m
ust admit it is difficult to be the editor of a community newspaper and have a limited knowledge of local history.
Yes, I’ve been to the museum and reading the lovely Sarah Drewery’s weekly Museum Musings column provides a wonderful historical tidbit for me to learn each week.
But when I was asked to judge the Whistler Museum’s Icon Gone 6, I thought that knowledge gap could put me at a disadvantage. I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that perhaps a fresh perspective towards local history would not only be an asset, but the event would provide me with an excellent opportunity to learn more.
It turns out, of course, it was the latter and while I spent time worrying about what sort of clever remark I could make after each round, the evening was chock-a-block full of new insights into Whistler’s past and its present.
What I truly enjoyed about this event was that it approached local history from a creative angle of putting presenters head-to-head in a debate style showdown that not only was a crowd pleaser, but also had everyone appreciating history more.
G.D. Maxwell’s presentation on dogs as Whistler’s greatest icon was refreshing, until the thoughts of spring and the hidden surprises many dog owners leave in the snow came to mind. Emily Wood took round one with her presentation on the adventurous Myrtle Philip.
Mandy Rousseau represented the naked skier as a Whistler icon, short of taking it all off herself, and went all the way to the finals after beating out a classic local symbol — alcohol — as put forth by the creative mind of Stephen Vogler.
Kevin Mikkeslen was well on his way to taking fixed grip chairlifts to the next round, but ran out of time and was trumped by Michel Beaudry’s presentation on Stephan Ples, who represented the idea of conservation over development for me and had to be where I placed my vote.
Steve Andrew’s original song performance on Dusty the horse was amazing, but the sensational Angie Nolan could not be beat with her presentation on Toad Hall. Nolan went all the way to the final to win the event for the second year in a row. Toad Hall truly lives on in all Whistler hearts.
After six years it looks like this event will hang up its hat, not for a lack of enthusiasm from either the audience or the presenters. I’m not worried, I know that the history of this town is strong and the creative and hardworking museum staff will find another way to celebrate it that we can all enjoy.
Feel like you missed out? Go to http://www.whistlerquestion.com/article/20130312/WHISTLER41/130319994/-1/WHISTLER/video-history-alive-at-icon-gone-6 to see our latest video about the event.
