This being Remembrance Day I've no wish to get into anything contentious so I'll content myself with a few notes on this, what I consider to be the most important day of the year...
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Over the past 24 years I’ve had the privilege of writing the Remembrance Day edition for the Cowichan Valley Citizen. At a calculated guess that would be close to 150 articles—a lot of words. All of them honouring what I believe is the most important day of the year: Remembrance Day.
Read MoreIt was Remembrance Day, 100 years ago, too. It was also the day of publication for the Leader--meaning that a report on the unveiling of the new Duncan Cenotaph would have to await the next issue, a full week after the fact...
Read MoreWhere did it go? 2021, I mean—it’s November!
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As did Alcatraz so too did Victoria have its “birdman.” Whereas Robert Stroud, a twice convicted murderer, made himself famous through his studies of birds, William W. Gibson achieved immortality by being Victoria’s—Canada’s—Wright Brothers in one.
Read MoreThere's no having to guess the big news story of this issue of the Leader, the large, centre-page headlines crying out: ARRANGEMENTS FOR UNVEILING CEREMONY ON ARMISTICE DAY. The unveiling in question was that of the Duncan Cenotaph.
Read MoreThere are so many news stories these days that have historical roots that I can’t keep up with them unless I want to condense them to the point of near pointlessness. Too, hardly a week goes by but that someone researching their family tree asks me about an ancestor I’ve written about over the years.
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There’s nothing quite like a mystery, and Victoria certainly has had its share over the past 180 years. Some, of course, were solved. Others, like that of the “small haunted cottage” remain unanswered—and as tantalizing today as when they first intrigued Victorians.
Read MoreThere’s no doubt as to the big news story of the day in this issue of the Leader. What makes it unusual is the fact that it’s in-house, so to speak, rather than the usual third-party.
Read MoreHere’s a recent news item near and dear to my heart. The former Times Colonist building at Hillside and Douglas streets, Victoria, has been renovated, reinvented and reopened as a combined commercial and residential building.
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When, many years ago, I was interviewed by a radio announcer about my newest book, Outlaws of the Canadian West, he expressed amazement that we had ‘outlaws’ in British Columbia. In the American Southwest, yes, but north of the 49th parallel? He could hardly believe it.
Read MoreFirst off the mark for this issue of the Leader is a report on Duncan Council which had had a busy meeting, Mayor Pitt presiding. Ald. Whidden reported that the new concrete pavement of Station Street had been “thrown open” to traffic and all was well but for two drainage outlets which had clogged with fallen leaves despite the installation of wire grates.
Read MoreFirstly, this tip for what looks like a great presentation by the Nanaimo Historical Society, for those of you who’ve purchased a membership as I’ve encouraged you to do in previous editorials.
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As we’ve seen, Volcanic Brown had to make some momentous decisions in his lifelong career as a prospector, such as the day he amputated his own gangrenous toes with a pocketknife.
Read MoreThe front page of the Leader in 1921 looks nothing like the front page of a contemporary newspaper. Today, you have maybe three headline stories with teasers for those within. The October 13, 1921 Leader has no less than 12 stories of varying sizes spread over six columns.
Read MoreCan you believe it, already the middle of October? What happened to the sun and heat? Most of us, no doubt, would welcome the return of sunshine but not the melting pot of June-July...
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Of all the stories of lost treasure in British Columbia the legendary Lost Creek Mine has the most personal meaning for me. It helped to set me on the path to becoming a lifelong writer/historian. All thanks to my growing up in Victoria in the 1950s on a diet of, first, American comic books, then American magazines, movies and TV.
Read MoreThe headline that cries out on this front page of the Leader is a nasty one: ORIENTAL MENACE – Asiatic Exclusion League Aims Endorsed by Board of Trade Council.
Read MoreAs befitting its importance to the Valley’s economy, agriculture was the big news story of the day, Cowichan cattle having had “splendid success” at the Victoria Fall Fair.
Read MoreReconciliation Day, the first of which coincides with today’s Chronicles.
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