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REMEMBERING THE FALLEN

Over the last year, a team of History Lives Here researchers has been pouring through archival records across the country to identify and develop a collection of photographic images from Canada’s military past.

The work is for a project called The National Wall of Remembrance, a commemorative project to honour Canadian soldiers who have fallen in battle since the War of 1812 through to contemporary times. A memorial wall listing the names of these soldiers with depictions of major Canadian battles will be built on the site of the Military Communications and Electronics Museum at Canadian Forces Base Kingston. The series of 10 monument panels – each representing a period of Canadian military history – will be complemented with a virtual exhibit housed within the museum. The project will create a single place of remembrance for all of Canada’s fallen military personnel – a place where families, friends and the general public can visit and remember.

History Lives Here Inc. has been contracted by the National Wall of Remembrance Association to undertake an extensive review of military archival collections to guide the graphic design of both the monument and virtual exhibits.

SUPERTEST DOCUMENTARY PLAYS AT THE MUSKOKA BOAT SHOW

Over 400 boating enthusiasts packed the Gravenhurst Opera House on the opening night of the 33rd Muskoka Antique and Classic Boat Show to view MAKING WAVES: The Story of Canada’s Miss Supertest Team, a documentary produced by History Lives Here Inc. 

The documentary traces the early years of the Thompson family of London, Ontario, owners of the Miss Supertest gas station franchise, as they experimented with engines, crews, drivers and boat designs to build a winning team. In successive races held in 1959 in Detroit, and in 1960 and 1961 in Picton, Ontario, Miss Supertest III swept to victory over her American competitors.

James Thompson, the designer of the boat, introduced the documentary, which kicked off the annual boat show featuring the fully restored Miss Canada IV as the centerpiece attraction among the displays of over 150 classic vessels. Miss Canada IV was originally built for the Wilson Family, but later purchased and re-named by the Thompsons as Miss Supertest I.

The Miss Supertest documentary will be featured Saturday, September 28th at 2 PM at The Empire Theatre in Belleville as part of the city’s Culture Days celebrations.

The Great Puzzle of Afghanistan

The Great Puzzle of Afghanistan

Afghan-Canadian author and Filmmaker Nelofer Pazira lectures at The Regent

Photography by Sandra Foreman

Toronto actress, author, film director, and journalist Nelofer Pazira appeared on stage at The Regent Theatre on Monday, February 4th 2013 as another of the History Nights At The Regent lectures. History Lives Here Inc. sponsors this series of monthly winter history lectures in partnership with the Black Prince Winery, The Merrill Inn, and The Regent Theatre.

Pazira fled Afghanistan with her family in the 1980s as the brutal reign of the Taliban grew. After a harrowing 10-day journey on foot to Pakistan, a story told in her book, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan, Nelofer and her family settled in New Brunswick. She learned English and later completed degrees in journalism from Carleton University and in anthropology, sociology and religion from Concordia University. And she began a career documenting the painful process of her country’s struggles.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries and it’s history has been shaped by tribal warlords and invading armies dating back to Alexander The Great. It is within this context that western armies entered the country in 2001 to begin a war to uproot terrorists, track down the world’s most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, and to bring security so the nation’s fragile government could bring democracy, a civil society and services to its citizens. Canada was part of this effort sending 2,800 troops and contributing millions in aid dollars.

It was, says Pazira, a mission full of good intentions. But however well-armed and trained the almost 150,000 soldiers from contributing nations were, they did not come with much understanding of the country, its history, the culture, and contemporary circumstances that remain the reality of Afghanistan. Widespread government corruption, the shifting alliances of competing warlords and their armies, weak Afghan police and army forces, and a tenacious campaign of intimidation, suicide-bombers, and attacks by a determined and elusive enemy on western army convoys using cheaply-made improvised explosive devices (IEDs), all conspired against the world’s intervention.

The Afghan people, wary of the uncertain commitment of the West, could never align themselves totally with foreigners and a certain death upon their withdrawal. The enormous expense of the war in lives and dollars (The U.S. military alone spent eight billion/month), and its growing unpopularity among voters lead NATO nations to scale down their involvement and to leave the country. Canadian troops left in 2011 although some 900 soldiers remain training Afghan defence forces. U.S.forces will leave the country in 2014.

