history

Greg Devenish, Vancouver Island Military Museum director and volunteer, conducted research that revealed the identity of the recipient of a First World War medal that was found by a city worker and turned over to the museum in December. How the medal came to Nanaimo remains a mystery. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Research unearths history of First World War mystery medal found in Nanaimo

Military medal belonged to veteran who fought at Battle of Passchendaele

 

Lee Brandt, A Langley-based crane operator who grew up in Milner will make his television show debut with History TV Canada’s new series, Lost Car Rescue. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Crane, planes and automobiles star in History Network’s Lost Car Rescue

Rescuing classic cars requires more than a love for the classics and…

 

MV Sea Lion, which was built in 1905 and was B.C.'s oldest wooden tugboat, is being scrapped at a shipyard in Nanaimo. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

B.C.’s oldest wooden tugboat being scrapped at shipyard in Nanaimo

MV Sea Lion, built in 1905, had a part in 1914 SS Komagata Maru incident

 

CAMPing out That meant something quite different in the old days. This photo is from Wash Day at a logging camp, exact date and location unknown. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)

Life In Woods

Wash Day at a logging camp was quite a scene

  • Oct 22, 2021
CAMPing out That meant something quite different in the old days. This photo is from Wash Day at a logging camp, exact date and location unknown. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)
An earlier 1950s view of Willow Street. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)

The Main Drag

Various looks at Willow Street in downtown Chemainus from a bygone era

  • Oct 8, 2021
An earlier 1950s view of Willow Street. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)
Letters to the editor.

Partnerships and collaborations strengthen museum

Gagnon appreciates the support in her 17 years as Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives curator

  • Oct 3, 2021
Letters to the editor.
Camas flowers in full bloom. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

Vancouver Island camas meadows reveal agricultural impact of B.C. colonialism

Lekwungen food expert Cheryl Bryce looks to raise awareness of traditional food systems

  • Sep 30, 2021
Camas flowers in full bloom. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Our historical feature for the week is the Fisherman’s Resort on the Chemainus River. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)

A River Runs Through It

Historical Moment Sept. 16

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Our historical feature for the week is the Fisherman’s Resort on the Chemainus River. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)
George Manning (right), seen here in the pressroom of one of the publications he oversaw, was a legendary figure and mentor in the local community newspaper industry. He passed away last week at age 81. (Facebook/Gail Manning)

Newspaper executive left large mark on Vancouver Island journalism

George Manning dies at 81, was key figure in the growth of Black Press on Vancouver Island

George Manning (right), seen here in the pressroom of one of the publications he oversaw, was a legendary figure and mentor in the local community newspaper industry. He passed away last week at age 81. (Facebook/Gail Manning)
HISTORICAL MOMENT Chemainus Gun Club members in 1908. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)

Chemainus Gun Club

Historical moment August 19

  • Aug 28, 2021
HISTORICAL MOMENT Chemainus Gun Club members in 1908. (Photo courtesy Chemainus Valley Museum)
Vernon summer resident Julie McCann (née Holland) set an unofficial world record Monday, Aug. 9, at Greater Vernon Athletic Park, becoming the fastest woman to run 100 metres on all fours with a clocking of 22.99 seconds. (Christine Castrucow photo)

100 metre dash – on all fours: Vernon woman breaks unofficial Guinness record

Vernon resident Julie McCann sets unofficial Guinness mark as fastest woman to cover 100 metres on all fours

Vernon summer resident Julie McCann (née Holland) set an unofficial world record Monday, Aug. 9, at Greater Vernon Athletic Park, becoming the fastest woman to run 100 metres on all fours with a clocking of 22.99 seconds. (Christine Castrucow photo)
Geoff Goodship was contacted earlier this year by a man who had acquired his father’s First World War soldier’s uniform. Submitted photo

Vancouver Island man to be reunited with father’s 104-year-old First World War uniform

Geoff Goodship got a call out of the blue from an amateur historian who had acquired the outfit

Geoff Goodship was contacted earlier this year by a man who had acquired his father’s First World War soldier’s uniform. Submitted photo
The Crofton Old School Museum sits near the Crofton waterfront. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Crofton Old School Museum a treasure on the waterfront

Newcomers and long-time residents alike will find lots to explore

The Crofton Old School Museum sits near the Crofton waterfront. (Photo by Don Bodger)
Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Vancouver Island man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

VIDEO: B.C. man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)

Cast in bronze, then into Victoria’s Inner Harbour: So who was James Cook?

Likeness of British maritime explorer commissioned in 1976, forcibly removed on July 1

Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)
Yak Flight is a group of six Greater Victoria vintage plane pilots best known for their Remembrance Day flyover. (Courtesy of Chris Walker)

‘It’s just magic’: Vancouver Island flying group thankful for one-of-a-kind hobby

Yak Flight is best known for its formation fly on Remembrance Day

Yak Flight is a group of six Greater Victoria vintage plane pilots best known for their Remembrance Day flyover. (Courtesy of Chris Walker)
Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)

‘She was a killer’: The B.C. woman who pioneered female sharpshooting

Gwen Spencer Hethey made military men ‘look like turkeys’ says her son

Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)
(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)

Beaver secretion found as part of ancient throwing dart in Yukon

Researchers saying it’s earliest known evidence of Indigenous peoples using the substance

(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)
A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Beheaded statue of Egerton Ryerson, toppled Sunday in Toronto, won’t be replaced

Ryerson is credited as one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system

A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young