聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Knowing one鈥檚 history is an important step to knowing one鈥檚 heritage. In Arcola, Adrian Paton, has dedicated years to collecting photographs which depict Saskatchewan鈥檚 early history. Beginning in the late 1980s when he received his grandmother鈥檚 photo album his passion expanded in 1993 while working on a local history project.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 His years of dedication have coalesced in the creation of a travelling exhibit by the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society. The exhibit was unveiled on Sunday, Nov. 29, in Arcola where the display will stay for three months before travelling to libraries and schools across the province.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The President of the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society, Keith Carlson, explained that when the Society first approached Paton in relation to the collection that, 鈥淲e asked what he wanted to see done with his collection, and Adrian being a generous man simply said he wanted people to see them and to share them.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽Ultimately the best way to do that was to send out two history students from the University of Saskatchewan for two summers to digitize over 800 photographs, although Paton has approximately 8,000 images in his possession.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Initially worried that when they arrived there would simply be a drawer filled with photos strewn about, they were happily surprised when they discovered Paton had put effort into his collection throughout the years having catalogued and filed everything.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fantastic collection,鈥� Carlson exclaimed.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 With the photos digitized, they can now be viewed online, on the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society鈥檚 webpage: .
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In addition to the photos compiled online, the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society wanted to create something more tangible, something that would also include brief written histories putting the images into context, thus the travelling exhibit was created based on the themes Paton had categorized them in.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The exhibit comes with a teacher鈥檚 guide as well for grades three to five, which helps teachers fit the exhibit into their provincial curriculum.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 would like to thank everybody for coming,鈥� Paton said to the amassed crowd which filled the Arcola Library. 鈥淚鈥檓 always asked why I do this, why I started collecting, and I鈥檝e never had an answer. I just started and it began to grow. I鈥檝e been asked where I get them and I now have over 300 donors, and many of you in this room are included in that.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Humble, yet very excited by the day, Paton greeted each person entering the library, thanking them individually for coming out in support of the event. This included people from the local area, from school age youth to seniors, to all of the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society members, as well as the Honourable Dan D鈥橝utremont, MLA for Cannington.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e all come from some place, we all have histories,鈥� D鈥橝utremont explained. 鈥淭hrough pictures, history books, oral histories, we need to tell children where they come from and what it was like in the past.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hese pictures tell a story, and in them you can see the story of you or your family as well. You must remember your history.鈥�
