In 2005, with an unprecedented number of volunteer hours, the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society accomplished more than ever!

We were pleased to feature a new exhibit in 2005, “Memories of Manson’s Landing”. This exhibit was the third in a series of stories of different communities on Cortes which included "Windows on Whaletown"(1998), logging in Von Donop Inlet from 1920 to 1960 (2000), and "a Celebration of Wild Salmon", the history of commercial fishing on Cortes (2002). To help Cortes School students appreciate the display, a “treasure hunt” questionnaire was developed for them to fill out as they explored the exhibit. Later, in December, seniors were invited to view the display and hear a reading of the history of this area. Their feedback provided valuable new information in terms of individual memories and stories of these earlier times.

This year the Archive Committee also completed our project of processing archival materials related to community planning on Cortes Island, with partial grant funding from the Canadian Council of Archives. With the installation of a new computer and the program InMagic archival work will be made much easier.

Improvements to the Heritage Garden continued with the installation of drip irrigation in the eastern portion of the garden and the laying of landscape cloth and alder chips along the outside perimeter of the garden fence to reduce the need for mowing outside the fence and to conserve moisture for plantings along the inner fence perimeter.

For the full report, click on the link that follows.