he Shepherds took over Rumsey’s International Harvest dealership in 1936, and built this garage in Rumsey in 1945 to service the equipment. The garage is located on Rumsey’s main street.
The recently formed Rumsey-Rowley Historical Foundation is compiling stories to publish in the third edition of the Rumsey-Rowley history book.
“It’s been 32 years since we had a history book put out,” said Foundation president Dariel McNaughton.
The book published in 1982 was Rumsey Pioneer Days Book 2, with the original history book for the area having been published in 1967.
McNaughton said for the 1982 edition of the history book, the group was operating with no start-up funds and received loans and donations from community groups, businesses and individuals, to complete the book.
This time round, McNaughton notes the Historical Foundation has a sizeable fund to begin the work on the history book project, and that work will include submitting applications for any eligible grants funding.
The recent project started when the group called a meeting in May of this year for interested parties, then applied for a new historical society number.
The old number for Rumsey's Historical Society had lapsed in the 1990s after completion of the second history book.
Rumsey resident and Historical Foundation member Cindy Krywcun said it was a blow to the community when it lost its original train station and three grain elevators around the same time in the mid 1990s.
And just prior to that, the community school, for children in grades 1 to 8, closed down.
Krywcun said the loss of those pieces of Rumsey history was a tough blow, but since then, the close-knit community came to realize it is the residents that define and make up the community.
Community interest has grown in the recent book project, said McNaughton, adding “We’re gaining people all the time, which is pretty nice.”
The Rumsey and Rowley areas are also gaining people in another way - younger people are moving back to the family farms in the area, including McNaughton’s two sons.
McNaughton said a lot of the area’s adults were children when the second book was published, and now as adults, their own stories can be submitted for the new history book.
She adds the Foundation will choose a firm cut-off deadline in the near future.
The Rumsey-Rowley Historical Foundation would like residents and former residents to submit their stories and photos as soon as possible for the history book via email to rumseyhistorybook@hotmail.com. Dariel McNaughton can be contacted at 403-368-2120 for more information.
