Guidebook available - Walking Tour

Featured Publication - Spring 2012:

Footsteps Through the Past 

     Walking Tour of Kimberley, BC


Copyright:    2011
No. of pages:     50
No. of photos:   70
No of sites:        74
Price:             $6.00

The book cover features the north side of Spokane Street comparing the buildings in three different eras. The building on the right is currently the Bean Tree Coffee House.

Now that spring is here, you may enjoy taking these 'walking' tours put together by our volunteers in this book "Footsteps Through the Past".

For $6 you can buy this coil-bound 50 page book, follow the maps around City Centre, Townsite, and Marysville, and read about and immerse yourself in some of the fascinating history of our businesses, health facilities, sports, founding citizens, and environment.

Example of one of the 3 tour maps guiding you to historic sites - City Centre.

The City Centre tour starts and ends at the Kimberley Heritage Museum, wandering as far as Mark Creek, where you will learn about the flood of 1948.  40 sites are described in the City Centre tour.

Example of four of the 74 historic sites described.

The Townsite tour describes 9 sites and the Marysville tour describes 25.  Directions from City Centre to the starting points of these two tours are clearly given in their introductions.  

Several pages of general Kimberley and mining history are included along with descriptions of the 74 historic sites and 70 restored photos.


The book "Footsteps Through the Past" is available at the Visitor's Info Centre at the west end of the platzl parking off Ross Street, and at the Kimberley Heritage Museum, 105 Spokane Street, Kimberley, BC.


Enjoy!


Dianne C.
Volunteer

1977 Kimberley Newspaper Mashup

Browsing the archived local paper I ran across these:

CBC TV pays visit to Kimberley.  Cameraman Blair Griffiths films local residents, including official greeter Chester Righton, in the mall / platzl for an upcoming CBC Hourglass five part series on the BC economy.

A new paint job done over the summer marks the entrance to McKim Elementary - Junior Secondary School.

Call for auditions by Kimberley Community Theatre's upcoming production of "Sweeney Todd the Barber".  Who can forget Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in Tim Burton's excellent musical movie. So grim.

Not sure for how many years the Lions club hosted TV Bingo but I recall around 1970 sitting with my mother in our living room while the game was on. A special treat on these evenings were a TV dinner on our new TV trays. If you won, you phoned in.


Yes, there were local TV broadcasts.

As the article says, this is the year it became law for everyone in British Columbia traveling in a vehicle (except students on school buses and large public transit buses) to use a seat belt.  There was lots of warning in the media.


I believe this is the year we "went metric" as well. Now, I can't recall how far a mile actually is.


Dianne C.

National Curling Champs 50th Anniversary

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1962 dawn of the awesome accomplishment of Kimberley women in the realm of Canadian Curling.

Fifty years ago, the Ina Hansen ‘rink’ (aka curling team) with Ada Callas as third, Isabel Lieth as second, and May Shaw as lead, won the second ever Canadian Women’s curling championship as representatives of British Columbia!

Over the next two years, they went on to win a three-peat provincially, a feat not repeated until January 2012 when the Kelowna rink skipped by Kelly Scott won their third BC spiel. Then, the Hansen rink were runners-up nationally in 1963, and once again National Champs in 1964.

To mark this 50th anniversary, the Shaw family, Bill of Red Deer, AB; Barb of Ottawa, ON; and Larry of Cranbrook, have generously donated a shadow box featuring memorabilia of their mother, May (Mae) Shaw to the Kimberley Heritage Museum.  By special request of the family, the shadow box is on loan to the Kimberley Curling Club at 523 Archibald St, Kimberley BC;  ph 250 427 2591

Other of Shaw's items donated to the Kimberley Heritage Museum  include sweaters, tournament pins, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, shoes, award certificates, and another tam - like that currently on display at the Museum.

