Rycroft, Alberta

Ingrid Chalus from Rycroft has an old trunk that her mother-in-law brought to Canada from Austria. The trunk is lined with something that looks like newsprint and, according to Ingrid, her mother-in-law did the job herself.  The newsprint is in German and this can be explained by the fact that the part of Ukraine from which Ingrid’s mother-in-law came was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Ingrid’s mother-in-law came to Canada to get married and so the contents of her trunk were her wedding trousseau, consisting of typical Ukrainian wedding adornments and her dowry. It seems that the Ukrainian wedding adornments were never used because even the gold foil that was supposed to be used to gild the wedding wreath is still intact.  The practice of using Western rather than Ukrainian dress for the wedding started early in Canada and must have affected the Chalus family and their bride from Ukraine.

Patricia Sydoruk from Rycroft is passionate about preserving old things. This is why she works so hard to preserve the artefacts from the nearby Volyn church. This church is an incredible little building. Built out of logs and caulked by hand, it is a distinctive structure that has earned heritage monument status. The church is at some distance from the town and, from the beginning, it was always open for visitors.

Patricia is concerned that if something is not done to maintain old buildings like the Volyn church, they will weather or be destroyed by vandals. Patricia is aware of the many churches that have been demolished and she wishes that they could have been saved.