The title of the photograph is ‘Smoky Lake Street Hockey’ and it was taken by Nicholas Gavinchuk on December 29th, 1939. The six young boys in this photograph are, from left to right: John Gavinchuk (Nicholas’ son), Billy Antoniuk, Warren Wilson, Fred O’Shann, Alex Lenko, and Mike Kinasewich. The boys were all around nine years old at the time.
When asked to describe their days in Smoky Lake, two of the boys in the picture, now in their 70s, Gavinchuk and O’Shann, smile and get a twinkle in their eyes as they reminisce about playing ‘horse hockey’ out on a local farmer’s pond in the winter time.
"You have to remember the time at which that photo was taken, it was during the Great Depression and at the beginning of the Second World War," said Gavinchuk. "Times were tough, so we didn’t play with pucks, we played with frozen horse droppings - and it was just as fun!"
"We didn’t even really have a pond for the rink - it was more like a slough, but it did the trick because we skated there a lot," remembers John. "And everyone took turns in net, so everyone had a chance to have horse droppings shot at them!"
Gavinchuk and O’Shann both agree that although they experienced hard times growing up in Smoky Lake, there were plenty of memorable good times.
O’Shann remembers how ‘everyone knew everyone’ because Smoky Lake was such a tight-knit farming community. You did not have to look far to see chicken coops, grain elevators and buildings full of farming equipment, he said. And it also had a rich cultural community because a large majority of the people in the area were Ukrainian.
Gavinchuk recalls how people from neighbouring towns, such as Warspite and Waskateneau, would get together in Smoky Lake every Wednesday for ‘Market Day’.
"People would go to the market square, trade and barter for various goods, and then they would head to a local bar for the rest of the afternoon to socialize and maybe enjoy some drinks with friends," he said.
Gavinchuk also remembers that his father once took a picture of the market square when it was filled with horses, buggies and wagons.
"People would often not have much money since it was a farming community and grain prices at that time were very low, so individuals would offer my dad products like fresh cream or chicken eggs in exchange for a family photo."
Although both Gavinchuk and O’Shann ventured beyond Smoky Lake to travel the world and build lives in other parts of Alberta and Canada, they fondly remember their days in Smoky Lake.
The postcard photograph of them with four of their other ‘team mates’ is a celebration of treasured Albertan moments -- it is a celebration of friendship, community and of course - hockey.