Our 100th year was finally over yesterday, March 3rd and what a year it was. The Time Capsule was buried next to the caboose on Friday, witnessed by a small group of councillors, public works crew and a couple of bystanders. Hopefully more people will show up when it is opened 25 years from now!
The hole was a perfect square, thanks to the city’s vactor truck, and is about 4′ deep. We threw a loonie down first in lieu of a chicken (just kidding), the box went next and it was covered with 3 feet of tamped gravel and a stone slab that will shortly have a plaque attached.
The last of the Centennial Babies’s certificates and photos were placed in the box the day before along with magazines, cards, letters, posters, badges and all sorts of memorabilia from 2012.
This site will now substantially change, becoming a site to promote the sale of our “Quench” fountain all over the world, to schools, institutions and private collectors.
What a great day Saturday was. Despite the rain and the mud, over 200 people showed up in the park to welcome our guests from the North Island who had come to celebrate the pole and to honour elders from the five original Cowichan Tribes Families. These pictures are not very good, but better ones will be available shortly.
The event was lighthearted and full of laughter, the food was plentiful and the Pole is absolutely awesome in every sense of the word.
After a brief detour around town as the diver got a little lost, the truck arrived at the Duncan Public Works Yard around noon.
It had been raining heavily while the truck unloaded the pole onto the pallets, but the moment the wrappings came off, the rain stopped and the sun came out!
Unloading the Totem off the Flatbed
Unwrapping the Totem and the Sun Came Out.
It is missing its Orca Fin and Spirit Guardian Canoe, but those arrive next week.
Remember that the Totem Dedication Event will be December 15th at 1:00 at Charles Hoey Park next to the train station.
The giant 3½ storey Centennial totem Pole was loaded on the flatbed truck today and early tomorrow morning, it will be making its way down the island in the drenching rain to Duncan.
The pole is wrapped in plastic to protect it from highway debris. The plastic will be removed once it arrives at the Public Works Yard, as it has been painted and oiled and should not be allowed to “sweat.”
The weather forecast for tomorrow is rain, rain and you guessed it, more rain.
They are hoping to be here by noon tomorrow. So if you find yourself walking on Marchmont Rd. just before noon, you may be in for a big surprise.
As we come to the end of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, we thought we would share this with you. It is an incredible 3 minute video of the life of an amazing woman. Enjoy
“Quench” is the name of our Duncan Centennial Fountain.
The KWAKWAKA’WAKW honouring chant starts at about 6:30. The first Official Drink was taken by Ken Slade of Drillwell, who drilled Duncan’s first wells 40 years ago.
The dog of distinction is Tony, with handler Cst. Henderson. Tony has found lost children, lost seniors and hunted down wrong doers. We love Tony!
As a legacy of Cowichan Community Kitchens 20th Anniversary and the City of Duncan’s Centennial, CCK are partnering to build an outdoor Community Kitchen Centennial Park.
They are excited that the BC Arts Council has come forward with funding for part of this project.
The kitchen will include a covered, wood-fired, adobe and brick pizza oven, a flat wood fired grill, a propane hook up to fire a double burner, sinks, running water, power and a solar powered oven. The building of the kitchen will be done in a series of hands on workshops designed to train people in the art of oven building, building with adobe materials, designing art into the adobe finish in the way of sculpture, painted tiles, and glass.
A wall of tiles will tell a story of who we are and who we strive to become.
It will be a permanent, visual, functional art piece.
There will be many opportunities for sponsorship and participation summer of 2013 – See you there!
What a wonderful day it was on Friday for the unveiling of the Duncan Centennial Drinking Fountain! About 150 people showed up to witness Town Crier Ben Buss call the crowd to order and listen to speaker Dzawada’enuxw Chief Frank Nelson welcome the crowd. He and many of the family of sculptor Rande Cook were there to honour the fountain and the water it provides.
They sang an honour song, while the veil was raised. The song was powerful and profoundly moving. People had tears in their eyes.
The first Official Drink was taken by Mr. Ken Slade of Drillwell Enterprises, who drilled Duncan’s water wells 40 years ago. The second official drink was taken by “Tony” the RCMP Dog, to great applause!
After a morning meeting between team leader, Peter Lewis, sculptor Rande Cook and sculptor and casting expert Richard Gibson, the tough decision has been made to postpone the unveiling of the Centennial Drinking Fountain by one week.
The artists are determined to give us perfection. They are not willing to hurry through the final stages of detail and finishing work in order to meet this Friday’s deadline. I concur with them wholeheartedly. This one-of-a kind fountain will eventually be filmed and photographed by people from all over the world; it will be a shining symbol of the City of Duncan and it’s water. It can be nothing less than flawless and that cannot be rushed.
While I most sincerely regret any inconvenience, I look forward to seeing you next Friday, November 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
Calvin Hunt delivered the maquette last night. It is 34″ high and the completed pole will be 34′ tall. The figures, in order are, The Eagle, The Guardian Spirit, William Chalmers Duncan, the Thunderbird, the Orca and the Chief Maker. The Chief Maker is a woman and this figure honours all women.
Our 100th year was finally over yesterday, March 3rd and what a year it was. The Time Capsule was buried next to the caboose on Friday, witnessed by a small group of councillors, public works crew and a couple of bystanders. Hopefully more people will show up when it is opened 25 years from now!
