Barkerville launches campaign to make old-fashioned connections with those living in isolation

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December 1, 2020 (Barkerville, BC) – For more than 60 years Barkerville Historic Town & Park has been sharing history and common humanity with its visitors to through live, interactive storytelling that is compassionate, personal, and compelling. With the resurgence of a COVID-19 risk in Canada, the National Historic Site’s planned on-site winter interpretive programs have been suspended, many cultural workers are facing layoffs, and thousands of people living in isolation face the prospect of a lonely holiday season with little-to-no human connection.

As such, Barkerville is asking for the public’s support to help keep people connected over the holidays.

Today (December 1^st) marks #GivingTuesday in Canada, and Barkerville is pleased to launch its charitable Greetings from History campaign to support individuals in need of human interaction this winter. Arming themselves with pen, paper, and a passion for connecting people and their heritage, Barkerville’s team of historical characters are set to work on achieving the monumental task of writing 2,000 personalized, full-page letters to those living in seclusion, sharing stories from the past, tales from the gold rush, love, support, and a little bit of human connection.

To achieve its goal Barkerville has launched a fundraising campaign aimed at covering the costs of postage, stationery, and more than 1,000 hours of labour needed to support the Greetings from History campaign’s target of writing “2,000 Letters for the Lonely.” Barkerville is asking for the public’s support to help make this happen.

A tax-deductible donation of just $15 will cover the cost of postage, stationery and time to provide one deserving recipient with a full-page personalized letter, delivering real human connection in a time of great isolation. The ultimate campaign goal is to raise $30,000 to write 2,000 letters.

To support the Greetings from History campaign visit: https://donorbox.org/greetings-from-history.

To nominate a letter recipient for the campaign visit: https://forms.gle/JAcnbnH7AgSkJ11VA.

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Media Inquires

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

An Original Peoples’ Perspective (Cheryl Chapman, Mike Retasket) photo by Jonny Bierman

September 30, 2020 (Barkerville, BC) – Barkerville Historic Town & Park is pleased to announce the re-launch of a ground-breaking Virtual Field Trip program that will again provide classrooms from across the province a unique opportunity to connect with Barkerville’s award-winning educators and historical interpreters… live and in real-time.

For more than 60 years, the Cariboo-based National Historic Site and Provincial Heritage Property has welcomed in-person visits from hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, but due to the onset of COVID-19 and the important health and safety guidelines that have come with it, Barkerville Historic Town & Park has had to adapt. Instead of visitors traveling to the goldfields, the goldfields will now travel to them through innovative online programming that provides students and teachers a chance to interact with historical characters, ask them questions, and be part of an immersive theatrical performance.

“We know how important it is to connect youth with their history in a meaningful way, and we don’t want to lose that connection because of COVID-19,” said Jillian Merrick, Barkerville’s Manager of Preservation and Presentation. “The feedback from our spring program was nothing short of amazing and has ignited a passion in us to reunite with classrooms again this fall.”

Barkerville’s Virtual Field Trip program was first launched in May of 2020 and ran until mid-June. The original four-week program was booked solid, delivering more than 200 private virtual classroom experiences to 4300 BC schoolchildren both in their homes and in classrooms. The program was met with enthusiasm from teachers, parents, and students alike, as evidenced by written testimonials provided by a number of participating teachers:

This was a fantastic opportunity for my students to learn more about the gold rush. We live on the coast and would never be able to experience this live at Barkerville. Some of my students actually said it was the best field trip ever!

Your virtual tour was as entertaining as being there live. I hope this treasure continues on generation after generation!

The virtual Barkerville historical experience was a high-quality, relevant event for my students. Learning about an authentic indigenous experience of the Gold Rush deepened connection and understanding for my students and me.

One of my students commented that their virtual field trip was the most fun they’ve had since COVID-19 began. The students have really enjoyed interacting with different characters. The field trips have been some of the few things that some students chose to participate in. I am very thankful for the high-quality experience you have offered.

Having the actors tell the stories made it much more engaging for the students. History can be very hard to make interesting to young people. Making it more like a story really hooked their interest!

