Blog

Sometimes feedback comes at the most unusual times. This past winter I was preoccupied with writing the Salmon Arm Museum and Heritage Association’s application to BC Gaming. It’s a really important application because it’s for operational funding. I like to say it keeps the heat up and the lights turned on.

As part of the application, I gather positive quotes from members of the public and I’m always looking first new faces to approach.

I introduced myself to a couple of women over tea at First Community. They were people I didn’t know. My kids always hated that I talked to everyone that I met, even other kids at Costco, who wanted the same fanny pack as my kids were lusting after. Now that was a long time ago!

When the two grandmas got talking, they both opened up. They were relative newcomers to Salmon Arm but they loved RJ Haney Heritage Village.

One of the grandmas I was talking to, Kathy, told me about her grandson’s fascination with the Village. I assumed it was the children’s museum, the most recent addition. I blathered on about what a great resource it was.

No. . .Kathy corrected me.

It was the sluice box that fascinated Kathy’s grandson. He had learned to pan for gold from his dad. The sluice box at Haney must have felt like an invitation.

There’s been a sluice box at the Village for almost 30 years. It was modelled after the one at Fort Langley that I photographed on a trip with my youngest, Ryan. It was in Langley that I experienced Gold Fever first hand. Ryan caught a wicked strain of the virus and an interpreter bellowed out at him, calling him a claim jumper. There were several of them gathered around the box.

30 years later, Kathy’s grandson Atlin and his dad also had a few “jumpers” to compete with. Atlin must have found his share of Haney gold salted in the sluice box.

The experience got the young gold panner thinking. He wanted his own real gold nugget. He likely didn’t know that RJ Haney had one obtained in the Klondike during his railway days.

Atlin hatched a plan.

He started asking his relatives if they had any spare gold jewelry they weren’t wearing. Kathy looked in her jewelry box and came up with a contribution to the cause.

When Atlin secured enough gold for his project, he got his parents to drive him to Gem Set at the Mall at Piccadilly.

Arthur, the jeweller at Gem Set, greeted his potential customer. Atlin asked if Arthur could melt the gold into the shape of a nugget.

The jeweller must have been charmed by the request and agreed to do the work for $25.

Imagine the excitement when Atlin returned to pick up his custom order!

“You know your nugget is worth quite a lot,” Arthur told Atlin. “If you ever want to sell it, I’ll buy it from you.”

The heartwarming story made me wonder about any jewelry I might have tucked away. . .