The author of the upcoming Valley East history book told The Vision that a draft of the cover of the book will be available for Valley East Days and that the final sorting of over 2,000 photographs for the upcoming 2002 book is now underway. "We have an excellent selection of historic pictures thanks to a hard working group of volunteers," Wayne LeBelle of Field said.

"I will sort those photographs to have as many individuals, families and businesses that provided pictures represented in this first history book of all Valley communities. People will be amazed by the variety of photos collected and scanned for permanent archives of Valley history. There are also some great stories about the Valley that will keep people entertained for years," he said.

Area residents can get a sneak peek at that history book's cover at the Valley East Days where advance orders will be taken. There will only be 3,000 copies of this limited edition printed according to organizers of the Valley East Heritage Committee so interested people are encouraged to purchase their book in advance now so they are guaranteed a book when it is published. It is expected most will sell in advance however those wishing to wait for the book to come out may leave their name and phone number with the Heritage Group at Valley East Days.  They will be called if any books are left over.

"A lot of credit goes to Research Chair Ron Mrochek and his committee for all the work done so far on this book. Our deadline for photographs was extended several times and the groups came through with many interesting stories and photos," LeBelle said.

Volunteer area chairs included Leo Burns who covered sports; Agathe Dube for Hanmer; Lois Simard for Blezard Valley; Fern Gascon, Capreol Township and Clothilde Baelde for Wisner and Bowell townships. Other volunteers served on the many area committees including Heritage Committee Chair Claudette Lahti-Ouwens and director Gerry Pope.

The Heritage Committee is aiming for release of the history book in mid-2002 when area celebrations get underway with the Blezard Valley Roman Catholic Church celebrating its 100th anniversary. The book is expected to have over 232 pages with over 800 historic black and white photographs and stories of the Valley communities.

Over the winter months, the volunteers will continue their work reviewing proofs of the book as the author puts together the many pictures with histories collected by Valley East residents.