We have been encouraging residents and others to share photos, family trees and stories with us. This has resulted in some very interesting results.
I have been scanning photos this week. Some are very small (under 2 inches) but scanning at high resolutions allows enlargements and some wonderful discoveries that were not noticed in the original photo. A face of a resident long since departed is brought up with clarity – it’s such a wonderful way to keep their memory alive. These photos inevitably add detail and, dare I say, ‘sparkle’ to the stories of the Cut Knife Community.
It is these discoveries that help motivate me to continue with the establishment and growth of our archives.
I Â still have much to learn about digital storage practices to ensure this modern storage lasts for the next generations.
It’s a mystery object. Does anyone know what this metal object was used for? The top right has a loop that hooks onto bottom. The item is about eight inches long when hinged at the left.
It was found at a farm in Saskatchewan.
Do you know? Please comment at the bottom of this blog entry if you can help identify it.
The countdown has begun to the Cut Knife Centennial Celebration. June 30th and July 1st. Mark your calendars. Get involved.Â
The museum is researching the retail history of the main street and will have signage up for the Celebration along the street.Â
There will be a two day open house at the museum where there will be a quilt show (old and new) and a photography artwork exhibit of Cut Knife.Â
Want a copy of the first Cut Knife History book (out of print and very hard to find)? A silent auction for several copies will be held to raise money.Â
Come also for the ongoing picture show of photos from our Archives. This will run all day, every day so you can drop in when it is convenient for you to watch. There is nothing like a photo to bring back memories!
Our Culture Day on Saturday, Oct 1st was a great success.
Christmas is one time of the year when there is a focus on family and culture. Whether one is Christian or not, or from an aboriginal or immigrant background, the season brings a feeling of good will.
Religious holidays, food, music, dress, and ceremonies create a rich link to other parts of the world. We wanted to celebrate Cut Knife’s founding cultures through the magic of Christmas.
Thanks to Roger and Colin Emberley for their wonderful ethnic music, the Ukrainian culture presenters (Mary Ramsay, Jean Carlton, Bill Rak, and Ethel Rak), the Italian presenter (Emily Hardy), the Norwegian presenter (Catherine Hewson), and the French presenters (Joan Veikle and Gisele Brackenbury).
The atmosphere in the Duvall House was truly full of the Christmas spirit. Visitors enjoyed sampling wonderful ethnic dishes, listening to soothing Christmas music, and seeing the displays of museum Christmas artifacts. And no one missed the snow. Now what cultures should we highlight next year?
Our thanks to SaskCulture for their support of our Culture Day.
One of my projects for the upcoming Cut Knife Centennial Celebration in 2012 is a map and GPS locations of the one room school sites and other landmarks in the area.
The day before yesterday, Bonnie Ramsay, Noreen Bullerwell and I went on a 200 mile journey armed with history books, maps, camera, a Garmin, and a little patience.
We headed to Rockhaven first, such a pretty little village. From there we headed east, north, west, south, and then back north and east again. 36 sites later, interspersed with lunch paid by a nephew (who called us ‘the old girls’- not funny), a coffee stop in the Baldwinton area (because our union insists upon coffee breaks), a ‘gopher’ job for our harvesters (who mistakenly thought that we were were bringing liquid refreshments – sorry!), and a couple of encounters with dogs, we arrived back in Cut Knife, tired but satisfied with the day’s efforts. There are several more sites to finish the project off but they won’t take too long to do, if someone can tell us exactly where Madawaska school was located.
Now I will add old photos and the new ones that I took and we will have identified these sites for those who can read a map or a GPS device.
There were a few times when we were almost stumped but Bonnie said to look for the caragana trees and sure enough, there was the site. Most school sites had caraganas planted around the yard.
We also had to backtrack from a northerly trail as it changed from a trail to a track through tall grass out in the Baldwinton hills.
October 2, 2011 update to this blog: Don Paziuk helped me find the Triple Lakes School site to add to our list. That was a long trek past Atton’s Lake, through the community pasture, and even further. There is only a foundation left to mark the spot. The signage was vandalized a few years ago.
Clayton McLain Memorial Museum 