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Friday,run May 3of • 2013 Final the season for the little ones Plenty of20 reasons See Page to smile for Civic Theatre See Page 3
PM41537042
Vol. 5 •search Issue 88 Nelson crew in the spotlight Kootenay Music Awards’ See Pages 14-15 hyper-local trophies in {vurb} See Inside Section
UPROOTED CAPITOL AMBITION First of Three Parts: Marking a Milestone
More than 65 years ago Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from their homes on British Columbia’s coast and brought to internment camps in places like the Slocan Valley during the height of the Second World War. Today those who lived through the ordeal tell stories of struggle, sadness, and forgiveness. Here’s one such tale...
GREG NESTEROFF
L
Nelson Star Reporter
ongtime Nelson resident Yosh Tagami mi remembers working for 25 cents an hour building internment shacks on n the Popoff farm near Slocan City. He was 17 and his family would soon move intoo one of those houses, which measured 14 x 25 feet. “The first winter was cold with four feet of snow, and icicles formed inside so we put cardboard from boxes on the walls,â€? he says. There was no insulation beyond paper and shiplap, and no indoor plumbing. Wooden bunk beds lay at either end of the house with a kitchen in the middle. They used a wood stove for cooking and heating. “Rice was rationed and we made green LEFT: The alfalfa gutted Capitol during its had reconstruction, RIGHT: Patrick Saintsbury (right) and Bob Inwood (left) during the fundraising phase of the incredible undertea from leaves,Theatre â€? he says. “We a garden and also arden 1985. taking that turned the abandoned theatre into the epicentre of culture Saintsbury played a key role in the project. Nelson Daily News photos, courtesy Touchstones Nelson bought vegetables Douk-in Nelson. s from the ABOVE —Even hobors who came horse-driven e in horse driven It opened in 1927 as one of Nelson’s leading lights, but byWorld the early before War II,1980s the Capitol Theatre had become a derelict wagons.â€? Japanese Canadians eyesore in the downtown onnow the85,brink of destruction. As the city’s cultural centrepiece gets set to celebrate the Tagami, was born at like Yosh Tagami Bay onthe Vancouver Island upwere 25th anniversary of Genoa its rebirth, Star catches withďŹ ngerprinted one of the forgotten driving forces behind its resurgence and raised at Paldi, a sawmill and photographed drama teacherHewho being skeptics into believers with restoration, the Star traces its long communityAnear Duncan. GREG NESTEROFF for identity cards road back from oblivion. came smitten with the Art Deco his boundless enthusiasm. Th en had four brothers and two Nelson Star Reporter when they turned 16. landmark the earlya1980s, he just as his dream was becoming sisters. Their fatherinJirosaku, RIGHT —reality, Thou- he was forced to leave it atrick Saintsbury was A CAPITOL IDEA got the when others millwright, wasproject injuredgoing in a fall sands of internees he Capitol’s early history just one in a long line said the building should be sold behind. His contribution to savand unable to work, so the sons were sent to Slocan is oft told: Nelson contracof people who champior demolished. Earlier eff orts ing the theatre was critical yet began logging as teenagers. en-well remembered as it tor A.H. Green built the oned the Capitol Thefailed for lack of funding — City fix- where it’sthey not as atre’s restoration, but ing a leaky theatre from the dured silent primitive shouldliving be. Story continues toor cheapconditions. it was his vision that ultimately film era wasn’t easy — As the Capitol prepares to celStory continues to ‘Tagami’ on Page 3 (Tak Toyota photo) succeeded. but Saintsbury persevered, turnebrate the 25th anniversary of its ‘Something’ on Page 16
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Home Owners helping home owners
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