Students discover Southern Victoria's rich heritage
Move over Pac-Man. Southern Victoria's rich Scottish and Aboriginal heritage, national institutions like the musical ride and King's Landing were joined by the first video games and the latest technologies when Southern Victoria High School students paid tribute to community history at their heritage fair at River Valley Civic Centre recently.
One of the most popular displays was on technology, created by Jaclyn MacMillan and Emily Lang. The SVHS students said they felt a display of older technology would hook both young people and adults.
"Technology affects our heritage as it advances. We focussed on technology in gaming. Back then the technology to play video games was much larger and less advanced than the devices now in use," MacMillan stated. "Back then the games were simply plugged into the TV. You didn't have a choice. The one game was it."
MacMillan said even the early Nintendo and Atari games were huge advancements over the first video games with large clunky consoles and wired controllers.
"The biggest part for me was after researching all of these, my Dad had all of these in his basement," MacMillan said.
Stephanie Hamblin concentrated on a time when electricity was still a far-off dream. The living museum of Kings Landing shows what New Brunswick was like in the 19th century,
"In the 19th century life was simple but it was very hard to live back then. I wanted to see what life was like back then."
After visiting the historical settlement, Hamblin enjoyed seeing all the preserved artifacts and the different time periods displayed at each home. The knowledge of Kings Landing staff also helped Hamblin understand life in the 19th century.
The music of Canadian rock icon Bryan Adams attracted the attention and admiration of Candace Nichols, She said the musician, who has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, was a favourite in her household.
"My mom loves to listen to his music and I do, too," she stated.
Kaleb Johnston and Jessica Bernard explained to students and visitors that the annual Gathering of the Scots celebration in Perth-Andover may be a relatively new event, but Highland games are based on ancient Scottish war games.
"Most of the games that we do now are what they did in war. After the English took over Scotland, they took away their weapons and what they basically had was iron balls and chains. They had to deal with that they could," Johnston said. "Learning the history gives you a lot of honour to do this. Wearing the kilt honours the heritage and history."
Jessica Bernard said the tests of strength with huge iron weights impressed her.
Carly Sappier chose a national Canadian symbol, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride, as her heritage fair display. She said the musical ride has always fascinated her and she would love to become an RCMP officer on tour with the musical ride.
"The first musical ride was performed in 1887, but it wasn't until 1901 when the public saw it. It is now seen all over the world, touring 40 to 50 times a year."
The judges chose Kaleb Johnston and Jessica Bernard's Gathering of the Scots display as the heritage fair winner. Corey Nicholas's display on birch bark canoes was second, and Jaclyn MacMillan and Emily Lang's exhibit on Advancement in Technology in Canada placed third. Runner up Brooke Kapala presented her musical heritage in Perth-Andover at the District 14 regional fair in Woodstock May 5 after the third place winners declined to attend.
More LifeStyle
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
