Remembering our Roots book a treasured Christmas gift

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

John Godsman of Strathmore will be selling his popular book, Remembering Our Roots – Volume Two – for the upcoming Christmas season.
The book is a compilation of Remembering our Roots columns published every two weeks in the Strathmore Times between 2013 and 2014. As the name suggests, the articles and the book are a look at the personal history of many residents of the Strathmore area.
Godsman said that every two years his articles “get transcribed into book form and get sold to the general public.”
In fact, two of his books can be found in the bookstore of the Glenbow Museum.
With Volume 2, Godsman “ordered 200 books right off the bat,” and he still has over 40 books left that haven’t been sold. He attributes this to the downturn in the economy.
The books have been highly treasured by Strathmore area residents and are a great keepsake gift for the holidays. Godsman and his wife are featured in one of the articles in Volume 2.
Godsman has written over 150 articles since starting in May 2010, and he is in his seventh year of writing.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing the articles,” he said.
Godsman was born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, a fishing port on the North Sea. He moved to Strathmore in 2000, after working for Parks Canada and the U.S. Forest Service for many years. He joined Enterprise Rent-A-Car by 2010 and was working as a shuttle driver in Calgary.
Godsman reflected on the year he started writing articles, explaining, “I was just looking for something to do and I was interested in people that I get to meet around town, and this was a way to meet more people and learn more about the area.
“Completing interviews on people from an agricultural background has been a wonderful experience,” said Godsman. “I’ve learned all kinds of things about farming, seen calves born and made many, many friends.”
Godsman said that people have been very willing to refer him to friends and neighbours that should be interviewed.
“This is how I’ve found new subjects to interview,” he said.
By December 2012, he wrote approximately 55 articles and gave his transcripts to the Assist Business Centre, where the articles we transferred into book form and then Volume 1 was published by BlitzPrint Publishing of Calgary.
Remembering our Roots – Volume One was officially published in 2013 and contains a compilation of articles from 2010 through to 2012.
Godsman easily sold over 300 copies of Volume 1 and kept on re-ordering due to high demand at the time. The volume “sold like hotcakes.”
In 2011, Strathmore town councillor Bob Sobol asked Godsman to write two articles for the town to appear in a published centennial magazine. Godsman wrote one article about the Joyland Theatre, and another featuring Joe and Rosa Griffith from the Wheatland Square Dance Club.
Remembering our Roots – Volume 3 will come out next year with a compilation of articles published in 2015 and 2016.
The current Remembering our Roots Volume 2 books are selling for $45 including GST and can be purchased at Rocky’s Bakery, the Town of Strathmore office, the Strathmore Times office or directly from John Godsman by phoning 403-827-7991.