Everett Baker Award for Saskatchewan Heritage

Everett Baker. Photo courtesy of the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.

This award is named for the SHFS’ first president, Everett Baker. Throughout his life, Everett Baker was a strong believer in the importance of understanding the past to build a better future, and as such, he worked tirelessly to preserve local history.

In that spirit, the Everett Baker Award for Saskatchewan Heritage recognizes individuals, groups or organizations who have gone “above and beyond” to preserve and promote heritage in Saskatchewan. The award also recognizes efforts to call public attention to aspects of little-known Saskatchewan history.

Do you know a person or organization who has gone "above and beyond" for Saskatchewan's heritage?

Nominations for the Everett Baker Award for Saskatchewan Heritage are open year-round. Any person, group or organization who has worked towards promoting and sharing heritage in Saskatchewan is eligible.

Yearly deadline: April 30

 

2023 Winner: Candice Klein

Candice Klein.

Congratulations to Candice Klein for her tireless work to raise public awareness of several little-known aspects of Saskatchewan's history.

Candice is passionate about community history, especially Saskatoon's boom/bust years from 1890 to 1970. She has devoted many hours of research in the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, combing through criminal files and police dockets in search of hidden histories. She shared these in her viral article "Sex and the City: Saskatoon was a Wide-Open Town" for Folklore magazine, which people still talk about across Saskatchewan communities.

Candice has demonstrated a deep commitment to bringing public attention to little-known aspects of Saskatchewan history through her work with the Neil Richards Collection of Gender and Sexual Diversity at the University of Saskatchewan Archives. Here, we recognize her for her efforts to preserve and highlight the importance of queer history in Saskatchewan and the significant influence early gay activists had on the fight for equality in Canada.

With the untimely passing of Mr. Richards, the vast breadth of his collection of archival, cultural, community, literary and video materials, one of the richest in Canada, has been in danger of being forgotten. Candice has worked with the materials to publicize the diversity, scale and importance of this collection, digitizing and using them for work that she has shared in a variety of venues.

It is of the utmost importance that queer people, especially queer youth, see themselves in history and understand that they have an essential place in Saskatchewan history, which has a rich, long, powerful and largely unknown legacy of pride and gathering and activism. Candice's efforts to bring public attention to this history is community care, and it reflects Neil Richard's beliefs that seeing oneself in a library and archives is an affirmation of self.

The response to her work has been very positive – proof of a strong desire to know more about Saskatchewan's histories and evidence of the innovative, original histories she has unearthed.

Congratulations, Candice, for going above and beyond for your community and Saskatchewan’s heritage.  

2023 Winner: Dorell Taylor

We want to honour Dorell Taylor with an Everett Baker Award for bringing together hundreds of memories of people who have visited Prince Albert National Park, specifically Waskesiu Lake.

Twenty-five years ago, as a self-described "labour of love," Dorell set out to start a Waskesiu Heritage Society and record the memories of many who loved "the lake." Through endless correspondence, Dorell solicited and collected the memories and photos people shared about the community's early days. The first "Waskesiu Memories" book was 118 pages long and published in 1998.

After the first book's publication, memories and photographs came pouring in. At a time when collecting and editing stories and photos was not aided extensively by computers like today, Dorell managed to collect volumes of material on the history of Waskesiu. A further complication was that Waskesiu is a seasonal community in Prince Albert National Park. Therefore, the visitors and residents she needed to communicate with were scattered across Canada in their year-round homes. Dorell managed to juggle all the correspondence and photograph reproduction. Dorell's dedication to building community and serving people found her eventually compiling not one but three volumes of stories.

Dorell has created a legacy for the lake with these books and has been an invaluable resource for other researchers.

Dorell Taylor is honoured at the Waskesiu Heritage Museum on August 12, 2023, on the 25th anniversary of the publication of Waskesiu Memories Volume 1. Image courtesy of “25 Years of Waskesiu Memories with Dorell Taylor” by Carolyne Taylor.

We will close by quoting some of the letters which came in supporting Dorell's nomination:

"I cannot think of anyone more deserving of receiving the Everett Baker Award than Dorell Taylor. Her contributions – publishing three books, founding the Museum, being part of Friends of the Park, serving thousands of volunteer hours over many decades – are unquestionably "above and beyond"! If it weren't for her total body of work much of the history of Waskesiu would be lost. Her enthusiasm, curiosity, commitment, and passion for Prince Albert National Park are unparalleled!"

"Dorell literally grew up in the park [and] came to appreciate its rhythms and uniqueness…Dorell communicated that knowledge in a series of books about the heritage of the park, while at the same time calling on others to get involved in remembering and celebrating its history. She's done this work graciously and selflessly. Indeed, her work is reminiscent of Everett Baker and what he sought to do."

Congratulations, Dorell, for going above and beyond for your community and Saskatchewan's heritage.

2023 Winner: Ethel and Ken Wills

Ethel and Ken Wills have volunteered for countless hours over two decades to discover, share and preserve the history of Southwest Saskatchewan for future generations.

They are outstanding leaders and role models in the Eastend community. They both have been active volunteers, tirelessly serving in local organizations.

Their work in the Eastend Historical Museum is invaluable. It goes above and beyond on preserving and promoting Saskatchewan's Heritage.

In 2014, the volunteer Museum Board of Directors and Membership decided to take on the challenge of a new building as the Museum's current home (the Old Pastime Theatre) had reached the end of its life. This challenge was not taken lightly, as it was an enormous undertaking for a small town with a population of 503.

Led by the endlessly optimistic Ethel and Ken, it took seven and a half years and thousands of hours of volunteer work to complete the new building with 3,500 square feet of exhibit and six programming spaces. They fundraised, and thanks to contributions of time, physical work and funding of individuals, private businesses, other town organizations, local government offices, neighbouring Hutterite Colonies, and generous visitors, a new building became a reality. The Museum is now a great gathering place for the community, with activities and workshops for all ages.

Ethel and Ken Wills at the Eastend Historical Museum, July 1, 2022. Image courtesy of the Town of Eastend Facebook page.

The paleontology collection includes a replica of a brontothere discovered by Ken Wills in 1973. The large machine shed includes a working 1903 Case Steam engine tractor, one of the few in the province. Ken is certified to drive the Steam engine, opening our annual Dino Days Festival Parade.

Ethel and Ken spend hours with volunteers working on the exhibitions, sorting, cataloguing and displaying artifacts, and organizing events and programming. If the Museum is closed, visitors can always call on Ethel and Ken to open the doors and give them a tour. They take advantage of every opportunity to organize something at the Museum or Town Square, always with the history and culture of Saskatchewan as the backbone.

As one of the support letters for their nomination reads: "Those two individuals are unlike any other. They are humble, inexhaustible balls of energy when it comes to helping others."

Congratulations, Ethel and Ken, for going above and beyond for your community and Saskatchewan's heritage.