The shadowbox arrives and is signed in

Bill Shaw and Gord Jenkins bring in the shadowbox

 Bill Shaw signs the donation in to the Museum

All donations to the Kimberley Heritage Museum are signed over by the donor. Then the items are accessioned:  each item is marked with a number corresponding to hard copy and digital files. These files contain all available information of the 'who, when, where, and what' of the item as well as standardized categories common to all museums as well as local significance.

After accessioning, curator Marie Stang, assesses the storage and preservation needs of each item and decides where and how to store or display it.

The plan for Mae Shaw's items (not including the shadowbox, which is on display at the Kimberley Curling Rink) is to use them in new 'back wall' display in the main gallery about this 50th anniversary, coming in the summer of 2012.

Bill Shaw takes in the Museum display, recalling how much work it was to 'break-in' a new straw broom

Curling History:

summarized from the 'curling dot ca' website

Kimberley women’s national championships:

1962 – won the second ever Canadian Women’s (Diamond D):

                             Ina Hansen, Ada Callas, Isabel Leith,  May Shaw

1963 – again represented BC at Canadian Championships (Diamond D):

                             Hansen, Callas, Leith, and Shaw

1964 – won the fourth ever Canadian Women’s (Diamond D):

                             Hansen, Callas, Leith, and Shaw

1973 – won the first ever Canadian Senior’s Championships:
                             Calles, Hansen, Shaw, and Barbara Weir

General Curling History

1927  –  Men         –   first Canadian Men’s national championship – the Brier

• held in Toronto, ON at the Granite Club

• sponsored by The Macdonald Tobacco Company

• won by skip Professor Murray Macneill of Halifax, NB with a team made up of 3 other skips recruited at the last minute

1960 – Women     –  first east / west women’s championship

• held in Oshawa, ON

• won by the Joyce McKee rink, Saskatchewan

• prior to this, a western Canada championship was sponsored by the T. Eaton Company; the east had only individual provincial championships. 
  

1961  –  Women   –    first Canadian Women’s national championship

• The Dominion Diamond D held in Ottawa, ON

• sponsored by Dominion Stores Limited

• won by skip Joyce McKee from Saskatoon, SK

1973  –  Senior Women     –   first Canadian senior women’s championship

• won by the BC team skipped by Ada Calles with Ina Hansen, May Shaw, and Barbara Weir

Gord Jenkins and Bill Shaw letting us get a good look at the shadowbox

 See the Framing Nook's photo of the shadowbox here

The involvement of Kimberley people in all aspects of Canadian Curling was and continues to be quite extensive - much more than this little snapshot can provide.  Thanks for reading!

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is happening as we post!


(Dianne Cooper writer and photographer, 18 Feb 2012)

Sports Memorabilia Spring 2012 - Starting January

In honour of the 80th Anniversary of the Kimberley Dynamiters hockey team, the Museum seasonal exhibit space is featuring memorabilia of some our citizens' significant sporting endeavors: hockey and curling, in particular.

Hockey

On display - Dick Vincent's Jersey

A little frayed around the edges, this jersey was worn by Dick "The Bear" Vincent, right winger for the Dynamiters for 14 years.  He started with the Dynamiters in the 1961-62 season, the teams first year in the 'new' Civic Centre Arena.

 Dick Vincent started playing hockey in high school in Otterbutne, near Pine Falls, Manitoba. Next he went to Flin Flon, MB and Portland, Oregon, USA before coming to Kimberley. He and his wife, Alma, settled and raised their family; Dick was employed as a millwright with Cominco here in Kimberley and Alma was a substitute teacher.

March 8th 1975 at the Civic Centre Arena was an "Appreciation Nite" for Dick Vincent. Below are some excerpts from the souvenir programme handed out that night:

     "the WIHL highest scorer ever ... 800 points with 340 of them goals"
  

     "The burly right winger build is the recommended brick out-house on skates"

The souvenir programme goes on for 16 pages with accolades and exploits, to and of a great local hockey player.

