
    Catholic Schools
    CCCB
    Christian Unity
    Climate Change
    Consecrated Virgin
    Conversion
    Covid 19
    Culture
    CWL
    Development & Peace
    Devotions
    Diocesan Event
    Discipleship
    Ecumenical
    Elizabeth House
    Environment
    Euthanasia
    Evangelization
    Faithful Living
    Faithfully
    Family
    Feed The Hungry
    From The Bishop's Office
    Fundraising
    Funeral
    Grieving
    Health
    Health Care
    Homelessness
    Indigenous
    In Memoriam
    Interfaith
    Jubilarians
    Lay Associations
    Lent
    Lent & Easter
    Liturgy
    Marian
    Marriage
    Mary
    Mass
    Mental Health
    Migrants
    Miscarriage
    Mission Mexico
    Movie Review
    Music
    One Rock
    Online Formation
    Ordination
    Parenting
    Parish Life
    Pastoral Care
    Pastoral Visit
    Permanent Diaconate
    Pope
    Pope Francis
    Prayer
    Pray For Peace
    Priesthood
    Prolife
    RCIA
    Reconciliation
    Refugee
    Religious Education
    Religious Freedom
    Religious Life
    Resources And Guidelines
    Sacred Art
    Safe Environment
    Saints
    Scripture & Reflection
    Seniors
    Social Justice
    Stewardship
    St. Joseph
    Synod
    Vocation
    Youth And Young Adults
    Youth Ministry

    RSS Feed

GET TO KNOW US
Our Bishop
Offices & Ministries
​Our Staff
Read our Blog
Catholic Community
​Lay Associations
CONNECT WITH US
Contact us
​Careers
​Parish Boundaries

News & Events
Faithfully
​Reporting Abuse
NEED INFO ON
Becoming Catholic
Marriage Preparation
​Vocations
Annulment 
Sacraments Prep
Catholic Funeral
GIVE TO
Diocesan Ministries
Together in Action
Feed the Hungry
Elizabeth House
Your Parish Church​ 
​Other Ministry

Catholic Pastoral Centre  | 120 - 17th Ave SW, Calgary, AB  T2S 2T2 | ​Phone: 403-218-5500 | communications@calgarydiocese.ca
Charitable Number: 
10790-9939-RR0076​. Donate Now.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Give
  • News & Events
  • Ministries
  • Contact Us
  • Parish Finder