Okotoks is richer in wartime history than you might think.

Over 75 years ago Mrs. Alice Spackman of Okotoks began collecting pieces of history from soldiers who were stationed at the De Winton Air Base during World War ll.

Mrs. Spackman invited these individuals to stay with her. She provided them with a home away from home and a second mother. She wrote letters to those she knew stationed over seas, took pictures of those staying with her, and wrote down notes to remember them by, she then compiled all this into a scrapbook.

This scrapbook still exists today at the Nanton Bomber Command Museum, and has now been brought to life by local author Anne Gafiuk.

Gafiuk was invited to write a story about the scrapbook, and after two and a half years of additional research she has produced the book "She Made Them Family: A Wartime Scrapbook From The Prairies". She has brought a piece of Okotoks history to 2015.

Gafiuk says that she "just expanded on what Mrs. Spackman had build and preserved."

She adds that the book is for all ages to enjoy. "It is a very visual book consisting of pictures, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and letters", Gafiuk says.

The book was launched on Sunday at the RPAC, with both the author and veterans in attendance.

A few special editions of the book were autioned off at the launch, with proceeds going to the Nanton Bomber Command Museum and the Okotoks Museum and Archives.

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