Lifestyle
The address of the website is www.creighton.o-f.com.
Website reunites Creightonites
Erna de Burger Fex
Winter 2009 |
The town of Creighton Mine became a ghost town in 1986 when all the homes and buildings were completely demolished.
In August of 2003, a letter to the editor in Northern Life caught my attention. I immediately recognized the author of this letter, Audrie Jamieson Brooks. She had been our trusted babysitter and neighbour when we lived on Wavell St. in Creighton Mine. She had begun a website to enable people who had been born or lived in Creighton Mine for any length of time to connect through this means.
This invitation was received with great enthusiasm. In the first three years of the website’s existence, 35,000+ hits were received. Creightonites from all across Canada and the United States responded by signing the guest book telling readers where they were living now, their interests, and how anxious they were to find out about classmates, friends, neighbours and former teachers. By leaving their e-mail addresses, others could contact them privately or through the website.
As a result, Creightonites who had lost track of friends found each other again and renewed friendships to their great delight. Family networks were re-established as long-lost cousins reconnected and updated their family news.
Jamieson Brooks has provided maps of the town site so former residents can find the location of their homes. There is an updated In Memory Of page which allows Creightonites to keep informed about friends who have passed away.
My column called, Erna’s Musings, has more than 40 stories about Creighton memories and personalities.
Family photo albums are also a very popular feature of the Creighton website. School pictures, badminton photos, hockey teams from the past as well as the famed Creighton Indians baseball teams, allow residents to reminisce with pleasure.
Old newspaper articles allow younger Creighton residents to read about events that happened perhaps before they were born or were too young to remember.
There are many pictures of the first Creighton reunion in 1989 aptly called Creighton Shines in '89. Literally thousands of Creightonites attended. It showed without doubt that the Spirit of Creighton Mine is alive and flourishing!
Creightonites have dispersed far and wide in the world. Byng Uttley lives in Thailand, Barry Silverson in Brazil, many are in the United States and the United Kingdom, and in every province in Canada.
How do we know this? They keep in touch with friends and family through Creighton Revisited. Contact has been made with the website by a former resident who currently resides in Trinidad and Tobago and the list goes on.
The phenomenal success of this website may be attributed to the fact Creighton residents considered themselves a family and remain family although the physical town has been gone more that 20 years. When former friends and neighbours meet, it is like running into an extended family member. Warm smiles and hugs and catching up with each other’s news happen spontaneously. The conversation often turns to, “I was on the website for hours last night!"
The nostalgia in the voices is absolutely real, but the website helps us to enjoy once again the town and the warmth of the people of Creighton Mine – a place where everyone knew your name, and still does!
Creighton Revisited has also regenerated interest in the annual Creighton reunions and more people are present every year on the third Sunday of September. The sounds of laughter and joy at visiting with old friends and remembering events and personalities from long ago reverberate throughout the reunion. For many Creightonites that date is a priority annually.
The website always informs everyone of the date, time and location of the reunion. After the gathering, numerous photos are sent to the site so those unable to attend can vicariously enjoy the festivities as well.
This website serves Creightonites well. This is even though Audrie and her husband, Earl, live in Thomson, Man. The address of the website is www.creighton.o-f.com.
