HSBC Award Speech

The Old Cemeteries Society won a major award on June 2, 2006 at the Heritage Society of BC Annual Conference at Nanaimo, BC. The purpose of the Heritage Society of British Columbia is "to provide leadership and encouragement for heritage conservation in British Columbia".

Don Reksten receiving HSBC Award

Left is Jonathan Yardley HSBC President and right Don Reksten, Past President of OCS.

The Society fulfills this purpose through a number of programs and initiatives, one of which is the Annual Awards Program. The awards program was established to recognize significant contributions by individuals, groups and businesses to heritage conservation in the province.

The Heritage Society offers awards in two categories, projects and advocacy. In each of the categories, the Society offers awards at three levels. The highest calibre of achievement is recognized with the Outstanding Achievement Award. The Society also offers an Award of Honour for projects which make an important contribution to heritage conservation. Projects which are not declared winners but represent significant effort will receive a Recognition Certificate.

The OCS was nominated for a 2006 award in the advocacy category, and won an Outstanding Achievement Award. After an Awards Banquet attended by conference participants and special guests, Don Reksten, Past President, accepted the award after the following illustrated presentation speech from Maureen Arvanitidis, HSBC Awards Committee Chair:

Maureen Arvanitidis, HSBC Awards Committee Chair Speech

“The first Outstanding Achievement Award goes to the Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria for its continuing efforts to conserve and raise awareness of our historic cemeteries.

For over 20 years, the Old Cemeteries Society has been promoting and supporting the preservation of heritage cemeteries in Victoria and B.C. The society’s 200 members are involved in a multitude of activities: cataloguing, computerizing records, research, tours, cleaning and restoring, and combating vandalism.

The society’s best-known program is the themed Sunday tours. Hundreds of people enjoy these walks through Victoria’s 20 heritage cemeteries, and the various topics that cover their history, culture and natural environments. One Sunday may tell the story of how the gold rush shaped the province in its formative years. Another may focus on the symbolism of tombstones, or the trees that grow in Ross Bay Cemetery. The society also offers special tours for school groups. Along with the tours, the annual Ghost Bus-tour event is a great fundraiser.

The society has documented about 10,000 gravesites. This information is invaluable for planning restoration work, repairing damaged markers, researching family histories, and working up tour material.

The society maintains a database of burial records and an active list of descendants of families buried at Ross Bay Cemetery. Biographical information on individuals and families interred in Ross Bay and other cemeteries are compiled and used for tours and family history enquiries.

Cleaning monuments and markers is an ongoing activity. Volunteers are trained in proper standards. In 2005 and 2006, major cleaning “bees” were organized in cooperation with Greater Victoria cadet groups.

There is also a continuing program of repair. A millennium project in 2000 saw restoration and conservation work on 120 monuments at risk in Ross Bay Cemetery. Mostly the repair program deals with minor damage, but there have been a couple of major projects. The society donated $10,000 toward the restoration of a hand-worked wrought iron fence around one gravesite, while another three-year tomb restoration project cost $20,000.

The society gladly shares its knowledge and expertise with others. Four symposia have been sponsored to date, bringing together researchers and conservation experts from B.C. and Alberta.

The society publishes Stone Cuttings, a bimonthly newsletter, and a quarterly journal, Stories in Stone. The society has also published a number of books and reports.

All these many programs and accomplishments make the Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria unquestionably one of the most active and effective cemetery preservation organizations in Canada today."

A few thoughts from Don Reksten about our winning an award. "When one summarizes 20 years of existence we can feel very proud of all the accomplishments. It is easy to forget how much we have done. We have had many amazing volunteers, but in any non-profit volunteer group there are a few who keep the enthusiasm and initiative going. OCS is very fortunate that a person like John Adams was the inspiration for founding the OCS, and without ever expounding it, set a tone for the way the Society operates that has given us an image and reputation that would be envied by any heritage advocacy group. In a world in which changes and reorganizations seem to occur for the sake of change, we are fortunate in having a stable core of active members who have stayed on for the long haul. As the representative of the Society, I was very proud to be able to accept the HSBC Outstanding Achievement Award for Heritage Advocacy."