Generous community donations will help preserve Abbotsford's history through the purchase of a new microfilm scanner printer for the community archives at The Reach.
Individuals, community organizations and businesses immediately leaped up to donate the $9,100 required for the ScanPro 1100.
“They did this because they understand the value of making the vast library of information The Reach collections contain accessible to everyone,” said Kris Foulds, collections manager.
To provide public access to this vast quantity of historical information requires a microfilm reader/printer, which is used for in-house research and accessed by the public. Unfortunately, this piece of equipment broke down and needed to be replaced with a more efficient and software compatible printer/scanner. The ScanPro 1100 is a newer compact model that is more efficient because it operates by connecting to a user computer and provides an image using the computer’s monitor in addition to superior technical features. The new equipment will guarantee the continuation of the vital work of digitizing and uploading historic images to The Reach online photo archives site, which has a database of 26,000 images.
Donors got a first-hand view of the new, next to the old equipment, during a donor celebration at The Reach archives this week. These generous contributors included: Abbotsford Genealogical Society; Abbotsford International Airport–Parm Sidhu; Allan Asaph; Janet Barrie; Cap-It International Inc-Hank and Elaine Funk; Donna Dempsey; Polly Di Clemente; Cecelia Dirksen; Ingrid Epp; Fraserway Esso–Marg Warkentin; Ardis Janzen; Nucleus Networks–Gary Baerg; Jacqueline Nolte; Reimer Hardwoods Ltd–Colin Reimer; Myrtle-Anne Rempel; Stacey Somerville; Nerma and Dr. Param Shergill; Peter and Sheila Slade; Tradex–Craig Nichols; Fran Vanderpol; Milt and Rita Walker; OptimEyes Mobile Optician Ltd-Terri-Lynn and Dan Weatherby; Mike Welte; WestChem Manufacturing Ltd–Carl Cooke; Charles Wiebe; plus the Lohn Foundation (Vancouver) with a $2,500 grant; and Critical Control, the supplier, donated the PST charge.
To check out the ScanPro 1100 visit the archives at The Reach (32388 Veterans Way) or check historic images at www.thereach.ca.