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Rosetown Photography Club
written by Stan Hingston for the Rosetown History BookOn January 18, 1983, 24 people attended a meeting at the Rosetown Museum and Arts Centre (library basement) to discuss the organization of a photography club. Pat Coulter chaired the meeting and introduced four members of the Gleneath Camera Club of Kindersley who explained how their club operated and showed a slide presentation of award winning slides. At the next meeting in February, the Rosetown Photography Club was formed with Pat Coulter president, Gary Groves vice president, Bev Gardner secretary, Joan Cochrane treasurer, Chuck Oliver publicity, and Jean Piercy phoning. A membership fee of $15 was set.
The club got off to a busy first year with a membership of 17. Club memberships were taken in the National Association of Photographic Arts (NAPA) and the Prairie Region of Photographic Arts (PRPA). Invitations were received to enter the Saskatoon club’s annual slide competition “Transparency Battle” and the Rosetown Arts Council’s art show, both in April and Gleneath’s “Foto Fun” slide competition in November.
The club has participated annually in the Rosetown Art Show as a member club of the Rosetown Arts Council. Club members entered on a regular basis the Transparency Battle, Foto Fun and various PRPA competitions. Except for a few years in the mid-nineties the club has been a member of PRPA. The club has not been a member of NAPA (now CAPA) since at least 1988.
There have been at least 55 members of the Rosetown Photography Club over the years including (alphabetically): Beryl Aseltine, Don Barbour, Lynn Bradley, Phil Brown, Mel Brooke, Rose Charters, Irene Chomokovski, Joan Cochrane, Pat Coulter, Cliff Crickett, Dorathea Demers, Bert Dow, Jill Eyolfson, Raylene Formanek, Bev Gardner, Bob Girvan, Frank Glass, Gary Groves, Gail Haapala, Delores Hanson, Stan Hingston, Shann Hollick, Sandy Huckerby, Stacey Jennison, Grant & Veronica Johnson, Doris Keith, Roxanne Klein, Jindra Krismer, Alfred Labrecque, Patti Lawrence, E. “Mac” MacKenzie, Dawn McKenzie, Verna McLeod, Gwen McNichol, Robert Nordness, Ken Ogle, Deanne Patenaude, Ernie Quintal, Clarence Rempel, George Ritchie, Jack Rowan, Lorne Sample, Pat Siemens, Fay St. Marie, Eldon Stevenson, George Tosh, Rudy Toupin, Jim Turner, Dennis Tyson, Betty Veitenheimer, Gloria Welch, Murray Wilson, Richard Woolcott, Heather Yuzik, and Marlace Zacharias. These names were gleaned from member lists and minutes of the monthly meetings so some members may be missed or mispelled.
Pat Coulter served as club president from its founding to 1991. Stan Hingston took on this position in 1992 and has served every year since except 1994-95 when Lorne Sample was president. Bev Gardner was secretary until 1992 when she was replaced by Gail Haapala. Fay St. Marie served as secretary from 1993 to 1998 followed by Gloria Welch, Dawn McKenzie, Jill Eyolfson and Gwen McNichol. Joan Cochrane held the treasurer position until 1993. She was followed by Betty Veitenheimer, Stan Hingston, Gary Groves and Don Barbour.
Guest speakers who gave slide shows or held workshops for the photography club included: George Ritchie (November 1983); Hans Dommasch, Saskatoon (March 1987); Courtney Milne (March 1985); Gladys McDonald, Moose Jaw (November 1987); Michael Brauer, Saskatoon (April, May & November1988); Michael Brokop, N. Battleford (March & April 1990); Bruce Vasselin, Regina (March 1994); Anne Livingston, Biggar - framing (March 1997); Phil Brown - portraiture and flash photography (April & November 1998); Doug Hunt, Rosetown - Flying over the NWT (October 2001); Donna Bilyk, Rosetown - framing (December 2002); Laurie Friesen, Saskatoon - photographing horses (October 2003) and Glen and Rebecca Grambo, Saskatoon - wildlife photography (November 2003).
