Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to all our members and friends. Our last newsletter for 2019 – It has been a busy year for us. We are looking forward to 2020 and all the stories it will bring to us. We are gathering stories for our 18th Report. Early in 2020 we will be forming our editorial committee. If any of you would like to help with this committee we welcome your input. Stories are coming in slowly but ideas run rampant.
It has been a pleasure to attend three Christmas craft fairs this year. We travelled to Greenwood for the Greenwood Library’s craft fair and chatted with old and new friends. We’ve been to the Grand Forks Secondary School’s craft fair and Christina Lake Elementary School’s also. We didn’t manage to get into the Rock Creek Christmas Craft Fair this year. They had an over abundance of vendors this year and they had to stick to handcrafted items. Joan and I travelled out to Rock Creek to the Fair just to see what we were missing out on. A fun and very busy craft fair. We are crossing our fingers for next year – there is always a chance that we might get in. Our Reports are a nice addition at craft fairs – many people are searching for that just right Christmas present.
We are planning our Anniversary Lunch for February 23rd. We’ll keep you informed as we complete our plans. We are definitely planning to hold our Annual Picnic at Jewel Lake this year. We will have to have a couple of work parties to tidy the cabin and do some yard work. I’ll be calling for volunteers in the spring.
We’ve contracted the Boundary Woodworkers’ Guild to build more picket fences for Phoenix Cemetery. They are already working on them. One special fence will surround both John Evans’ and Thomas Williams’ graves – as it was when they were buried. Both men were from Caernarvonshire, North Wales. We are also hoping to get some more fences painted this summer. Klaus Bialon, our maintenance man, is going to repair the stairs down into the cemetery as soon as the weather permits.
We received a grant for $1500.00 from the Grand Forks Art Gallery as the umbrella organization for Joan Heart’s continuing project on the Doukhobor-Sinixt Reconciliation. We have also applied for another grant for this project but won’t hear about it until early spring.
I took original copies of Reports 1 – 9 to the Boundary Community Archives – these had been given to us and the Archives provide a safe storage space for them. I am looking for an original # 2. The Archives’ copy is quite dog-eared. Eventually, we would like to reprint Reports 1 – 6 so that the pictures are of a nicer quality – perhaps in a set or two sets. Currently, we have been offering a “special” on those books – $50.00 for the six and we’ve sold 4 sets. If you are interested in completing your collection just let me know.
It is a busy time of year. We are all hoping that your holiday season is everything you wish and that the coming year is one of health and happiness (and history!).
Our next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, January 15th at 1:00 p.m. in the Grand Forks Public Library meeting room.
Doreen Sorensen
Secretary