SUDBURY—The Greater Sudbury Public Library has all of the volumes of ‘Through the Years,’ which details the history of Manitoulin Island, on its bookshelves, and is in the process of making all 151 editions of the monthly booklets available online.
Arlene McQuarrie, wife of the late former publisher/owner of the Manitoulin Recorder and Through the Years, explained, “John was a friend of Dr. Len Piche, a professor at the University of Western Ontario who had two of John’s books reprinted. Dr. Piche had suggested that Through the Years should be digitized on computer, so that each edition would be accessible to everyone. That is what John had planned and the reason that I gave my permission to this, to have it available to everyone. Now all editions of Through the Years are safe and sound in the Sudbury library.”
Norma Hughson, a local Manitoulin Island genealogy expert said, “Rick McCutcheon of The Manitoulin Expositor had called me to tell me that he had given permission to Dr. Piche, as had the McQuarrie family, to scan all the documents (in Through the Years) and I related this to Nancy Graham Vaillancourt (program and social media coordinator) of the Sudbury District Branch and Ontario Ancestors-Ontario Genealogical Society, who spearheaded this project.”
The Sudbury library has all the computer equipment to scan every page of each edition of the booklets, said Ms. Hughson.
Ms. Graham Vaillancourt told The Expositor, “The fellow that initiated the project was a professor at (UWO) (Dr. Piche) who was a good friend of Jack and Arlene McQuarrie. When Jack retired from the newspaper Dr. Piche had a conversation with them about this. Both were very interested in getting the history of the Island detailed in Through the Years out broadly, to make them accessible to everyone.”
Ms. Vaillancourt then contacted Kristen Bertrand, local history librarian for the Greater Sudbury Public Library. “Ms. Bertrand was really excited about this project. I put she and the professor in contact, and they worked with Rick McCutcheon of Manitoulin Publishing Co. to get approvals to take the original text format and digitize each edition to put online.”
“The library has a full collection of the booklet and have grouped them together in 13 editions in hard cover that they have on the library bookshelf,” said Ms. Vaillancourt. “They are working toward having each edition, online, where you can search a name, place, year, in chronological order as well as by each edition to find what you are looking for online.”
Ms. Bertrand informed The Expositor, “Yes, we’ve slowly been digitizing and having an online presence for Through the Years. This is one of the things our local historical department does. We are very excited to have been given permission to do this with Through the Years.”
She said, “it takes an incredible amount of work to pull all of this together, such as scanning each page from each edition. We are carrying similar projects for other publications like the Sudbury Star. We are currently in the process of recruiting another person to pick up where the previous person left off in the project.”
“Absolutely, visitors online will be able to see every page and picture and can look for stories and information listing the surname, event, location and highlight it on the page,” said Ms. Bertrand.
To link to the collection go to the GSPL website at https;//cdm22003.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22003coll15.
On January 2, 1969, Jack McQuarrie became the owner and publisher of the Gore Bay Recorder in partnership with T.G. Davis. In November 1983, Lorne McQuarrie and Jack McQuarrie published the first edition of Through the Years, as editor and publisher respectively. Manitoulin Printing printed the edition. The partnership continued until Lorne’s death on September 9, 1984, Jack McQuarrie continued as editor and publisher, crediting Lorne in future editions as ‘Founding Editor.’
Jack McQuarrie was president of Mid-North Printers and Publishers Ltd (MNPPL), parent company of The Recorder, Manitoulin Printing, and Through the Years booklets. The three subsidiary companies were owned and operated by Mr. McQuarrie until June 1, 1993, when Margaret Sanderson and Douglas Robinson became owners with Mr. McQuarrie remaining as president of MNPPL. Prior to the change in ownership Mr. McQuarrie had published 146 editions.
In September 1994, Mid-North Publishers was replaced by Manitoulin Media Inc. as the official publisher of the booklets. The final five editions of Through the Years were produced as a quarterly publication under the auspices of Margaret E. Robinson (of Manitoulin Media Inc.) as publisher for editions 147-149, and Jennifer Enns (of DDSK Enterprises Inc) as publisher for editions 150 and 151 the final printed editions. Manitoulin Publishing Co. Ltd. purchased The Recorder and other assets from DDSK Enterprises Inc. in 2001.
Through the Years began as a monthly publication produced in booklet format. As recorded in the verso for the first edition, the publication, “is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the entire Manitoulin District.”
Sources of information for the booklets were cited as museums and local newspapers; with Manitoulin residents invited and encouraged to contribute stories and photographs for publication.
Permission to digitize and make Through the Years available to researchers in an online format has been generously granted by Arlene McQuarrie, wife of Willis John McQuarrie past president of Mid-North Printers and Publishers Ltd., and by Rick McCutcheon, vice-president of Manitoulin Publishing Co. Ltd.
