Dear Editor,
The last Dupre landmark is no more. The community hall (formerly the school), the teachery, the Ukrainian orthodox church and now the Ukrainian Catholic church are all gone. The structures that once anchored Dupre no longer exist.
Nomadic peoples are concerned with how they came about through stories passed down generations thanks to their oral traditions.
Sedentary peoples prefer to be from somewhere tangible, an identifiable community that could be shown on a map.
I have not seen Dupre on any maps yet but I have heard stories relating to those buildings from the locals. Dupre's roots have disappeared with the buildings. What are we as a community to identify with now?
During one emotional Saturday afternoon that last significant landmark went up in flames by design. Leaving us only with memories of them and their stories. In the absence of highly trained storytellers of the oral traditions those memories will soon fade into total oblivion.
Pierre Bataillard
Dupre resident
