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
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.