We’re taking a slightly different approach to this week’s look at Cochrane’s history — not so much about history itself, but how it’s being preserved in the archives at the Cochrane Public Library.
Those archives are impressively large. Program coordinator Ardis Proulx Chedore says it’s taken years to accumulate all the information, and was started by the now defunct genealogical and historical society.
“Even now, if something happens, if there’s, say, Summerfest,” she explains, “right during it, we get every single piece of information we can, every poster, any event and we save that, because it’s history tomorrow.”
“It was started by a group of people who really wanted to make sure that the history was preserved and if you go back further, it was a lot of different people that were working hard ta preserving pieces of – they were just trying to save Cochrane’s history and make sure that it’s there for the next generations.”
The artifacts are from as far back as 1910, when Harold Wills started the Northland Post newspaper.
The library’s archives are open to the public every Friday from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. Chedore says volunteers are always welcome, too.
If you’re looking for a particular piece of information. you can submit a request via email or on a form at the library, and someone will find it for you.