Dennis Struk hopes to publicly display the photos, memorabilia and country western history he has been collecting his whole life. Dale Boyd/Osoyoos Times
Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
Dennis Struk is a born collector.
He undoubtedly sits on the foremost country-western memorabilia collection in Osoyoos at his home.
Hundreds upon hundreds of signed photographs, albums, knick-knacks and more featuring the signatures of legends like Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers, and many more obscure and niche artists from the Canadian music scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s and beyond.
Struk started playing music when he was just a kid, and his collection started once he hit the road playing music across the country in the ‘60s.
“At the time I had bands on the road and it started way back. It started out with pictures of people I’d met on the road playing,” Struk said.
Back then bands would carry 8×10 photos as merchandise, which Struk would swap like musical trading cards.
“So any time I’d see a different band and meet a band I would say give me one of your pictures!” Struk said with a laugh.
What is on display at Struk’s home is only the tip of the iceberg, with tucked away bins holding the depths of his collection. Travelling, playing music in the ‘70s in Winnipeg, Struk “just kept on collecting.”
In 2011, his hobby got a big boost with a bit of a jackpot at a storage locker auction in Calgary.
“I didn’t even know what I bought. And basically what it was, it was full of autographed old, old country music memorabilia,” Struk said.
“All I did all my life I worked around auction sales and played music. So when I travelled I was always picking stuff up. And same thing when I was at the auction, you know, old magazines to come in and (the vendors) couldn’t sell them. They’d say ‘here, take them to the garbage,’ and I’d say ‘where’s my car?’” Struk laughed.
With a growing collection, and likely some hidden gems, Struk hopes to take the memorabilia to the public in a museum of sorts as an effort to encapsulate history, and inspire future artists.
“Well, I’d like to see some of this stuff kind of kept because you know what I find nowadays, believe it or not, there’s a lot of younger kids getting back into the old music. And what I would like to do, I don’t know if it’s going to go or not, but I’d like to find a commercial building, set all this up and then have like a little music theatre,” Struk said.
He doesn’t have a favourite piece in the collection, there are simply too many to choose from, but more importantly Struk says that each piece comes with a story — and many of those stories show how musical history has connections to Osoyoos and the Okanagan.
“I was playing in Moncton, New Brunswick in a mall and I found this picture of the flea market. So I got this picture and I bring it all the way back here,” Sturk said, holding one of his many photos of country-western musicians. “Before I went there I was living in Summerland and this picture was from Summerland. And I found it in Moncton, New Brunswick and the guys are actually from Vancouver.”
Struk has tons of stories like this, weaving the Okanagan Valley in small ways through musical history.
“There’s so much history just in the valley, most people don’t know that,” Struk said. “Lots of them, old musicians, did come to this area to retire. And one time Vancouver was the goin’ place in Canada.”
His collecting days are far from over, as Struk still takes to the flea markets to see what he can find, and sometimes play a few tunes on the guitar while he is at it. He has become a familiar face to vendors who now hold on to pieces for him because “they know they’ve got a sale.”
“I’m at the flea market all the time. I was actually set up selling there but I’m not now because I play music for the old timers here in the winter. But I’m still at that market every weekend, digging,” Struk said.
