The popular series of stories, North Battleford Notables, published weekly throughout 2013 in the Battlefords News-Optimist, is now available in book form.
Dr. Richard Hiebert, author or co-author of most of the features composed to commemorate North Battleford’s centennial, says, "There are some remarkable stories in here."
The 138-page, soft-cover book, titled Notables - 55 of North Battleford's extraordinary citizens from 1913 to 2013, includes the 55 Notables articles, seven articles on historical venues by Hiebert that have also been published in the News-Optimistand an early history of North Battleford. Photos of all but one of the city's mayors from 1913 to 2013 are also included.
Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Vaughn Solomon Schofield has written the forward, in which she says, "The memory of these remarkable sons and daughters of North Battleford will live on in these pages."
Tammy Donahue Buziak, the city's archivist and chair of its 2013 centennial celebrations committee, says the public response to the Notables features in the paper prompted the publication of the book.
"People were asking," she says. "They were coming out in the paper and we were getting calls, 'do you have a copy?' It was an opportunity to compile them all together in a book, and it's been very well received.
Hiebert says more than a hundred copies have been sold already, and many more are spoken for.
The North Battleford Notables series was developed by the City of North Battleford Centennial Historical Committee. Chaired by Gil Bellavance, the group also included Donahue Buziak, Harvey Cashmore, Larry Romanow, Jane Shury and Leola Macdonald as well as a part-time contributor, Joanna Morrow of Saskatoon.
The Notables series was one of several initiatives and projects undertaken by the committee. Hiebert was the principal writer and the committee supported him by interviewing potential notables, gathering information, writing drafts and critiquing the articles. He credits Bellavance for keeping the committee focused on its goals and his insistence on quality work, Donahue Buziak for her work ethic and enthusiasm (which earned her the title of 2014 Battlefords Citizen of the Year) and Harvey Cashmore for his dedication to historical accuracy.
"Week after week for the entire centennial year, Harvey meticulously proofed every article," says Hiebert. "Harvey accepted nothing less than historical accuracy and standard English."
Hiebert himself invested hundreds of hours in researching, locating photographs and writing articles. Some were more difficult than others, but he never missed a weekly deadline. Sometimes he was two or three ahead, however, which allowed him more time to spend on the more challenging projects.
While information was sometimes hard to track down, in many cases it proved difficult to get pictures, as well.
"I sometimes had to search unbelievably hard," Hiebert says.
An example is locating a photo of Cameron McIntosh (1871-1971), who served the community as a publisher and a politician with an enviable record of volunteerism.
"There are no pictures of Cameron McIntosh in this city!"
Heibert says he managed to track down a picture of him at the Yorkton Regional Library. At first, they were not agreeable to supplying it except in a hand-to-hand manner. The extent to which he was willing to go to get the photo, had him ready to drive down to Yorkton to get it, when the library called him back to say they would email it instead.
"I was ecstatic that I got that picture," says Hiebert.
The book doesn't present the series of Notables as they appeared in the newspaper. Hiebert says the committee took copies of them all, laid them out on two tables at the city's archives and decided as a group how to present them, including the order they would go in the book.
"We needed an extraordinary picture for the front cover," says Hiebert, "and it doesn't get better than Harry Sharp."
Sharp was a principal of the North Battleford Collegiate Institute, known through his long tenure as a strong principal and strong disciplinarian.
"He ended his tenure as principal of the Collegiate in 1963 and there are tons of people who still remember him as their principal, and nothing but respect, and Harvey's one of them," says Hiebert, a retired administrator himself. "I have to say I modelled my career after him. I was a no-nonsense principal."
Because Sharp's photo is on the cover, his is also the lead article. The following Notables articles are in alphabetical order.
Donahue Buziak says it wasn't easy to decide who the Notables subjects would be. All the decisions were made by a consensus of the committee.
"We have to acknowledge the challenge that was done in selecting these people," she says. "Did we cover everybody? Are there more Notables that could have gone in there? Yes there could have been but, we had 53 weeks … This has been community built on a number of individuals who are of value to our community, but we couldn't possibly put everybody in there."
She added, "Richard did a phenomenal job" on the articles, and on meeting the deadlines.
"It was an interesting time," says Bellavance. "We worked hard."
Going for a cross section of the community, the committee considered their subjects from among the areas of: social advancement; education; spiritual life; business and entrepreneurship; public service at the community, provincial and national levels; the arts; athletics and sports; and military service.
Cashmore says, "We had quite the discussions about people who should be on there. I think we got a good mix.
He added there are some people who didn't get in because, while they were prominent or well known, they acted mostly out of their own interests. They wanted people who did things for others and for their community, he says. Cashmore says including individuals such as Bill Lumsdon is a good example. In the Notables series, Lumsdon was commended for his "sterling character, his unmatched record of volunteerism and community service, and his love for his community and his fellow citizens."
The book, of which 500 have been printed, also includes a history of North Battleford and its origins and additional articles by Hiebert.
In the author's notes, Hiebert says, "The primary focus of the book was to showcase the 55 notables, but the committee also wanted to add depth by adding my article on the origins and early history of North Battleford, and seven of my articles on topics that included a historic park, articles on a number of North Battleford's old buildings, a historic dairy farm, the city's first public high school and a Saturday night dance in the 1950s."
In addition, the photographs and terms of office of North Battleford's 22 mayors from 1913 to 2015 compliment the notables stories.
Hiebert would have liked to have had profiles on the mayors, but, he says, "There are no records of our mayors, no biographies of our mayors and even one picture is missing."
"I tried everything to get that picture," says Heibert. "I did find some blurbs about M. Henderson, but anything that showed him would be in a group and, even if isolated, would be such a poor quality we couldn't do it."
Notables - 55 of North Battleford's extraordinary citizens from 1913 to 2013 has been funded by the NorthWest Historical Society (see their Facebook page for more). Donahue Buziak, the organization's treasurer, says no money is being made on the book and it's being sold at a price that only pays its way, $19.98.
Copies are on sale at the Western Development Museum and at Crandleberry's. They can also be ordered by phone: contact Richard Hiebert at 306-445-5985 or 306-441-5810, Tammy Donahue Buziak (leave a message) at 306-445-1786, Gil Bellavance at 306-937-3624 or Harvey Cashmore at 306-445-9090. Copies can be mailed.
Profiles in the Notables book include: Harry Sharp, Gil Bellavance, Allen Sapp, Pearl Balych, Alex Balych, Father Ben Herman, Lillian Cornell, William (Bill) Lumsdon, Ed Smith, Cameron McIntosh, Irwin C. McIntosh, Bill Warwick, Dorothy Edworthy, Dr. James MacNeill, Otis Jones, Jane Shury, Dave Shury, Bruce Dalshaug, Jack Abott, Herb Sparrow, Cecelia Gaudett, Reuban Mayes, Emil Francis, Bob McLelland, John Wilkins, Evelyn Braun, Julian Sadlowski, John Gregory, Jack Clements, Marjorie Leighton, Margaret Stewart Beach Robins, Lorne Cooper, Harry Bondar, Johnny Esaw, Brett Wilson, Howard Weitzel, Maurice Campbell, Miss Fletcher, Vida McDonald, Lydia and Ralph Salzeberger, Father Leo Mann, Mattie Winder, Ray Hickson, George Boyd, Harry Dekker Sr., Dr. James Cairns, Dr. Hamelin, Dr. Mary McPhail, Hugh (Howdy) McPhail, Phoebe Cutbush, Joseph Nolin, Nora Hickson, Louis Minette and Eiling Kramer.
