Sexsmith Camera Club fonds. — 1957-1993. — 7 cm of textual records.
Agency History
The Sexsmith Camera Club was organized on November 20, 1957 for photography enthusiasts from the Sexsmith and LaGlace area. Original members included Bernard Hamm, Carl Leonard, Jim Bushell, Roald Olson, Charles Gathercole, George Robinson and Lloyd Larson.
The purpose of the club was to provide a place where people could learn about photography and show their work. Meetings were held in members’ homes and included a topic of discussion or a guest speaker. Each member could also show a few samples of their best work. By 1969, these entries were being judged and scored within the club as part of an annual club competition.
The club was affiliated with CPAC (Colour Photographers Assoc. of Canada) soon after it formed, and by 1959 with the PRPA (Prairie Region of Photographic Art) which covered Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. These associations provided educational materials as well as competitions which members could enter, including slide competitions, print competitions, and annual outing competitions. There were awards for individual as well as club entries. There was also an annual regional outing which included seminars and presentations; and a regular newsletter, the “Prairie Focus”.
For their June meeting each year, the Sexsmith Camera Club held an annual outing in the form of a family picnic. This included “picture snapping, scrub ball games, peanut scrambles and races for the kiddies (and also those who thought they were).” It the early years it was often held at Kleskun Hill Park but later at various campgrounds such as Moonshine Lake.
The Sexsmith Camera Club was in existence for thirty-four years. By 1993, there were only six members remaining and meetings were held on an irregular basis. The last formal minutes were filed on March 2, 1993.
Custodial History
The records were deposited in South Peace Regional Archives by Lavern Sorgaard, one of the last six members of the Sexsmith Camera Club, in 2008.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of the minutes of the Sexsmith Camera Club from its first meeting on November 20, 1957 to the last meeting on March 2, 1993. There is also some supplementary material from the Prairie Region of Photographic Art: 1982 and 1991 handbooks, a 1991 membership list and Annual Outing handbook; two 1992 issues of the “Prairie Focus”, and a small amount of correspondence with the Sexsmith Club.
Notes