William Adams says he hopes a new rotating home for the 150 Cariboo Chilcotin Events in 150 Years display will allow more people to enjoy the exhibit.
Adams is the curator of the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin. He says that since the museum was moved to the Williams Lake Visitor Centre, there simply isn’t room for the display that chronicles 150 years of historical events of the area.
On Tuesday, Adams set up the display in the Thompson Rivers University library where he says it will stay for approximately two weeks before being moved to its next home at the Seniors Activity Centre. After that, he is actively searching for another place for the exhibit to call home.
“It’s to show people that we do have a lot of local history,” Adams told the Tribune.
He notes the display “is for the locals” and since it is mostly tourists who stop into the Visitor Centre, it is more fitting that the display travels around town.
The exhibit is presented as a timeline from 1867 to 2017, arranged over several tall banners with the Cariboo Chilcotin history running alongside facts about Canada’s history. Items such as the town burning down in 1883 and and Joseph Spencer Thompson being elected the first Member of Parliament for the newly established Cariboo riding in 1872 are just a sample of what you can expect from the display.
On July 1, the exhibit was premiered at Canada Day celebrations in Boitano Park as part of Canada 150 but now you’ll be able to see the displays and follow the history of the area as they are placed about the TRU library for the next two weeks.