The Fall 2020 re-launch of the Virtual Field Trip program will offer 550 new online classroom experiences from October 19 to December 4. These one-hour sessions will broadcast live from Barkerville Historic Town & Park to classrooms throughout the province and are designed to generate curiosity and passion for history in a grade school audience and reflect the diversity of the people and stories from the original Cariboo Gold Rush. Subjects include the science of gold, gold rush history from Chinese and Indigenous perspectives, historical trial re-enactments, blacksmith and printing press demonstrations, and more.

For more information about Barkerville’s Virtual Field Trip program, please visit www.barkerville.ca, or call 1-888-994-3332.

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Photo Credit: An Original Peoples’ Perspective (Cheryl Chapman, Mike Retasket) photo by Jonny Bierman

Media Inquires

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

We are deeply sorry for any hurt and confusion our recent newspaper advertisement has caused. We see now that our choice of words could be interpreted as Barkerville making light of one of the darkest chapters in the history of the indigenous peoples of British Columbia. This was not our intention – in fact quite the opposite – and we take full responsibility for our mistake. We did not mean to appear as though we were celebrating disease, nor the devastation caused by historical epidemics. We acknowledge that we have inadvertently done just that, and unequivocally apologize for our error.

The ad in question has been removed from any further campaign communications, and we will be extra vigilant in our attempts to communicate the message of hope and resilience that was our original goal.

Barkerville Historic Town & Park makes a concerted effort to raise awareness of the smallpox epidemic in British Columbia, as well as subsequent pandemics, as a way of expressing to our visitors the continued importance of protecting our communities, our elders, and our culture keepers. We recognize that our recent ad did not convey this objective, and instead may seem to be dismissive of an historic trauma.

We are in the process of having an open and progressive conversation with Barkerville’s Indigenous interpreters and regional partners about the ad and how we might now use our mistake as an opportunity to engage in a broader, more uncomfortable conversation. A very timely conversation about acknowledgement, equity, and the survival of our species as a whole.

We had hoped to remind the people of this province that they can travel to Barkerville and do so safely, with relatively easy social distancing measures in place, because we have planned it that way for their health, safety, and peace of mind.

Regardless of our original intent, we obviously see that we need to expand upon the context of our word choices in any future messaging and promise to do so. The dialogue that has begun as a result of our error is extremely important and welcome, and we hope to be able to continue this conversation in a meaningful way, in the months and years to come. Please continue to hold us accountable for any errors we make along the way. We are open to any and all feedback you may have for us, and I encourage you to contact me directly with any comments or concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Kate Cox, Chief Executive Officer
Barkerville Historic Town & Park and Cottonwood House Historic Site
kate.cox@barkerville.ca
1-888-994-3332 ex. 39

Barkerville Main Street - photo by Chris Sharpe

For Immediate Release

June 30, 2020 (Barkerville, BC) – Barkerville Historic Town & Park is pleased to announce an upcoming change to its daily programming schedule, as the Province of British Columbia officially enters Phase 3 of its COVID-related Restart Plan.

The National Historic Site and Provincial Heritage Property will not be open to the public on Canada Day (Wednesday, July 1) – but starting Friday, July 3, Barkerville will return to seven days per week operation, with a few important modifications.

Beginning July 3, Barkerville’s accessible exhibits, revised educational programming, campgrounds, accommodations, and selected shops and eateries will be open daily. Visitors are encouraged to plan ahead and check Barkerville’s website prior to their visit. Admission tickets can be purchased online and in-person at Barkerville’s Visitor Reception Centre, open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily, but walk-up admission cannot be guaranteed.

“For the continued safety of Barkerville’s staff and guests, entry to the site will be limited to 200 visitors per day, and pre-reserved admission through our website is strongly recommended,” said Jillian Merrick, Barkerville’s Manager of Preservation and Presentation. “On a typical sunny summer weekend in prior years, Barkerville would normally see upwards of 1,000 visitors a day; this is why booking your admission in advance is so important while our 200-visitor limit is in place.”

