When he realized he was not going to be able to finish his book, an ailing Julian Sadlowski made a phone call to his long time friend and neighbour. From that neighbour he extracted a promise the book would be published in time for North Battleford's 100th anniversary year.
Julian Sadlowski, artist, former educator and former mayor of the city, loved North Battleford. As his daughter puts it in the foreword to the book, Pictorial Story of North Battleford, "as he investigated its written, artistic and oral history, he became captivated by stories of the city's origin."
Ken Holliday, the neighbour of 40 years to whom Sadlowski had turned, is happy that a group of dedicated volunteers has been able to complete the book his friend spent five and a half years researching. It will go on sale Nov. 1 and 2 at the Battlefords Art Club Fall Show and Sale at the Chapel Gallery.
"Julian was a member of the art club," says Holliday. "This is art."
The book is filled with artwork based on historical photos Sadlowski was able to locate and accompanying stories, gleaned from all manner of sources. It was a daunting task as Sadlowski discovered early record keeping had not been the community's forte.
Many of the illustrations and stories are meant to entertain and even poke fun. Sadlowski told the News-Optimist during the researching process, "I want to make sure we laugh at ourselves. We can't take ourselves too seriously."
The illustrations were important to Sadlowski. In an interview about the book in its early days, he said, "My major field is art. I use the art as a way of communicating. Pictures tell a thousand words."
Sadlowski passed away in 2012 at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer. The Pictorial History of North Battleford was his final labour of love.
Despite Sadlowski's dedication to the project, it was not complete when Holliday and a team of seven more people gathered the pages and began the task of getting it published in time for the centennial, as was Sadlowski's wish. There were more stories the author had wanted to do, but the team went with what Sadlowski had managed to finish. It could have been never ending anyway, says Holliday, because each story Sadlowski researched revealed another new and interesting piece of history that could be chased.
"Julian was a human dynamo," says Holliday, but even he had only so much time and energy.
Holliday says the editing team each worked 400 to 500 hours on the editing process. On the team with him were Gil Bellavance, Harvey Cashmore, Herman Friesen, JoAnn McNie (Sadlowski's daughter), Jim MacNeill and Laura-Ruby Stade.
The manuscript they began with was still in the author's long hand, says Holliday. The team worked through all Sadlowski's information and drawings, reviewing it and checking the historical content.
"The team worked incredible hours," says Holliday.
The first print run of the book will be 500, he says. It will be a coil bound volume, as Sadlowski requested, so that it can be read and used easily, even in a classroom setting. The coil allows the book to be laid flat open, and stay open, as Sadlowski was happy even to see this, and his previous history books, to be used as colouring books.
"It's user friendly," says Holliday.
The printer is Ultra Print of North Battleford and the sponsor is the Battlefords North West Historical Society. The hope is that the sale of the 500 book run, at $25 per book including taxes, will get the project to the break even point. Any profits from the project will go to a charity of the Sadlowski family's choice, says Holliday.
He expects sales to go well. He's already had calls from people in Ontario and the United States about ordering copies.
There will be a table at the Battlefords Art Club's "Sparkle With Art" Friday Nov. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chapel Gallery.