It is difficult to find measureable successes within the Canadian effort, says Pazira. The 50 schools Canada built have never actually been used. Without constant security, it is simply too dangerous for teachers and students – especially women and girls – to utilize the facilities. Canadian aid projects to improve roads, develop irrigation projects, and to strengthen the Afghan government’s capacity to provide much-needed services to its citizens have not had a enduring legacy. And many Afghan civilians were the victims of friendly fire incidents, aerial attacks, and incidents where they were simply innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As we undertake other military missions in other parts of the world, Canada, says Pazira, needs to carefully consider the many complexities of other societies and their long history of conflict. As well, she suggests, we need to develop alternative approaches to military interventions which cannot be sustained, contribute to further loss of life on all sides, and are often driven by national agendas which do not always align with the best interests of the citizens of countries like Afghanistan.

Afghanistan remains a great puzzle. Should we have intervened? What is the legacy of this great effort? What do we do when we must decide again to intervene in another of the world’s hot spots? History, says Pazira, has not yet revealed the answer.

The next History Night at The Regent will be on March 4th 2013 at 7 pm at The Regent. It will feature Professor Patrice Dutil of Ryerson University and Past Chair of the Champlain Society of Canada discussing the epic journeys of French explorer Samuel de Champlain through the Quinte area.

For tickets, contact The Regent Theatre
613 – 476 – 8416 www.TheRegentTheatre.org

History Nights at the Regent – Journeys of Explorer Samuel de Champlain – Mar 4, 2013

HISTORY NIGHTS AT THE REGENT

The Epic Journeys of French Explorer Samuel de Champlain through the Quinte area

French explorer Samuel de Champlain remains a man of mystery nearly 400 years after his voyages through the wilderness of the country that became Canada including two journeys which brought him through the Quinte area.

The exact date of his birth is uncertain. The location of his grave following his death on December 25th, 1635 in Quebec City is still unknown. And the authenticity of an astrolabe discovered in a farmer’s field near Cobden, Ontario in 1867 and believed to be an early navigational instrument he lost during his travels in the Ottawa Valley, remains a deep part of Canadian mythology.

But Champlain was a remarkable man. Born into a family of merchants and mariners in the 1570s, he developed extraordinary navigational and cartography skills at an early age. He was a gifted artist and author able to depict his lifelong travels in published accounts. Unlike others of his time, Champlain was also deeply interested in aboriginal culture encouraging exchanges among his men and his native allies to promote the learning of native languages and their customs. Most of all, Champlain was a great adventurer exploring the unchartered land of North America and leaving an enduring legacy as The Father of New France.

Learn more about this illustrious French explorer on Monday, March 4th at 7 pm at The Regent Theatre in Picton when Professor Patrice Dutil of Ryerson University in Toronto, and the President of the Champlain Society of Canada, discusses the life of Samuel de Champlain, his journeys, and the circumstances which brought him through the Quinte area.

The lecture is another of the History Nights At The Regent winter lectures on historical themes sponsored by History Lives Here Inc. in association with The Black Prince Winery, The Merrill Inn, and The Regent Theatre. Call the Regent Theatre Box Office for Tickets: (613)476-8416 ext 28 or toll free (877)411-4761 or use the form on the box office websitewww.theregenttheatre.org
Admission is $15 (including tax.) Students $5

History Nights at the Regent Theatre – The Legacy of Our Decade of War in Afghanistan – Feb 4, 2013

CANADA’S WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: A Victory or Defeat?

In 2001 Canadian troops went to war for the first time since the Korean War in the 1950s.

Our soldiers joined troops from an international coalition to fight the U.S. – led War on Terrorism on Afghan soil, thought to be the host country for terrorism organizations and the world’s most wanted man – Osama bin Laden. Canadian soldiers were stationed in the hot, dry areas of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan clearing villages of Taliban insurgents in hard-fought battles that stretched into years. Some of their work included building schools, roads and other projects while providing security so Canadian development programs to encourage democracy, human rights reforms, and a civil society could take root in the country.

