Creston Valley Advance Thursday, May 29, 2014
Local News
www.crestonvalleyadvance.ca 3
Brian Lawrence
ON THE ROCKS
— Crest View Village residents and their neighbours were excited about the new "landscaping" that appeared in front of the building on Cavell Street last week, created from a bed of rocks. According to one neighbour, the towers were made by couple of creative young men, who preferred that their identities remain a secret.
The cover of Bruce Paterson’s Kootenay Cameos.
Kootenay Cameos features historical sketches by Bruce Paterson BY LORNE ECKERSLEY Advance Staff
With the publication of Kootenay Cameos: Tales of the West Kootenays, Creston artist Bruce Paterson has fulfilled a dream of putting some of his favourite sketches of historical scenes and buildings in the Kootenays into book form. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” he said. “Now the times and technology have changed and it is much easier to reproduce them in good quality.” Kootenay Cameos, a newspaper feature that included a sketch and article, appeared in the now-defunct Kootenay Review from 1987-1995. Paterson produced a total of 84 articles, a quarter of which are included in his book. “It wasn’t easy to make the selections,” he said. “But I wanted to include at least one story from each community in the West Kootenays. I have updated a
few of the articles, but mostly they are the same as originally published in the Review. I tried to leave the stories as I saw them in those days. They are a snapshot of the time.” Paterson said that when he started out on the series he expected to struggle for ideas, but the opposite turned out to be the case. “I barely scratched the surface,” he said. “There was always a story behind each building and I met people with wonderful stories. There is a lot of passion in these buildings, and so much tragedy in a lot of them.” Kootenay Cameos opens with a short biography of Paterson, who was born in England and moved to Canada at age nine. He first visited the Slocan Valley and Kootenay Lake in 1970 and vowed to return. It took him 10 years, but he and his wife, Pat, moved to Crawford Bay where he taught school for eight
years. They later relocated to Creston, where he taught at Prince Charles Secondary School for another 16 years. Describing himself as leading a “Jekyll-and-Hyde type of existence”, as an artist he also produced more than 330 editorial cartoons for the Advance in the 1990s and has also delved into comic art, oil painting, graphics and fantasy ceramic sculptures. The Creston area is well represented in Kootenay Cameos, with stories about the Midgley murder mystery, Jordan’s Cabin, Kootenay Landing, the Constable barn in Alice Siding, the fruit growing industry and the Town of Creston, which is accompanied by what may well be the most beautiful depiction of Creston’s grain elevators every produced. Kootenay Cameos is being sold at bookstores and outlets throughout the Kootenays, including Kingfisher Used Books in Creston.
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LESKIW SHOE REPAIR HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS Steve Leskiw would like to thank his past friends and customers, and invites them to visit him in his new residence at Swan Valley Lodge.
British Columbia Creston
AGM
Friday June 20 • 5:30 to 6:00 pm United Church 128 - 10 Ave. North
Athletes, volunteers and board members are requested to attend as voting members
Open to the public
Anyone interested is invited to attend!