News Leader News for August 28, 2007
MUSEUM CONTRACTS CONSULTANT
Princeton and District Museum and Archives Society have recently signed a contract to engage the services of a consultant in their plan to further develop the Princeton Museum.
Now a Hedley resident, Angelique Wood's past projects have included work for the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses in Vancouver and the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.
In 1990 having completed her studies at the University of British Columbia, where she majored in the Arts, Wood continued with four years at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design studying Industrial Design and 3-D Studio.
In her initial appraisal of the present day Museum/Library building, Wood has already identified many of the problems facing the Society. With the damp and water problem in the basement, using her own words, the building is 'compromised' and if the Town Hall are serious about preserving the historical documents, newspapers and photographs that are housed in the basement, immediate remedial action by the Town is required and procrastination will only lead to further losses for the community.
The alternative is for the Museum Society to find a new home, either by seeking a tenancy elsewhere in Princeton or moving to a brand new purpose built building. Considering the dollar amounts involved to renovate the present building to acceptable standards the second suggestion may not be so far fetched.
The employment of Wood is being made possible by a $30,000.00 grant made earlier this year by the Princeton and District Community Forest Corporation.
COUNCIL DENIES VARIANCE
An application to the Town of Princeton for a variance permit was denied at the August 20 Council meeting on the recommendation of CAO Patrick Robins.
The request was to change the allowable height of a garage from 5 meters to 5.5 meters, change the rear setback from eight meters to 1.3 meters and change the allowable floor space from 75 square meters to 123 square meters on a property located at 104 Edgewood Drive.
A petition from 13 neighbours opposed the construction of such a large building on that lot. One neighbour pointed out that this garage would be larger than the residence, and would provide the owner with four garage spaces. Most neighbours agreed the proposed structure would not be appropriate for the lot, although one neighbour did say it was a fine looking building and would look good on an acreage.
COUNCIL SUPPORTS PROJECT
On August 20, Town Council received a request from Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists (VFFN) for a letter of support. VFFN is applying for a grant to assist in continued work on the Swan Lake Wildlife Viewing and Habitat Restoration Project.
The project has turned the Swan Lake area into an interesting outdoor feature on the outskirts of Princeton.
The small lake and surrounding grasslands has been a pet project of many local residents who feel the area deserves protection and enhancement.
It is a great place for birdwatching, hiking, or just walking through to see the wildflowers and water birds.
Council voted quickly to support the grant application, and added condolences on the loss of Don Burbidge, a valued longstanding member of Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists who passed away recently.
GROUP FORMS TRADITIONAL MUSIC SOCIETY
A new Society was formed here in Princeton last week the Princeton Traditional Music Society. It plans to mount a festival in Princeton in mid-August next year. The festival follows on the successful concerts held on the July 1 weekend at the Museum during the Sounds of Our Heritage Festival.
The society, the brainchild of Rika Ruebsaat and Jon Bartlett, exists to promote "traditional" music.
"Traditional music," said Ruebsaat, "is music that has been passed on from one person to another. It might be lullaby sung by a parent to a child, which the grown-up child then sings to his children. It might be a harmonica tune played in a logging camp, which another logger remembers and plays at other camps. It might be an ages-old ballad. It might be a rude song about a pain-in-the-neck foreman, made up and sung among a group of miners to let off steam."
Phil Thomas, the noted folk song collector and author, collected such songs in Princeton in the early Osixties, and discovered such songs as "There's a Mine in the West where the Tulameen Flows" and "The Banks of the Similkameen". Bartlett and Ruebsaat, after having spent weeks researching in the Princeton Archives' holdings of local papers, are convinced there are more here.
"Mining towns, not logging towns, are where the songs can be found," said Bartlett. "Although the old-time logging camps were a rich source for songs, there was no way to collect them, after the loggers had moved on or died. Mining towns, which had papers to promote land speculation, often printed such pieces." He recalls that he and Ruebsaat came across an old WWI song called "Fifty Thousand Lumberjacks", in the Similkameen Star, which was simply called "A Logger's Song".
The Society at its first meeting last week elected Del Hall as its first President, Rika Ruebsaat Vice-President, and Jon Bartlett Secretary-Treasurer. Ruebsaat is also the President of the Princeton Arts Council. People interested in volunteering for the Festival or to find out more about the Society can reach Bartlett and Ruebsaat at (250) 295-6010.
