CARSTAIRS - The latest Carstairs history book, Beyond Our Prairie Trails Vol. 3, was officially released at a recent event at the Carstairs Heritage Centre.
The book was compiled by the Carstairs History Book Society over the last year.
Anne Strilchuk, secretary-treasurer for the society, said the book features 133 stories from local families about the history of Carstairs and the surrounding area.
Beyond Our Prairie Trails Vol. 3 is actually the third Carstairs history book, she said.
"There was a little green one in 1967 for the Centennial and then our other one (vol. 1 and 2) came out in 1995," said Strilchuk.
Instrumental in the compilation of the book were society president Brian Longeway and Irene Roundtree, she added.
Strilchuk was disappointed that they were not able to get more responses for the book.
"We only had 133 stories this time," she said. "In the other book we had 800 stories. A lot of people said they were only here for two or three years. We said, 'you come from somewhere. Everyone has a story.' I think the younger people would rather read it online. It was disappointing but we're pleased with the book. It turned out really well."
Strilchuk said the new book will cover a wide range of time in the history of the region.
"We were hoping to cover from the last one in 1995 forward," she said. "But some people hadn't put it (their stories) in that one, so it covers whatever people wanted. We have one from 1918 that talks about the Spanish flu when it went through here. So that's 100 years ago. That was a really interesting story."
There are also many rural stories, she said.
"A lot of the farm families put their stories in which was really nice," she said. "There's also a story about the loss of our grain elevators. We used to have seven; now we have none."
The group received a grant from Mountain View County to help with the project.
"It was $2,355 which was wonderful," she said. "That really helped us. We were able to print 200 books."
The books are for sale at the Carstairs Heritage Centre.
