On July 27 descendants of the late Mykola (Nick) and Tatiana Folwark gathered at the Folwark family farm to unveil a commemorative cairn and plaque honouring over 100 years of farm ownership by the Folwark family.
The farm, located about three kilometres northwest of the Village of Endeavour, was originally homesteaded in 1910 by Nick Folwark. Since that time, ownership of the farm was passed down to son, Mike Folwark and then subsequently to his son, Trevor Folwark.
Because the current owner of the Fowark farm resides in B.C. and not in Saskatchewan, this century farm does not qualify for the special recognition provided by the Province of Saskatchewan, family members explained. As a result, descendants of the Folwark family undertook a special fundraising event during the last Folwark family reunion held in 2015 to raise funds to build a commemorative cairn on the family farm.
Three grandsons of Nick and Tatiana Folwark: Warren Folwark, Adrian Lozinsky and Ken Lozinsky, all of Regina, dedicated many hours in planning, finding a suitable rock, hauling and preparing the base for the rock, erecting the rock on the base and mounting the commemorative plaque.
These activities, except for the plaque mounting, took place the first week of July. The plaque itself went through numerous edits and with the assistance of Melody Lozinsky (Ken`s wife), the plaque was mounted on the rock on July 27.
Additional assistance was provided by Garnet Mason of Balgonie, a friend of Warren Folwark, who had helped with the base for the rock, and Jim German of Endeavour, who hauled the rock out to the farm from a gravel pit near Endeavour.
Approximately at 11 a.m. on July 27, a total of 22 Folwark family descendants arrived on the site to officially unveil the cairn, to toast the event with champagne provided by Mike and Liz Folwark and to take numerous photos.
The actual cairn unveiling was done by Petrina German of Preeceville, oldest surviving child of the Folwark family, and Mike and Liz Folwark of Prince George, B.C. Mike is the youngest son of Nick and Tatiana.
Following the celebrations at the Folwark farm, all attendees then drove to the farm of Jack Schick and Warren Folwark, located several kilometres northeast of Endeavour for a lunch featuring a wiener roast, and other food including a special cake provided by the German family.
Mike Folwark and his wife Liz, as well as Petrina German were “very appreciative of the efforts of Warren, Adrian , Ken and Melody doing all of the work to make this commemorative cairn a reality and in setting up the special event to commemorate the plaque unveiling,” Mike Folwark said.
“This was a very special day and one of the happiest days of my life, he said. “All of the Folwark family members who have passed away are celebrating with us today in spirit and they would be very proud.”
The actual wording on the plaque is as follows:
“Folwark Farm, NE 31-36-5-W2.
“Homesteaded by Nick Folwark (Mykola Folwarkiw) in 1910, this farm has remained in the Folwark family since that time. Nick immigrated to Canada in 1906 from the province of Galicia in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (now Ukraine). Tatiana (Kruc or Krutz) immigrated to Canada in 1911 from Galicia with her parents and she married Nick late that year. This farm was home to Nick, his wife Tatiana and their 15 children. The farm was transferred to Nick and Tatiana`s son Mike in 1958, and then was transferred to Mike`s son, Trevor in 2012.
“Veechnaya pamyat - May their memory be eternal; 2017.”
All area residents are invited to stop by and view the commemorative cairn.
