The Museum’s Blog

September 2017 Watershed Moments

Here is the latest newsletter installment of an image and quote from the museum’s award-winning book Watershed Moments – A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District.

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Photo credit: Courtenay Elementary School class brandishing sports equipment, ca.1906. Walter Gage photograph. CDM 983.55.1

Photo caption: Photo caption: “T.J. Barron, a graduate of McGill University, taught at the Courtenay school from 1905 to 1915. Previous teachers had mostly been young, with little experience, but Mr. Barron was a seasoned and accomplished educator who had high expectations for decorum, academic results and physical activity. Club swinging and wand drills were popular forms of athletic training in the early 1900s.” Page 115.

September 2017 Gift Shop News

WOW – it has been quite the summer in the gift shop. The store expansion and accompanying increase in stock have made it the best season ever revenue-wise.

A top seller from a new line of merchandise we are carrying are the Rolly Pets. They are the cutest stuffed toys – each has a sweet smile and lovely rosy cheeks. We carry owls, rabbits, bees, ladybirds and seals. Children are drawn to the owls and seals while the adults seem to especially like bees and bunnies. All are reasonably priced at just $9.95 plus tax.

Children’s sock sales have gone wild this summer! Hatley Little Blue House brand are known for their fabulous quality and fair price with designs that include dinosaurs, dogs, cats, rabbits, wolves and owls. The socks are available in two sizes: 2-4 years and 5-7 years and retail for $4.50 a pair.

Lecture: The Nootka Sound Crisis

Location of the Spanish Fort

Time and Date: 7 pm, Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum
Speaker: Catherine Gilbert
Tickets: $5 for Historical Society members; $6 for general public (plus GST). Advance tickets recommended. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 250-334-0686 ext 5.

Don’t miss out! Get your tickets early for Catherine Gilbert’s repeat performance of her sold out lecture about this fascinating aspect of early Vancouver Island history.

Click for Details

AGM Coming Up

The Annual General Meeting of the Courtenay and District Historical Society will take place at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 20th in the museum Rotary Gallery.

RBCM Exhibit on Family

If you’re heading to our provincial capital, don’t forget to take in the new exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum “Family: Bonds and Belonging, It’s NOT All Relative” on display until October 31st.

The exhibit was created in-house by RBCM staff and displays some seldom seen artifacts.

Click Here for Details

August 2017 Watershed Moments

Here is the latest newsletter installment of an image and quote from the museum’s award-winning book Watershed Moments – A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District.

Photo credit: Courtenay’s 5th Street lined with cars. CDM 989.69.34 Page 151

Photo caption: “…due to an economic boom in the mid- to late 1920s, automobile sales increased, which meant there were more drivers on the road. Businesses developed to service four-wheeled travellers and holiday makers. By the late 1940s, Courtenay directories listed five auto courts (or auto camps), which clustered around the main routes. In Courtenay, that meant along Cliffe Avenue and near the 5th Street Bridge.” Page 151.