(submitted photo/ Mike Harrison - ‎Saskatchewan | History in Pictures)

By Nicole Reis

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Local man takes Meadow Lake down memory lane with Facebook group

Jun 15, 2020 | 12:14 PM

A local man is taking Meadow Lake residents on a trip down memory lane by sharing images from the past.

Jason Kirilenko said his intention is to uplift the community through a positive distraction during pandemic lockdowns. Now, with the concept gaining popularity, he plans to reprint a heritage book for distribution.

Kirilenko told meadowlakeNOW he initially created the Facebook group called Meadow Lake – Memories with his friend Judy Brander. The group encourages interested residents to post their old family images and engage in conversations about memories from the past.

“It just took off from there,” he said. “People started joining and posting old pictures and it was just meant to be a distraction from COVID-19 and, I think people were looking for something not so negative.”

Kirilenko created the group in mid-April during the thick of pandemic closures using images from his parents’ Meadow Lake Heritage book printed nearly 40 years ago.

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According to Kirilenko, in 1981, a local committee printed a book of Meadow Lake’s heritage including old photos and stories of local families. He posted the group’s first image from his mother’s book and the group now has over 500 members.

Some artifacts posted from Meadow Lake’s past include a bill of sale for a new 1960s Volkswagen Beetle costing $1,326. Others have shared images of Meadow Lake stampede street parade, depicting the large crowd the local event brought in.

(submitted photo/Ed Mihalicz – Meadow Lake – Memories)

“People thought that was cool,” he said. “You could see the stores in the background, and see what things looked like and how it was just packed with people. It shows you just how big the stampede was here back in the day.”

After gauging interest in his group, he received enthusiastic feedback about reprinting Meadow Lake’s Heritage book. The original book has never been reprinted and unless you have one already in possession, they’re quite difficult to find, he said.

Kirilenko is taking orders to reprint the duplicate of the Heritage book and needs a few more orders before the project can successfully happen.

Anyone interested in placing an order for the Meadow Lake Heritage book can get in touch with Jason through email at jasonsk@sasktel.net.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722