Leduc West Antique Society

THE IGNITOR NEWSLETTER

VOL.17 No. 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2006

Living the Past for Future Generations

Volunteer Appreciation Night

The doors will open by 6:00 p.m. Come out and join us for the final event of the year. We would like to say thank you and show our appreciation to each of you for all the volunteer work you have done this year. We have invited Edmonton Power Historical Society members along with the Western Canadian Blacksmith Guild and the Leduc Lions Breakfast Club to join us this year. These three clubs are working with our society in promoting our objectives. With the two groups in attendance there will not be a general meeting. Bring along your board games, jokes, etc. for a fun time.

All food will be provided by the Society.

Your 2006 Executive:
www.leducwestantique.com

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE - Walter Burak

Our pick of show dates has certainly been horrible. Comments like "we should schedule events in June and early July to bring rain for our farms" are circulating. Fall Harvest has been terrible for the last 3 years now. Marge bought a 2007 Farmer's Almanac to see what's forecasted for next year - it doesn't look good. I hope they're wrong.

Most of the equipment is now put away for the winter and the year is winding down. This summer the correctional workers were out only 5 times, which is quite a change to last year's 50 plus times. Our economy is such that employers are willing to pay fines to keep people working rather than lose them for extended periods.

One subject that has received a lot of discussion at our executive meetings is concerning our gate admission of $5.00 for our July show. Irricana has charged $9.00 for a number of years now with no decrease of attendance numbers. Our gate admission was set at $5.00 many years ago when our show offered much less than we have today. I think $10.00 would be a reasonable figure to expect today. How many show sites in Alberta have a facility like the Hooper Building, where one can sit down out of the sun and rest when one is tired? This appeals to the older generation. A lot of individuals have mentioned that what we offer is a bargain compared to other entertainment sources.

A few examples of sky rocketing price increases are:

1. Gravel was $9.00 per yard when we built our parking lot and this years gravel is $24.00 a tonne,
2. Toilet rentals were $65.00 per day a few years ago and now they are $125.00 per day,
3. Golf carts are double what they were 3 years ago, and
4. Price of fuel, maintenance costs and equipment costs have all increased lately.

The prices at the gate and at the food concessions all include GST, which we absorb. No final decision has been made on the price increase and feedback will be considered for discussion by the membership. All exhibitors, vendors and volunteers workers will still have free admission to our show functions. What's the feeling?

We are still looking for a Newsletter Editor. Ross Emblin showed interest at the beginning of the year, but it hasn't worked out.

A special thank you to a few outstanding individuals who have donated countless hours at the show grounds.

1. Marg Burak for all the time landscaping around the train station and moving grass with the Kobota,
2. Elmer Shukaiek for taking on many new projects to completion and doing a lot of the equipment maintenance,
3. Bill Smith for his efforts doing odds and ends,
4. Jim Fehse (our caretaker) for mowing the grass with the big mower and watering our newly planted trees
5. Mike Dobko for selling 90+ ticket books for our Annual Raffle, and
6. To the Edmonton Power Historical members for their outstanding improvements in the electrical building.

-WB

KOLLECTOR'S KORNER - Bill Smith

I lived to see another year - at my age it is a gamble. Don't laugh. This past June I visited my hometown in Saskatchewan (the first time in 5 years) and I know more people in the cemetery than on main street. It's not a big town but it used to be a whistle stop on the railroad line, now no whistle and no railroad. Just hope the last person to leave blows out the lamp. A great province to come from. We were all poor and had a very primitive life. Our highlight of the year was early December when Baton's and Simpson Sears' Catalogues arrived. We looked at the wonderful coloured pictures of toys and could only dream of owning that carpenter set or electric train. Girls became star-gazed over the Baton's Beauty Doll. Every year she seemed to be bigger and better with the distinct bold block letters "Eaton Beauty."

But now I am off topic. Leduc West has achieved the pinnacle of success this year with the Grand Opening of the Hooper Building. What an edifice. What a credit, all under the hand of Howard Lengert and his two years to proving his very capable workmanship as a master carpenter. Our membership should be yelling from the rooftops about Leduc West and our achievements.

When we do tours and walk around, we can see so much more had been added or completed or improved. More buildings, more trees, more ground leveling, more flowers, more machinery, more artifacts here and there. We can never be accused of standing still, which brings up another subject. We need summer help especially in June and July. The yard maintenace is getting beyond a few of us. The school, Ohrn home and church need scrapping and painting. Our boxcars need redoing. We've got wonderful buildings so let's not let them deteriorate. Do you want Leduc West to look like a ghost town? We have acquired so much in such a short time.

On August 30th I conducted a tour with a group from Switzerland. They were excited and so impressed with what they saw. The men could not get over the machinery, big and small. The ladies were doing a lot of pointing and talking. There must have been 100 pictures taken and while only the guide spoke English, you could tell they were overtly impressed. They had a similar site in their country with 4 acres, a couple buildings, a tractor and a small caterpillar. So you can imagine how our site impressed them. Are you impressed with Leduc West like our National visitors were?

What are your plans for next year? Come and help us a day or two a month. Bring a friend. Maybe you can just swing a paint brush or be willing to put up posters. Our Union won't let us work 12 hour days like we use to do when we were young whipper- snappers.

Do you know of or have a small collection of anything you would like to have the public see and enjoy? I recently heard of a lady, not too far from Leduc West, who had a very impressive oil can collection. Several dozen in all sizes and shapes. As she was moving she put them on a garage sale. What a shame to break up a collection that has taken years to collect. We have a lifetime collection of hammers on display, do you have or know of such collections? If so I would appreciate a call or, better still, Leduc West would appreciate it.

-BS

We still have got quite a number of acres of land to sell. Would you like to get your name on the plaque or in Memory of someone you love. With inflation like it is, our acres of land are still only $1,100.00. See you on appreciation night.

2006 RAFFLE WINNERS

The following is the list of the seven lucky raffle ticket winners from this year's raffle. A big thank you to everyone who helped with raffle ticket sales!

Congratulations to all Raffle Winners!

ALBERTA TRACTOR PULL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS

The following are the results from the 2006 Alberta Tractor Pull Championships. Thank you to everyone who participated in our Annual Event and congratulations to all Tractor Pull Championship Winners!!!!

THANK YOU

The Leduc West Antique Society would like to extend a heart-felt thank you to each and every one of you who gave their support throughout the year. While the weather may not have been on our side for many of our events, we sure had a lot of good people who gave their time to help make all of our functions a true SUCCESS!!!!!!