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Skys~rapcrs of the Prairies, I e’Jic Takach, oil on canvas 22” x 22”, 1995.
PIfJNE~R
There’s no place like trome! Local history lives large in Strome in east-central Alberta by Geo inkacli
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n 1982, Leslie Takach ~~as returning to Edmonton from Hardisty when he pulled off High~%ay 13 about 60 clicks east of Camrose. An art and geography teacher in an earlier life in his native Hungary. he oversaw technical standards in seniors’ residences across Alberta, and came to travel and know the province extensively. But he retained the eye and the soul of a landscape painter, and Alberta, his third home, with its impossibly azure skies, open spaces, and welcoming people, was his dream destination. Capti~ated by the grain e1e~ators that he called “sentinels of the prairie,” lie had taken to photographing and committing them to canvas before their inevitable date with dynamite and replacement by ~ larger concrete structures. Appreciating that a town’s prosperity was measured by its complement of elevators, he ~as struck b~ the four—ele~ator skyline at Strome.
On a bright, spring day 27 years later, I’m driving that same stretch of road with the artist (my father my mother (once a history teacher) and my own son (keen for some history of his own). We’re there be~.ause of that painting, which has created a special place in our family lore and an enduring bond with the local community. ‘Strome is a friendly, quiet place ith lots of space:’ declares Brian McGafligan, the village’s mayor. He calls rural Alberta “the last bastion of freedom and independent thinkers.” And his perspective is broad, informed by a career as an engineer, a doctorate in divinit~~ an affinity for travel, and residing in Toronto and in his native England, places that he finds more conducive to enforcing the status ~ “Here, you get the distinct feeling that you’re on the edge of creativity:’ he adds. “The sky’s the limit and you have the freedom to he who you are.” ,
Strome doesn’t show much from the highv~ay. Its population, 252, is half of what it was a century ago, when it briefly marked the end of the west~~ard steel and boasted the richest and most fertile farmland in central Alberta. It had been popular with bison, drawn to nearby Wavy Lake, named for the migrating geese that blanketed the sk~ and furnished early sodbusters with poultry dinners. Settled as a service centre for thc local farming community, the village grew from a tented restaurant and hardware store to typical amenities such as churches, three general stores, a hotel, a shoe store, a butcher shop, four implement warehouses, a drugstore, a doctor’s office, two livery barns, two lumber yards, a blacksmith’s shop, a newspaper office, a feed store, a pool hall, and two public halls. At its peak, four passenger trains whistled through to~~’n each day. It incorporated as a village in 1910, the year its fourth elesator
was added to boost storage capacits to 750,0(X) bushels. Strome was fasoured by a decent climate and tine conditions for raising livestock, crops. and families. It was a place for box socials, patchwork quilts, bowcrv dances, church suppers, whist drives, chautauquas, hay rides, basketball, skating, turkey shoots, masquerade dances, horseshoes, curling, music, hockey~ skiing, baseball, fairs, and 4-H. Locals enjoyed nicknames like Snoose, Shorthorn, Badger, knot Flole, Chub, Weasel, and Big Indian. 1 hey did not enjoy the ñres that devastated the town (first in 1913) or the building of a branch railway’ line to the south that cleared the way for other centres to surpass Strorne in prominence. lodav, the four grain elevators are down to one. The primary amenities are a gas station and a ness’ store. Black Angus cattle regard you sleepily as you cruise by. ~Vasy lake is a dry marsh. The village needs $2 million in infrastructure upgrades. notably in the areas of water treatment and aging buildings. But like a good card player, Strome holds an ace. In 1995, Leslie Takach’s painting of the grain elevators at Strome attracted the publisher of an Albertan magazine, which reproduced and marketed prints of the painting. In 2003, McGalligan s.iw a print purchased b a friend, noticed that it depicted Strome, tracked down the artist and ordered a print. My father (lug out a remaining artist’s proof, delivered it to Strome and hung it himself in the McGaftigans’ lis ing room, where it remains hat clay, McGamgan and his wife, Pat, took my parcnts to Strome’s remarkable Sodbusters Archises Museum. “It’s a hidden gem,” enthuses my’ father, an avid museum—goer ss hose travels have taken him to collections on four continents. “Walking through it was a unique experience because it ssas like living through the history’ of the region from the beginning to the present.” Although the museum sits on the main Street, you might miss it if you’re not careful. It’s actually three connected buildings: a central, A-framed structure graced by’ pioneer motifs and built in 1982, abutted by’ a 1923 storefront to the left and an art deco-like memorial hall (a provincial historic site from 1918 on its right. We are fortunate to get a tour from Ron ‘~\ illiams a retired school principal LF(,AC’i
