COAL CREEK HISTORIC PARK ADVISORY COMMITTEE
JULY 27, 2009 MINUTES
APPROVED

PRESENT: John Leung, Grace Doherty, Josephine Peyton, Marie Lowe, Florence Bell, Dwayne Rourke, Imogene Lim, May Gee, Carol Snaden

Chair Grace Doherty called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.

AGENDA

MOTION TO APPROVE WITH THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONS:
Under Unfinished Business – I. Approach Rocky Williams about helping to find the pins and discussion of providing honorarium.
New Business – B. Info gathering No. 1 Japanese Town (memories should be gathered sooner than later).
Motion by Dwayne, May. Carried.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. UPDATE PICNIC SHELTER AND T-SHIRT SALES
Sold 28 t-shirts at the reunion picnic. May: Some t-shirts can go into the museum if there are lots left. Will be sold at the Simms Park on Aug. 15. The booths are free for non-profits at the community sale. Carol can help sell shirts on the day of the Big Time Out if we get a booth downtown. John will ask if we can set up at the Village Square.

B. CHINATOWN REUNION PICNIC
There was a smaller group at the picnic this year. Corrections to the descriptions for the Cumberland Chinatown photos were done. The museum info is not always correct. Shirley tONG had the shop list from her father, GeorgeLow. Imogene: The original is getting fragile and it was important to get a copy. Translation needed for the merchants list. Grace: As more info gets out we will get more feedback. May made a poster with photos for the picnic.
Note: We have a scanned copy of the shops list. Shirley has the original.

C. BRIDGE/TORII GATE PROJECT AND ROTARY MEETING JULY 14/09
Tats and Grace attended the July 14/09 Cumberland Rotary meeting and gave a presentation on the project. Approx. $15,000 total cost, perhaps the bridge could be done this year and the gate next.

D. PARK BYLAW
The first draft will be done this summer. Judy has been given and additional day a week. Grace: The bylaw affects putting in benches, signs etc.

E. CHINATOWN PHOTO SIGNS
May has an autograph book of visitors to Chinatown. She takes the book with her when she is doing work at the site. Jo met 3 out of town joggers reading the photo signs. People are interested in the signs. Grace: We can go back to John Watson and see if there is assistance for more permanent signs. Flo: Would like the find the Heritage Commission stuff as it has been removed from the CRI hall meeting room. H.C. members Sheila and Flo looked for the storyboards and couldn’t find them. John: photos of the same buildings (duplicates) could be put on the back of the signs. May: Could we have the photos on the internet with the descriptions? Imogene: Photos on the internet should be formatted so that they can't be used without permission or payment. Marie: Wedding photos might be better than just buildings, photos with people. John: Yellow highlighting on the map indicates where he has installed signs. Marie: Tom Kee’s tobacco shop. A name for the same person can change over the years depending on whether it is a name given at birth, as a student or a married name (changes for the men). Imogene: Take a big map of shops to the next picnic and let people write in what their memories are (info on Chinatown). Individuals could use different coloured markers so then we can id their comments. John spoke no English until he was 7. Marie: Mrs. Finch taught English and writing and she helped everyone including adults.

F. INTERACTIVE MAP – DWAYNE
Dwayne has been creating a section on The Cumberlander for our committee. Articles, photos, event notices, links, project documentation etc can be submitted by any of us directly to the website. A new feature being developed is an interactive map of Chinatown. Yellow dots on the map indicate a photo to click on (large image available, more text is available). More maps can be put on. Photos need to be credited or watermarked. Imogene: Photo credits help others find info. Cumberland history books can be listed in a bibliography. Dwayne: A domain name could be purchased just for the Coal Creek and the website designed for people to update. Imogene: Is the Torii Gate Project given equal time? It is important to showcase both projects. Jo: The Saito House is important. S. Hume lived on Camp for 2 years while his wife was writing the Ginger Goodwin book. Imogene: The Japanese held the weddings at a Chinese restaurant (hall above the store) and came to the Chinese theatres. Where did the Japanese and Chinese interact? A S. Hume update on Chinatown article? Dwayne has been creating an interactive map. View at http//:www.thecumberlander.ca/show25s/coalcreekhistoricpark

G. CHERRY TREE FALL PLANTING AND CEREMONY
The planting ceremony in the Fall (mid Sept.?) will include a rep from the #1 Town . In the Spring the ceremony can include politicians etc. Imogene: 2009 is the sixtieth anniversary of the Japanese obtaining the vote in B.C.
MOTION: That the Coal Creek Historic Park Advisory Committee send a delegation to the August 10/09 Council meeting to update council on the cherry tree project, inviting council to the ceremony and requesting that other dignitaries are invited to the sod breaking ceremony. Motion – Flo, seconded by Imogene. Carried.

H. APPROACH ROCKY WILLIAMS, HONORARIUM.
MOTION: Approach Rocky Williams to walk the boundaries of the park and GPS to id the pins on the site and provide a honorarium of $200.00 to Rocky. Motion by Imogene and seconded by Jo. Carried.
Marie went to school with Rocky. Imogene: CBC Iron Road 2 part series on television August 9th and 16th. A fictionalized Canada/China production on the building of the railway. Done in Mandarin sb Cantonese.
MOTION: To send a letter of thanks to the RD for the free tipping for the #1 cleanup. Motion by Imogene, seconded by Flo. Carried.

I. VANISHING BROOM
The broom at No.1 was cut by Ray, Susan, Tats, June and Grace. Tats used the weed eater to blaze the upper road. Grace: There are still holes and iron bars etc. Needs more work before the public come.

NEW BUSINESS

A. INVITATIONAL TOURS OF THE PARK IN THE FALL
Grace: Do we want to invite people to tours of the area e.g. council, Village staff, new museum director, museum staff and board, press, Rotary reps, OAP reps, Ron Bannerman, the Chamber and others? Discussion will take place at the August meeting.

B. INFORMATION GATHERING
Discussion for the August meeting. Flo: The Obon takes place on August 7th, not done by Roy Inoyue. A letter went to the Museum. 1 p.m. at the Japanese Cemetery with a Buddhist Minister. George Doi would like a circular marker for one of the graves to be put on the monument. He unveiled a cairn at the Miner’s Memorial. Flo will gather more info on this.

NEXT MEETING: August 24.

ADJOURNMENT: 12:23 P.M. MOTION BY DWAYNE.

Carol Snaden - secretary