This year's Kagawong History Day highlights major Canadian shipwreck
After a two-year hiatus, Kagawong History Day on Manitoulin Island returns this month with a focus on a famous shipwreck in Canadian waters.
“This one will be about the Empress of Ireland, the ship that went down on the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” said Rick Nelson, curator at the Old Mill Heritage Centre Museum.
"It’s known as the worst Canadian peacetime maritime disaster to this date."
There will be two different presentations Aug. 11 highlighting the details and history of the crash. One will take place at 3:30 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. at the Kagawong Park Centre.
“Over 1,000 people lost their lives on the Empress of Ireland so we’ll have some experts coming in, some historians showing up to tell the story,” said Nelson.
“We have one person coming in from Montreal and a second person coming up from Toronto and we’ll have a very large representation of the Salvation Army.”
Nelson said 150 members of the Salvation Army lost their lives during the wreck. For the history day this year, members from the 2022 Salvation Army Band will be on hand as well.
The Empress of Ireland exhibit has been on display at the Old Mill Heritage Centre for two years, but will be taken down by the end of the season.
“We were lucky because of COVID they allowed us to keep it an extra year, but by Thanksgiving it will be put back in its crate and sent back to its owners,” he said.
“I’m surprised that so many people don’t know the story of the Empress of Ireland … It’s a real treat to be able to get that information out and tell people who have never heard the story, to tell it to them for the first time.”
Kagawong History Day is open for everyone and donations are encouraged, with money going back to museum programing.
Nelson said the exhibit taking its place will focus on cameras and should be set up in time for 2023.
“We have at least, as I understand, over 200 cameras at this point of different shapes and sizes that date back to Abraham Lincoln.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Banking mogul suing government after intelligence leaks leave him shut out of Canadian economy
Chinese Canadian banking mogul Shenglin Xian has launched a $300 million lawsuit against the federal government. It’s a means to find the source of intelligence leaks which Xian says has cost him his livelihood.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
His SUV was stolen on Montreal's South Shore. Then he got a $156 parking ticket
A couple is frustrated after their SUV was stolen from Montreal's South Shore in March and they received a parking ticket for the same vehicle last week.
Fort McMurray evacuees welcomed home Saturday as crews make progress on wildfire
Residents of Fort of McMurray who were displaced over wildfire concerns were told to return home Saturday.
Member of Israel's War Cabinet says he'll quit June 8 unless there's new war plan
Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet, threatened on Saturday to resign from the government if it doesn't adopt a new plan in three weeks' time for the war in Gaza.
To plant or not to plant? Gardening tips for May long weekend
May long weekend is finally here, and with the extra time off you may be getting the itch to head out to your garden and plant. However, the old debate whether you should plant now, or wait, is still ever-present.
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Scottie Scheffler, from the course to jail and back: What to know about his PGA Championship arrest
Two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was arrested after police say he dragged an officer while trying to get around the scene of a fatal accident Friday ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship.