Town of Smoky Lake celebrates its 100th anniversary

By Irene van der Kloet

On Monday, March 27th, the public was invited to the town office to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Town of Smoky Lake. “Yesterday [March 26] was the 100th anniversary, but that being a Sunday, we are celebrating today,” Mayor Amy Cherniwchan explained. “Smoky Lake has not always been a town: the first 40 years, it was a village, and became a town in the early sixties”. Councillor Marianne Prockiw-Zarusky can elaborate on that. She is considered the historian regarding the history of Smoky Lake and the region. Her family came to Smoky Lake more than 100 years ago; she grew up in the Warspite area. After high school, Marianne left the community to pursue further education and a career in Edmonton and came back around 12 years ago to work and volunteer in this community. She was the FCSS coordinator for eight years and now serves as a councillor and on several boards. Marianne loves telling people about Smoky Lake: “In 1864, the Hudson Bay Trading Post was built near the mission at Pakan, closer to the North Saskatchewan River (now the Victoria Settlement). At the time, the language in the area was Cree, but as the Ukrainian settlers and the mission came in, English became the language of choice. In the early 1900s, settlers were attracted to the land, trees and water, and the government gave immigrants the incentive to own a parcel of land for $10 on the condition that they cleared 10 acres in 5 years. In those days, all that clearing was done by hand, but the (mostly) Ukrainians were hard workers and got that done. Over the years, distinctive businesses started: a brick factory, livery stable, hotel, blacksmith, phone centre, CNR station and grain elevator were all part of the early businesses. Other than a tornado in 1993, which tore off the roof of the grain elevator and some hotel rooms, Smoky Lake was spared from disasters. Senator Martha Biehsh, mother of accomplished artist Merv Biehsh and Dr. Gerry Pretty, former Chief Medical Officer, were some of the more famous people from the area. Other celebrities are Annie Breitkruetz, centenarian and now over 101 years old, Terry Ewasiuk, NHL player, and Derek Zaplotinsky, Paralympian who just won a bronze medal at the Soldier Hollow World Cup Finals in Utah as a Para Nordic skier at the beginning of March.” The celebration on March 27 is just the beginning: On June 3rd, the Town wants to go full-out and is looking for input from the general public for ideas for the celebration. This celebration is a good start: people came in to check out old archives on display, enjoy coffee or tea with a cupcake from the local bakery, and connect with councillors.