Hello Members and Friends,
Hope you are all enjoying our springtime weather – time for gardening and cutting the grass. It is very dry here in Grand Forks, the rivers are rising but it doesn’t seem like they will flood this year. Let’s hope those torrential rains we received in 2018 don’t reoccur. Report # 18 has been sent off to our printers, Kettle Valley Graphics, in Kelowna. I haven’t got a date yet for pick up of the much awaited books. I am hoping that they may be ready before May 15th. I’ll let you know when we have them in hand.


I have signed us up for Market on Market again this year. Market Avenue is closed off to vehicles and becomes a pedestrian walkway. I think there will be vendors pretty well every day but we are only attending every second Saturday beginning on May 15th. Bob McTavish has offered to help me with a canopy; we have our own table and chairs. I’ve asked Les Johnson to be back up and he agreed (if he isn’t working). Hoping that lots of you will drop by, pick up a copy of the new Report and renew your membership if it is due. We held a survey amongst our Executive as to what pictures would be featured on our Report. Al offered a choice of 15 pictures. The front cover will feature a colour picture of the Lawless house and the back cover is a picture of Gloria and Jean Preetzman with Jean learning to shoot.


Report #18 is a little larger at 179 pages than #16 or #17 but Peter at KV Graphics kept to the same price as we paid for those books. I am pretty sure the price will be the same – $18.75 for non-members and $12.50 for members. I am not expecting any change. We are hoping you will enjoy reading it. Jo Ann Sergeant and I are learning how to do e-transfers to make it easier to order for people from out of town.


We are thinking about #19 – Al is working on some stories and has a preliminary list of possible articles drawn up. If you want to tell your family’s story or want to share knowledge about a historical site in the Boundary, we would love to see your efforts and we can help, too.


Al Donnelly and I visited Phoenix Cemetery on Saturday. Nice to see that there was no damage over the winter. I am looking for some help to remove dead branches from trees, pick up downed limbs and trim back a few trees. If you visit, please pull a baby pine tree out – they will grow up to be big and a lot harder to get rid of!!


We’ve found that two names are missing from our Phoenix booklet and from the Kiosk. I’ve been investigating markers that are similar to Andrew Hamilton’s. His was placed near the top of the cemetery quite a few years ago by his family. If we can find something similar we are hoping to not only get one for Hazel Mary Clayton – a baby who died from pneumonia in September 1906 – but also for those graves where the names are unreadable. Lots to still investigate on this subject. I did take a name plaque up that seems appropriate to place on the Kiosk. We cannot take the Kiosk apart to add names so I think this will be a good solution. I’ll send a picture when we have completed this task and let you see the changes. I am going to contact Alpine Signs and get the metal sign for the Upper Phoenix Cemetery made up and we’ll get it attached to the fence. The Boundary Woodworkers have completed a small sign-in kiosk for the Cemetery and they’ll be placing it soon. It will be interesting to see where visitors come from and read their comments. As always, we are so grateful for the Boundary Guild Woodworkers and all the expertise they bring to making improvements at the Cemetery. Al Donnelly visits Jewel Lake regularly with his dogs. He let me know that the snow is gone, the lake is open and the loons have returned. We need to pay a visit and take up the braided rug given to us by Judith Hamm. I have a chair that Bob McTavish gave us, also. We’ll start making plans for installing the sign. We had some discussion at our last meeting about postponing but not cancelling our picnic. We are hoping that come late August or September it will be safe for us to meet, showcase the cabin and celebrate Gladys’ donation to the BHS along with our Picnic. I’ll be in touch with details when I know them.
Historically yours,
Doreen Sorensen
Secretary