Tea & Tales 2016
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Tea & Tales is a museum program that runs for seven weeks each summer. Every Tuesday from 2-4pm during July and August the museum hosts a tea and presents a tale on various topics relating to Pemberton's History. This year our theme is "In the First Person" and will feature locally written family histories from local participants and the museum archives. Admission is $2.
The following videos are edited versions of each talk. For a copy of these or any of our Tea & Tale presentations please Contact Us. Accession 016.89
  | George Walker's Memories of Pemberton and BeyondGeorge moved to Mount Currie in 1945 to log with Bill Spetch. He went on to work and live in the Pemberton area for many years. He had a great impact - building bridges and roads, creating local logging jobs, milling lumber for local buildings, and showing the first movies in Pemberton. George wrote his memoirs in 1990 and he died in 2003 at the age of 89. He was a significant donor to the museum collection throughout his life.Watch Video |
 | Remembering Father W. ScottTo continue with this years theme of "In the first person" our tale featured materials from the archives and was dedicated to Remembering Father W. Scott. The tale also contained content from articles and copies of speeches from Father Scott's retirement dinner when he retired from St. Christopher's Parrish in 1986. Chief Leonard Andrew also presented his memories of Father Scott.Watch Video |
 | Betsy JackTo continue with this years theme of "In the first person" our tale was based on an interview of Betsy Jack from 1958, one of the museum's oldest archived iinterviews This interview was collected by Margaret and Slim Fougberg in 1958 when they met with an elder named Betsy Jack who was born in Port Douglas in 1888. She also lived in Mt. Currie and died in 1974 in Vancouver. The interview took place in the A.W. (Bill) Spetch home and she was 70 years old at the time. Join us for Betsy Jack’s memories of Port Douglas and Mt. Currie starting after the tea around 3pm.Watch Video |
 | Tea & Tales August 2 - Gunnar & Marjory Gimse - A Birken Family HistoryTo continue with this year's Tea & Tales theme of "In the First Person", Gunnar and Marjory's granddaughter Teresa Smith (nee Gimse) put together a presentation about her family and their history in the area. Marjory was the museum's first president and served the museum board as chair from 1982-1992. She was a dedicated volunteer and museum supporter until her death in 1994. Marjory's efforts to preserve community history continues today and she directly inspired Teresa to continue the tradition of gathering and sharing family history.Watch Video |
 | Tea & Tales August 9th: Upper Valley Memories with Janet Miller and Linda K. ThompsonOur August 9th event featured Linda K. Thompson and Janet Miller, two sisters who came back to Pemberton to share their stories and memories of the Upper Valley.Watch Video |
 | Tea & Tales August 16: The Barbour Family - Pioneers of Pemberton and Squamish with Eric AndersenThis week’s Tale was presented by Eric Andersen a local historian from Squamish and featured his research on the Barbour family of Squamish & Pemberton. Charles and his brother Allan started the first large scale logging company in Squamish. Charles and his wife Dora lived in Pemberton from the early 1900’s to the 1940s. Charles wrote a letter to the Daily Province in Vancouver lamenting the lack of connection between Pemberton and the Coast in 1901 and estimated a loss of over $1,000,000 in potential agricultural products that could be produced in the rich farm lands. His wife Dora started Pemberton’s first milk run in 1906. She made a sack to be fastened over a horses back, with compartments on each side to hold glass milk bottles so that milk could be delivered to One Mile or Pemberton Station. Dora was also a member of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Church of England during her time in Pemberton. The Gimse family lived in the Barbour house in the 1940’s. Bert and Kathleen Lundgren bought the farm in the 1940’s and lived in the old house until a new one was built by Bert in the 1950’s. Kia-ora Mobile Home Park is now located on a portion of the old Barbour farm lands.Watch Video |
 | Remembering the 1940 FloodThis Tale features a reading of Frances Decker’s Reminisces of the 1940 Flood by Brenda McLeod along with some thoughts about flood protection today. There was no flood relief for families in the 40s and some gave up their attempts at settlement and left Pemberton for higher ground. Frances Decker lived 18km up the Pemberton Valley and describes her memories of the event and the stories shared between residents when they reconnected. Frances was an author of the book “Pemberton: History of a Settlement” . For many residents the 1940 Flood was a harrowing experience. By 1947 local residents had organized and lobbied the government for funding for a reclamation project in the Pemberton Valley that would include dyking and drainage to create more farmland. Under the Prairie Farmer’s Rehabilitation Act (P.F.R.A.) a tri-party agreement between the Federal, Provincial and newly established Pemberton Valley Dyking District (P.V.D.D.) saw the project underway by 1947 through the early 1950’s. The resulting new lands brought another rush of new settlers in the 1950s. Today the P.V.D.D. is one of the largest dyke and flood protection areas in BC.Watch Video |
The Pemberton Museum recognizes and respects that it operates within the traditional unceded territory of Lil'wat Nation.
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Location
We are located in the downtown area of Pemberton at 7455 Prospect St.
Hours of Operation
The Pemberton Museum is currently CLOSED for the winter and will reopen to the public in the spring of 2025.
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The PDMAS Society meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Museum.
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Did you know?
Port Pemberton was founded as a stopping point on the historic Harrison-Lillooet gold rush trail over 160 years ago.
30,000 gold-rushers passed through this region from 1858 to 1865 and Port Pemberton was an important stopping point for travelers making their way to Lillooet and the gold-fields beyond!