I wonder how many people—even those who live in the Cowichan Valley—realize that Robert Service (1874-1958), the Bard of the Yukon, lived here for a time before he went to Dawson City as a bank clerk.
Read MoreIt was on the news that legendary country music star Loretta Lynn died, aged 90.
Read MoreThis week…a postscript to the story of the tragic Jamiesons whose curse also claimed the lives of numerous others, among them passengers of the various riverboats the brothers commanded.
Read MoreHousing, as we continually see in the news, is at a critical low in the Cowichan Valley.
Read MoreScarcely a day goes by without my finding something that’s historically topical in the newspaper. Three recent news stories rate as really ‘good’ news.
Read MoreI was overjoyed to read in the Times Colonist recently that Langford has named a new park off Bear Mountain Parkway, Flying Firemen Park.
Read MoreFor years, I shunned Facebook. But, recently, social media savvy friends convinced me that I was missing the boat…
Read MoreHow is that a provincial government can’t adequately fund a humble historic site such as Point Ellice House?
Read MoreI’ll begin this week on a sombre note, courtesy of the British Columbia Historical Federation…
Read MoreI’ll begin with this note from reader and friend Bill Irvine who commented on my reference to excavation for the new Telus building in Victoria which has alerted historians to the potential loss of artifacts from historic Kanaka Row
Read MoreThere’s been something of a flap in Victoria this past week where contractors are excavating the site of the new Telus building at Humboldt and Douglas streets, once home of Kanaka Row.
Read MoreA lot’s happening on various historical fronts and, alas, I can’t pass the buck to guest columnist Bill Irvine this week, so here goes...
Read MoreWell, it appears that summer has finally arrived—for awhile, anyway, if you go by our long, drawn-out wet, rinse-and-repeat spring weather.
Read MoreLet’s begin by congratulating Blake MacKenzie for his fine job of creating and nurturing Gold Trails and Ghost Towns, a Facebook page that just passed the 70,000-member mark.
Read MoreFurther to my comments last week re: the recycling of building materials, in particular first-growth fir lumber, via controlled demolition rather than by pulverizing it with machines and adding it to the landfills…
Read MoreIt’s not often that I read the news these days and have a truly positive reaction, but today’s front page of the Times Colonist is a double-header.
Read MoreThere’s lots happening so let’s start with the most time-sensitive…
Read MoreIf someone were to challenge me today with that old canard, “History is dull,” I’d whip out this recent article from the Times Colonist.
Read MoreRecently, the Chronicles noted that B.C.’s fifth oldest municipality revised its crest to include the Cowichan Valley’s original inhabitants and this theme of Reconciliation will be integral to 2023 anniversary events.
Read MoreIf anyone really believes that history is about the past, the long ago, they’re not keeping up with current news.
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