Personally, I have had an amazing week and been inspired by every moment spent with the students. So to everyone involved with this year’s Provincial Fair, thank you for making history come alive!

Evan Fryer                                                                                                                       Alumni Coordinator

As the students arrived at the Royal BC Museum (the location for the Exhibition), they quickly began setting up their projects and putting on their costumes! Within twenty minutes, the lobby of the Royal Museum had transformed into a beautiful array of heritage fair projects. At 10:45am, the students gathered together to get ready for the procession. Within minutes, the bagpipes were resonating throughout the lobby as the piper and honourable dignitaries led the students outside the museum to Mungo Martin House, the site of the Opening Ceremonies. Wawadit’la (Mungo Martin House) is a traditional big house in Thunderbird Park with an interesting history. The house’s Opening Ceremony in 1953 was the first legal public potlatch to be held after the law prohibiting potlatches was removed from the Indian Act. How fitting that this important ceremonial place is also home to our Opening Ceremonies! As the students took their seats on wooden benches around a fire in the middle of the house, the ceremonies began. After many inspiring speeches from important dignitaries, Michael Gurney, President of BCHFS, officially declared the 2011 Provincial Heritage Fair open. On that cue, the piper led everyone back into the museum for the presentation of projects to begin.

For the next three hours, students presented their projects to the dignitaries, the public, and each other. As ambassadors of BC, the students shared their projects and taught others through their own expertise on their topic. As a new aspect of the Fairs Program, the hard-working Alumni Students spent their time interviewing every single student. They recorded these interviews and will be featured on the BCHFS website. In doing this, we are creating an archive of student projects easily accessible by anyone at anytime. Thus, people across the globe will be able to listen to the passionate stories in the student’s own voice. How cool is that!?!

As the exhibition closed at 3pm, the students were laughing and telling stories, yet tired from a long day of standing by their projects…but not tired enough for shopping! The next two hours were spent checking out shops on Government Street and purchasing some interesting things. Voted as the “craziest purchase of the afternoon” was a stuffed sea lion named Fluffy-Joe. No matter what the students bought, it was nice to just relax and hangout after a long day of presenting their projects.

Upon our return to UVic, the students were greeted with a banquet, social, and dance where they were able to reflect on the week, and spend one last night with their newfound friends. Presentations were made, thank you’s were given, and a slideshow of the week’s best moments was shown. In a special presentation, our Provincial Coordinator, Mary Campone, was greeted by a rose from every single student! She could barely hold them all in her hand as she hugged each person in the room. Thank you Mary for all of your commitment, organizational efforts, and love over the last four Provincial Fairs. As soon as the speeches were finished, the Celtic music started and the feet began ‘a tappin’. As people talked and danced, everyone realized exactly what they accomplished. Although it is the end of the 2011 Fair, it is not the end of the growth of these young historians; they will only continue to grow as students, leaders, and people, and use their experience at the 2011 Provincial Heritage Fair in Victoria as a stepping stone to the future. Congratulations to all of the student delegates, you are truly amazing!!!

In the morning we had the opportunity to engage in presentations about the years of nautical exploration and discovery at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Here, the students heard tales from Captain James Cook about the harsh conditions and hard work put into finding new land. They also had the chance to explore the old British Columbia Provincial Courthouse where Judge Begbie, “the hanging judge”, used to sentence people to death. The students of the Heritage Fairs Program also learned about the old trade routes and the importance of trade hundreds of year ago. With a newfound appreciation for the discovery of where we live, the students set off to explore Chinatown.

As we explored the oldest Chinatown in Canada on a historical walk, the beauty of the paintings and sculptures astonished the students. Even more so, it was the rich Chinese history attached to these pieces of art that resonated most with the Provincial Fair delegates. They had the chance to learn about Chinese-Canadian culture while checking out traditional schools, playing an old game, and squeezing through Fan Tan Alley. At the end of the Chinatown tour, we ended up in Bastion Square. Bastion Square, which is contained within the old Fort Victoria boundaries, was the location for public hangings; that is, until the last public hanging in Canada took place on December 11, 1962. Afterwards we were told some stories about mysterious energies in some of the surrounding buildings; the history in this area was undoubtedly gruesome.

After a bagged lunch in Market Square, it was time to board the buses once again and head out to Esquimalt. Our first stop was Fort Rodd Hill, a National Historic Sight of Canada. Here, students toured the old fort including rooms that were bomb proof as well as Fisgard Lighthouse at the end of the fort. Although the fort was never used in battle, it was extremely monumental as the last stop to destroy the enemy ships before they enter the important region at the southern tip of Vancouver Island; thus, they always had to be ready for battle. Students also had the opportunity to look at old bombshells and cannons that always had to be ready for use.

