Delta Marsh History Initiative, Steering Committee Meeting

9:00 am, 28 June 2004
Home of Shirley Christianson, Portage la Prairie

Present: Barry Bills, Maurice Blanchard, Shirley Christianson, Heidi den Haan, Denzil Gamble, Gordon Goldsborough (sec), Bob Jones, Cynthia Jordan, Glen Suggett

1. Minutes of the last meeting (25 May) were approved by consensus.

2. Old Business

a) Fish fry – den Haan will pick up the key for the building at Delta. The door will be opened at 9:00 AM. Goldsborough will arrange to deliver the tent and picnic tables, and set them up with help from den Haan, Suggett, and Jones. Jones will arrange a sign at highway 240. Andy Rutherford will be asked to fulfill his earlier offer to donate 12 pails of ice cream (Mackey and Stephanie Christianson will organize this). Bills will arrange to obtain drink concentrate and a cooler. Valerie and Barry Bills will take tickets at the door. den Haan will arrange a few door prizes, and will have maple syrup (made by Mitchell Omichinski from sap obtained from Manitoba maple trees at the Field Station) available for sale. den Haan will bring bottled water for those who wish it. The Christiansons will bring the raffle quilt for display. Goldsborough will prepare a slide show of old photos, with acknowledgements to donors: Andy Rutherford, Dennis Wiens, Alma Simm, Shirley Love, the Delta Marsh Birding Festival, Merle Vust, Linda Christianson, and Dennis Blanchard.

b) Forsyth interview – Jones will arrange it.

c) Ward interview – den Haan will contact Pete Ward regarding a possible interview sometime in the first two weeks of August.

3. New Business

a) “Flyway” – This 1984 book has a chapter on the history of the Delta Waterfowl Research Station which confirms its origin in the 1930s, not 1911.

b) Proden photos – Goldsborough was contacted by Vivian Proden at “Junk For Joy” who has some photographs of the Delta school and the Hutchinson family. A member of the Hutchinsons wishes to obtain copies of all the photos so she will arrange it then contact us again so we can obtain them.

c) Lavalee – Suggett had spoken with Gordon Lavalee of Winnipeg (885-5631) whose father guided Clark Gable during his shoots at Delta. Glen will contact him about an interview.

d) Atkinson – Suggett had spoken with Terry Atkinson (son of former Portage physician Dr. Atkinson) who has a duck shack at Tin Town. He has old photos and lodge logs that might prove interesting. (77 – 13^th Street, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, S4H 1K9, 306-848-0909)

e) Hamilton – Jim Hamilton, the father of Jean Young of High Bluff, hunted with Clark Gable. Jordan will speak with Jean about it.

f) Graphic clipping – A 1950s newspaper clipping from the Portage Daily Graphic was given to Bills for the archives.

g) Graphic transcriptions – Goldsborough brought a printed copy of the entire Graphic transcription. Suggett borrowed it. Several other in attendance wished to see it so Goldsborough will make three more copies for circulation.

h) Solomon – A copy of Delta memoirs recorded by Alice Solomon, and received by Goldsborough, was loaned to Jordan who will circulate among the rest of the committee during the summer. Mrs. Solomon’s daughter has lost the original files for the document in a computer crash so Goldsborough will scan the entire document so copies can be made.

i) Landing postcard – Christianson found among her possessions an old postcard of a railway bridge over the Whitemud River, with a cancellation stamp from “The Landing”. It was loaned to Goldsborough to be copied.

4. Next meeting: The next meeting will be held at the home of Shirley Christianson (118 Wilkinson Crescent, Portage la Prairie) at 9:00 am on Monday, 20 September 2004.

5. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 AM.