A float plane was taxiing before takeoff on the Slave River. A group of men and boys were fishing from the shore. A dog, strangely, raced up and down the steps of a house overlooking the river from a ridge aboveSA国际影视传媒攁nd then, with a deep thud, the house was gone.

Fifty years ago last Thursday, Fort Smith lost a valued community member, several houses and some of its power infrastructure in a historic landslide.

On this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 anniversary of the event, a commemorative plaque was unveiled in remembrance of the disaster and the 27 families that survived, as was a bench in honour of Kay Ferguson, who didnSA国际影视传媒檛.

To at least one resident, the event is finally being commemorated in a real, tangible sense. She was there when it happened, and it left her changed forever.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou ask me what I did last year and I canSA国际影视传媒檛 remember,SA国际影视传媒� said Toni Heron. SA国际影视传媒淏ut this has always been there. What was going on that hour? I can tell you.SA国际影视传媒�

The summer of 1968 had been rainy, but the night of Aug. 9 turned out to be a fine one for baseball. Heron decided to go and watch her husband play, baby in tow, and started along a route that passed by the Ferguson's house.

SA国际影视传媒淚 noticed the little dog, the Ferguson's dog,SA国际影视传媒� said Heron. SA国际影视传媒淗e would run down and look back, then run back up and look at the door, and heSA国际影视传媒檇 run back down again.SA国际影视传媒�

She didnSA国际影视传媒檛 feel anything but as she walked up to the back door to stop into her parentsSA国际影视传媒� house, kitty-corner to the Ferguson's, she heard a thud.

Heron looked back to see telephone wires and power lines hanging and swinging. She thought someone had backed into a pole. Then she rounded the corner of her parent's house to look at the street and saw nothing but blue sky where the Ferguson's house had been.

SA国际影视传媒淚 started to scream, SA国际影视传媒榃ho pulled the Ferguson's house away?SA国际影视传媒� as I went into the house.SA国际影视传媒�

She left her baby with her sister and went to the new edge of the hill. Soon after, Mr. Ferguson sped up to the hill in his truck, got out, looked down the edge and then got back into his truck and rushed around to the bottom.

SA国际影视传媒淭he steps were still hanging there,SA国际影视传媒� said Heron.

After that, SA国际影视传媒渋t was chaos,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Other sections of the hill started to slide off throughout the day. Another house went down the next. Part of the power generation facility sheared off and fell. The power was gone, so vehicle lights were used at night to illuminate the hillside where hundreds of searchers looked for Mrs. Ferguson.

SA国际影视传媒淔ifty years have gone by, and through those 50 years I think a lot of people who remember what happened that day, just kept it in the back of their minds,SA国际影视传媒� said Heron.

In organizing the event, these storiesSA国际影视传媒攖old not just by those who were there but by their children who heard about it growing upSA国际影视传媒攕tarted coming out, she said.

Stories about people fishing from the shore when the water receded and rushed back in, and the land slid; about a mother going out to pay for her kidsSA国际影视传媒� swimming lessons, and her house falling while she was away. About a woman deciding to wait and weed her garden the next day, and then her garden falling down the hill with her luckily still inside.

ThursdaySA国际影视传媒檚 events were about airing those stories and filling in the history of this event, which literally changed the shape of the community, and celebrating the memory of Kay FergusonSA国际影视传媒攈er death both the peak of tragedy 50 years ago, and a chilling reminder of how lucky many others were.

Heron said this piece of history also needs to be known for future safety. She has heard elders say the land will still recede, and in researching the town, Heron read about a 1908 landslide that claimed many of the community's older buildings, including the Hudson Bay store, warehouse and residence.

Just as the town came together to rehouse its families and rebuild the community in 1968 and onward, it did so to put on ThursdaySA国际影视传媒檚 event.

Heron said the municipality, the GNWT and Fort SmithSA国际影视传媒檚 businesses, such as Northwestern Air Lease, didnSA国际影视传媒檛 hesitate to provide help, services and funding for the commemoration.

SA国际影视传媒淚n times like this, the community really pulls together,SA国际影视传媒� she said.