Recent adverts in The Citizen are promoting the term Think Local Support Local. The local chamber of commerce asks what is local?
Anne Boogle comments in The Citizen on March 17th that there is an amazing amount of talent locally.
That is evident in the 2016 Jeanne Clarke Local History Award that was awarded to a very worthy local recipient, Trelle Morrow for his book, 100 Years of Prince George Architecture.
It's a very worthy honor that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the City of Prince George.
Four years ago, I donated a book to the local library and asked if they would be interested in including it in their local history collection. The book was about Loos, a community 100 miles to the east of Prince George. I was informed at that time that it did not qualify as local history and would be put into general history.
Last year was the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the railroad in Price George. The Jeanne Clarke local history award was given to a group of individuals who developed a historical presentation of the history of the Chinese in Barkerville and also to a publication on the art of the North Coast Salish. Both works worthy of acknowledgment but local is a bit of a stretch.
I contacted the library as the publications under selection for the 2015 award were many that in my mind did not fit into local criteria. I was informed that consideration for the Jeanne Clarke local history award was extended to include the region from Williams Lake to the Yukon and west to the north coast, however the publications by authors in the Chilcotin were not included.
I may be a bit cynical but it seems to me that the committee that makes the determination may be more about a gala evening with wine and tidbits rather that fostering local history.
Some may say that my comments are of a cynical nature and not constructive, however I did not have anything under consideration this year and my book, Ghost Towns on the East Line has been very well received by the general public and there is no doubt as to whether or not it contains local history.
The library informed me that local also includes regional. My dictionary describes the term regional as not generally local. Possibly the Jeanne Clarke local history awards committee should consult the dictionary and if they wish to be a regional/semi-provincial body that would be contrary to the original intent of the award.
Prince George has a lot to offer and we should quit looking out the window into the distance, look into the mirror and be content to honor our reflections into the past.
Ray Olson
Prince George
