In September 2009, the History Lives Here team launched a series of 10 highly produced, short video vignettes showcasing the rich history of Prince Edward County at Picton’s historic Regent Theatre.
The History Moments were “popular history” features bringing to theatre audiences the many stories of early settlement, founding industries, prominent people, and significant events, which have shaped the history of this special place. Over the next decade, over 70 vignettes were created playing eight times a week before movies on The Regent screen until 2019 when COVID closed the theatre.
But the series is now returning to The Regent’s big screen!
This July excerpts from the series will play at The Regent as part of summer programming aimed at reaching county visitors. Features will play continuously on the theatre screen each morning from 10-1200PM as tourism promotion resources.
“These two-minute features were such an interesting history project for us,” says broadcast journalist and company founder, Peter Lockyer. “ I grew up here and I had no idea how formative my hometown has been to the history of the region and Canada. It’s been a big learning experience, and I think the series has helped awaken the community to the history all around us…and the need to preserve it. My hope is that this summer programming will encourage interest in developing a new series.”
The series has complemented the company’s other initiatives such as walking tours of Picton’s heritage conservation district, History Nights’ presentations at local venues, a history radio series in partnership with CountyFM community radio, and several documentary productions including a feature on the County wine industry scheduled for launch in 2027.
“There is no shortage of stories,” adds Lockyer. “And I believe there are new audiences for these old tales. It’s informative content highlighting the people and past events, which have often had international impact. We have always been a player in world events – and that was not something I knew as a student. One of our future priorities with the series is to engage students in this journey of discovery.”