Public slide shows sponsored by the club included: Courtney Milne (October 1985); George Tosh and Clarence Rempel “A View of Saskatchewan” (April 1987); George Tosh “The Bear Hills Aren’t Bare” (November 1989); George Tosh “Athabaska Sand Hills” (January 1991); Rose Charters “Wildflower Photography” (April 1992); Courtney Milne “Sacred Earth” (March 1992) and “A Prairie Celebration” (November 1993); Robin and Arlene Karpen “Saskatchewan’s Scenic Secrets” (November 2002); and Glen Grismer “Seven Wonders of Saskatchewan” (April 2003).
Members of the Photography Club taught three photography courses through the Prairie West Regional College: Introduction to Photography in October / November 1999; and Beginner Photography and Intermediate Photography in February / March 2002. The club sponsored two public workshops in digital photography taught by staff from Don’s Photo Shop in Saskatoon, held in Rosetown in December 2003 and January 2004.
Field trips taken by the club in May or June included: the Bear Hills led by George Tosh (1985); the Great Sand Hills near Sceptre (1989); Saskatchewan Landing (1990); Pike Lake (1992); the Herschel Hills and petroglyphs led by Bill & Ruby Sawatzky (1993); the Bear Hills and Perdue slough by Dennis Tyson and Eldon Stevenson (1996); and Addison Sod House and Johnson Stone Wall with members of Gleneath Camera Club (1998). A popular event for club members, held several times over the years, was a scavenger hunt where members were provided with a film and a list of objects to photograph within a set time.
The Club sponsored two public photo contests. My Favorite Photo contest was held in 1993 to celebrate the club’s 10th anniversary and to raise community awareness of the club. Part of the prizes was a one year club membership. Rosetown and District Photo Contest was held in 1995 partly to help Tourism Rosetown obtain good photos of local places and activities.
Photo cards were made in 1987 to sell as a club fundraiser.
For the first few years, Rosetown Photography Club members displayed photographs at the Rosetown Medical Clinic, rotating monthly. In January 1988 the Hallway Gallery was officially opened in the large hallway of the Dube mini-mall at 309 Main Street. This has been used since for club displays as well as occasional traveling photographic displays.
Some of the club members did their own black and white developing and printing. The RCHS darkroom was used between 1995 and 1998. In 1999 and 2000 the club renovated the darkroom in the library basement and made it available to members.
The Rosetown Photography Club hosted the PRPA Annual Outing in June 2001 at Hitchcock’s Hideaway on Lake Diefenbaker. Guest speakers were Frank Roy and George Tosh. Two special field trips offered were a bus tour to the Sandcastle formation south of Beechy and a river tour on the Betty Lou cruise boat. A total of 66 people attended from photography clubs across Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The Club hosted the Transparency Battle on April 25, 2003. It was attended by nearly 60 members of Saskatchewan photo clubs from as far away as Regina, Prince Albert and even LaRonge.
In March, 2001, Clarence Rempel donated to the Club 30 boxes of negatives and proofs from Ritchie Photo Studio and Rosetown Prairie Image Studio. George Ritchie operated the studio in Biggar and Rosetown from 1969 to 1989 when it was bought by Clarence Rempel. Clarence continued to operate it in Rosetown until 1992, changing the name to Prairie Image Studio. The Club has catalogued the negatives (over 7,000 envelopes) and has undertaken the task of returning them to the clients in return for a donation. If you had photos taken by either George or Clarence, please contact the club for the negatives.
The following was added in 2006 after the publication of the Rosetown History Book.
In 2005 the Photo Club put together a slide show of photos from the Rosetown Archives, set it to music and converted it to DVD format. The DVD, titled “Rosetown – A Look Back”, was premiered at the Rosetown Homecoming in July 2005 where sales were brisk. Sales of the DVD continued for more than a year afterwards.
Money from the sales of the Rosetown – A look Back DVD, as well as the I Am Saskatchewan DVD and the Ritchie Studio negatives donations, allowed the club to purchase some computer equipment. We bought an Epson Perfection 4870 scanner which can handle all slide and negative sizes up to 8”x10”; an HP DesignJet 130 large format printer with a 24” roll attachment; and a laptop to run them. These are set up in the former club darkroom in the Library basement, converting it to a “digital darkroom”.