News

Arrow Lakes Historical Society winter operating hours will continue during February, March, and April 2020. We’ll be open to serve you in the Archives building on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12pm – 3pm. As you always, you can contact us by phone (250.265.0110) or email ([email protected]) if you wish to arrange a visiting time outside of these regular hours.

AGM on April 5th from 2-5. Everyone welcome. Looking for a few new directors if anyone is interested in helping our society. We will either have Cameron Leitch showing a Forestry slide show if he can come on that date or Kyle Kusch will show a preview of the next slide show which is called Arrow Lakes A-Z. This show should be on the 12th of April – an afternoon show for the Better At Home folks and an evening show at 7 pm. This show will also go to Edgewood later in the month.

The book SS Minto is selling well in Nakusp, Revelstoke, Castlegar, Trail, Kaslo and Nelson. The new book coming out soon is Kyle Kusch’s Our Coloured Past. These should be available by May and will cost $30 each.

Be sure to read the latest post in our Articles section, the memoirs of one of Nakusp’s most colourful characters, Wilf “Hufty” Hewat. You can read his memoirs here.

The Arrow Lakes Historical Society AGM is coming up on April 6th, at 2:00 PM, at the Archives. Jim Robertson will be talking about Burton history, with a slideshow of rarely seen historical images of Burton. New members are always welcome. We are located in the back of the Centennial building, behind the library, 92 – 6th Avenue NW, in Nakusp.

The 2018 British Columbia Historical Federation Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting will take place in Nakusp between May 24 and 27, 2018, hosted by the Arrow Lakes Historical Society.
The conference kicks off with a welcome reception in the evening on Thursday, May 24. Friday, there will be opening ceremonies, keynote addresses, and a bus field trip to New Denver and Sandon, followed by a historical slide show/lecture in the evening. Saturday will see the Federation AGM, a media panel, historical lectures/presentations, and bus tours to Trout Lake and Halcyon Hot Springs, or to Nakusp Hot Springs. That evening, a gala awards banquet will be held at which outstanding contributions by individuals and groups who study and promote British Columbia history will be recognized through the presentation of awards or special certificates.
Registration is now open. Visit the British Columbia Historical Federation conference page for more news and information.

Our Coloured Past DVD is 84 minutes long and has the best coloured photos and slides of our collection. These are from 1940 up to 1985 and are from Trout Lake to Renata, Fauquier to Ferguson, and everywhere in between. The Arrow Lakes underwent a multitude of changes between those years which are shown in the photos on this DVD. There are sternwheelers, silver mines, July 1st parades, pre-Keenleyside Dam landscapes or bears being hand-fed from the bow of a tugboat. This presentation captures pivotal moments and scenes throughout the Arrow Lakes region. $15 + $2 shipping & handling

The Ichi100 DVD is 60 minutes long and is a celebration of the photographs and films of Ichiro Shiino on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Originally from Cumberland, Vancouver Island, Ichiro Shiino (1915-1999) arrived in the West Kootenay as a Japanese-Canadian internee. Though arriving under the bleakest of circumstances, ‘Ichi’ persevered to become a beloved member of the Arrow Lakes community for over half a century. From his arrival in Nakusp in 1943, Shiino documented the region through films, drawings, and thousands of photographs developed in his private dark room. Many of these photographs were published in local newspapers and magazines. We offer this presentation as a tribute to his kind, industrious spirit. $15 + $2 shipping & handling

Milton Parent’s taped interviews are being put onto the website and so far 225 interviews have been done. That is about halfway to the completion of the entire collection and which can be listened to now by the public.