聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 A Canora man has come into possession of a historic quilt sewn by rural women as therapy during the Second World War.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 John Oystryk is the new owner of a 60 inch by 70 inch bed cover originally embroidered by women in the Canora area in 1942 and 1943, after receiving it from Karen Bauer, who had retrieved the fabric from her mother.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oystryk said the story of finding the quilt was a chain of events.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he story began with reading an obituary in an area paper,鈥� he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The obituary detailed the recent passing of Mary Koroluk, a woman who was one year younger than Oystryk. They were childhood friends, and grew up on farms one mile apart from each other while attending Cedric School in the 1930s. Oystryk discovered that she had started a hairdressing business before returning to help her father after her mother鈥檚 passing. She farmed about 120 miles southeast from the area they grew up in. The obituary made mention of Bauer, so Oystryk made a phone call to her.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 expressed my sympathy for the loss of her mother, and then told her that I had something regarding her mother that she might like to have,鈥� Oystryk said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The article in question was a clipping from a Yorkton paper regarding the homestead house of Koroluk鈥檚 grandparents, John and Helena Todoschuk, which was a thatched roof house Koroluk was born in. On top of that, Oystryk also had copies of the Cedric School registry. He sent the information over to Bauer, who he said felt 鈥渧ery good to have the papers about her mother.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bauer also gave Oystryk a bit of a surprise when she said that she had a gift to thank him.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淢y first thought was, 鈥榳hat could she possibly have for me?鈥欌�� Oystryk said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 He quickly discovered that Bauer had been holding all of her mother鈥檚 items she left at the care home and found the blanket as part of it. He and Bauer met in March 2015, and she gave the quilt to him.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪he knew that I had done research in the past, and because she didn鈥檛 know anyone whose name was on the blanket aside from her mother鈥檚, she thought that I may know some of them and could put some information together to take to a museum.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oystryk said he was happy to do it, and worked over the course of 15 months to put together an explanation of the item鈥檚 history.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The cloth is made up of 10-inch square pieces of fabric sewn together, as well as two eight-inch pieces of material knitted onto the top and right of the blanket and trimmed with lace. A total of 29 of the 30 embroidered squares hold names of various women from Stornoway, Veregin, Yorkton, Kamsack, Dneiper, Rhein, Theodore, Foam Lake, and Windsor, Ont.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oystryk has come up with an interesting theory for the bed cover鈥檚 creation regarding therapy. In 1942, Dr. Peter Polotski, a family doctor in Yorkton, had noticed that there was an increase of women coming to his office needing medical assistance. They were beginning to suffer anxiety and depression, due to the fact that many of their male relatives were serving in the war.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hese women were afraid they may never see their husbands, sons, and brothers back home again, which made the doctor feel that they were under severe mental stress,鈥� Oystryk said. The theory is that Polotski then began organizing meetings for the women one evening per week, and that the women sewed the blanket as a way to relieve their stress. The names embroidered on the cloth, Oystryk says, were often written 鈥楳rs. Joe Smith鈥�. This is because the tradition at the time was for women to sign their names with their husbands鈥� names, so that people who needed money, such as general store owners who let women buy food without immediate payment, could seek out the man as the family leader.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oystryk says that, following approval by Bauer, he hopes to take the blanket to a museum in order to showcase the struggles women faced living through the Second World War.
