Personal – Tim Richer Graphic Design

July 24, 2020July 25, 2020

25 Years…

Last week (July 22) marked 25 years of marriage for my wife and I and this weekend we are travelling the backroads of our province (avoiding Covid) to celebrate. Today we were able to check off another couple of ghost town locations out of the 50 or so I have marked out on a map. This one is Hackett. Which according to my research was surveyed in 1924-25 by CPR railroad. Hackett never really thrived until the 30’s – 40’s and was a little hamlet with 2 grain elevators, a general store and a post office. For 20yrs Hackett was an important point for shipping but by the 1940’s better roads nearby led to a syphoning off of business to towns like Stettler, Hannah and Castor. By 1950 the general store was forced to close and the building moved away. The last grain elevator closed in 1971 and has since been removed. There is little left (other than Google maps) to show Hackett even existed. The following images show a satellite image of the farm with the former roads of Hackett superimposed. Another photo shows where the original railroad went through, all that remains is the raised bed the rails were on and a finally a photo of the farm that now exists overtop where Hackett once stood. This was a great day. I’ll have another post up later of another Town Leo, that we tried to find but again is all but gone. There is word however, that some of it was moved to Byemor which we shall visit tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Until next time – Tim

Satellite view of Hackett showing where the farm now stands with the original roads superimposed.

Photo of the farm from another side road. Couldn’t access the area as it was all fenced with many many stay out signs.

For perspective I drew in the rail lines. This is heading towards where Hacket once was.

Quick update… the next day I located the original Hackett railway sign at the Stettler Museum.

December 11, 2018December 11, 2018

Way Too Long

Abandoned grain elevator on the way to Prince Albert.

It’s been six months since my last post, and at least two months since my last road trip in search of the abandoned. It has definitely been too long. Work schedules are the problem, well, not for the lack of posting but for the lack of road trips. My wife and I are no longer on the same schedule so we haven’t’ been able to get out together and it’s a joint vice of ours. She enjoys wandering down the backroads and I enjoy the hunt of things long lost. There are so very many amazing places to photograph in this Province, I have but scratched the surface. Full-time work, Freelance jobs and side projects have kept me busy the rest of the time. I have 7 clients of varying frequencies from once a year to almost monthly. It’s nice to keep busy.

I continue to research Ghost Towns in Alberta and have begun to make my own list of finds as we stumble upon them. Perhaps some day I will make a book on them all, there hasn’t been an updated book on them since the 80’s, at least none that I’ve been able to find. That would be a dream job for sure… or is it dream project? Either way it would be nice to get paid to travel around Alberta (or all of Canada for that matter), taking pictures and writing down the history and story of these amazing places of the past. So if anyone is reading this that has any pull with any publishers give me a call and maybe my dream job could become reality.

Tim

July 24, 2018July 24, 2018

Ghost Towning Part 2 and Other Things

Hello, hello, hello.

It has been a few weeks to a month now, since my last post about our excursion to find Windfall and although we didn’t have any success finding anything left after 50yrs (no big surprise there), we did have a very enjoyable day. We came across some other neat finds instead.

The Rochfort Trestle Bridge: Is one of the longest wood trestle bridges in North America at 2,414 ft (736 m) long and 110 ft (33.5 m) tall; built in 1914 over Paddle River; two short portions were replaced by steel; still in use periodically by CN. We also found an old farm house along Hwy 43 not far from Sangudo, AB.

Since our trip to Windfall I have started a new position as Graphic Designer with Lock Surgeon, a family of companies dealing with residential and commercial security. I will be working on web design, content creation, catalogues, advertisements etc… It is a new direction for me in that I have not had much work along those lines for the past 5yrs at my previous job.

The summer is flying by and I am looking at all the places I still want to visit with a modicum of distress. So many places so little time. It was our 23rd wedding anniversary last weekend and we took a trip to Red Deer.

This is from the trail around Gaetz Sanctuary, a very nice little conservation area in the middle of town. On our way home the next day we took the back roads and found a small ghost town called Meeting Creek (population 39). There was a very nice heritage site there with Grain Elevators and train station.

