Kamloops Heritage Society Newsletter – February 2024

Hello, KHS members and Kamloops history friends!

I hope you are all well. The board and I felt it was time to reach out and let you all know what was happening. When we started as a new board, we had many ideas about how we could advocate for heritage and promote Kamloops’ history.

At that time, it came to our attention that St. George’s church on Royal Avenue was for sale. The fear was that the site might be redeveloped for housing. We looked into this situation in the hope that we could be part of an effort to save this significant part of our history. I am happy to tell you that the parish downtown has no interest in selling the church if it involves this type of redevelopment. Currently, another church is using the building.

As a new board, we realized that we can’t take on unrealistic goals, so we have decided on a course of action:

Our first project is to develop a website to promote KHS endeavours to advocate the fascinating history of Kamloops and the area. It is now in the hands of a professional designer, and we look forward to sharing updates with all of you.

We also hope to partner with Kamloops Immigrant services to develop an online update based on the book “The Confluence,” A History of Multiculturalism in Kamloops. This book was published in 1996 and edited by Ken Favrholdt. It was an excellent historical manuscript; a lot has changed, and the book needs to be enlarged and updated. It is still in its infancy and will take time to put together. I feel we have made a good start. With Kamloops Immigrant Services’ help, we can’t go wrong.

From now on, we will have a newsletter at the end of every month.

Regarding membership, we will have memberships due on the calendar year, so we all know when dues need to be paid. To make things fair, if you paid sometime in 2023, consider yourself up to date for 2024. We are adding a membership payment option to our new website for anyone who hasn’t paid.

We need a new Secretary as Chalynne Cowan has moved to Vancouver Island to teach. We wish her well, as she was a great addition to the board. We miss her knowledge and enthusiasm. If you are interested, please let us know.

We have some exciting news to share. We will co-host a film called “One of Ours” at the Paramount Theater on April 7. The film will be shown in the afternoon, around 2 or 3 pm. We will update you later as details are solidified.

The film is brought to us by Jack Gin, a producer and friend of our society, and tells us about Frederick Lee, a Kamloops-born man of Chinese heritage who joined the Canadian army in World War 1 until he died in Hill 70 in 1917.