Oak Bay Archives volunteers, from left: Don Reksten, Bronwyn Taylor, Alan McKinlay, Ann McKenzie, Cindy Oram and Fern Davidson.
OAK BAY’S FABULOUS
History Detectives Celebrating 20 years of the municipal archives By IVAN WATSON Photos by DON DENTON
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hen head archivist Jean Sparks describes her two decades of volunteer work at the Oak Bay Archives, her modesty conceals an incredible story of heroic perseverance that grew the organization from “two file cabinets full of old photographs” to a full service archives that is now a beloved Oak Bay institution. Today, a visit to its comfy offices, nestled in the basement of the municipal hall, is a trip back in time. The walls are lined with photographs of grand old hotels — evidence of Oak Bay’s earlier role as a fashionable beach resort, as well as unique artifacts, such as the original lobby card holder from the Oak Bay cinema, whose iconic 1936 blue neon sign on the avenue remains one of Oak Bay’s defining symbols long after the theatre screened its final film in 1986. The archives is decades younger than the heritage it preserves. In 1994, Sparks was serving on the Oak Bay Heritage Commission and taking courses in art history at the University of Victoria.
“I knew nothing about archives, but I realized the value of historical documents” she says. At that time, heritage advocates such as Mayor Diana Butler, Councillor Sherry Irvine and archivist Geoff Castle were concerned that Oak Bay’s unique history would be lost without concerted action. Sparks decided to accept their challenge. “I was the rookie on the committee and I said I’d help. But within a year I became the archivist in charge.” Later that year, a press advertisement caught the eye of Ann MacKenzie, who, after Sparks, is the archives’ longestserving volunteer. “Jean needed some help, so we started to work together. There wasn’t much to start with, just some photographs that someone had saved, and from that we gradually built up quite a collection of all sorts of interesting material.” “For the first two years, Ann and I were the only volunteers,” recalls Sparks. “We were making an inventory. There are some lockers in the basement near the back stairway. Well, that’s where we could store our stuff, and then we got a card table, and if people wanted to come in, we got out the foldSPRING 2015
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