But all of this work exacted a heavy price as billions of dollars in military and development aid was poured into the country, and 158 Canadian soldiers lost their lives in ambushes, suicide attacks and roadside bomb explosions.

Was Afghanistan worth the price we paid? Is there any legacy to the decade of Canadian effort in the country? Was it a victory or a defeat for western forces?

Hear the views of Afghan author and journalist, Nelofer Pazira on Monday, February 4th at 7 PM at The Regent Theatre in Picton. Now living in Toronto, she fled Afghanistan with her family in the 1980s as the fundamentalist reign of the Taliban gripped the country in fear and brutality – an escape she chronicled in her 2005 book, A Bed of Red Flowers. Nelofer is an award-winning film and documentary producer/director, broadcast commentator, and a frequent advisor to international organizations working in the region.

The address is another in the series of “History Nights At The Regent” winter lectures sponsored by History Lives Here Inc., a heritage communications company based in Picton and The Merrill Inn, one of Ontario’s finest inns.

Tickets are $15 (including HST) Students $5

For tickets and info on more lectures in the series, contact: Call the Regent Theatre Box Office for Tickets: (613)476-8416 ext 28 or toll free (877)411-4761 or use the form on the box office websitewww.theregenttheatre.org Admission is $15 (including tax.) Students $5

History Nights at The Regent Theatre – Titanic! November 12, 2012

Join us on Monday nights throughout the fall and winter of 2012/2013 for monthly History Nights at The Regent Theatre.   

Our first History Night features Greg Curtis of Kingston, a member of the international Titanic Historical Society, discussing the sinking of the Titanic.   

When Greg was a young boy, he received a lump of coal for Christmas….and he was thrilled to get it. The small piece of coal had been recovered from the Titanic wreck and it further encouraged his life-long interest in this great ship.  

This year marks the 100th anniversary of this dramatic maritime disaster in April 1912 off the coast of Newfoundland. The Titanic was a titan of its time and one of several massive floating luxury hotels built by its owners, the White Star Line, in response to new and larger vessels constructed by their rival, The Cunard Line. Promoted as unsinkable, this great ship made history on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York when it struck an iceberg at high speed late on the evening of April 14, 1912. Within just a few hours of the collision, the Titanic split apart from the great weight of water filling its holds and at 2:20 am on the morning of April 15th, it slipped beneath the waves to a final berth in the deep, cold waters of the Atlantic.  

The Titanic was full of mysteries. The vessel had received plenty of ice warnings and yet it cruised close to top speed. The first lifeboats were nearly empty when they were lowered. Later lifeboats were dangerously overcrowded. Most of the ship’s 2,240 passengers perished. Some were traveling under false names to escape past lives. Survivors went on to live lives that were both celebrated and infamous. And it’s sinking a century ago remains an enduring tale that has inspired multiple movies and books.  

Join us at The Regent at 7 pm on Monday, November 12th, 2012 for this first History Night at The Regent!  

Call the Regent Theatre Box Office for Tickets: (613)476-8416 ext 28 or toll free (877)411-4761 or use the form on the box office website www.theregenttheatre.org
Admission is $15 (including tax.) Students $5

Titanic History Night

Future History Nights include: 7 PM Monday, January 7th, 2013 – The War of 1812 by one of Canada’s leading military historians, Maj. John Grodzinski, Phd. and Assistant Professor, The History Department at the Royal Military College in Kingston 7 PM Monday, February 4th, 2013 – The War in Afghanistan from an Afghan Perspective by Toronto author and filmmaker, Nelofer Pazira, who escaped Afghanistan with her family to re-settle in Canada 7 PM Monday, March 4, 2013 – Patrice Dutil of Ryerson College and The Champlain Society traces the epic voyage of French explorer Samuel de Champlain through the Quinte area in 1615 7 PM Monday, April 1, 2013 – A Gettysburg Address: Meet members of the Gettysburg Foundation as they discuss the marketing of history

Belleville 2012 History Moments launch speech

Thank you for sharing this special evening with us.

What we’re going to do tonight is show you 12 wonderful stories from the rich past of the Quinte area.