These little finds keep us in anticipation for each and every trip we take, we never know what we will discover.

Stay tuned!

June 23, 2018November 28, 2023

Ghost Towning Part 1

First Saturday off for Marlene, so we’re off to find us another abandoned town. Today’s jaunt takes us to Windfall. So many abandoned towns in Alberta, this is going to be a busy summer.

Hoping to see some cool run down buildings or old cemeteries along the way. Gotta get my photo series going.

Have a great day everyone!

#GhostTowns #Abandoned #Photography #RoadTripping #Photo #Exploration #Alberta #Windfall

July 23, 2017

Anniversary

Yesterday (July 22), was my 22nd wedding anniversary. We took a day trip down to Calgary to take in the local sights. It was a great day. Calgary is a nice city (although I’m partial to Edmonton, as it’s my home town).

We enjoy day-tripping when we can, it affords a lot of conversational time while driving. We packed a picnic lunch, which is a great way to cut down on costs on these trips since food is a big expense while out and about. We drove around the city some and then settled on Heritage Park, a nice 127 acre park housing restored or replica buildings from many different decades, (Similar to Fort Edmonton in Edmonton). There was a great deal to see and do, although we were disappointed in some sections not having enough staff resulting in buildings not being open and the train wasn’t running, but we did take in the paddle-wheel boat ride.

It was a great way to celebrate our 22years together, they haven’t all been good, we’ve had our ups and downs, but we have many more ups than any down could ever ruin and it’s all about the effort and time we put into it. Marriage should never just be put on cruise control, marriage takes focus, energy, selflessness and a lot of shifting gears. Here’s to another magnificent 22years or more ahead of us!

Until next time my friends,

Tim

July 16, 2017

Sunday’s Are For Adventures

Sundays are definitely for adventures. We returned to this quaint and appealing little shop about 25min west of Edmonton – Spruce Park Ranch Country Store. My wife and I discovered it about a month ago and returned today with my mom to show her. So many ideas for home decorations mixed with some local canned goods and a little café. If you’ve never been I highly recommend the short drive to check it out.

July 15, 2017

Enjoying The Little Things

Good morning!

That is to say at least that its morning when I wrote this. The swiftness and convenience at which technology (smartphones, apps), moves is amazing. To be able to sit on my front porch and write a short post to all of you from my iPhone, while sharing the little things like reading, journaling, enjoying a good coffee and soaking in the beautiful morning, well it’s fantastic!

As I sit, soaking in a bit of sun and caffeine, having already sent out a client’s proof this morning, I can now take this little bit of “me” time to refresh and renew the soul. It really is the little things in life that can bring much joy.

Just a quick post from the porch, until next time,

Tim

February 28, 2017

Still Here

Hello!

Wow! It’s been a long time. I haven’t posted here since October 2016, where does life get away from us?

I post on a more regular basis through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter so you can follow those links through this site. I do need to work on posting from here more often. That being said, life has been busy, not just in the world of Freelance and 9 to 5-ing but also in my personal life. I have 3 large projects each year at this time for 3 different towns but should have them all wrapped up in a couple of weeks. I have also been continuing on with reworking my self-published children’s books, so keep your eyes peeled for those as well (not really soon, but soon).

Motivation and perseverance are the words and goals for 2017.

Stay tuned!

Tim

May 7, 2016

Fort Mac

It has been such a shocking few days so far watching the news coming out of Fort Mac(Alberta). I am very thankful that my brother and his family made it safe to our home in Edmonton. My heart goes out to each and every citizen of that fine town. It is a tragedy of tragedies to be sure and has not ended yet. It will not be days, but rather weeks, I think, before anyone will be able to return. Thank you to all who are fighting so hard and diligently against natures worst. Thank you to everyone who has and is reaching out to those who may have lost everything. May the unity that Albertans/Canadians are showing at this time continue and show the world what we are made of.