The history of Fernie begins with its remarkable geology, which put the community on the map in the late 1800s with the discovery of rich coal seams. More than 100 years later, the town’s fortunes still depend on the mining industry for its past, present and future economic strength. But it’s not the industry that made the town—it’s the miners themselves who have built Fernie’s foundations.

To that end, the City of Fernie is in the planning stages of installing an outdoor exhibit on the grounds of City Hall that will tell the story of mining in the Elk Valley.

Mary Giuliano is one of the members of the Miners Walk Exhibit Steering Committee, the organization behind the installation. Giuliano is thrilled by the backing the project is getting from the City and the community.

“I’ve always wanted something like this for Fernie because I’ve lived here almost my whole life and I love Fernie,” she said.

Coming together

Giuliano said project manager Lorne Perry helped create a cohesive visual concept of the walk, which will include a multi-segmented optical illusion sculpture by Calgary artist Jeff de Boer. The piece will depict the head of a miner, which requires the viewer to move about the grounds to what Perry called the “sweet spot,” where the separate sections align to create a completed, comprehensive image.

At this point, the committee is working closely with the City towards the goal of completing the installation some time in 2012. In the meantime, Giuliano said the organization is seeking funding for the project through donations and grants. The goal is to raise $130,000, and Guiliano said they are approximately three-quarters of the way to meeting their objective.

“We have received huge support from Teck Coal,” said Giuliano. “We have received support from the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. (East Kootenay MLA) Bill Bennett gave us a wonderful letter of support (that ensured ministerial attention).”

Giuliano said many local businesses and organizations have stepped in with funding, in-kind donations or pledges of support, including the Columbia Basin Trust and the Regional District of East Kootenay. Additionally, a fundraiser that involves selling individual bricks that will bear the name of the donor will be available in the spring. 

For more information, email Giuliano.

Suzanne Pantazis, a Cranbrook notary public and president of Joy Vibe Productions Inc., has been making ripples within the media recently. Why? Pantazis recently became a published author, penning A Better Life Awaits—Baby Steps to Health & Happiness.

Pantazis was inspired to write after going through a radical life overhaul, greatly improving her physical, mental and spiritual health.  She has now received press from numerous sources, including womensday.com and Yahoo! Health, and publications such as The Scrivener and First for Women.

She is active in the Cranbrook community and plans to donate much of the proceeds from her book back to programs that promote health and wellness. She also hopes to start an anti-bullying event in the local schools.

Read more about Pantazis' story at www.joyvibe.com.

Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by CBC Radio 1. During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series of five programs and at the end of each episode the panelists vote one title out of the competition until only one book remains. This book is then billed as the book that all of Canada should read.

“This is such an honour,” Abdou said. “I’m still giddy and it hasn’t really sunk in yet; it’s so huge!” Abdou will fly to Toronto for a gala event on Wednesday, November 24 where the top five books to be debated on Canada Reads will be announced.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting the other authors, Lawrence Hill, Yann Martel and Joseph Boyden in particular,” Abdou said. When asked how her novel being considered as one of the Top 10 Canadian books of the decade will affect her, she replied: “This is such a great opportunity to connect with new readers from all across the country and even other countries.”

The Bone Cage is a novel that explores, and at times questions, the fundamental ideals of the Olympic Games. Abdou noted: “In a lot of ways The Bone Cage is a celebration of sport. But I did want to call into focus the problems associated with setting up the Olympics as the pinnacle of sporting achievement. I especially wanted to question our relentless obsession with medals as the sole measurement of success.”

On how her successful literary career has affected her teaching style at College of the Rockies, she explained, “I feel my experience with writing, editing and publishing has made me a better instructor and my students benefit from insights I’ve gained through my involvement in the world of Canadian publishing. I’ve also developed a good editorial eye from reviewing my students’ work, so I learn from them and from my teaching experience as well.”

For more information on Canada Reads and the Top 10 list click here.

It is recognized world-wide that Bernard Leach was a famous British potter and is thought of as the founder of studio ceramics in our time. One of the great figures of 20th century craft, Leach played a crucial pioneering role in creating an identity for artist potters in Britain and around the world. He established Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, in 1920.

“This is indeed a significant gift for KSA,” said clay instructor Garry Graham. “This showcase represents an extraordinarily important ceramic figure and era that has influenced western ceramics. Both students and the general public will now be able to see for themselves a level of craft that is purely professional in both skill and studio practice.”

The collection on display at the KSA campus in Nelson includes three pottery pieces along with a Bernard Leach authored book and his St Ives Pottery Studio catalogue. David Stryck of Stryck Design Studio fabricated the cabinet for the collection.

The unveiling was an appropriate way to recognize the big-hearted wishes of Carol Proudfoot Couch, who entrusted Selkirk College to preserve and display the collection at the KSA campus for ceramic education.

