In Our Words

As you might imagine, getting a new issue of Our Canada or More of Our Canada ready for press involves a multitude of tasks. One of my final activities is updating the masthead you see below. This time out, I had the pleasure of changing the Volume and Issue Numbers in the middle column, from Vol.10, No. 6 in the July issue to Volume 11, No. 1 in this one. That might not sound significant, but Vol. 11, No. 1 actually indicates that this is the first issue in what will be our 11th year of publication. With that in mind, I’d like to offer a sincere thank you to everyone who reads, subscribes and/or contributes stories and photos to More of Our Canada. Working together, we’ve crafted a publication that’s proven to be engaging, entertaining—and enduring. So, kudos to all!

Kicking off our next decade together is a moving photo essay about Prairie ghost towns by Helen Rempel. Helen looks beyond the abandoned buildings themselves, creating a sense of the people who may have called these crumbling, old haunts home at one time.

As we all know, everyone has at least one good story to tell. Well, Val Mohr has written four, so far — books, that is. More importantly, he donates all of his book earnings to a very good cause, the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton (page 16).

And if you have a passion for genealogy, see “Family Photo Reunion” by Carol Mackay (page 40). Carol reunites “found photos” from the late 1800s with their families of origin. Amazing stuff!

Finally, if you’ll be shopping for books soon, keep an eye out for Our Canada, Our Country, Our Stories. Our new softcover collection of stories goes on sale this month! Gary George, gary_ george@ rd. com