The Bomb Episode, Part II: Fun with Bombs
Tom Parkin Immediately following the dramatic cablecar rescue, Gordon Jones discovered an object lying under a bush near the tower sketched in last month’s story. Partially buried, it looked very much like an aircraft bomb. I cautioned him not to touch it, but he didn’t pay much attention — I remembered that only a few years before, some Vernon...
The Bomb Episode, Part I: Trouble in River City
In the spring of 1970, I returned to Revelstoke from college and met with chum Gordon Jones and another UBC student who had become a friend, Walter Morello of Creston, BC. Looking for some adventure, we decided to explore logging roads up the Jordan River. This was our introduction to discovering The Bomb. Where one adventure ended, another was about...
A Made-in-Revelstoke film: The Dirty Half-Dozen
Log-haul contractor Jack Tillen loaned Tom Parkin and his pals a Super 8 movie camera, a grant of $150, and then, of all things, use of his 12-meter tug, M.V. Pentagon, operating on Upper Arrow Lake! With that, their imaginations knew no bounds and they set our to film The Dirty Half-Dozen, a true made-in-Revelstoke film. Art Carson Photo Collection...
Do you remember Eva Amelia Burn (1910-2000)?
Eva Burn in her home with author Tom Parkin. Although crippled by arthritis at this time, she still lived independently and took an active interest in current and community affairs. Five years after this, she took up residence in the extended-care unit of Queen Victoria Hospital, where she ended her days at age 89. M. Zarichuk photo Tom Parkin Some...
Remembering Harry Sayers…
Tom Parkin Revelstoke Secondary School’s new principal, Greg Kenyon, starts work this week. He comes to us from Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, where he also served in that capacity. His arrival in the Stoke reminds me of one of my own RSS teachers who went on to become a principal, and then a district superintendent: Harry Sayers. Surfing the Internet,...
Cupid the caribou
A young bull cavorts before a volcanic cinder cone in Mount Edziza Provincial Park, in northern BC. Tom Parkin photo Tom Parkin Rumour has it that a low-flying team of reindeer will soon eclipse the moon over Revelstoke. Have you ever wondered how our myth of Santa’s sleigh got started? It’s a curious mixture of fact and flight of fancy...
Do you remember the night Reveen came to town?
Tom Parkin Do you remember the night Reveen came to Revelstoke? Posters stapled on telephone poles were spread around town, and the Big R radio network (established 1965) carried advertising for the event. Reveen is an Australia-born magician and hypnotist who placed his act in the realm of the surreal by calling himself “the Impossiblist.” His...
Science Experiments
Remember science class and all those great “experiments?” Ah! Those were the days! Tom Parkin Preamble In 1964, a gym with change rooms, plus administration area, were added between the former Mountain View School and Revelstoke Secondary School, and the whole converted to RSS. We Grade 8s moved in. On the lower floor were two shiny science...
Plumbing the depths
Tom Parkin Of all my youthful adventures around Revelstoke, exploring the Nakimu Caves in Glacier Park stands out. They are so mysterious and so unusual that friends and I explored them several times in the summers of 1970 and ’71. Nowadays, access is denied except by permit, but two upcoming trips are being offered which I’ll mention later. Probably...
Hot springs hijinks!
Left to right: Gordon Jones, Steve Woolsey, and the author in Albert Canyon springs, 1970. They lie on a mountainside about 1.5 km from the current commercial development. At the time of this image, they were completely ‘wild’. The 26° C. water issued through the gravel floor of the shallow pool, and had been appreciated by bathers since CPR sectionmen...
