DAWSON CITY – Gabriela Sgaga began the past weekend's annual Commissioner's Tea on high note.

"What a lovely day. I think we should applaud the weather,” said the afternoon's emcee.

And it was no surprise when a lot of the folks on the balcony and lawn of the Commissioner's Residence took up her suggestion.

The first speaker of the afternoon was Ann Morin, Yukon Field Unit Superintendent for Parks Canada, which, along with the Dawson IODE, has been putting on the tea for several decades.

Since all the goodies served at the tea are local donations, this was not one of those events Parks was forced to trim from its budget this year.

The flower gardens may have been newly planted last week due to the late spring, but the plants were in place.

"This is a particularly enjoyable event because this Commissioner's Tea sees people coming from all over the Yukon and visitors also coming, and lots and lots of local community support and participation,” Morin said.

"For Parks Canada, it is our pleasure to present this special area of the world to all visitors and this summer. In particular, we have a very incredible team, and they're truly enthusiastic to provide you with new tours throughout Klondike National Historic Site,” Morin added.

"We have a wonderful staff who I think everyone knows in the past year have had some difficulties because of some of the cutbacks we have experienced, but it's so incredible to see the enthusiasm that they all have in presenting this very special place to everybody.”

Morin mentioned that three companies – two local to Dawson – have taken on the task of presenting Dredge No. 4 to the world after the federal budget cut the staff for those tours.

"They have been able to help us keep that historic site open for everyone to see.”

Myrna Butterworth, president of the IODE, explained the significance of the day's events.

"We are celebrating the 115th anniversary of the Yukon and the 38th annual Commissioner's Tea.”

The tea, Butterworth explained, was founded two years after the Commissioner's Ball, which was started by the Klondike Visitors Association in 1973.

Its purpose was to give visitors and guests something to do in the afternoon, but also to do homage to the teas that were held on these grounds in the days of Martha Louise Black, the most famous of the Residence's chatelaines and founder of the Dawson chapter of the IODE.

"Martha Louise Black would be very proud of us, I'm sure.”

Commissioner Doug Phillips was quick to admit he really has no part in organizing the tea that bears his name.

In his many years of attending teas here, as a Yukon Party cabinet minister, then as the territory's administrator and now in his third year as commissioner, Phillips said he has never seen bad weather for this day.

"On June 13th in 1898, the Yukon was established as a territory of Canada,” Phillips noted.

"(This) week is the 115th birthday of the Yukon, and there's no better place in the Yukon to celebrate that birthday than here, at the Commissioner's Residence, in Dawson City.”

The tea is always a time of presentations, and this year's was no exception.

Continuing the tradition of celebrating the office itself, Phillips has had special commemorative medals commissioned for each of the living former commissioners.

Some were on hand. He presented pins to Ken McKinnon (1989-1995), Jack Cable (2000-2005) and Geraldine Van Bibber (2005-2010).

"When I took office …( I noticed) that we didn't do anything really special for the commissioners that left, so I thought it would be appropriate to start a tradition that I hope will carry on forever,” Phillips said.

The pin was designed and hand made by Yukon goldsmiths David Ashley and Cheryl Rivest.

Each pin is individually engraved with the office title and dates of each person's term.

The last award of the day was a commemorative plaque presented to the venerable Ken Snider, retired priest, archdeacon and dean of the Anglican Church.

It marked the 45th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood after he had already spent a number of years in the North in the service of the Church Army (now called Threshold Ministries), beginning in 1954.

Since 1956, Snider has served in Cambridge Bay, Whitehorse, Mayo, Dawson City, Inuvik, Pelly Crossing, Hay River, Clinton Creek, Elsa, Keno, Carmacks, Stewart Crossing and points in between.

"But it was in June, 1968, 45 years ago, that he as ordained a priest here in Dawson City.”

And it was here that he and Aldene chose to move when he retired from full-time service in 1998, continuing his ministry as part of the team at St. Paul's.

Phillips read the inscription on the plaque.

"To the venerable Ken Snider. May I extend to you my sincere congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of your 45th anniversary of your ordination into the Anglican Church.”

Continuing his tradition of showcasing young Yukon talent, Phillips brought with him Ellen Thompson and Kayleigh Poelman, two young musicians from Whitehorse.

Each of them presented three songs at various points in the program and were well received in spite of some difficulties with the sound system.

Also much appreciated was Parks interpreter Sue Taylor's recitation of The

Cremation of Sam Magee, which she did almost completely without reference to the printed text.

The afternoon concluded with the cutting of the birthday cake by Phillips and Butterworth.