By TERRY PUGH
It takes about seven years worth of volunteer labour to distill over a century of community history into a single volume.
At least, that’s the experience of the Warman History Book Committee, whose members happily unveiled the newly-published volume at Warman City Hall on Tuesday, July 7. The hardcover book is now on sale at the Warman Diamond Arena on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. for the next few weeks.
“We started the project in 2019,” said committee member Sharon Martens, a life-long resident of Warman and a former Warman City Councillor. “At the time none of us had any experience working on a community history book.
“It was a lot of work, but it was also very rewarding. We all wanted to see it happen, and now that it’s finally completed, we’re relieved, excited and proud of how it turned out.”
Martens said the project hit a speed bump shortly after it began when the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging for committee members to collect family and community stories from current and former residents of the city. Many of the contributions were obtained through phone interviews.
The committee also solicited photographs to illustrate the evolution of the community over the years. Eventually, the committee received about 1,400 photos, according to committee member Leona Klassen, who did much of the technical pre-press production work on the volume.
“When I came on board, there were quite a few photos in the collection,” said Klassen. “Unfortunately, from a technical perspective some of them weren’t the best quality, but we made it work. I’ve lived in Warman my whole life, and I had some experience in this field, so I thought this was a great way for me to help out.”
Leonard Doell, who grew up in Warman and has been a go-to source for local history for decades, joined the committee after he retired from his job in 2020. Doell’s experience in helping to compile the landmark Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve history book, published in 1995, was invaluable to the committee.
“Leonard started filling in a lot of the gaps and helped us get a more complete picture of the history of the area,” said Martens.
Doell said the book contains many family stories thanks to the contributions of people who responded to the committee’s requests over the past several years. Taken together, those stories paint a picture of the overall life of the community through the years.
“It would have been nice if more people had contributed,” said Doell. “And there’s certainly more about the history of the community that could have been added, but I think we’ve covered a good portion of it.”
He noted that while long-time current and former residents will enjoy reminiscing, the book is also a valuable resource for new residents who are looking for insight into how the community got to where it is today.
“We’re really hoping that the community embraces it,” said Doell, adding that some people may be surprised that Warman’s very early days saw a wide range of ethnic groups flocking into the newly-established railway town in 1906.
“The railway brought in a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds,” said Doell. “Some came to homestead, while others took up trades in town. It wasn’t until the 1920s, after the village of Warman started to lose population overall, that its Mennonite character took root as more people of that faith settled here.
“A lot of the reason for that was because the families were large and they needed to find more land to farm. And a lot of them also moved into town and got work on the railroad. Through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, there were a lot of families of Mennonite background moving here. Another advantage as they had cars by the 1950s and Warman was becoming a bedroom community for Saskatoon. They could live here and have a few animals and they knew their neighbours, which was much more appealing than moving to the big city down the road.”
By the 1970s, Warman had become an established town, and the population was growing steadily.
“That was a turning point – it was crunch time,” said Doell. “Because they had to make some proper roads and put in water and sewer lines. It’s also interesting to see the evolution of where businesses were located. Initially they were all along the tracks on North Railway Street because most people travelled on the train; By the 1950s they had shifted to 6th Avenue and Central Street because more people had cars. Now we’re seeing other locations as the city grows.”
Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk said working on the project has helped him gain a better understanding of the community.
“I moved here in 1999, right at the start of the community’s big growth era,” said Philipchuk. “It’s been really rewarding to learn how we got to where we are today. One thing that’s been consistent throughout this community’s history is that it’s always been a welcoming, caring, safe place to live and work. That’s a big part of its foundation.”
Martens said the project relied heavily on volunteer labour from committee members, and added that financial donations from individuals and area businesses, as well as provincial lottery funding, helped bring the book to completion.