Once inside the gates, visitors can expect the same high-quality historic presentations, but with a completely different presentation style.

“Our award-winning curatorial displays and public programs will look a little different this season,” said Merrick. “Only those exhibits that can be safely accessed with proper social distancing measures in place will be open, and our team of historical interpreters will be stationed throughout the site in ways that provide entertaining and engaging, short-duration conversations and demonstrations.”

“We’ve had to suspend the large-scale presentations and public events usually designed for bigger crowds,” she added. “We think we will create a very personal and memorable experience.”

Visits to the Barkerville Archives will now be by appointment only, and Barkerville’s extracurricular special event schedule, which normally includes recurring favourites like Dominion Day, Indigenous Celebration, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, and Cowboy & Drover Jubilee, will remain suspended for the duration of the 2020 summer season due to provincial limitations on allowable mass gatherings. Barkerville’s renowned Theatre Royal will also remain closed to the public, although livestream broadcasts of musical variety shows from the theatre, as well as a selection of interactive, virtual broadcasts from a number of different stations throughout the park, will be made available via different online platforms (including Facebook, Youtube, and Zoom) in the upcoming months.

For more information about Barkerville’s virtual broadcast schedule, its Phase 3 operating hours and programming adjustments, or to pre-book admission to the site, please visit www.barkerville.ca, or call 1-888-994-3332.

For more information about Phase 3 of BC’s Restart Plan, please visit: https://bit.ly/2BjMHXO.

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Photo Credit

Barkerville Main Street – photo by Chris Sharpe.

Media Inquiries

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

April 9, 2020 (Barkerville, BC) – Due to changing dynamics as a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic, Barkerville Historic Town & Park and Cottonwood House Historic Site have rescheduled their opening dates for the 2020 operating season.

The Board of Directors of the Barkerville Heritage Trust – Barkerville and Cottonwood’s managing partner with the Government of BC – voted unanimously this week to move the planned opening dates of both Cariboo-based heritage sites and their respective campgrounds and service amenities from May 14 to June 18, with a reassessment of this new date and any further decision on opening to be made no later than June 4.

Until then Barkerville and Cottonwood House will remain closed for visitation but will provide imaginative and historically interpretive educational programming to school groups and the general public in the meantime – from cyberspace.

“The Trust’s guiding principles are to follow health authority orders, provide safe employment for staff, safe customer experiences for guests, and innovative delivery of our services,” said Ed Coleman, Chief Executive Officer for Barkerville and Cottonwood House.

“By repositioning the opening of our 2020 season, we can ensure these principles are adhered to as we continue to preserve, protect, and showcase the cultural assets of Barkerville and Cottonwood throughout this unprecedented global situation,” he added.

Starting May 15, Barkerville Historic Town & Park and Cottonwood House Historic Site plan to broadcast live, interactive heritage experiences for school children and adult learners via a mixture of web-based platforms as a means of connecting online visitors with the significant heritage resources of both locations while staff maintain safe social distances (details about the proposed online experiences will be announced in the coming weeks).

For more information about the revised opening dates of Barkerville and Cottonwood, or to access information about the Barkerville Heritage Trust and its mandate, please email Ed Coleman at ed.coleman@barkerville.ca, or phone 1-888-994-3332, ext. 23.

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Media Inquires

Ed Coleman | Chief Executive Officer

The Barkerville Heritage Trust is seeking proposals from interested parties for the purpose of issuing a contract for the Indigenous Interpretation Program at Barkerville Historic Town & Park.

This contract will require a team of no fewer than three (3) people to to facilitate the daily delivery (seven days per week throughout the contract term) of activities which illustrate the importance of the indigenous community (miners, merchants, labourers and others) during the development of Barkerville, the Cariboo Goldfields, and British Columbia. These activities may include site tours, demonstrations, historically themed vignettes and/or discussions, one-on-one costumed interpretation, and special events. Activities shall align with the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The contract will be issued on a one (1) year term. First-time contractors with the Barkerville Heritage Trust are subject to a one-year probationary period, with annual renewal based on satisfactory completion of the initial contract year, to be determined by formal review.