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Strome’s Sodbuster Musuem’s curator, Bill. and past president of the Historical Society of Alberta. Sharing a story about a visitor who compared the facility favourably to the Royal BC Museum, he notes, “I’ll admit we’re not in the same league, though we appreciated the compliment.” Stepping into a local museum is the closest thing to time travel. Enveloped by sights, sounds, and smells of yore without the distractions of today, You’re immersed in a time warp—uniqueI~’ local, intimate and authentic. ‘iou won’t find many artifacts behind glass, gift shops, or takealong headsets at the Sodbusters Archi~es Museum. But you’ll gain an unshakable sense of evervda~ life in Alberta from 1900—1950. The three buildings house 10,000 artifacts. The old store replicates Strome’s post office, telephone exchange, Chinese laundry, and general store, circa 1950, along with the obligatory agricultural implements. The central part showcases Aboriginal effects, fossils, and more. And the memorial hall presents vintage household and other effects. It’s a breathtaking cornucopia, vastly more ambitious than you’d expect from a village this size. ‘imill find clokc, costumes, currency, stamps, exploration and surveying paraphernalia, metalwork, ceramics, furniture, maps, niedals, medical and militars’ technolog~, musical instruments, religious objects, sports equipment, toys, vehicles, stained glass., l’at McGaffigan’s mothers Second ‘~\ urld War uniform, the time-honoured homage to the taxidermic arts, and much more. There are more than 2,000 items representing Alberta’s natural history, covering plants. birds, mammals, and minerals. A major 1989 acquisition features Aboriginal and natural artifacts from the southwestern I.. nited States and the Autic. ‘ioull find a
spectacular array of wedding dresses from 188l—1998. And researchers can bask in archival documents and photographs. 1 he curatorial care is obvious. Our guide, \~ illiams, says some donations are turned away “because we’re not just a repository.” The museum operates with one paid staffer and 25 volunteers. \‘isitors are ~ mainly people with connections to the ~ area, school groups, and history buffs. Mv father was moved to donate a framed print of his painting to the rn~seum during Strome’s provincial centennial celebration in 2005. The McGaffigans and my parents have become dear friends. The donated print now hangs in the museum’s lobby, welcoming visitors while celebrating both a vanishing prairie icon and the lasting friendship it inspired. After a short drive to neighbouring Davsland, where an energetic farmer, Ken Eshpeter, and an intrepid team of volunteers have lovingly refurbished the vintage Palace Theatre and reincarnated it as a repertory film venue, I am left to wonder about Alberta’s largely hidden treasures. Like many gems in less populated areas, the Sodbusters Archives \luseum is not widely known to outsiders. Its treasures lie waiting for us to discover. I’m also left to wonder about Strome and communities like it. [)espite visiting urbanization on the landscape with more swiftness and ferocity than anywhere else in Canada, Alberta has, to many other Canadians, a predominantly rural image, anchored to a ranching lifestyle that had its heyday here in the late 19th centur~. This ma~ he lost on the SI per cent of us who live in urban areas. But being only a couple of generations removed from the land, the pros ince retains a profoundl~’ rural soul, It’s hard not to be touched by the poignanL’. of the lost way of life symboli7ed by the grain elevators captured in my father’s painting. This is why local museums like Strome’s are so important. The~’ remind us of a reality behind the one that sse enjoy today and often take for granted. They connect us to Alberta’s roots. And thes’ honour the everyday’ lives of the folks on whose hacks our province was built. Surely that legacy is worth preserving and revisiting.
Geo Takach is a writer, Jilmmakt’r a,i~! instructor based in fthnonton.
S i-’the soft e imes Al Rashid Mosque by Michael Payne e Edmonton Historical Board’s plaque program is designed primarily
to commemorate historical buildings located in their original location, although there can be exceptions to this practice. For example, some plaques have been placed where buildings were formerly located; others remain behind when the building they once graced has been demolished. However, it is rare in Edmonton for commemorated buildings to move. One such instance is the Al Rashid Mosque. This mosque was completed in 1938, making it the first mosque in Canada and one of the oldest in North America. Built to serve Edmonton’s early Muslim community, it was originally located at 101 Street and 108 Avenue, next to Victoria High School, In 1946, it was lifted from its foundations and moved to a new site next to the Royal Alexandra Hospital at 102 Street and III Avenue to accommodate expansion of the school, This move complicated its status as an historic site, The Edmonton Historical Board awarded it a plaque in 1978, but provincial designation was withheld—in part because it had been moved. By the early I 980s Edmonton’s Muslim community had grown and needed a larger mosque, while the Royal Alexandra Hospital wished to expand and use the site of the old mosque. Eventually after a lengthy public debate, all involved decided to move the mosque to Fort Edmonton Park in 1990. It was then restored and renovated before officially reopening as one of the park’s interpretive buildings in 1992. Though the plaque on the site is not the original Edmonton Historical Board version, it recounts the interesting history of this unusual and significant building.
The City of Edmonton Historical Board has mounted plaques on buildings throughout the city to identify heritage sites In this regular column, City of Edmonton archivist Michael Payne writes about some of the most interesting to explore.