We might have shown you several thousand stories tonight because that’s how many there are. In fact there are so many, we will never ever run out of history.

But we thought that might make for a long evening, so we’re just going to show you 12. But the idea is that we will be back again next year at this time with another 12, and another 12 the year after that. And the series will continue indefinitely.

Why are we doing this?

One reason is that this is the 90th anniverary of the Belleville Kiwanis Club. I can’t think of a better birthday present than to share the history of the community with the community.

But there are other reasons.

One is the battle going on in communities all across the country and it is a battle that communities are losing…badly. This is the battle for heritage preservation.

In my hometown of Picton we lost an 1875 church on our Main street two years ago this month. It’s demolition followed the demolition of an entire nearby block six months before that. Today if you visit Picton you will see two weedy vacant lots where those buildings once stood.

I think we made a very poor trade.

Heritage buildings are a phsyical expression of our past.

And if you tear down all the special places in your community, you have to wonder what’s so special about your community? The sad answer to that is “absolutely nothing”. This is a squandered inheritance.

Heritage isn’t free. It’s come at an enormous cost to those who have gone before us. I think we owe them something.

We should remember them always. We should tell their stories…and we should be stewards in our time of the legacy they left us. That’s why it matters.

What if history and heritage made money?

If they did, we could partner with property owners and developers contributing dollars to projects, which preserved – rather than tore down – heritage properties.

The loss of heritage buildings is only going to get worse over the next 10-15 years as our volunteer organizations age.

Volunteers help maintain many old properties – cemeteries, archives, libraries and museums. But many volunteer community groups are aging. I could name you a dozen organizations in Prince Edward county on the verge of folding.

So the volunteer base is aging and at the same time, grants and funding for these organizations is declining.

Governments at all levels should be interested in this question because they are not possibly ever going to make up the difference in money and human capital to replace the millions of dollars and volunteer hours committed every year to a wide range of worthy causes….

Queen’s University released a study of the non-profit sector recentl and one of the stats in the study was that 7% of volunteers do 71% of the work, so you can see how vulnerable the sector is if just 7% of its members retire from volunteering.

And when they do, the churches and other heritage properties they now help to maintain are going to face an uncertain future.

So the big question is “What’s going to happen when you and I can’t do this work anymore?”

What if history and heritage made money? If they did, we could hire staff rather than recruit volunteers to do this work.

Young people don’t need a history lesson. They need jobs. And the truth is a young, skilled, competent professional working a 40-hour work week will out perform a volunteer borad. Volunteers give what they can. But it isn’t always enough.

There is a huge marketplace for history.

Every month, 68 million people around the world google the word history. They’re looking for history and we have it. And we have the means through new technologies to reach them.

History is one of the top three reasons why people travel after family and friends people.

The history channels in the U.S. and Canada exist because they link advertisers with 9.8 million Baby Boomers in Canada…. And their parents…who buy stuff…and lots of it.

We have the business case of Ancestry.com – the online geneaology site with 1.7 million subscribers paying an average of $16.75 per month to access their records. That’s $28 million/month to look through old records of marriages, births and deaths. What do we have in our municipal archives, libraries, museums and cemeteries? We have old records.

Finally, we have the business model of Gettysburg, PA., which has turned its history forged during the 1860s during the American Civil War when 50,000 soldiers from both sides died in three days of fighting into a heritage economy – the concept that local history can be transformed into a suite of goods and services retailed to the world.

They make $385 million/year from the 3 million people who visit them each year. They’ve created 5,800 jobs and a tax base of $109 million. Now I ask you –”what could be simpler than to tell the same three days of history every year and make that kind of money?”

We have more than three days of history. We have 228 years of loyalist settlement. So why don’t we tell our stories to the world and develop a heritage economy? Why don’t we make money from our history?

If history made money, we wouldn’t tear down old landmark buildings. We’d value them as an important part of our past.

If history made money, we wouldn’t consider our archives, museums, libraries and cemeteries as municipal loss leaders and heritage beggars. We’d view them as profit centres and history factories.

If history made money, we would create jobs for young people in the history business rather than recruit an older generation as volunteers.

