by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes
This Old Canoe: How To Restore Your Wood-Canvas Canoe will be launched next month – April 2016. This will be celebrated in a variety of ways. There will be reviews posted online by prominent bloggers. There will also be reviews published in a couple of print magazines. I will be interviewed on CBC Radio. However, the thing I am looking forward to the most is my book tour. It will begin in April and continue through the summer into the fall.
Each event will feature a presentation where I will be talking about wooden canoes and their influence on our lives.
The first presentation is titled O Ca-na-noe: Canoes and the role they play in the development of the Canadian identity. It examines the role of canoes in Canadian history and the influence canoes have had on the way Canadians operate in the world. It also looks at the influence of the canoe on Canadian art as well as the canoe as part of the family.
The second presentation is called Canoe Connections: Wooden Canoes and their people — the ties that bind them and the restorations that bring them back together again. In this talk, I discuss the way I approach the business of canoe restoration. I focus on stories about the importance of wooden canoes in the lives of individuals, families and communities.
Here is a schedule of events so far.
April 15 in Penticton, BC at the Penticton Library – 12 noon presenting O Ca-na-noe
April 16 in Penticton, BC at the Penticton Museum – 2:00 pm presenting Canoe Connections
April 23 in Grand Forks, BC at the Grand Forks Library – 2:00 pm presenting Canoe Connections
May 13-15 in Shelton, WA at Camp Bishop for the Northwest Chapter of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) Spring Meet – presenting Canoe Connections
June 16 in Peterborough, ON at the Canadian Canoe Museum – 6:00 pm presenting Canoe Connections
June 18 in Midland, ON at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre – 7:30 pm presenting O Ca-na-noe
July 12-17 in Paul Smiths, NY at Paul Smith’s College for the 2016 WCHA Assembly – presenting Canoe Connections
July 22 in Spooner, WI at the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum – Time to be determined presenting Canoe Connections
September 15-18 in Manning Provincial Park, BC at Lightning Lakes Campground for the Northwest Chapter WCHA Fall Meet – presenting O Ca-na-noe
If you would like me to give a presentation in your area, approach your local library, museum or canoe association and make arrangements. Then, contact me to work the event into my travel plans. I can prepare a poster for the event and send a PDF file for you to print and display. Send me an email artisan@canoeshop.ca
