Dutch Thompson presents “Unforgettable Characters” on Feb. 21st, 1:30 p.m.

Screen Shot 2015-01-07 at 7.42.08 PMThe Friends of Clyde River History Committee will host their second history lecture next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Riverview Community Centre as part of the “Capturing Collective Memories from Seniors” project.

Dutch will present stories from some of the hundreds of people he has interviewed in the past 30 years, everything from those who swear by unusual home remedies like salt herring on the feet to lighthouse keepers, including Canada’s first female lighthouse keeper, and the last schooner captains on PEI.

You’ll hear about general stores & banana cages, Islanders playing hockey in Colorado, the dawn of electricity, PEI’s worst railway crash, country doctors and PEI’s first airport (co-owned by PEI’s first female pilot) plus two topics Islanders at one time never tired arguing about: religion and rum running.

Dutch has collected 700 hours of oral history which is featured on the site Island Voices, everything from midwives to blacksmiths to World War I. He has been featured for the past 22 years on CBC Radio’s “The Bygone Days” on Mainstreet & Island Morning, He worked for five years on the TV series “Emily of New Moon” as locations scout and historical script advisor. He works backstage at Confederation Centre and helped mount smash hit “Come All Ye” that played two seasons at The Mack & then toured Canada as part of the 2014 Celebrations.

Refreshments will be served.

“Capturing Collective Memories from Seniors” events are made possible with funding from New Horizons for Seniors Program, Government of Canada.

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