Editorially speaking...
A 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...
The Cowichan Valley Museum (in the Duncan train station) is commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Auxiliary to Cowichan District Hospital with a “wideranging” display in the Priscilla Lowe Gallery.
The Auxiliary goes all the way back to 1932 and the King’s Daughters’ Hospital.
The display includes “everything from archival ledgers of earliest activities, photographs of annual bazaar events and community services as well as archival charts of donations raised”.
The display will last until August 31st.
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I’m forever amazed by what I find on the internet—and by what finds me. A new one to arrive in my email box is The old Langford History Podcast (https://langfordbchistory.wixsite.com/home).
The podcast, Episode 005, is entitled The Gold Stream: There’s Gold in That There Stream!
Or so hopeful prospectors thought, back in the 1860s, hence the creek’s name. As a kid, I spent most of a Sunday afternoon wading its shallows in search of some artifact dating back to the gold rush days. But no go. Years later, with a prospector’s pan I bought from Capital Iron, I found what’s known as flour gold—flakes so fine as to be powder, and all but worthless.
But fun!
Goldstream was quickly forgotten in the excitement of the Leech River gold rush of 1864 and now, of course, it’s part of a provincial park and major salmon-bearing stream.
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After having to set plans aside for two years because of COVID, the Songhees First nation has launched its “unique tourism initiative” with canoe rides and reality tours.
“We are excited to be able to share our tradition of hospitality on Lekwungen Territory this season,” Cecelia Dick, cultural tourism manager for the Songhees Nation told the Times Colonist in June.
The season started with a National Indigenous People’s Day celebration featuring a traditional canoe protocol welcome in the Inner harbour followed by a procession along the Causeway to Ship Point where cultural performances took place.
Offered to the public are The 7 Signs of Lekwungen Tour of cultural sites with a guide who will share stories of the sites’ history and significance to the Songhees people. (All of Victoria’s Inner Harbour area, including the site of the Parliament Buildings, were originally part of the Songhees’ large Victoria landholdings.)
There will also be canoe tours of the Inner Harbour. Note: participants will be accompanied by a guide who’ll provide a commentary on what they see, but they’ll have to paddle their own canoes!
There will be a walking tour of the tribe’s former lands that are now downtown Victoria, First nations art and Indigenous-inspired cuisine such as variations of bannock and a salmon burger.
For more information or to book a tour visit exploresonghees.com.
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Again, locally, an ad in the Citizen caught my eye. Dobson’s Glass Ltd., Duncan’s longest running business—119 years!—began with the arrival from England of William Dobson in 1898 although he didn’t begin the business until 1903.
Ralph Pritchett, who worked for the company for 35 years after starting out as a “cleanup kid,” bought out Ralph Dobson and brought in his son Lucas and daughters Stacie, Toni and Jill. Ralph retired last year leaving the business in the hands of his children.
They promise to continue to operate Dobson’s Glass “with the same values and expectations” as before and Ralph is looking forward to the firm’s 150th anniversary—only 31 more years to go.
There aren’t many Cowihcan Valley businesses that go back as far as Dobson’s. The only other pioneer firm that’s still on the job, that I can think of at this moment, is Duncan Iron Works.
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