People of Prince George, The Foundation of Our Community Volume II, written by The Citizen's Seniors' Scene columnist Kathy Nadalin, is now proudly sitting on the shelves of Books & Co.
The book release and signing is set for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The process of writing her weekly newspaper columns (that are also online at the Citizen website) are a labour of love for Nadalin, who's been writing for the last seven years.
There are 120 personal histories in this book and who she looks for are those who are older than 70 and have been living in Prince George for about 40 years.
She is an extraordinary volunteer who knows how important it is to write the personal history of the pioneers who built Prince George from the ground up.
When Nadalin visits the person she's going to write about she makes notes and then writes up the story and submits it to the person for approval before it ever gets published.
"It's their story, not mine and I want them to be happy with it when it comes out in the paper," Nadalin said. "A lot of people say they don't have a story but everybody has a story to tell."
She continues her volunteerism by creating and publishing the books that are a collection of her columns so members of the Prince George community, friends, family members and those featured in the stories can have a permanent keepsake of their very own.
Nadalin couldn't prepare the columns for publishing on her own because she doesn't have the computer savvy to do it so this year she turned to her son, Scott Pauley, for help and then she turned to his best friend, Jeff Bonnell, who she considers another son, for more help.
Everything was done over the phone and through cyberspace, she said, because her boys are in Olympia, Washington. That's how the book ultimately came together so it could be sent to the publisher for printing.
"And, of course, I can't thank them enough for all their help," she said.
Looking at the cover of the book, Prince George residents will recognize the public artwork called Commotion that is located at 20th Avenue and Victoria Street. It was created by Roman Muntener. Nadalin put the photo on the cover as a way to thank Muntener as he volunteered his time to prepare the columns for the first volume of the People of Prince George book.
"I just wanted to honour Roman Muntener for all his design and layout work, which was donated," Nadalin said.
Nadalin has designated three copies as keepsakes and she's asking everyone who is in the book or family members of those who are in the book and have died since to sign their page.
One book will go to the Prince George Community Foundation, one that will go into the City of Prince George's next time capsule and one she will keep as a treasured keepsake for herself.
All proceeds from the book sales are going to the Prince George Community Foundation.
"It's all about the people that are in the book and that's why I do this," she said.
Because Nadalin is known for writing the columns about the senior members of the community she has been asked many times to use the information in the column to do the eulogies of those who have passed away.
"It's such an honour and some of the keepsakes that are on display at the memorial services have included the book or a copy of the column that had been printed in the newspaper," she said.
"When I see that it really gets my heart. I get so many hugs from sons and daughters because they are so thankful that someone did this for their parents. When I'm out in public people always come up to me and thank me for writing the history of the Prince George people. I want to thank the Citizen for providing another platform for seniors. It's so very rewarding to be writing these stories. I highly respect every person I have written about and they have all become friends of mine. They are the people who have made Prince George what it is today and I am proud to tell their stories."