Links:

Photo: https://basininstitute.org/search/details.html?id=13339

Stats:  http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=12542

Curling

On display - Canadian "Diamond D" curling champ, Ina Hansen's sweater

This is the sweater worn by Ina Hansen when she, along with Ada Callas, Isabel Leith, and May Shaw, as representatives of British Columbia, won the Canadian Diamond D Curling Championship in 1964.

The sweater, made by the White Ram Knitting Company of Calgary, Alberta, is as it was when acquired by the Museum, with Mrs. Hansen's personally collected pins from her many bonspiels and tournaments.

Here is a photo of her in this sweater, when the team were runner's up in 1963 (Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History).

Also on display in the Museum, is Mrs. Hansen's sweater from her win as Canadian Seniors Champion in 1973, along with Ada Calles and May Shaw, again, and Barbara Weir.

.... AND many more artifacts!

Class Photos Line the Hall - "The old facebook"

Artistic treatment of the - Class of '45 - on view at the Kimberley Heritage Museum

According to the movie, facebook was developed so college students could share things on line. Not that long ago, we had phones and things like this display at the Kimberley Heritage Museum.

Lining the halls between the top of the stairs and the Kimberley Library reading room are collages of ‘Class Photos’ spanning 22 years of high school graduating classes from McKim Junior/Senior High and Selkirk High Schools.

Many former students come to spend a good hour pouring over the collages, remembering this person and that person, and being amazed at how young they themselves looked. Perhaps you can spot your relative, or friend, or your parents’ friends whom you remember visiting when you were a child?

Details of the Display

Before 1958 and after Central School downtown closed, McKim Junior / Senior High was THE high school. After that, high school was held at the ‘high’ school – up the hill – Selkirk Secondary– where the last year of grade school is still held.

We have the grad class collages from 1939 to 1961;

Selkirk Secondary is the place to see the grad class photos from1962 to present.

We also display the Grade 8 class of 1932, and the Kimberley High School Class of 1933.

These photos are available for viewing anytime the Library is open, even if the Museum displays are not.

A COUPLE OF LINKS

Selkirk High ca. 1967

http://www.basininstitute.org/search/details.html?id=4601

Band at Expo ‘87

http://www.basininstitute.org/search/details.html?id=4563

WANTED

Selkirk High School annuals – 1958 to present

Do you have a Selkirk High School annual?  The Museum is seeking annuals from 1958 to the present day for our collection.  We currently have NO Selkirk annuals for the 1960s in particular.

Please drop by (105 Spokane St, Kimberley, BC – see openinghours to left), phone (250.427.7510), or email (kdhs@shawbiz.ca) if you possibly have a donation.

Christmas 2011 Arrives!

Christmas arrives at the Kimberley Heritage Museum!

Mini-trees are very popular

Our full-sized tree features exquisitely conserved traditional glass ornaments dating from the 1940s to the 1960s donated by local families.

Christmas trees originated in Latvia and Estonia.

One of the first Christmas trees in Canada was put up in 1781 at a party given by General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel and his wife, the Baroness von Riedesel in Quebec.  The fir tree decorated with candles and fruits was a delight to their guests.

Nature and foods were common motifs for home-made and gathered decorations and were still popular when shiny glass ornaments came into fashion.

Exotic birds  and strings of "berries" were a favorite.

This fruit-shaped ornament is a particular shade of green called "chartreuse" (shar - TROOSE) commonly used in the 1940s - which tells us this bauble is very old!

Come and see the tree at:
105 Spokane Street
Kimberley, BC
at the west end of the Platzl; above the Kimberley Library.

Sullivan Mine Ore

When the Sullivan Mine was open, this ore was supplied to us by Cominco.

Our last delivery was in 2001, when the mine closed.

When our dwindling supply is gone, Sullivan Mine ore will only be available from collectors.

Various-sized samples are available for one dollar or less.

Visit the Kimberley Heritage Museum at 105 Spokane Street, Kimberley, BC.

From the 19 Sep 1898 Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington