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July 1st Open House
On Canada Day, drop by the Courtenay and District Museum after the parade and help celebrate our country’s birthday. There will be free admission, balloons and door prize draws between 12 noon and 4 pm. Special activities will include cupcake walks for all ages and a hands-on craft for kids. Musical entertainment will be provided by The Wire Choir. Check out the revamped palaeontology displays as well as the new exhibit Ties to Communities about the importance of transportation and industrial railways in the Comox Valley. Canada Day is a great chance to explore history at the museum. Discoveries happen here! Summer Day Camps: Kids Discover!
The CDM’s Summer Day Camps for kids delve into discoveries through fun and educational activities, behind the scenes exploration and exciting field trips. During each three day camp, kids can learn all about how the Earth works, ancient prehistoric life forms and fossils and local history and natural resources. Let your kids discover their passion for the natural world this summer at the Courtenay Museum! Summer Hours
The Courtenay and District Museum is now on its summer operating schedule and is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 5:00 and Sundays from 12:00 to 4:00 until Labour Day. As always, members visit free.
It's All There in Black and White Could this have been the Comox Valley's most exclusive club 100 years ago? According to this article from The Islander of June 14, 1913, "members...reserve the right to reject any application." Sounds like best behaviour and formally dressed only need apply. Read this newspaper article from our archives With legacy support from the Bickle Family and the Comox Valley Echo. Photo of the Month
CDM #990.24.249
You can view more photos like this on our website. Click here to visit our holdings. Racing Trophies Three horseracing trophies from 1934 will be on exhibit at the museum in time for our Canada Day Open House. The trophies were won by Mr. Bert Grieve and his horse American Motors at events in Nanaimo’s Old Home Week celebrations. The trophies haven’t all been together for many years. But thanks to a thoughtful loan from family members, the trophies, and the interesting story behind them, are together again to share with the community. Exhibit: Ties to Communities
This new exhibit in our second floor gallery will touch on the tremendous influence of rail to the history and development of the Comox Valley from the late 1800s to mid-20th Century. The "ties" in the title reflects a play on words. Of course the actual railway physically connected people, settlements and industry. And a "tie" in railway terms historically refers to the wooden supports for the tracks which lay perpendicular to the metal rails. The exhibit is curated by museum staff and will feature maps and photographs from our archives. Our YouTube Channel
Over the past several months this newsletter has linked readers to our YouTube videos created as part of the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) project. These videos were produced with Fox and Bee Media with funds from REDI and Community Futures Strathcona. If you’d like to see all the videos please visit our new YouTube channel.
Before Television
Hamilton Mack Laing collected this beautifully crafted projectile point from his property, located near Goose Spit, in Comox. Laing, a respected naturalist and writer, settled in Comox in 1922 and completed building his home, Baybrook, in 1923. In Author and Historian, Richard Mackie's, book, Hamilton Mack Laing: Hunter-Naturalist, p. 87, he writes of Laing, "He had fallen in love with Comox. In October 1922, he bought the five-acre lot on Brooklyn Creek where he, [Percy] Taverner and [D. Alan] Sampson had camped all summer. At the age of thirty-nine he had found his home: he would spend the next sixty years living on the same shell-midden." As evidenced by the artifact above, Laing found more than just shells on the property. Early settlers found stone tools such as this often, indicating the large population of First People settled around the shorelines of the Comox Valley before effects of exploration and settlement, such as displacement and disease, took their toll. First Peoples employed stone tools such as this in every aspect of daily life. This projectile point could have been attached to spear poles or shafts for hunting.
Museum Funding The Courtenay and District Historical Society was registered as a nonprofit society in 1961 to preserve and interpret cultural and natural heritage of the Comox Valley. It has functioned as an independent society since that time. Funds are derived from the generous support of the City of Courtenay, British Columbia Arts Council, Comox Valley Regional District, British Columbia Gaming Branch, and from museum generated revenues and donations. Proud sponsors of the Courtenay & District Museum:
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CDM 976.13.17
