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Kamloops News

Sharing history in a modern way

Nellie Arduini and Child at Riverside Park, circa 1939.
Image Credit: Vintage Kamloops via Facebook

KAMLOOPS – A central place where anyone can share photos, stories and memories-that is the goal of a new Facebook page centered around the history of Kamloops.

The project began as a way to put together a 'day to day social history' of the city says organizer Michelle Ziebart.

“I couldn't find anything, there doesn't seem to be any digital archiving,” she says of the city museum.

Ziebart was born and raised in downtown Kamloops and though she hasn't lived here for awhile she still has family here and a love for the city that helped raise her.

She lives in Vancouver now but also lived in Toronto for awhile where she followed the Vintage Toronto site, which she says has thousands and thousands of photos. That site combined with a Kami Trout Appreciation site helped inspire her to start the Vintage Kamloops page.

She started a couple months ago scanning in all the old stuff she had and then started asking for others to share as well. One member went as far as digging up old photos, scanning them in and pairing them up with Google Streetview images of the same area to show how the city has changed. Others have simply shared their old photos of family and friends, something Ziebart would like to see more of.

“It's fun when you see other peoples photos, like the monkey Santa,” she says. “Peoples memories, that's the kind of stuff I like to see. I find it interesting.”

One of her favourite photos is a 1939 picture of a man cycling through the rain at the corner of Victoria Street and 4th Avenue.

“The building is the Plaza, those two buildings haven't really changed–you can recognize it instantly,” she says of the simple photo. “And it's just a guy on a bike in the intersection.”

She has already spent many hours getting the page to where it is today and hopes more people will start sharing everything from old memorabilia and stories to class pictures (yes, she 'sucked it up' and shared hers already) and old event photos. Her goal is to have many people come together to share their memories of the city through photos and words because 'once it's gone, it's gone'.'

“I liked growing up in Kamloops. I had fun, spent a lot of time downtown. I went to Stuart Wood Elementary and we did lots of stuff,” she says of her childhood. “But sometimes I wonder 'am I just making this stuff up?' Someone find me a picture!”

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

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