As an art teacher at Stanley Humphries Secondary School in Castlegar (1957-1982), Carol Proudfoot Couch was well known for her enthusiastic personality, particularly when it involved supporting and collecting the arts, both locally and on her many travels abroad.

For more information on the clay program at KSA, please visit www.selkirk.ca/programs/ksa or call 250-352-2821.

Seven specialized consultants are involved in a $115,000 study to chart long-term museum survival.

Last week, Aug 10 to 13, several consultants were in Cranbrook to begin a half-year major study on the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel and its future. It will assess risks to the museum, particularly the historic railcars and the governance structure, and recommend solutions for the short- and long-term. It will also provide recommendations on the proposed new train display building and its efficient preservation systems, and then bring everything together into a long-term business plan. The perspective of this exercise is hundreds of years, not the usual five- or 20-year plans, since museums are expected to survive—literally—forever.

"The Museum Board and the Museum Development Committee of the City have been involved with this project for several years in raising a substantial amount of money to give us the best advice possible for the very long-term," said Wayne Eburne, chair of the City-appointed Museum Development Committee. "It is essential to have this done now, especially with the pending retirement in the next few years of the current executive director and CEO, Garry Anderson, who has been involved with the project since it began in 1975. This study will help bridge that major transition."

The $103,000 (plus tax) plan is funded by assistance from the Columbia Basin Trust’s Community Initiative Funds, the City of Cranbrook, the Museum Assistance Program (MAP) of the Dept of Canadian Heritage, and from the museum itself.

The plan involves seven specialists in various disciplines assessing the current facilities and their operating systems, determining capital and operating budgets, and recommending new, efficient systems that will result in "dramatic" energy reduction from what would ordinarily be expected in the new 78,000-square-foot train display building. The board and committee made it clear that they want a re-evaluation of environmental control systems that are expensive to operate and which are normally used for the preservation of artifacts, but the solution must also still meet national conservation standards.

"This is a critical, but reasonable demand, since the large trains display building will only have to be kept a few degrees above freezing in the winter, and around 20 degrees in the summer. By using slow transitions between these levels in the fall and spring seasons, a fairly constant relative humidity should be able to be maintained, which is a standard requirement for most museum objects," said Anderson.

The plan is led by Lee Boyko, who put the team together and has an extensive background in museum work and planning. Conservator, Andrew Todd, will assess the current condition of the railcar collection and provide input into the museum standards that will be required in the new building.

Architect Nick Milkovitch, with colleague Neil Prakash, will provide an overview of the trains display building. This will cover its impact on the current site and buildings and on the city itself, and some of the overall considerations to give an architectural wow factor worthy of a national museum. This huge new structure will also have to harmonize with the existing neo-classical brick facade of the existing museum.

Detailed building plans will not be done at this time, as that expense is well beyond the plan budget. Equilibrium Structural Engineering, which were recently involved in the Cranbrook Airport, will investigate and recommend on the type of structure needed, including wood, since BC is a wood-producing province. Jamie Dabner of Cobalt Mechanical Engineering will provide critical recommendations on options for the building operating systems, particularly the environmental controls system options, which must use new efficient technologies—including government mandated "green" technologies such as geothermal and solar—to greatly reduce energy consumption, an important part of the terms of reference. Solar may hold great promise, as Cranbrook is the second sunniest location in Canada according to Stats Canada.

Roger Dupuis of Applied Engineering will provide recommendations on the electrical requirements and the systems needed, again with potential solar involvement. This firm also did some recent COTR design work. The cost consultant is Roger Artis of BTY Group, which will outline all of the required capital costs needed to complete the current buildings and the new train display building, as well as all of the operating costs needed to make this museum viable and make an impact on both tourists and the local community.

The historic passenger railcars belong mostly to specific sets of equipment of certain eras and are considered "deluxe hotels on wheels." The collection is still stored outdoors, but contains rare and extremely fragile interiors of significance to Canada. Current partial environmental control systems in some cars assist with preservation, but this type of system is becoming increasingly expensive and is not an optimum solution for the long term. The originality and construction nature of the railcar artifacts themselves prevent more intrusive measures, such as added wall and ceiling insulation. If introduced, this would provide more efficiency, but partially destroy the artifact.

Another major challenge, particularly for the business plan, will be how to develop and sustain both tourist programming and attendance (and its earned revenue), and local programming and attendance, while at the same time meeting the challenges of preserving the railcar collection to national standards. Local and national priorities and appeal do not necessarily line up.

The plan will end with a note of what the consequences would be to the institution and to the railcar artifacts (and indirectly to the community) if nothing is done.

"We all have a chance to do this plan right and to the highest standards using (the) most efficient energy systems possible, and this is why the terms of reference have a very strong 'museological' perspective. What other institutions in our society require such a long perspective and need to preserve objects in perpetuity? That is the job of museums alone," said Bob Bennison, chair of the Museum Board.