Welcome to the ‘new’ Chronicles!
British Columbia Chronicles.ca, that is, rather than CowichanChronicles.com.
Well, the kids are back to school and the PNE is on again. I’m referring to the Pacific National Exhibition, of course, which everyone knows by its initials.
The PNE has a special place in my memory bank. Back in the dark ages when I was a kid, it was the harbinger of death for me.
Read MoreI’m absolutely amazed by the wonders of our technological age, particularly as it applies to my fields of researching, writing and publishing.
Read MoreA reluctant latecomer to social media, as I’ve admitted before, I’ve come to recognize its outstanding potential as a conduit for feedback from readers.
I can burn the midnight oil, researching, writing and polishing posts for the Chronicles, then my graphics guru Patricia hits the send button and—poof!—they’re in your morning mailbox.
Read MoreThe recent reopening of the Royal BC Museum’s controversial Old Town exhibit drew an interesting letter to the editor of the Victoria Times Colonist. Bob Miers welcomed the return of this popular attraction with its more “socially inclusive themes” but lamented that there’s no mention of Sir James Douglas, our first colonial governor and, without doubt, an unrecognized Father of Confederation.
Read MoreTowards the end of my accompanying post on cigarettes I note the multi-billion-dollar cash settlement between the tobacco companies and 46 American states, to be paid over 25 years.
In 2015 JTI Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco and Rothmans-Benson and Hedges were ordered to pay $15 billion to Quebec smokers in the biggest class action suit in Canadian history.
Read MoreA mention in last week’s Chronicles of an email from friend and subscriber Stephanie Walter re: her having found a copy of my evergreen book, Ghost Town Trails of Vancouver Island (as it was originally titled in 1975) drew a quick response:
Read MoreAs the son of a career Royal Canadian Navy man, and the writer of many, many stories on shipwrecks, a recent article in the Nanaimo News Bulletin piqued my interest.
Read MoreIn my recent series on the Leech River gold rush I made several references to Vancouver Island colonial governor Arthur Edward Kennedy.
Read MoreThe B.C. Aviation Museum has scored another great acquisition, the latest being a CF104 Starfighter from the Cold War era. This supersonic jet goes down in aviation history as being the first aircraft to break Mach 2—twice the speed of sound.
Read MoreFor some, July 1st was a day for reflection.
As the Cumberland Museum and Archives pointed out in a news release, July 1, 2023 marked “the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act, a policy that banned Chinese immigration from 1923 to 1947.
Read MoreOne of the Cowichan Valley’s best known former Paldi residents, Harjinder Kaur Doman, widow of the late lumber baron Herb Doman, died June 3rd. Husband Herb Doman, of course, made his mark as the founder and owner of one of the largest forestry companies in the province—a long way from delivering firewood in Paldi in his early years.
Read MoreFor quite some time now it has been apparent to me that the internet address, www.CowichanChronicles.com, is too geocentric. The digital world is just that—global.
Too, as readers must realize by now, the Chronicles isn’t purely about the Cowichan Valley. Generally, I tell a story about the Cowichan area about one in five-six weeks. This became the pattern over 23 years in the Cowichan Valley Citizen which, for 20 of those years, appeared twice weekly.
Read MoreWhen is a heritage home or building not a heritage home or heritage building?
Why, when they get in the way of development, of course.
Read MoreI begin with the sad news that the poster we placed in memory of Molly Justice who was murdered in January 1943 has been removed by persons, and for reasons, unknown.
Read MoreOne of my Achilles Heels is organization. Almost a lifetime of files, photos, books etc., etc., have become an ongoing challenge to keep properly sorted. You know, a place for everything and everything in its place.
Read MoreWe begin this week’s editorial on a happy note, a press release from the Cowichan Valley Museum:
Together We Did It! Duncan Train Station, Winner of the National Trust for Canada’s Next Great Save. Update!
Read MoreFrom this month’s Cowichan Historical Society newsletter:
May is B.C. Mining Month - The Britannica Mine Museum is commemorating “100 Years of Mill 3” in a feature exhibit that will run until November 5, 2023.
Read MoreOne might not, at first blush, think of Gordon Lightfoot, Canada’s legendary troubadour, as an historian. But, in many ways, he was. He wrote about real life, about real Canadians, about real events, such as the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and its lost company.
Read MoreI’m sure you’ve heard this expression before: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
Well, the provincial government appears to be on a course of fixing things up real good when it comes to our—I repeat, our—heritage.
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