This is Florence Clark 90 yrs old sitting at guest book table



Carole's daughters Laureen Smithers, Ronda Tees, Carole & her mother Florence Clark



Back Row: Stuart Hartt and Ron Hanson
2nd row: Marj Hartt, Mary Ellen Hartt, Wendy Riis, Wendy & Dennis Canessa,
Fran Hanson, Marlene Clayton, Bea Still
Front: Monica Hetman, Phyllis Hartt, Delores Fox, Viola Lawrence



Vern Hartt, Archie & Wendy Lee, Lin Hartt, Jeff Hartt, Shelly Teague, Wilda Manes,
Jan and Bob Burns



John & Ada Stephenson, Joan & Bob Stephenson, Jean Davies, Pat Westerson, David & Paula Hartt, Rob Chapman




REVIEW OF
WESTERN CANADIAN HARTT REUNION

August 29, 2004

Lousana, Alberta

The excitement from the New Brunswick Hartt reunion had hardly settled before we gathered again in Alberta. The third Hartt reunion was held in the charming little town of Lousana, nestled in the rolling hills east of Red Deer. There were forty-three people in attendance. They came from Osceola, Iowa; Plenty, Saskatoon, and Regina, Saskatchewan, Delta, Surrey, of British Columbia; Lethbridge, Calgary, Stettler, Evansberg, Sylvan Lake, Edmonton, St. Albert, Red Deer, Granum, Lousana, Three Hills, Tees, Alberta. Two branches of the Hartt family were represented; nine from the Thomas line and thirty from the Samuel line plus four friends.

A number of attendees arrived Saturday night. They camped or stayed in a bed and breakfast close by. It gave them an extra opportunity for visiting. Sunday morning the doors were open at 9:30 a.m. and the rest of the cousins drove in for the days activities.

Linda Hartt of Delta, B. C. took the registration and Paula Hartt of St. Alberta, AB sold the Hartt magnets and historiographies. She also handed out the pre ordered " Hart to Hartt" books. Florence Clark of Stettler, AB presided over the guest book.

The theme of the reunion was "Looking Ahead at Looking Back" to honor the early Hartt pioneers who moved west from New Brunswick and Massachusetts.

Jack Christiansen and his helpers catered a full course turkey dinner and cold plate supper. Ron Hanson said the blessing on the food. He also asked God to bless our afternoon together as a family. Ron was the capable M.C. for the day. The tables had place mats picturing the five pioneers we were honoring.

Carole introduced the book publisher John and his wife Esther Mills of Three Hills and spoke about the huge task of getting the book published in time for the New Brunswick reunion. John was given an opportunity to tell his side of the story regarding the Hartt book project. Carole also told about the difficult search finding all the Alberta cousins who seemed to have done the disappearing act. But they were finally rounded up in time
for this reunion.

Greetings were read from Jean Barnard of Victoria, Valerie Jones in England, and Eva Miller of Puyallup, Washington.

After a picture taking session we started a full afternoon of remembering and honoring the pioneers with speeches.

At the start of the afternoon we honoured Newton Henry and Addie (Way) Hartt who located in Sheridan, Montana in 1891 to help an elderly uncle farm. In 1904 his family moved to North West Territories, which later became Alberta, to farm near Hanna, AB. Their grandson, Bob Burns of Calgary was in attendance to represent this family and he spoke about his family and some of his memories. He mentioned how brave his grandparents were to venture so far away from New Brunswick with a very young family. Shelly Teague of Edmonton read a poem her gt-grandmother Lalia (Hartt) Porteous wrote so many years ago.

We also honored Caroline (Hartt) Syson, who also came to North West Territories, later known as Alberta, to teach school in 1903 and was married in 1907 to Richard Syson. She continued to teach school, was active in church and community work as well as the labor that pioneer farm life entailed. Her daughter, Florence Clark from Stettler, Alberta was in attendance and she is 90 years old. She represented her mother and was the speaker for that part of the family.

Next we honored Frank Herbert Hartt who came from Massachusetts in 1914 to farm in the Lone Butte area south of Hanna, Alberta with his family of six children. Bea Still from Regina Saskatchewan was representing this family and related some of the family lore. Frank farmed and also sold Rawleigh products from a horse drawn wagon to the homesteaders. Unfortunately, both Frank and his wife Minnie died too young and were not known to most of his grandchildren.

Time came to honor the memory of Edith Maude (Hartt) Stephenson. She traveled to Saskatchewan in 1915 at an early age with her uncle Newton Perkins who was a principal at the college in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. With his help she was able to acquire an excellent education. She taught school and was an able farm wife. She became active in civic affairs and was a very real asset to her community. Her sons, John and Bill Stephenson from Saskatchewan, were present and related an interesting tribute to this very capable pioneer. Nephew Rob Chapman from Calgary said a few words about his family.

In place of a family member who could not attend, Bill Stephenson read history about his uncle Ernest Perley Hartt who first came to Fairy Glen, Saskatchewan in 1914 and in 1920 decided to stay and farm. We learned that his 1949 Chevrolet farm truck stands in the show room of the Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealership in Duncan, B. C.

There was a power point slide show to follow each speaker. We all felt that we knew more about these fine folks after the more personal tributes.

Probably the most fascinating part of the display was the Hartt Tree Wall Chart. It is two feet wide and 126 feet long with 1886 descendants and 905 spouses. It was an attraction in New Brunswick and will be on display in Washington next summer. Heartland Family Graphics in South Dakota took ten hours to print it.

Many of the families had interesting displays of pictures, and personal articles of interest.

We are all looking forward to the Hartt reunion to be held in Washington State June 25 & 26, 2005. The next Western Canadian Reunion will be in Granum, Alberta in 2007.

We are all indebted to Carole and her sister Colleen Newlove of Calgary. Once again Carole has done an admirable job organizing a lovely weekend Hartt Reunion.

Thank you, Carole!

Written by Beatrice Still of Regina, Saskatchewan