ELK POINT - The Elk Point Historical Society has a new book in their lineup, some 56 years after the original copy was bound and presented to the brand new Elk Point Centennial Library at its official opening in 1967.
That library outgrew its space in less than 20 years and has been the Town of Elk Point’s administration office for 38 years now, and that volume, the result of the Centennial Essay Contest in 1967, was moved from its shelves to those of its present counterpart where it has remained throughout that time, the only one of its kind.
The new version, however, is readily available in Elk Point at the library, Elk Point Realty and Elk Point Insurance, and in St. Paul at St. Paul Dental Care, and is a fundraiser for the Historical Society and its ongoing historical projects.
Marvin Bjornstad, who scanned each page of the original volume to convert it to the 122-page coil bound book, said it was originally produced by the Elk Point Centennial Committee and has about 320 essays “Students wrote about their family heritage so it is an interesting look at where residents of the area in 1967 came from and how they arrived here.”
The long ago essay contest coordinated by Anna Mae Warren included the overall winning essay, written by Florence Poitras, and a prize winning essay from each of the eight grades, and in the book are followed by numerous essays by Elk Point students from grades three to 12 and from Heinsburg students from grades nine to 12. The collection of essays was compiled by Barbara Pennington into the original book and the book bound by the Town of Elk Point as a keepsake of Canada’s Centennial year.
“The essays are a cross section of family stories about Elk Point and Heinsburg pioneering families, often with very different stories about their life before arriving in the area, their early experiences and their life in 1967,” Bjornstad says. “Some are very short, and some are very detailed, but as a group they give a very interesting look at the diverse background of the communities’ residents.”
