A Place in Mind: The Search for Authenticity by Avi Friedman

We are excited to host another author in June, one Dr. Avi Friedman, who was also the contractor for our Town's recent Downtown Revitalization and Tourism Action Plans.

Dr. Friedman has written a new book, "A Place in Mind: The Search for Authenticity" and will be at the Museum on June 11th at 7pm to give a short presentation about his new work.





from Vehicule Press:

"...Avi Friedman conveys his excitement at discovering people-friendly places - antidotes to social isolation. Searching for good places - authentic places - and wondering about the disappearance of others, are at the heart of A Place in Mind..."

The 2010 Heritage Run

The annual Heritage Run is held by the Peace River Running Club with proceeds going to us!
It is being held on Sunday, June 13, 2010. There are 5 different choices for all levels of interest:
Half Marathon
10 km individual run
5 km individual run
5 x 2 km relay
5 km walk

The half marathon event begins at 8 am with all others beginning at 8:30 am. Registration forms can be picked up at the Museum (10302 99th Street).


We truly appreciate the work that the Running Club does each year and the runners who have participated over the years. We encourage everyone to come participate in the event!

For more information, please contact Frits Dijk at fhdijk@telusplanet.net or Marian Craig at sunshine@wispernet.ca.

Shirlee Mattheson visits the Peace River Country

We are excited to welcome Shirlee Matheson to the north. With the aid of the Peace River Air Show Committee, the Museum will be hosting Shirlee on June 1st at 7pm where she will be reading from her new book, "Amazing Flights and Flyers". One of the chapters, "The Murphys of Musk-Ox Lake" tells the tale of Peace River's Neill Murphy who worked in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories for many years, first with his father, a trapper and later as an engineer for Yellowknife Airways. According to Alberta History magazine editor, Hugh Dempsey, "Author Matheson interviewed him [Neill Murphy] at length and so the stories take on a personal touch as they deal with accomplishments, disasters, and the adventures of Northern aviation." (Spring 2010).

We hope you will be able to join us on June 1st to meet Shirlee and get your copy of any of her amazing books autographed!

Highlights of Our Collection

This photograph, from the Edward Whittaker fonds, shows the team of geologists who travelled north along through the Peace River region, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and the Yukon between 1916 and 1921. This collection of beautiful photographs is available for researchers at the Peace River Archives.

More Highlights of our collection

These four fine, young officers of Peace River in the 1930s show off their bloodhound, Melody, who appears to be not cooperating for the shoot.

More Highlights of our collection

This photograph of Jack O'Sullivan and what is likely his son ranks high for it's adorable factor as well as the fact that O'Sullivan and Stigsen was one of the last boat companies to freight up and down the Peace River. Their company was the end of an era in river transportation.


For anyone interested in this era, the Museum Gift Shop has a lovely little book, "Where Go the Boats?" by Evelyn Hanson for $5 that summarizes wonderfully, the boats on the Peace River from 1792-1952.

Archival Photograph Highlights

Whew, we've been so busy setting up our newest exhibit, "Play On! A History of Sport and Culture in Peace River", we've barely had time to breathe! So for the next little while, we will be posting our favorite archival photographs. Enjoy!

This is one of our Archivist's favorite: From left to right we have Brother Wagner, Philip Gerard and James St. Germain at the St. Augustine Mission school, ca. 1940s. James was a former student of the school who later worked for the school doing various things. In this photograph he appears quite James Bond-esque in his driving scarf, sunglasses and cigarette.

Upcoming Exhibit: Play On!

The staff at the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre are gearing up for our next exhibit: Play On! A History of Sport and Culture in Peace River. The exhibit goes hand in hand with the Peace River, Grimshaw and area hosting the the 2010 Alberta Summer Games this year. We will be highlighting summer and winter sports as well as dances, theater, cultural experiences, and music. As always, we invite and encourage members of the community with relevant items to bring them in for the exhibit. Examples could include sports equipment, medals, uniforms, photos or documents. Also, promotional posters, programs, recordings and photographs from performances would be lovely. Some choose to donate the items and others choose to loan the item for the length of the exhibit, we are just as pleased for both!

Also, if you have memories or stories from these types of events, we would love to hear them and add them to our knowledge of the history of sport and culture in Peace River.

The Spirit of the Peace Museums Group meets in Peace River

The Spirit of the Peace Museums Group was started in December of 1989 and celebrated its 20th anniversary just last year! The group consists of approximately 60 members (both museums and individuals) who meet quarterly and discuss the issues that face us, share our goings-ons and just support each other.

On March 1st 2010, we met at the Senior's Drop-in Centre and had a lovely time. David Leonard was in attendance to speak to what the province is doing regarding culture, we discussed the upcoming forum with Alberta Museums Association regarding their strategic planning process and did our regular round table discussion on what projects we were working on.

The Senior's Centre made delicious biscuits for breakfast and soup and sandwiches for lunch. A tour of the Museum followed the meeting.

For more information about some of the Museums involved in the Spirit of the Peace, please see our brochure.