PWHS shares history with Eston students

By Joan Janzen

The Prairie West Historical Society (PWHS) in Eston shared a few displays from the museum with the students at Eston Composite School on Wednesday afternoon, February 11. Shari Collins and Barb Derbawka Stevenson from the PWHS were kept busy answering questions.

“Lots of kids were interested in different aspects of the displays. They asked lots of questions,” Shari said. “It sounds like maybe we can do something again next year.” This was the first year PWHS hosted Heritage Day at the school.

“We normally have Heritage Day on the 28th at Heritage Manor. But kids don’t come to things like that, so we’re trying to get an interest in the museum,” Shari explained.

PARTY LINE! Students try out a rotary dial telephone during Prairie West Historical Society (PWHS) Heritage Day in Eston. The vintage phone was the most popular item at the event, with these youngsters appearing to re-enact what it was like to listen in on a conversation on an old-fashioned party line. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Volunteers from PWHS helped the kids identify this vintage hand drill, the predecessor to modern drills. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

A Grade 9 student helps a Grade 1 student experiment with this old dial telephone. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Students were intrigued by the telegraph system as they tried sending messages via Morse code using a series of dots and dashes. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

Heritage Day at the school did generate interest among the students, and many of them took home the historical information booklets PWHS provided. Younger students were paired with older students as the groups took turns viewing the artifacts on display in the library.

“I was surprised at some of the stuff that they didn’t know. I thought everyone would have had a flip phone around, but apparently not,” she observed. The kids were especially interested in how people managed to text on a flip phone.

The rotary dial phone was a popular item. “My great-grandpa had one of these,” one of the kids said. But most of the students had never seen one before.

A Grade 1 student checked out an old camera with a large flash attachment and guessed it was either a bell or an alarm clock. Shari and Barb provided plenty of interesting information about Eston and residents who had become well known throughout the world.

Students who participated in PWHS’s trivia game learned a lot of interesting historical facts. Did you know Eston-born pilot Captain Murray Bertram flew with the Snowbirds in 1974 and 1975? And Sergeant Doug Marshall, a native of Eston, was a member of the ground crew in 1974 and 1976.

Jack Lenz was born in Eston and became a famous composer. He wrote the song often played at Blue Jay games, as well as music for the movies Pocahontas and The Passion. And Bob Steadward, who was born in Eston, became the first president of the International Paralympic Committee. The kids also learned that Eston’s gopher races became famous all over the world. The last race was run at the Eston Centennial in 2016.

Not only did they learn some of Eston’s history, but they had fun while they were doing it. A big shout-out to the PWHS for taking the time to share history with the students.