Our Rural Roots
This page contains two subjects:
The first section, “Dispatches from Magnolia”, includes interesting history about the Magnolia, AB area and Alberta in general, and has been researched and compiled by Gene Campbell and Val Peden. Many of the subjects are personal observations and experiences by one or both of them.
Click on the PDF links that appeal to you. You can print them out if you wish.
The following sections, “Magnolia, The First Hundred Years” includes some excerpts about the original Magnolia Hall, from the book with that same name.
Dispatch 001 Alberta Before Electricity
The following two articles are from the book:
“MAGNOLIA – THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS”
Organized by: MAGNOLIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Established: 1996
Mandate: To record, preserve and publish the history of the Magnolia District
Our first article was submitted by Gene Campbell, who gives a history of the Magnolia Hall Society and the building of the original hall:
After the Magnolia School was opened in 1911, as the only public building it also served as a community center. However, after the war, there was a desire and need for a dedicated community hall. In a remarkable example of civic leadership for such a small hamlet, the Magnolia Hall Society was . . .
The next article was submitted by Eric Brown, who remembers many details about the original hall:
The Hall Board decided in the early 1970’s that the time was long past for a new hall. Through both major fundraising efforts and government grants, enough money was acquired to do the job. In the summer of 1972 construction began in earnest. Most of the work was volunteer supervised mainly . . .
Most of us are quite familiar with the hall in it’s present state, and it is still looked on as a very nice hall. Volunteers have worked very hard over the years, performing small and large tasks in helping to keep it that way. A building is only a building – the people are what is important, but the physical hall allows the people of the community to gather and build those relationships that are very important to any community’s health and growth.
So do we know what the future will hold? Of course we can’t know that. But one of the most important priorities is to create an understanding of how vital the culture of family and community is. This will affect our own families and neighbors in developing healthy relationships with one another.
One of our primary goals is to become a vibrant, thriving association that can successfully serve all the members of our community.
Hundreds of different people from generations of families have contributed to the development of the Magnolia area, and over time we hope to feature more of them here. We recognize that this section will be added on to as time goes by.
Now, let us continue on with creating even more successful relationships as we enter into:
MAGNOLIA – THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS!
Copyright © 2013 Magnolia Community Club