Closing Date: Two (2) complete copies of each proposal must be received by 11:59 pm, Pacific Time on February 24, 2020 for all contract proposals. The Trust is not bound to accept the lowest or any bid submitted. This contract may or may not be awarded and is subject to budget approvals. All submissions will be considered based on equal criteria. Proposal packages will be available after January 14, 2020 by contacting the undersigned and giving your company and/or contact name(s), mailing address, telephone and email information, and referencing the contract name. Packages are also available at the Barkerville Administration Office front desk from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm daily, or by emailing the undersigned.

Contact: Jillian Merrick | Manager, Preservation and Presentation, by email at jillian.merrick@barkerville.ca or phone 1-888-994-3332, ext. 28.

Closing Location: Barkerville Historic Town & Park, 14301 Hwy 26 E., PO Box 19, Barkerville, BC V0K 1B0

Download the full Request for Proposals

The Barkerville Heritage Trust is seeking proposals from interested parties for the purpose of issuing a contract for the Home Life Interpretation Program at Barkerville Historic Town & Park.

This contract will require a team of no fewer than three (3) people interpret activities in the Schoolhouse and the Wendle House. The Home Life Interpretation Program may include character representation from throughout the course of Barkerville’s interpreted history (1862 to 1942) with specific emphasis placed on historical or composite/generic characters that lived in or could have lived in Barkerville between 1870 and 1910.

The Schoolhouse portion of this contract will require one person daily (seven days per week throughout the contract term) to portray to the visiting public and school groups the character of a historic schoolteacher using prepared lesson plans which are relevant to the 1870 to 1910 time period. The Wendle House portion of this contract will require one person daily (seven days per week throughout the contract term) to portray home life demonstrations to the visiting public, such as gardening, baking, sewing, and clothes washing, consistent with life at the turn of the 20^th century in an isolated gold-mining town.

Contact: Jillian Merrick | Manager, Preservation and Presentation, by email at jillian.merrick@barkerville.ca or phone 1-888-994-3332, ext. 28.

Closing Location: Barkerville Historic Town & Park, 14301 Hwy 26 E., PO Box 19, Barkerville, BC V0K 1B0

Download the full Request for Proposals

December 17, 2019 (Barkerville, BC) – Barkerville Historic Town & Park, the largest gold rush heritage attraction in Western North America, announced last night at its annual staff Christmas social that a new producer has been found for the Theatre Royal’s 2020 operating season.

“Newman & Wright Theatre Company, who’ve successfully operated the Theatre Royal for the past 16 years, have made immense contributions to the history and development of Barkerville as a world-class tourism and entertainment destination,” said Barkerville CEO Ed Coleman.

“We are committed to providing an equally high level of professional theatre presentation in Barkerville as we move forward,” he continued. “So, after a thorough internal selection process, we have invited long-time Barkerville contract manager Stewart Cawood to produce our Theatre Royal’s 2020 season.”

Cawood was born and raised in Quesnel, BC, where his love of theatrical performance was fostered at Correlieu Secondary School. He went on to earn multiple degrees in Drama, History, and Education at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops while working during the summer for the Chinatown, Historic Street, and Colonial Justice interpretation programs in Barkerville. As a professional actor, director, and production manager, Stewart has also worked internationally on projects with the Saucy Fops, Project X, Reliquarium Productions, The Sunset Theatre, Histrionics Theatre Company, London UK Records and Barker Street Cinema.

In 2013 Cawood assumed management of Barkerville’s Cameron & Ames Blacksmith shop and was awarded a contract to oversee the park’s Historic Street interpretation program the following year. He will continue managing both the Blacksmith and Historic Street programs while producing daily musical variety shows at the Theatre Royal in 2020, with help from a team of seasoned performers whose collective experience in Barkerville spans decades.

“I am thrilled by this new opportunity,” said Cawood. “Richard and Amy [of Newman & Wright Theatre Company] have been good friends and colleagues throughout my entire career in Barkerville and I look forward to maintaining the standard they set so well, while honouring the legacies of everyone over the past 150 years who have made the Theatre Royal what is today.”

