Latest News
We Are Open Canada Day!
The museum will be open from 11:00 to 4:00 on Canada day and everyone is welcome to enjoy the day with music from Alan Jossul (11:00-3:00) and activities for the whole family. Jossul is a local, nationally known, solo and ensemble guitarist. As an educator, he specializes in teaching students of all ages and levels to play and enjoy string fretted instruments.
June is National Indigenous History Month
June is National Indigenous History Month and it honours the history, heritage, and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across Canada. As the Government of Canada states, “This history stretches long into the past before the arrival of the European newcomers with diverse interactions among different peoples, flourishing trade and fierce conflict, and competition for lands and resources. The history of First Nations, Inuit and Métis is essentially the very history of Canada as they have played and continue to play important roles in its development and its future.” Continue Reading
Celebrate this Summer
Along with improved weather, June warms us all up with a month full of recognition and celebration for diverse communities across Canada. Here are a few connections to what’s happening across Canada to honour Canada’s diversity. June National Indigenous History Month Italian Heritage Month Filipino Heritage Month Portuguese Heritage Month Pride Month June 24 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day June 27 Canadian Multiculturalism Day July 1 Canada Day
It’s All There in Black and White: Father’s Day Gift Ideas from 1960
With Father’s Day coming up on June 19, this Woodland’s Drug Store ad provides ideas for dads in this June 8, 1960 page of the Comox District Free Press. With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo.
National Indigenous Peoples Day in K’ómoks
A day to celebrate rich unique heritage and diverse culture of Indigenous people. Celebrating First Nation, Inuit and Métis - Honouring and learning about the land we stand on. We live, work and play on traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Pentlatch,E’ikᵚsan and K’ómoks First Nation. Featuring: Aunty Toni’s Bannock will be on site! Information Tables Artisans Kids FUN Zone Ladies Drum Group Fundraising Loonie Toonie Auction Pow Wow Dancing w/ Dean ‘Little Light’ Quiring, Siksika Nation All events will take place inside the Cultural Bighouse and will be by donation. But no one turned away! Agenda: 4pm - 430pm Welcome from K’ómoks [...]
May 2022 Gift Shop News
The Creative Eye @ the Courtenay Museum Gift Shop Ever wonder who the creative eye is behind purchasing at the museum gift shop? Gillian Miller, Visitor Services and Gift Shop Manager has a long history of knowing what visitors like. Having formerly managed the Chemainus Information Centre and worked with the Comox Valley Chamber as well as having international tourism experience, Gillian orders items that please most visitors. Enthusiastic about items made locally or from afar, Gillian says, “I am always looking for new unique gifts. This week, some amazing new items have arrived from the Eric & Christopher line. They’re high quality [...]
Laver’s Department Store Building Turns 100
992.9.6 This month marks the 100th anniversary of the T. Booth & Sons store opening at the corner of Cliffe Avenue and 5th Street in May 1922. Mr. R. Laver purchased the building in 1927 after a prosperous season in the space, and Laver’s Department Store remained open until the Spring of 1989. Over the last century, the building has been the home to many businesses: Laver’s Department Store, Zocalo Cafe, Cornerstone Taphouse to name a few.
Collection Selections May 2022
For this edition of Collection Selections we take a look at this 1:24 scale Puntledge River Powerhouse model, made by John Henry Boffy and his son, James, in 1935. Thank you to the Cumberland Museum and Archives for donating it to the Courtenay Museum in 2021 The Puntledge River Powerhouse, completed in 1912, provided hydroelectricity to Cumberland and Courtenay and to the local mines. In 2017, the original decommissioned powerhouse structure, unused for years, was demolished as it had become a safety hazard. Collections Assistant, Erik Duncan (above) cleaned and repaired sections of the miniature and reassembled it for display in the museum’s [...]
May 2022: Gold in the Oyster River
See more historical images and stories like this in the museum’s 2020 book Stepping Into Wilderness published with Harbour Publishing. Dedicated prospectors John Brown and Jimmy Aston had found placer gold on the Oyster River, and hoped to find the mother lode near their camp at Circlet Lake. Photo: CDM Stubbs Collection The Oyster River has long been a magnet for gold seekers. Placer mining, which uses water to separate gold deposits from river gravel washed downstream from the mother lode, could be done with something as simple as a pan or as complex as a series of sluice boxes. The list of [...]
It’s All There in Black and White: Norman Leung Honoured
Community Leader and Business Owner, Norman Leung receiving the 1986 Citizen of the Year award, published in this January 28, 1987 article from the Comox District Free Press. With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo.
Swift Observations
Swifts on Oak-Beeville Texas 2013. Photo by: Jason Collins The Vaux’s Swifts have returned to the Courtenay Museum's brick chimney. As of Sunday evening, April 29, local birder and naturalist, Krista Kaptein, and other observers spotted two hundred and seventy birds entering the chimney and they’ve visited successive nights with arrival times at all hours. As of this printing, the daily average was close to five thousand birds. With help from Bob Wells, City of Courtenay staff, ACS solutions, museum staff have placed a live camera on the chimney to observe the Swifts entry and exit to the museum chimney. This rest [...]
Online Lecture: “Lest We Forget”
“Lest We Forget” is a unique scrapbook created in the 1970’s by Ruth Masters, to commemorate the men from the Comox Valley who died in the First and Second World Wars. Ruth spent years researching each individual and created pages of photographs and clippings pertaining to their lives. It is a massive book: 21 inches high, 13 inches wide and 8 inches thick. Although the book has held up remarkably well, it is a heavily accessed item and there has been accumulated damage over the years. A major problem was that the adhesive had liquified causing pages, and items, to stick together. This presentation discusses the challenges of conserving the original book and the process of creating a facsimile copy for future use.
Online Lecture: Travel Journal 101 – Proof of Life
Join artist and travel journaler, Wayne Wilson, for a primer on how you can get going on keeping your very own travel journal for each of your epic travel adventures. Whether it’s a wine tour, cycling tour, a vacation in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, or a camp out with your family, you will learn lots of tips and tricks on how to start a travel journal that will keep your memories rich and fresh for years to come.