An old Holy Bible – written in Norwegian – that dates back to the 1880s and that been passed on through the generations of the Stratton family has found a new home in Donalda and District Museum.
As part of the family heritage, the Bible was recently donated by Laurie Winter, a pastor of a Baptist church in Regina, Saskatchewan.
“It weighs about 30 pounds and it’s in great condition,” said his father, James Winter, now 92 years young and a resident in Heart Haven seniors’ lodge in Stettler.
“It’s no good to Laurie because it’s got a funny script that he can’t understand so he decided to donate it to Donalda museum, said Winter, whose late wife Lois was a daughter of Minnie Stratton, one of the children of Charles and Julia Stratton who bought the Bible in 1880 before the family moved and settled in the Donalda area around 1903.
“All too often, old Bibles are thrown away.”
Aunt Anne Stratton passed the Bible to the Winter family about 20 years to give to Laurie.
“Anything that has that amount of family and local and cultural significance to our community is a valuable addition to our museum,” said Forrest Hagen, president of the Donalda and District Museum Society.
“Considering that the language in the Bible is not understood by the younger generations of the family, it is much better for this Bible to be in a museum where others can still enjoy it.”
With deep family and Scandanavian roots in Donalda, the local museum was the ideal place to preserve the Bible, said James Winter.
Strattons settled on a Hereford farm in the Willow Park School District about 15 miles southeast of Donalda.
Ernest Dad Winter was the first school teacher in Donalda and taught in other schools in the area.