What Will They Do To My Book?! (Part One)

Last time, I told you a bit about Winnipeg, and our visit to a Mennonite Village in Altona, Manitoba.

This time I want to 'show and tell' about the real reason DOTH and I were in Altona. As some of you know, I am in the throes of compiling a history book about a seniors' facility that is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011. It sounds like a boring project, but in reality it has been a fascinating project. Shepherd Lodge was a pioneer in seniors' homes, back in the early '60s, in Toronto. Prior to that, about the only care available was in government-run homes, which were apparently quite undesirable.

I was offered the expense-paid opportunity to visit the printing plant of the company who will print the book, Friesens Corp. of Manitoba. The trip was especially designed as a relationship-building venture. Friesens had come highly recommended to us, so I was excited to be able to see, up front, the service we would receive. DOTH came along with me (caring for her own expenses of course) because, as I explained last time, we have traveled so little in Canada - this was a good opportunity to visit a province we have never seen before.

The red carpet was truly laid out for us. We were picked up at our hotel in Winnipeg at 7:30am the morning after our arrival by an employee who lives in the downtown vicinity. It was about a 1.5 hour drive to Altona. Manitoba is SO flat!  The scenery was quite uninteresting, except for the birds. We would loved to have lingered with a pair of binoculars, but this was a business trip!

When we arrived, we met our host, Tim Friesen (not related to the company except as an employee -- there are lots of Friesens, Hieberts etc in Manitoba). As we walked through the front door, there was a sign at the reception desk personally welcoming us, which was rather nice. I am not going to go into all the details of our visit, as there was just so much that took place, but will let the following photos tell some of the story:

Not too far from the Friesens plant is this huge representation of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers."  Here is how the Altona website describes it:

"No stop in Altona would be complete without viewing the town's own contribution to the Guinness Book of World Records! Dubbed the Largest Painting on an Easel, the giant replica of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' will simply take your breath away!

In 1998, local artist and school teacher, Cameron Cross had a vision: He would create a landmark that would combine Altona's reputation as the Sunflower Capital of Canada with it's deep artistic roots. With assistance from the Altona and District Chamber of Commerce, this vision was realized. How was this accomplished?

First, a 76'6'' high, 27,000 lb, three-legged easel was engineered and constructed. Then, 24 sheets of 3/4'' plywood were laminated together to form the "canvas". Top this off with talent, combined with 17 gallons of paint, and the vision is complete! Originally located north of the Altona Park, the painting was moved to is new location on 10th avenue in the north east corner of town in 2006. This wonder must be seen to be believed!"

Inside Friesens, near the entrance, they have a fascinating 'musuem' of interesting items, including ancient printing technology:

Old Computer

Old Printing Press (with an even older, and exhausted, operator!)

 

and the old guillotine, for slicing paper

(wait till you see the new one and how many pages it can cut at one time!).

 

 

 

 

Many of you will recognize this most favourite of children's books, printed by Friesens, and which has sold over 5 million copies! It is one of my favourite children's books.

 

Friesens has a tradition whereby, after they have printed one million copies of a book,

 

 

They have a full-size quilt made of the book cover, and hang it in a place of honour in the area of the administrative offices of the plant...lovely!

This is a library in which you can find one copy of all the books printed thus far in the year - so this contains the books printed from January to July 2010.

 

Here is Tim, in the library, explaining some aspect of the printing process to DOTH.

 

Along one hallway is this beautiful quilt of a Manitoba countryside scene.

(For quilt-lovers, here is a link to some photos Manitoba Quilt creations)

Another quilt of a million-copy seller: "Company's Coming" - a series of very popular cookbooks found at least throughout Canada, and maybe beyond, usually to be found in supermarkets.

A hallway covered with the covers of all the books printed in the current year. Imagine the pride of the plant workers, as they travel up and down these halls, seeing the results of their efforts.

A hallway filled with the awards Friesens has won over the last few years.

Finally, a library containing all the school year-books alone, that Friesens has printed in this current year (for those outside of North America, you may not know that a year-book is usually a student produced manual covering the school year, filled with photos of students and faculty, art-work, poems, stories etc -- a great memento of the school year)

Next I will show you a little of the actual printing plant and the process. We were shown the process, step by step, and it is nothing short of fascinating!