The Yorkton Branch of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM at the Yorkton Public Library. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 10, and anyone interested in genealogy is most welcome to attend.
This meeting will be a special one for the Genealogy Society; members will be attending the Yorkton Film Festival Open Cinema on Tuesday, November 10 at 7:00 PM at the Yorkton Public Library to hear “Voices of Courage: Stories from the World Wars: A Film Evening with Bill Waiser”, and the chance to see the film “Front Lines”.
As the Yorkton Film Festival website explains, “The evening will include the screening of the NFB production, Front Lines, and a presentation by Bill Waiser entitled “Somehow, It Didn’t Seem like War at All”. This presentation about World War One is certain to be interesting and full of the humour that only Bill can bring to his story telling.
A history professor recently retired from the University of Saskatchewan, Bill Waiser is a well-known writer and speaker. In his work, he focuses on “people stories”. One example is Tommy’s Team, an account of the people who played a critical role in the achievements of Premier T. C. Douglas and his government. The second is Who Killed Jackie Bates, the gripping account of the murder of a young boy, but more than that, the story of the depression and how it contributed to the death. Even Saskatchewan, A New History, his best-known work, recounts the broad sweep of the province’s story not through government policy and statistics but through the tales of ordinary people living ordinary lives through a more than ordinary period of 100 years. This presentation will follow this same approach.
This event, made possible through a grant from the Government of Canada, is free and open to the public.”
The world of historical research in the province lost a shining light with the passing of Bill Barry on October 5, 2015. Bill was a teacher and project director with the government, but he was also a wonderful and talented writer. Bill wrote the entertaining and informative book “Geographical Names of Saskatchewan”, which should be an important and permanent reference in any genealogist’s archive. He also wrote “People Places: Saskatchewan and its Names”, “People Places: The Dictionary of Saskatchewan Place Names”, “People Places Cookbook”, “Ukrainian People Places”, “People Places: Contemporary Saskatchewan Place Names”, and “Age Shall Not Weary Them”. Other projects included working on the “Atlas of Saskatchewan” and developing the Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial (SVWM) web site. (Visit www.svwm.ca).
Bill’s interest in the province and its fascinating history and people was a wonderful example to any genealogist. His books are excellent records of these unique aspects that make up our province. The Yorkton branch of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society extends sympathy to Bill’s family.
The Yorkton Genealogy Society welcomes genealogist at any stage of research. Whether you are wondering how to get started or have been researching for a long time, you will find helpful discussion and interesting speakers at the meetings. New members are welcome anytime.
