As I hope you noticed, the Chronicles was off the air last week thanks to a four-day power outage. Which also meant, of course, that I was offline, so there was no way to go to press with last Thursday’s latest instalment of “Cowichan’s ‘Hanging Tree.’”
Read MoreTwo weeks ago I told you the sad story of a German man, ‘Albert Ehmann,’ who committed suicide in a Victoria hotel room in 1909.
Read MoreSo the Royal BC Museum has blinked.
Read MoreAs some Chronicles readers may have discerned, aviation history is another passion of mine. What a treasure trove of fascinating stories is available in books, newspapers and online!
Read MoreWell, we finally did it, a little bit late but better than not at all. For two weeks we’d tried to make it down to Saanich to mark the 80th anniversary of the murder of 15-year-old Molly Justice.
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Chronicles readers have a chance to save some local heritage, downtown Duncan’s venerable E&N Railway (our Cowichan Valley Museum) as explained in this press release by the Island Corridor Foundation, the building’s owners:
The Cowichan Valley Museum and Archives Needs Your Help!
It was in the news earlier this month that a Gabriola Island man had lost his great-uncle’s ‘Dead Man’s Penny’. This First World War memorial plaque was made from bronze and became popularly known as the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ among front-line troops. It was also known as the ‘Death Penny,’ ‘Death Plaque’ and ‘Widow’s Penny’ even though it’s 120 millimetres in diameter.
Read MoreIn place of an editorial this week, here are some of the many comments I’ve received over the years in response to my writings about Molly Justice, the subject of today’s Chronicle. I’ve attached my answers where I think they bear repeating.
Read MoreAn interesting WANTED ad in last week’s Citizen caught my eye: “In the 1950s float planes replaced the steamships as the preferred mode of travel on the West Coast.
Read MoreThanks to the wonderful voice(s) of the late ‘Fireside’ Alan Maitland, The Shepherd, the story of a British Vampire jet fighter pilot flying home from Germany on Christmas Eve, 1957, is, in my humble opinion, the finest half-hour radio drama of all time.
Read MoreEveryone knows about the murals of Chemainus; they are, after all, internationally famous. A new project on the local scene was recently announced, the Que’utsun Festival of Murals…
Read MoreBlack Diamond mines is a historic site where 5 different communities developed during the coal mining era of 1860-1906. What we have left are the mines; we give tours, a cemetery, and a story that continues to be told.
Read MoreNurturing and conserving history, as is the case of almost everything else in life, requires effort, enthusiasm—and money.
All of our provincial museums, historic attractions—even those that enjoy the rare luxury of various degrees of public funding—rely upon cores of dedicated volunteers. The Cowichan Valley is no exception.
Read MoreWho was it who said, “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history?
And, does history really repeat itself?
My latest project, Celebrate Cowichan, what I believe to be the Valley’s only scenic 2023 Calendar.
I have two more Christmas markets coming up: the Shawnigan Lake Recreation Centre and Queen Margaret’s School this coming Saturday, the 26th, and Providence Farm on Saturday, Dec. 3rd.
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Well, another historic Cowichan Valley icon bit the dust this week.
Read MoreLest we forget....
Read MoreThey say time flies when you’re having fun—it certainly does when you publish on a weekly basis while balancing several other balls in the air.
Read MoreAttention, bank robbers! The strangest things pop up on the internet.
Read MoreThe thing that so many people seem to forget, or not to understand, is that history isn’t just about the past, the long ago—it’s happening all around us all the time.
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