After this enjoyable tour in the gorgeous weather, students boarded the busses for a short drive to Hatley Castle on the Royal Roads Campus. Some students recognized the castle for being used in the filming of the X-Men movies. Today, it is used as an administration building for the Royal Roads University. Whatever its use, the castle was a perfect backdrop for delegation photos and a relaxing moment to sit on the grass in the shade and enjoy each other’s company. A group picture was then taken at Esquimalt Lagoon and students were able to bury their feet in the sand and climb from driftwood to driftwood. A Western-Chinese dinner at the Royal Roads Café ended off our Wednesday adventure…and with many, many laughs. As the students discovered upon our arrival at the café, there was a karaoke machine present, and students (and chaperones) took turns filling the room with…uh…beautiful voices…

Upon our arrival back at UVic, there was just enough time for the students to play a mini-soccer game before heading to bed for the night. Tomorrow will be the Provincial Exhibition and you can sense the intensity in the air already as students prepare for a full day of presentations. As they passionately present their projects, they will be spreading the knowledge of heritage not only to improve their own skills as students, but also to inform the people of BC about the beautiful history that permeates our country.

After a “special” encounter with Francis Rattenbury himself, the students crossed the street to explore the Royal BC Museum. Here, the students were extremely fascinated by the large-scale exhibits on Canada’s Natural History and interesting carvings and sculptures in the First People’s exhibit. As part of the self-guided tour, the students travelled back through time and walked along the cobblestone streets of an early 20^thCentury Town. Many students were shocked by the clothing, food, and entertainment people lived with (or didn’t live with) in the last Century. It was especially shocking for those students who were born in or after the year 2000!

Upon our exit of the museum, we again boarded the buses and headed to Government House, the residence of our Lieutenant Governor, Stephen L. Point. After a bagged lunch on the grounds, His Honour’s Private Secretary, Mr. Herb LeRoy appeared from the house to greet the students. He described the role the Lieutenant Governor plays in BC and was extremely impressed by the student’s keen grasp on the subject matter. He even told the delegates, “I’m going to have to talk to you like you are 2^nd year university students.”

After the food, stories, and intense pin trading, it was time to leave the grounds of Government House. We walked to the nearby Craigdarroch Castle and walked around the outskirts of its beautiful façade. Here, we learned that Robert Dunsmuir (Vancouver Island’s “Coal Baron”) built this magnificent castle for his family to show off his wealth to the community. Many students asked questions about the 39 rooms inside and the way-of-life as the rich and famous. It was interesting for the delegates to discover that the Dunsmuir family also lived a scandalous life (much like Rattenbury). Maybe being rich and famous wasn’t extremely beneficial in these days after all…

As we left the surrounding grounds of Craigdarroch Castle, we hopped aboard the busses once again to start our journey to Goldstream Provincial Park. As students departed the busses in a totally new landscape, they felt as if they were adventuring in the true outdoors. With Red Cedar’s shooting up into the sky and licorice fern scattering the ground, the student’s left no nook and cranny unexplored. As we arrived at the Nature House and Sanctuary (after a short trail walk), we were greeted by a couple of enthusiastic park rangers. These knowledgeable experts explained the importance of Goldstream River in the salmon spawning season. Afterwards, the student delegates broke off into teams where they competed in a Nature Jeopardy game, which brought out the competitiveness in everyone. With these newfound facts, the students marched proudly back up the trail to Niagara Falls (the BC version).

Upon our arrival to the camping area, the students found they were in the middle of a barbeque! For the next hour, the students enjoyed the surrounding scenery as they munched on their hotdogs and played games (along with, of course, more pin trading). After dinner, the students travelled back to UVic where they had time to write in their journals and go for a swim in the McKinnon Pool here on campus. With refreshed faces, wet hair, and squeaky shoes, the students walked back to their dormitories where they retired for the night (that is, after a night time snack).

Although the day was full of sights and new information, the student delegates are having a blast and anticipating another full day tomorrow and the upcoming Provincial Exhibition on Thursday! How exciting!?!

As soon as everyone arrived, we walked down as a group to the ocean at Cadboro Bay for fun and games in the sun and relaxing on the beach. When we arrived back on campus, the students spent time getting acquainted with their new “home” on a campus tour of UVic. Many students were enthralled with the size of classrooms, the scale of facilities on campus, and the two million books in the McPherson Library! Afterwards, students played icebreaker activities and enjoyed a pizza dinner. YUM!

Joining the group this year are nine Alumni students from across the province. For the last four months, this group of dedicated students have been meeting every week on a conference call to better improve the Heritage Fairs Program while growing as leaders themselves. With experience in hand as delegates at the 2010 Provincial Fair in Barkerville, this group will work during the week as mentors for the students while interviewing them about their projects for an online archive.

With a long travel day behind them, the students were eager to hit the hay with anticipation of what tomorrow will have in store.

In a few hours, 70 student delegates will be travelling from their homes all over our province to BC’s capital city. Primed to share their heritage projects with the public, they’ll be bundling 3-D models into suitcases and stuffing poster boards into overhead compartments on airplanes. The Provincial Showcase takes place on Thursday. But before then, we have a lot of adventures to share.

During the Fair, members of our Provincial Fair Alumni Team will be blogging in this space. Check back often for stories and photographs about our journey together.

Photographs are online at this address (click here).