Annual General Meeting
The 2008/2009 Annual General Meeting for the NWT Mining Heritage Society was held on July 29th at our outdoor display area of the Giant Mine Townsite. Approximately 25 people showed up for the BBQ and meeting. President Walt Humphries and coordinator Stephen Clark provided updates on our work to date and financial statements. David Jessiman and Andy Hutchinson were nominated to the Board of Directors. We welcome them to the Society.
Walt Humphries … President
Mike Vaydik … Vice President
Yvonne Quick … Secretary-Treasurer
Diane Baldwin, Mike Byrne, Ryan Silke, John Clark, Lorne Schollar,
David Jessiman, Andy Hutchinson, Wayne Bryant
Stephen Clark … Coordinator
75th Homecoming A Success
Yellowknife’s 75th birthday was a grand success! The Society took part in many events during the two-week celebration and heard many positive reviews from residents and visitors alike. Our main event was the Beer Barge BBQ on June 20th. Dave Smith’s barge docked at Wardair at 4:38, the music kicked in, the first beer was poured, and the party went until 9 o’clock. We raised nearly $9,000 during the event on beer sales, merchandise sales, and an auction.
The Society also helped organize surface bus tours of Giant Mine during the Homecoming. Walt Humphries and Ryan Silke were tour guides, Blair and Kelley Weatherby provided the bus, and Mike Borden at Giant Mine helped with logistics. We also wish to thank Jean Piro, our Golden Girl contest sponsor, who raised $3,900 for the Mining Museum!
Museum Progress
Many projects are on the go this summer and fall. Here is a synopsis.
Website Upgrades: The Society has obtained government funding, through the GNWT’s Department of Education Culture and Employment to upgrade its website. A small committee has been working on the design and layout with a website consultant. The new site should be up and running by September. Until then, the Society’s old website is still active.
Log Cabin Re-Roofing: Yellowknife was hit by very stormy, wet weather during the month of July, during which time some of the tar-paper roofing of the tiny log cabin at Giant Townsite was blown off. A small work party replaced the damaged section during on July 15th. Thanks to Stephen Clark, Walt Humphries, Joe Chorostkowski, Wayne Bryant, Ryan Silke, and George Gibson for their assistance.
New Flags: Grant money supplied by the City of Yellowknife contributed to the erection of new 25-foot flag poles at the Giant Mine recreation hall, where a Canadian, Territorial, and City flag now proudly fly.
Foundation Work: A contractor is scheduled to repair a section of the recreation hall’s foundation this month. A new concrete wall will be poured along the north-west corner of the building to replace a damaged part of the crawlspace wall and foundation beams.
Picnic Tables: Four new concrete picnic tables also now sit at the Outdoor Display area.
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