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Gladys Christina Maria Puylaert, born in Belgium in 1898, was the elder of two children born to Arthur Puylaert and Rose Farrell. The family emigrated to Canada in 1909 and moved to Athabasca in 1912. Gladys lived mostly with the Vilsmeyer family who had a cafe in the Athabasca Hotel and then in the first Grand Union Hotel. In 1917 Gladys was asked to be night operator in the three-person continuous telephone service which included Martin Hanson and Louise Juneau. Shortly after the new brick telephone building was built in 1918, the other operators left and Gladys ran a semi-continuous service until she moved to Edmonton in Dec. 1924. Gladys married Bill Wright in 1923 and they had one son, Bill Jr. She died on Dec. 13, 2000.

Edwin Kinney Wright was born in Shannonville, New Brunswick in 1898. He graduated in medicine from McGill University in 1931 and moved to Athabasca to practise in Nov. 1933. He married Marjorie Ellis in 1933 with whom he raised five children: Robin, James, Daniel, Michaelle and Erin. Dr. Wright built a medical centre in Athabasca in 1949 that also housed Peterson's Rexall Drug Store and had apartments upstairs. After the death of his wife in 1952, Dr. Wright moved into one of the apartments. Dr. Wright died in an airplane crash in Tokyo in 1966. He was a veteran of WWI, and a member of the Masons, the Chamber of Commerce, the BPO Elks, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, and St. John's Ambulance.

Athabasca's Working Class Theatre was formed in [1990] for entry into the Zone 2 Yellowhead Festival. In 1992 they won the Alberta Provincial Adult One-Act Play Festival in Calgary.

The not-for-profit Words Work Literacy Society was created in 1988 to provide literacy programming to Athabasca area residents. From the 1988 By-Laws: The Words Work Adult Literacy Program, guided by the advisory board, seeks to provide in a supportive and positive climate, a service to the adults of the County of Athabasca who have difficulties with reading, writing, and numeracy. The program will help learners grow in confidence, social skills, and self-worth. The program, and the individuals involved also seek to raise community awareness on the issue of adult literacy. In recent years, computer literacy has been added to the program.

William Lewis Rice Wood (1919-1988) was one of four children born to Lewis Hay Irving Wood (1880-1967) and Letitia Rice (1885-1973). Bill's siblings were Julius, Isobel and Jim. He served overseas in WWll for five years with the Royal Canadian Engineers. In 1946 he married Freda Gosselin, a teacher and mother of two children: Leslie and Karen. Bill and Freda had three children: Holly, Robin and Lorne. Freda taught school and Bill farmed his father's land. Freda's son, Leslie Gosselin, took his step-father's surname, Wood.

Lewis Wood was born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1880, the son of Colonel Julius John Wood who was a surgeon with the British army in India. Lewis was educated in Switzerland and Edinburgh, where he apprenticed to make wooden patterns for the iron works. In 1904 he immigrated to Canada.In 1906 he filed on homestead SW6-66-22 W4 on the west bank of the Muskeg Creek. In 1912 he married Letitia Rice. Thery had four children: Julius, Isabel, James and William. Lewis made a living freighting to Wabasca and Pelican Portage in the winter. In 1927 he bought a sawmill and cut lumber. Lewis died in 1967. Letitia died in 1973.

Victor Wolanuk was one years old when his parents Wasyl (Bill) and Annie Wolanuk immigrated from Poland with their three children (Xannie and Antonette) in 1929. Bill (1892 – 1945) homesteaded at NW 10-68-21-W4, Richmond Park, Alberta and two more children were born in 1930 (Mary) and 1937 (John). Annie and the children kept the farm running after Bill’s death in 1945; Victor eventually taking over the homestead. He married Anne Popwich in 1955. Victor became an Athabasca School District No. 42 trustee in 1950, was a member of the Farmers’ Union of Alberta (subsequently the United Farmer’s of Alberta), a director of the Richmond Park Mutual Telephone Company, and a member of the “Reflections from Across the River,” 1994 history book committee. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 88 years. His grandson now farms the family homestead.

The Winding Trail Women's Community Club was a community club active in the Winding Trail School District No. 4544 in the 1930s and 1940s. The school district was located at Twp 66 and R 24, west of Athabasca Alberta. At one time, Winding Trail United Church was active in the community and the Winding Trail Room at the Athabasca United Church is named for the congregation.