It’s the new volume in the city’s continuing and ever-evolving history, finally making it to print after 156 years of St. Albert and more than two years in the production.
“It’s been two-and-almost-a-half years,” said Lynne Duigou more specifically. As the editor and chairperson of the book committee, she’s had to have a firm grasp of the passage of time, especially as it relates to A Bridge Over Time, the name of the new publication.
A Bridge Over Time picks up where The Black Robe’s Vision ends off. Black Robe was the two-volume hardcover set originally published in the early 1980s and featured a comprehensive history of St. Albert from its founding on, along with a compilation of stories on the founding families of the area.
A lot has changed in St. Albert since that book came out, the committee considered. Much has happened in the last 30 or so years and people’s memories are only as good as the history books on the shelf.
This new 730-page tome still includes all of the history section from the Black Robe’s Vision, newly extended to include 2016, just to make sure that every reader is up to speed. That’s where the book veers off to its own new course.
“We didn’t include the family stories from Black Robe because, of course, there are too many families nowadays and many of the people in those original stories have passed on. It’s all of the history; all of the photos. Then we have a bridging part that talks about the old and the new.”
Some of what people can expect in the updated version includes information and more than a hundred stories from many of the city’s cultural, church, school, health, recreation, charity, and community clubs and organizations.
Duigou was particularly struck by the history of the development of the city’s cultural community and its branding as the Botanical Arts City.
“The arts scene in St. Albert has seen a tremendous growth: the painters and the potters and all the artists as well as the botanic garden … has really grown.”
You can learn more about major new events such as the establishment of a group of Syrian refugees in the city and their supporters who helped them to get here to build their new lives and homes. If you’re looking to go back into the past, you can learn how the St. Albert Public Library rose out of the then new city’s Centennial Library. There are stories on the brief rise and fall of 1070 Gold Radio, the famous flood of 1948, what inspired the Groovie Grannies to beget the Groovy Gang. The book details how Newman Theological College and Jasper Auto Parts went from being the landmarks that signalled the southern entrance to the city well before Anthony Henday Drive. The book documents how NIMBYism almost derailed the Red Willow Trail project and tells how the sturdy and stalwart community members who comprised the Citizens on Patrol group helped people feel safe enough to allow the project to proceed. “In many ways, it brought the community closer together,” the book quotes former city manager Bill Holtby, speaking of the trail paths that would eventually become a main artery for families of pedestrians and bicyclists. The trails are now more than 85 km long.
And speaking of the book, Duigou says that it’s like having the entire city in the palms of your hands.
“We have to preserve those stories, otherwise they get lost. We have such a rich and long heritage in St. Albert that we need to preserve it and keep it alive so that people realize what a gift we have in the community. It’s vibrant. It’s got a lot of heritage and a wealth of history as well as today’s good things that are happening.”
She said it includes “everybody that we could think of that had played a part in making this a beautiful community.” It was put together with the concerted effort of numerous people, including photographers, writers, researchers, and editors. What a team it was too, everybody from a high school student to nonagenarian Ruth Horne.
For now, it’s a fair relief for her and the entire team to finally reach the milestone of this publication.
“It feels good. It was a while coming. It is something that the community can be proud of, I think, as part of the celebration of Canada’s 150th.”
Details
The official book launch will take place tomorrow at Forsyth Hall in the St. Albert Public Library at 2 p.m. <br /><br />It’s a free event but seating is limited so please call ahead to book your place.<br /><br />The early-bird price to purchase the book is $55, which also includes a copy of the previously published A Day in the Life of St. Albert. After Sunday’s launch, the book will rise in price to $60. <br />Details on purchases can be found at www.stalberthistoricalsociety.ca. It’s also available at the MusÉe HÉritage Museum.
