Preservings $20 Issue No. 26, 2006 - Home at Plett Foundation

Altona Echo, etc) placed themselves in the middle
of this activity, often supporting the war effort explicitly
(with ads they ran, if not editorials directly),
sometimes dodging the issue to a degree, but carefully
avoiding opposition to the war which would
endanger their existence and bring speedy reprisals.
We do well to ponder how the normally tolerant and
benign governmental powers of Canada quickly
metamorphosed into another much more threatening
face (as often the general public did also) when
it chose to be part of the war itself. What really
is the essential nature of governing authorities,
wherever they are to be found?
Friesen has produced a very readable and
thought-provoking sketch of something really important
that calls for more discussion and research.
As intimated earlier, the recent CO conference has
indeed set such further studies in motion. The published
papers, scheduled to appear later in Journal
of Mennonite Studies, and perhaps elsewhere, will
demonstrate how this theme is continuing to be creatively
pursued in our own circles and beyond.
________________
Werner, Hans, Living Between Worlds: A
History of Winkler (Winkler: Winkler Heritage
Society), 2006.
Reviewed by Ken Reddig, Winnipeg
This is one community history book that has
got it right. Most often community history books
fall into traps and seek more to accommodate the
members of the community who they hope will
purchase the book rather than properly telling the
story. The need to tell a story somewhat objectively
and “critically” is not often understood. It is the
quick recitation rather than the long-term impact
of the book that is sought.
What makes for a good community history?
There is no easy answer, but in part it is an initial
critical understanding of the community, trends,
people and issues that the community has encountered
and addressed together. For a community
such as Winkler this can be hampered by the fact
that it is a community that over a long period of its
history it has been largely dominated by a particular
group of people with a common history and religious
perspective—namely Mennonites.
Where this book has it right is in highlighting
the relationships both within and outside of the
many different kinds of Mennonites that made up
the community as well as the relationships with
those non-Mennonites who from time to time
played an integral role within the economic, social
or religious life of the community.
A well-told story within the book is of the
interaction between early Jewish peddlers and
the conservative Mennonites who made up the
community initially. Of interest is the fact that
the economic relationship was largely based on a
barter system and it was between the Jewish peddlers
and the Mennonite women. As the peddler
would make his rounds in the villages outside of
Winkler, he would trade cloth, pots and pans and
other household necessities with the village women
for eggs, chickens and garden produce that they
would have grown. Later this relationship continued
as some peddlers set up stores in Winkler. Of
note is that Jews within the community even had
a Synagogue with a Cantor. However, the Jewish
community outgrew the smallness of Winkler and
they began to move to other provinces or to larger
urban centres such as Winnipeg in order for their
children to be able to avail themselves of the better
opportunities for higher education.
The book does not follow a timeline as such,
but rather is broken up into thematic chapters
that interweave with each other while at the same
time are spread over selected time periods. This
methodology allows for good interaction between
the various aspects of community life and does
not necessarily restrict the author from pursuing a
theme to its present-day conclusion. Where often
such an approach can enhance the possibility of the
author engaging is repetitiveness, the author clearly
takes great pains not to fall into that trap.
One of the major themes of the book is the
initial beginnings of the community with a good
discussion of the importance of the coming of
the railroad. For communities on the prairies
their survival was measured by whether or not a
railroad came through their community. It was the
necessary ingredient for a community to flourish
on the western Canada landscape—and where
it was missing it often spelled death or disaster
to a new struggling and growing community.
Entering this story was of course the competition
with other nearby communities who either had or
did not have the railroad. While the railroad was
vitally important its presence did not ensure success.
Nearby towns with railroads would compete
for commerce particularly with the agricultural
business of the regions farmers. This competition
could become intense and with Winkler it was
intense especially with nearby Morden. It resulted
in tensions which still exist to this very day. The
book contains numerous stories and anecdotes that
illustrate these tensions.
The book has a good blend of text and photos.
Of course, everyone would like more pictures, but
the blend between good history and just another
picture book of a town is well balanced. Often in
reviewing some community histories one gets the
sense that current inhabitants have lobbied for the
picture of their grandfather, business or home and
certainly name to be included. Some community
histories are best-sellers because they have done
just that—and their sales are not at all indicative
of whether or not they are good histories. To some
extent the author has acquiesced a bit in this direction
when he lists all the early families and also the
civic leaders. But for the most part he has developed
a fine mix of photos and text that are rarely matched
in histories of other communities.
Immigration played a role right from the very
beginning of Winkler—and in a fascinating way
immigration remains a vital ingredient in the everchanging
culture of the community Winkler today.
Initially it was with Mennonites from Ukraine in
post 1870 and later 1920 waves. Today it is with
Mennonites from Mexico and also people with
distant Mennonite backgrounds, but now largely
Baptist in orientation, from Germany. In all phases
of these immigrations, they have proven to be
a necessary ingredient for economic survival of
the community. Initially they fit into and played
a significant role in the development of a thriving
agricultural economy. Today it is in the skills
they bring to a well-diversified manufacturing
environment that has amazingly complimented
the rich agriculture region within which Winkler
finds itself.
Another good balance within the book are
stories of how the community survived and was
affected by outside influences such as the World
War’s and the global depression. While significantly
impacted by these influences, the author
notes how the community pulled together. It was
during the intense economic constraints between
1920’s and the 1950’s that the arts, mostly in the
form of performance music, flourished and gained
a lasting foothold within the community through
the dedicated efforts of such choral conductors like
K. H. Neufeld, who eventually led workshops and
conducted choirs across Canada. The arts were
aided with people such as John Konrad who helped
launch music festivals, orchestras and himself was
a fine violinist.
A humourus anecdote related the fact that during
these hard times there was also renewal within
the congregations that made up the town and its
immediate environs. This had its effect upon a
local Jewish merchant who noted that following
a particular series of revival meetings within the
community, the merchant was pleasantly surprised
at the number of people coming into his store to
pay for goods that they had taken or to settle old
accounts. The author notes that evangelist was
achieving what the police and courts could not.
This response so affected the merchant that he himself
attended the meetings one evening just to find
out what was affecting the local church attenders.
During the economic turbulence of the 20’s
and 30’s most of the town’s businesses survived,
though many farmers went bankrupt. Corn became
the favoured crop - as it was reasonably drought and
heat resistant. Corn and other new crops and related
industries sustained the agricultural community
surrounding Winkler, but by the 1950’s it no longer
was able to keep the community vibrant.
The town was “falling behind” economically.
It could no longer grow without greater diversification
beyond the agricultural economy. What was
needed was industrial growth. This slowly began
happening and then gained momentum. Perhaps
its greatest boost cam through the promotional
activities and ideas of Henry F. Wiebe. As a former
school teacher, then Credit union manager
and later mayor, Wiebe was the promotional fire
within the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber
- previously the Board of Trade - had long been
composed of reluctant followers, who feared the
displeasure of the town. Wiebe, the author notes,
was the masterful promoter and industrial expansion
began on a pace that to this day is the envy of
small towns and communities across Canada. The
key to this expansion was making sure there was
always well-serviced land available for industrial
expansion. Wiebe’s genius was to apply promotion
with good business sense that today is the textbook
standard for good community development.
The combination of good writing and good
anecdotes within an engaging narrative sets this
book apart from most others. Whether or not you
have a connection with this vibrant community,
reading this book is a delightful adventure that
sweeps you up in the passage of time within one
prairie community. I highly recommend it.
106 - Preservings No. 26, 2006