In 1962, Powell River residents were celebrating 50 years of papermaking, the Willingdon Beach campsite opened and MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Limited announced it was shutting down No. 1 paper machine, which had been operating since the mill started producing paper in 1912.
Also in 1962, municipal officials delegated space in city hall for the storage of artifacts and archives lovingly collected by a group of residents who were dedicated to preserving Powell River’s history.
The group included Gordon German, manager of the Bank of Montreal who became the first president of the organization, Nora McQuarrie, Terry Randall, Golden Stanley, Bessie Banham and Ivy Baston. They were the founders of what is now known as Powell River Historical Museum and Archives Association.
This month, board members, staff, volunteers, friends and members of the community are celebrating the museum’s 50th anniversary. The official celebration, which is open to the public, is being held from 5 to 7 pm on Thursday, October 11 in the museum.
As part of the celebration, the museum will present a collection of 11 plaques, given to the City of Powell River by ships attending past Sea Fair festivals, to Commanding Officer Dave McLennan of Powell River Sea Cadets for display at Timberlane Barracks.
The plaques are just a small part of the many objects and documents the museum keeps, some on display and some in storage. That’s one of the highlights for Teedie Kagume, the museum’s coordinator, who marked her 20th anniversary as an employee of the association last year, along with Debbie Dan, curator.
“People have been so generous,” said Kagume. “I guess that’s what I can’t get over, the generosity of people bringing in their treasures for us to look after. What an honour.”
Just last week, a resident brought in a horseshoe from the mill. In the early days of papermaking, horses pulled the large rolls of paper from the machines down to the dock for shipping.
Someone else just recently brought in a collection of photos showing early logging operations around Wolfson and Myrtle creeks.
Powell River museum is the only museum keeping the history of the area, said Kagume. “New York is not, Vancouver’s not. We are,” she said. “The 50th anniversary gives us an opportunity to celebrate 50 proud years of keeping Powell River’s history. It’s amazing, when you think we’re a small town and our history is so rich.”
One of the more significant aspects of the museum is its collection of Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation artifacts, some of which are displayed. The first nation baskets are among the museum’s most prized artifacts, said Kagume. “Everybody loves them,” she said. “Each one tells a story.”
Lee Coulter, current president of the association’s board, became involved in 2008 as a volunteer researcher. He joined the board in 2010 and became the president the following year.
The organization is entrusted to be the keepers of the region’s history, Coulter said. “We are not simply a museum of contact and post-contact history,” he said. “It’s very special to be entrusted to be keepers of the Tla’amin history.”
Coulter said he would like the museum to soon have a new building. “Discussions have been underway with some of our partners about that,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see whether the finances and the politics allow that.”
The building is “stuffed to the gills,” Coulter added. “We’re turning artifacts away and some of the artifacts we have are actually deteriorating because we don’t have proper humidity control and so on. We really do need a new building.”