And if history could make money, it would answer the question –”What’s going to happen when we can’t do this work anymore?”

The answer is for us to be in the history business.

It’s not often you get to make history. But you and I are making history tonight because we are introducing our first product in the heritage economy – the 2012 History Moments series.

History has to be more than a vague cultural thing. It has to be something you can eat, something you can drink, something you can experience. This series is something you can hold in your hand…something you can experience.

So, the History Moments are just a first product because history can be a bus tour, a festival, a toy, a craft, a play, a specialty food or drink. But as a first step we need to awaken the community to the rich history that is all around is and the enormous economic possibilities if we retailed our stories to the world.

There are new audiences for these old stories. We can create a new industry from an old asset. And that’s why the past matters.

I would like to thank the Kiwanis club for allowing us to be part of their 90th anniversary celebrations.

And also to thank our sponsors – the Black Prince winery, The Belleville Intelligencer, the City of Belleville, the Corporation of the County of Prince Edward County, Essroc Cement, the Inrig family, LaFarge North America, and our community partners – the Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County, the Hastings County Historical Society, the Museums of PEC, the Glenwood Cemetery, and TV Cogeco.

Finally I’d like to thank all the people who assisted in the making of the series. I don’t do this work alone so know when you watch these stories, you are watching the work of many highly-talented people.

We hope you will join us for a glass of Black Prince wine and a reception after the showing.

Here now is the 2012 History Moments Series.

Making Hometown History Belleville Kiwanis and History Moments 2012 launch!

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Belleville.

As part of its anniversary events, the club is celebrating area history by partnering in the launch of a history series showcasing the rich past of Hastings and Prince Edward Counties. The series launch will take place at The Empire Theatre in Belleville at 7 pm. on Saturday, September 29th with a second launch at 7 pm. and at The Regent Theatre in Picton on Monday, October 15th, 2012.

The series, called History Moments, features short stories of early settlement, prominent people and significant events, which have profoundly shaped the past of the Quinte region. History Lives Here Inc., a heritage communications company in Picton, has pioneered the concept in Prince Edward County producing an annual series over the past three years, which plays before movies at The Regent Theatre, is distributed into area schools, libraries, archives, and museums as an educational resource, retailed at local shops, and broadcast online on community partner websites to promote increased tourism and to enhance the profile of local heritage organizations.

“We wanted to celebrate our history as part of our anniversary plans, “ says Kiwanis President Ed Hawman. “This series is a means of celebrating more broadly with the community by showcasing these wonderful stories drawn from the past.”

“This is popular history,” says series producer Peter Lockyer. “ The series is designed to engage the community in its past – to awaken us to the history that is all around us, and the enormous economic potential of promoting our history to the world. The past can be a big part of the future if we work together to promote it as a suite of products retailed to heritage travelers.”

This year’s series will profile pioneer author Suzanna Moodie; the story of Eleanor May Bowden, the British servant girl at the Philip’s house (now Glanmore National Historic Site), one of the home children from poor English families sent to Canada and Australia to help populate these countries; the history of one of Canada’s oldest community newspapers, the Belleville Intelligencer; the company town of Pt. Anne and the Village of Wellington celebrating its 150th anniversary this year; and the story of the Fox Sisters from Consecon in Prince Edward County, two clairvoyant young women who helped shape the spiritualist movement in the United States in the 1850s.

Area businesses such as Black Prince Winery, Essroc Cement, Lafarge Canada, The Belleville Intelligencer, and the City of Belleville and the Corporation of the County of Prince Edward are sponsoring the series. Project proceeds help support the work of the Kiwanis Club of Belleville.

To purchase tickets to the launch events, contact:

The Empire Theatre (613)969-0099
http://www.theempiretheatre.com

The Regent Theatre (613)476-8416
http://www.theregenttheatre.org

The Kiwanis Club of Belleville
http://www.kiwanisclubofbelleville.com

Experiences | Product Development | Multimedia

History Lives Here Inc. provides archival research and editorial services, web content and design, creates heritage products such as tours, re-enactments, events, and experiences, and provides full-service communications and video production services.

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