You can get a look at the community’s past this weekend by stepping into the Squamish time machine.
No, you won’t travel through a wormhole into other dimension but, rather, get a look at local history courtesy of new technology.
Squamish Time Machine Day, hosted by the Squamish Historical Society, takes place on Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Squamish Adventure Centre Theatre.
The event starts at 1 p.m. with a presentation by Andrew Farris of Vancouver-based On This Spot, which puts together apps by using past and present photos that fill in the history of communities.
“What we’ve created is a Squamish time machine… Why do we call it a time machine? Because it’s literally a time machine,” says Bianca Peters, the society’s president.
The plan is to have On This Spot develop an app that can help promote Squamish’s past and present. The project could get underway in 2017.
“Squamish is the ‘It Girl’ right now… It used to be the ugly teenager,” Peters said.
The app will show past and present photos of the same location, including the view of Cleveland Avenue from the 1960s compared to today.
The plan is to collect 200 photos to help build the app, as well as raise funds for the project.
The estimated budget is $12,000. So far, the society has committed about $2,000, but is looking for other opportunities through grants and sponsorships.
Already, people look at photos on the Squamish Historical Society’s Facebook page or at its YouTube videos, so Peters is confident there will be local interest in the project.
She says the app also means future promotional opportunities for businesses in the community.
“This app isn’t just an app for history,” Peters added. “It’s an economic generator.”
Following Farris’s presentation, the film Brackendale Then & Now will be shown at 2 p.m. It mixes video interviews with archival and personal photos to present a picture of how the Squamish Valley started to develop in the late 19th century.
It will look back at the first pioneer families in 1888 and how the valley was settled.
The afternoon will end with a meet-and-greet opportunity, which Peters hopes will help boost the ranks of the Squamish Historical Society as well as help raise donations for the On This Spot app. She also would like it to inspire new people to help the society with its research.
“We really need people to get excited about history,” she said.
All of this is more than academic for Peters, who studied history, as she says with so many new people moving to the community, Squamish is in danger of losing its roots and the meaning of its history, making the society’s work and projects like the time machine all the more important.
“Everyone has to come out and be a part of it,” she added.
For info, see www.squamishhistory.ca or www.onthisspot.ca.
