I’ve never had the patience for filing.
Almost in spite of myself, my personal archives is probably equal in size to the Cowichan Valley Museum. But the unavoidable filing is such a drag...
On the plus side, when I do give filing the time and attention it deserves—needs—I’m sometimes pleasantly surprised with the nuggets that turn up: newspaper clippings, as a rule, that I’ve forgotten about.
Read MoreSome things never change. As sure as summer you have heat, swimming...and tragedy.
In July 1921, it was that of 12-year-old Donald Smith Hawkins, a student of Duncan Public School and the adopted son of James Hawkins, foreman of the James Logging Co., Cottonwood Creek.
While his father worked in camp, Mrs. Hawkins and Donald lived at Tyee Siding; but she was away so, Donald was staying with his dad in a floating shack at Youbou, downstream from Cottonwood Creek on the north shore of Cowichan Lake.
Read MoreHome 2, Visitors 0
Our winters are mild but they do tend to drag their heels a little.
But this spring was mild. I can attest to this by the fact that—I have witnesses—the “Luftwaffe” was out as early as mid-February. I did manage to down two of the beggars at South Wellington which, experience has taught me, is home to the biggest, fattest, loudest airborne pests on the Island.
They’re nothing like when I was a lad, of course.
Read MoreThe results of a study of the differences, perceived and real, between Canadians and pre-Trump Americans were once published in the Victoria Times Colonist. Apparently, we're more alike than we think. Oh, we're more polite, more restrained (I'd like to think, ‘mature’ and ‘refined’). But when it comes down to the nitty gritty the study suggests, heaven forbid, that we're more akin to Americans than we care to admit.
Read MoreThe results of a study of the differences, perceived and real, between Canadians and pre-Trump Americans were once published in the Victoria Times Colonist. Apparently, we're more alike than we think. Oh, we're more polite, more restrained (I'd like to think, ‘mature’ and ‘refined’). But when it comes down to the nitty gritty the study suggests, heaven forbid, that we're more akin to Americans than we care to admit.
Read MoreR.E. Gosnell, pioneer tourist promoter, fired as provincial librarian and archivist, he fought back with sharpened pen.
“One of those tree wheeling, Jack of all trades who made British Columbia colourful at the turn of the century,” to quote one historian, R. Edward Gosnell has been called the father of today's Provincial Library and Archives.
Read MoreA sample of TW Paterson’s stories
Old Photographs that have something to say
You see them all the time. At garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores, they stare back at you from over the years.
How do these family photographs, so very personal and, one would think, so meaningful to their owners, find their way to a sales table?
Read MoreThe Mechanical Beast
Brian A. Wright – Guest Contributor
While she is washing the dishes, arms up to elbows in soapy water, she hears it. The Mechanical Beast.
Read MoreBy now longtime readers realize that I never kid around here on the Chronicles where history is sacrosanct if not, well, always 100 percent accurate. Usually, on those happily rare occasions, I can count on readers to point out errors or inconsistencies.
Generally speaking, a man just flat out tells you—not always in the Queen's English, but at least you know where you stand. Women are more subtle. Rather than a 2x4 between the eyes, it's more like surgery—they can leave you with such a warm feeling that it takes half an hour for you to realize that it's blood.
Read MoreBy now longtime readers realize that I never kid around here on the Chronicles where history is sacrosanct if not, well, always 100 percent accurate. Usually, on those happily rare occasions, I can count on readers to point out errors or inconsistencies.
Generally speaking, a man just flat out tells you—not always in the Queen's English, but at least you know where you stand. Women are more subtle. Rather than a 2x4 between the eyes, it's more like surgery—they can leave you with such a warm feeling that it takes half an hour for you to realize that it's blood.
Read MoreOn Saturday we attended the annual Times Colonist book sale in Victoria. Organized and operated by a small army of volunteers, the money raised (well over $6 million since the first sale in 1998!) is matched, in part, by provincial government funds.
The money goes towards promoting and improving literacy on Vancouver Island.
Read MoreFor reasons I’ve never understood, we Canadians don’t seem to want to honour our heroes.
I don’t mean “celebrities”—our overnight adulation for, say, rock stars—or notoriety. I mean lasting fame and remembrance for achievements that were above and beyond the call of duty or the norm. Personal acts of heroism and accomplishment that have contributed to the very making of Canada.
Read MoreTuesday, April 28th, will mark another Workers Day of Mourning ceremony at the Forest Workers Memorial Park in Lake Cowichan.
The park honours the workers in the forest industry who helped pioneer and develop the communities around the Lake, but has also come to acknowledge all injured and killed forestry workers.
Lest anyone think otherwise, logging has always been—and continues to be—a dangerous job.
Read MoreToday marks the 81st anniversary of the sinking of HMCS Esquimalt, the last Canadian warship lost during the Second World War. Every year, namesake Esquimalt Municipality marks the tragedy that claimed 44 of her 71 officers and crew.
Read MoreLast week’s Chronicle on the legendary Crowsnest Pass bootlegger Emilio Piciarello drew this response from reader Steven H:
“Johnny Schnarr was Vancouver's top Rum Runner. He worked for the McCoy Syndicate whose offices were in the Marine Building; his full story can be found in Libraries. He always had to build a new boat every time the Americans built faster Coast Guard boats.
Read MoreFurther to today’s story on Emilio Picariello, ‘Bottle King” and bootlegger, if you should find yourself in the Crowsnest Pass, specifically in Coleman, AB, you might wish to check out the Rum Runner Restaurant. It features a mural depicting the wild 1920s when that area was a bootleggers’ Mecca.
Be sure to order Pic’s Bootleg Beans, “a blend so good it’s almost illegal”!
Read MoreCan any of us really trust our childhood memories? Can we really be sure that those few images or moments in time that seem to be branded on our brains really existed or happened as we recall them?
One that sticks out in my memory is of an open garage at the end of Leslie Drive, Saanich, BC, two streets over from mine. I often passed the garage in summer when coming and going from the local playground.
Read MoreIf you write historical posts for social media as I do, it can be surprising which subjects resonate most with readers, judging by the volume of comments.
Some subjects that you’re sure will draw a response, don’t; and some that you think are so-so, ring a bell. Go figure.
Twice lately, I’ve written about the Westholme Giant, a fir tree so tall that it could be seen by ships at sea who used it as a landmark.
Read MoreThe wind sure can blow in Prince Rupert!
I’ve expressed my misgivings with Facebook in the past. It’s sort of a love-hate relationship. Okay, not really love or hate; let’s just say, I’ve become wary. You have to watch what you say on Facebook or you can get burned. I don’t mean idle chitchat, I mean when you post something that you mean to be informational as well as entertaining. In other words, the full beer, not just the suds.
Like history, for example. (What else would you expect me to write about?)
Read MoreAfter years of public agonizing, the NDP government has dropped the shoe: Daylight Saving Time will become permanent as of the morning of Monday, March 8th.
That’s when DST will become law—not for just seven months of the year but for all 12.
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