Hay River 'memory wall' recalls residents who have died

Brad Mapes holds one of720 portraits in one hand while he screws it into a fence with the other.

His "memory wall" is growing, as it does every year, representing more and more of the population of Hay River, N.W.T.,that has died.

"It's a bit of a tradition in our town, to give respect for a lot of the people that made a huge difference in our community over the years," he said.

Mapes is the town's mayor, but also the chairperson of the Hay River MuseumSociety. In 2013, before he was chair, heput up the wall of portraitsto commemorate that year'shomecomingevent. He'scontinued that tradition every summer since.

"Anybody that lived in Hay River, that kind of spent time in Hay River, we put them up on the wall," he said.

Among the names are locally famous families that haveparts of the town named after them Camsell, Vale and names that are still common today. Passersby look for their own family names.

Starla Hudson finds her two cousins and points them out to her kids.

"They were both so funny. Very kind people," she said. "It brings back lots of memories. It's nice that they do this every year. It's nice to see that they're acknowledging all the people that we've lost."

Elizabeth Gaudot has spent years away from the community, but she's back now. She recognizes names and faces from decades ago, now smilingfrom the memory wall.

One is her grandmother.

"I don't have any pictures of her. My mom does, though," she said.

"Before I moved away from here, there's some students that I went to school with that are up on the wall. It's good to see. I haven't been here for very long, just over four years now. I hadn't seen any of these peoplethe ones that I do recognizeprobably in like over 20-some years."

Even to people from other communities, the wall of portraits means something. Ron Pierrot is from Fort Good Hope. He sits in a van watching his friends look for their own family and friends.

"This means a lot. A picture can tell a lot of stories," he said.

The wall will come down in the fall, when Mapes will return with his truck and his drill to repeat the process in reverse. Next spring he will return, with even more pictures to add.