Misc notes

• school held in rink 1985-86
• bonspiel - Kay Ford decorated bathrooms?
• pg1087 Greenslade car
• pg331 Bristol School
• Tom Hannan (called May 30 - he can't recall ever hearing this) - IOA Society. Maybe the Iowa Society or the Iowa Literary Society??
• Robert (Bob) Davies (young farm manager in the area in 1950-52 worked for Mr. McCune - Charlotte Hendrickson husband - from California and then Walter Boesch in 1953) lived along Range Road 2192 (the Milestone Road). In the fall of 1951 there was 4-5 weeks of rainy weather. None of the roads were graveled at that time so it was nearly impossible to drive ordinary vehicles. Mr. McCune had brought an American WWII Desert Troop carrier truck to his farm . This was a 4-wheel drive with just a half cab and seats in the truck box for troops to be transported. I put chains on the front wheels and drove a track down the middle of the road to Milestone. I made one or two trips each week for mail and food. I would phone a farm on this road and have them contact all the homes down the line. They could walk out to the road if they wanted to shop or get mail. I would just give a date and time. No yard entries, it would make too much of a mess. Bob drove this same route in 2026 but didn't find any yards still standing.

Research documents and notes

People

5 Years in the Life (1969 CBC show on the Thompson family) provided by Armand Thompson (copied from a VHS tape).
Live it Up (1983 CTV program) was requested from CTV archives April and May 2021. Response May 17 - try again after COVID. Rec'd March 2023.

Places

RM Lajord - list of Reeves and Councillors - provided by email April 15 2021. Errors in the ties that bind.
​Canada Post Office postmaster information for Gray, Riceton, Estlin and Bechard

Sports and Clubs

Time-line

1979 - water service comes to Gray. Crystal Brunas/Frisk recalls building home in 1977 (date referenced in the ties that bind) and needing to include a cistern. Water came two years later.
1910's - elevator construction dates differ from the ties that bind. Used Jim Pearson (author of Vanishing Sentinels and history of elevators in Saskatchewan) information.

Feb 4 email
Our Case file 2020-23
 
Dear Dolores Picard:
 
Thank you for your enquiry. I have been unable to find any plans for the sewer and water system in Gray. While we do have the records of Associated Engineering (Sask) Limited, plans for Gray are not found there.
 
As for other historical records of Gray, a search of our databases is problematic as the word “gray” appears in many records. Are you looking for some specific information on the community? Here is a list of some items that I found; perhaps these would be helpful:
 
·         We have a Department of Education file for the Iowa School District No. 1125 (R-177.10/7, file 1125). The Iowa School District No. 1125 was disorganized in 1921 at which time the Gray School District was erected and the number 1125 was assigned to it. My understanding is that the children went to the new school in Gray after that. The file ends in 1948. The file is restricted.
 
·         There is a small collection of records of Iowa School (R-E4354), including a Daily Attendance Register for 1921 which lists the names of the students. There is also a photo of the students taken outdoors in the winter of 1916. Their names are listed on the back but the photo is poor and very blurry (GM-PH-3317). There are also two newspaper articles about field days held at Gray in 1929 and 1930. Finally there is a short list of some students who attended from 1905 to 1921. It’s described as a “guest book” so it might have been used for a school reunion. A sketch of the school is included – it’s the same one you can see on page 350 of The Ties That Bind. The Daily Attendance Register is restricted so if you want to apply for access please complete the attached Request to Access Restricted Material form and return it to my attention.
 
·         As for other records of Gray, one file, R-E3132, contains a 3 page typewritten article “The Schools in Our Community” with a short reference to Iowa School. There is also several handwritten pages about Gray by H.A. Lewis titled “Church and Community.”
 
·         Collection R-1416.1 - Materials used in the preparation of the local
                       history book "The Ties That Bind: Estlin, Gray,
                       Riceton, Bechard". Includes histories of the Gray
                       and Riceton districts and Buck Lake settlement,
                       place name origins, and family histories;
                       photographs.
 
·         Clippings – Local histories – Gray: Photocopy of letter dated 10 December 1964 from H.A.
                       Lewis of Gray, Saskatchewan to A. Bereskin of the
                       Saskatchewan Department of Natural Resources
                       regarding the origin of the name "Gray".
 
·         We also have the records of the Gray Grain Growers Association (R-1416.2), the Gray Homemakers Club (R-1415), the Gray Mission Band (R-1416.4), the Gray Rural Telephone Company (R-845) and the Iowa Literary Society, Gray (R-1416.3).
 
·         There are four photos showing the elevators, railway station, and the Driscoll hardware store – photos R-A9931 and R-A9932 (1)-(2) and R-A10100 and R-A10101.
 
A visit to our Regina office is advised in order to view these records in person. Please note that the school files listed above are restricted.
 
Sincerely,
Tim Novak
Reference Archivist
Reference and Outreach Services
Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan
P.O. Box 1665
Regina SK S4P 3C6
Phone: 306-787-4068
Fax:     306-787-1197
Email:   info.regina@archives.gov.sk.ca
Website: www.saskarchives.com

New File 2021-588 - request for school rosters April 21, 2021. Send follow-up (on website) May 30.