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Sandon centenarians
An obituary appeared in the Vancouver Sun for Norma Evelyn Schiller of Mission, who died Aug. 9, 2018 at age 100. She was born in Sandon....
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 19, 20183 min read


From the Greentree to Greenwood
Visting Sandon in August 2018, I was surprised to see a hand-carved wooden sign on the old brothel as you enter town that reads:...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 17, 20183 min read


Buildings that weren’t: Nelson aquatic centre, 1947
The following concept sketch of an aquatic centre for Nelson’s Lakeside Park appeared in the Daily News of Oct. 25, 1949, signed by local...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 17, 20182 min read


When Slocan Lake freezes over
Slocan Lake never freezes, it is said. And while it’s true that it rarely happens, there have been several notable exceptions. I came...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 15, 201815 min read


The Mayo clinic’s millionth patient
Is being a hospital’s one millionth patient an honour? It was in January 1938, when Florence Lumsden of Salmo registered at the Mayo...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 12, 20182 min read


Radio aircheck: CKQR countdown, 1974
Here’s a snippet of a countdown show on AM 1230 CKQR in 1974, recorded off air. This is an excerpt from a longer air check that I have...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 8, 20181 min read


Lost buildings: Tadanac staff house and school
Around 1929, Cominco built a three-storey brick staff house a t 211 Kootenay Ave. in Tadanac (then a company-owned district municipality...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 8, 20185 min read


Found in a gunnysack
Earlier this year I wrote about a billhead from the New Zealand Hotel that Jada Regis of the Northport Historical Society found in a...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 6, 20181 min read


Chinese chefs on Slocan Lake
I recently wrote about Holy Grail historical items — things I once saw somewhere and couldn’t find again. I’m pleased to report that I’ve...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 4, 20183 min read


Radio aircheck: KC News, 1975
Here’s a newscast that aired on KC Radio in Nelson and Creston on Jan. 21, 1975, read by Ray Zinck, who sent it to me quite a few years...
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 2, 20183 min read


Phantom signs: Snow Falling on Cedars
Snow Falling on Cedars, the movie filmed partly in Greenwood in 1998, left a legacy of faux phantom signs, which helped transform the...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 31, 20182 min read


Hidden on the wall
This huge, colourful ad was rescued from the old hardware store at 216 6th Ave. (Block 13, Lot 6) in New Denver before it was was torn...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 30, 20182 min read


Lost buildings: Silver Ledge Hotel
Although I’m rarely on the cutting edge of technology, I was the first person I knew to own a digital camera, purchased directly from...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 27, 20182 min read


I am not a bank robber
The postcard below of an old bridge across the Cascade canyon at Christina Lake sold online today. It’s a nice enough image, but it’s the...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 24, 20182 min read


Helicopter crash in Nelson, 1960
Kyle Kusch of the Arrow Lakes Historical Society just finished digitizing more than 800 slides from Wilf (Hufty) Hewat, a pilot and...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 22, 20183 min read


Thomas Edison in Nelson
Inventor Thomas Edison (seen below in a Wikipedia photo) passed through Nelson 110 years ago. While his visit was fleeting, he told a...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 21, 20182 min read


Holy Grails of Kootenay history
Many’s the time I’ve come across something historically interesting in a newspaper only to: a) Fail to fully appreciate its significance...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 13, 201810 min read


The Farron monument
I previously wrote about some strange circumstances surrounding the death of Doukhobor leader Peter V. Verigin in a train explosion near...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 9, 20188 min read


Julia Henshaw in West Kootenay
Michael Kluckner’s new graphic novel, Julia, is a biography of Vancouver’s Julia Henshaw (1869-1937). She was, among other things, a...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 6, 20185 min read


Ici repose: The Hamel family of Comaplix
One of most poignant epitaphs I’ve ever seen appears on twin gravemarkers in West Kootenay’s most remote cemetery. The Hamel siblings,...
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 3, 20187 min read
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