Ab Culbert, left, and Fred Salisbury have done a lot of digging and sifting to create an hour long jewel about Burk’s Falls/Magnetawan’s early days.
BURK’S FALLS – A rich deposit of this area’s history is being mined and people can finally lay their eyes on the results.
The initial result is an about hour-long DVD of Burk’s Falls and the Magnetawan River system’s early days when steamboats, industry and hard-working pioneers dominated that economy.
Ab Culbert, with the assistance of his friend Fred Salisbury, has put the DVD together from his extensive collection of photos and films about those early days of settlement and growth.
The remarkable fact that events from a century or more ago are being told in a video format is a direct result of Culbert’s long-lasting passion for local history.
“I sat down with all of these old-timers and got them to tell their stories in front of the video camera,” said Culbert. “Thank goodness I did, because all of those old-timers were still around.”
The interviews are the backbone of the new history DVD just released this month, and were mostly filmed in 1990 as preparation for the Village of Burk’s Falls centenary and the 125th anniversary of Canada’s nationhood.
At the time of those celebrations Culbert put together videos concentrating on Burk’s Falls itself. This time around he’s got a wider view to the area’s history.
“The tapes were about the centenary of Burk’s Falls and we want to go back to the history of the steamships and how they opened up the whole river system,” said Culbert.
Salisbury, a friend of Culbert’s, took on the project of turning hours upon hours of interviews and stories into a coherent product that properly touches on the area’s important events and developments.
“Now I’ve got a better idea of what Ab wants,” said Salisbury. “The first tape I wasn’t so sure and spent a lot of time getting it right.”
The DVD, which is hoped to be the first in a series, is titled “Vanishing Heritage Series – Steam and Smoke – Part One.”
It begins with the first free land grants that opened up this area, moving on to how steamships came to be the area’s economic engine, to how fire destroyed nearly all of Burk’s Falls.
This year is the centennial of the Great Fire of June,1908.
The 1990 interviews conducted by Culbert proved to be invaluable, with no fewer than three witnesses to the fire itself.
“There’s Ila Hunter on there, who was born in 1897. She could remember her father Roddy McDougall up on the roof of the house putting out embers,” said Culbert.
There are also some tales about why the fire got so quickly out of control and was so hard to put out.
Another gem coming out of Culbert’s collection is the story of the steamboat era, going from the creation of the locks in Magnetawan to the vessels last days in the 1930s.
“The road to Magnetawan opened up in the 1930s and Stanley Wurm started running supplies in by truck,” said Culbert. “The odd boat started to catch fire after that.”
With the first DVD of their series under their belts the tandem is keeping busy.
Culbert says he plans to get a copy of the DVD to local libraries and will have it at the Burk’s Falls and District Museum on Midlothian Road this summer with a display about the 1908 fire.
They are also thinking about their next project that will step into the area’s more modern era.
Culbert is most excited about spreading the history of the youth camps Chikopi and Ak-O-Mak and how Tarzan came to Almaguin.
“I’ve got it all on filmed interviews,” said Culbert.
The next release is hoped to be ready for the fall, but the pair hesitates to commit, especially with nice weather arriving.
“We’re not in this for the money, that’s for sure,” said Salisbury, before noting the days of work that created an hour of movie. For the next installment, Salisbury says he is currently watching and taking notes on 17 two-hour VHS tapes.
The video will be available at local libraries and can also be purchased at Bishop’s Pharmacy, Almaguin Bowl, Magnetawan Inn Restaurant and the Welcome Centre in Burk’s Falls.
Editorial