For more information about Barkerville’s Theatre Royal and its 2020 season, please visit barkerville.ca, or phone James Douglas at 1-888-994-3332, ext. 41 or Ed Coleman at ext. 23.

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Photo Credit

Stewart Cawood at Victorian Christmas, photo by Jillian Merrick.

Media Inquiries

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

December 4, 2019 (Barkerville, BC) – It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Barkerville Historic Town & Park is celebrating the holidays with its annual Old-Fashioned Victorian Christmas, Saturday through Monday, December 14-16.

“We have some exciting new activities planned for this year’s event,” said Jillian Merrick, Barkerville’s Manager of Preservation & Presentation. “We’ve been breaking attendance records over the past few seasons, and this year we want to make sure we’ve got some extra surprises for our annual yuletide guests to enjoy.”

Some of these extras include winterized museum exhibits, three times more free activities and historical interpretation programs offered, additional washroom facilities uptown, and a charter bus service running from Quesnel and Prince George. There will be traditional caroling on the streets of Barkerville as well as two indoor choral concerts on Saturday and Sunday (featuring Quesnel‘s Q City Singers and the Aka Bellas, respectively) and music from the Quesnel Junior School band on Monday.

Sleigh rides, town tours, cookie-decorating workshops, old-time photography sessions, and Dickensian shopping-experiences will operate as usual, onsite Bed & Breakfasts and other accommodations are taking reservations, the Goldfield Bakery and the Barkerville Café will be serving up holiday treats and delicious lunches, and the Shamrock Tube Run will open for the 2019 recreational season, provided the snow keeps steadily falling.

Admission to Barkerville’s 2019 Old-Fashioned Victorian Christmas is by donation – either monetary or some non-perishable food item for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 128’s annual Christmas hamper program in nearby Wells, BC.

For more information about Barkerville’s 2019 Old-Fashioned Victorian Christmas event, please visit barkerville.ca/victorianchristmas, or phone 1-888-994-3332, ext. 0.

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Photo Credit

Snowy Street w People, photo by Thomas Drasdauskis

Media Inquires

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

Photo_Ed Coleman, Mandy Kilsby, Anna Kelly and Dr. Mark Yan Wong (2)

November 21, 2019 (Barkerville, BC) – Unique Chinese and Canadian histories are being shared across the world thanks to a recent project partnership between Guangxi Normal University Press in China, and Barkerville Historic Town & Park’s archives in British Columbia. Thousands of Barkerville’s gold rush-era Chinese language archival materials will soon be published by the Chinese national publication house in a series of volumes entitled the “Barkerville Archives Collection,” for both Chinese and English language audiences.

Dr. Mark Yan Wong and Anna Kelly – two researchers and freelance editors living in China – received approval from Guangxi Normal University Press to undertake the project, starting in the summer of 2019. Since then, they have worked with Barkerville’s curator, Mandy Kilsby, and Chief Executive Officer, Ed Coleman, to administer the project, which is well underway.

“We’ve been honoured to work with Mark and Anna over the past couple of years, as they’ve worked towards permission to commence this exciting project,” said Kilsby.

“Now that it’s actually happening, we look forward to building and maintaining strong ties with Guangxi Normal University,” she added.

This is the first exchange of its kind between Barkerville Historic Town & Park and a Chinese academic publication house. The project hopes to bring an oft-forgotten piece of history to a Chinese audience eager to reclaim knowledge of its past – especially China’s many international migrations and cross-cultural histories – and specifically the history of Chinese/Canadian relations. Every effort is being taken to ensure the project’s success, and to raise awareness of the significant contributions British Columbia’s early Chinese settlers made to the formation of local histories, and to the development of Canada itself.

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Photo Credit

Ed Coleman, Mandy Kilsby, Anna Kelly and Dr. Mark Yan Wong; photo by Barkerville Historic Town & Park.

Media Inquiries

James Douglas | Public Programming & Global Media Development

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