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Charlotte County Archives brings back home movie series

The Charlotte County Archives is bringing back its iconic movie series back to the community. 

It will feature videos taken from 1992 until about 2003, including the creation and building of the well-known playground at Vincent Massey Elementary School in St. Stephen. 

“This was really a community effort led by an architect who came and talked to all the school-children and asked them what they wanted in their playground,” said Franklin Cardy, who is a board member with the Charlotte County Archives. “Alan Dunfield and Rob Stevenson, particularly, pulled together the whole community to work on this playground, constructing it within one week and five days in 1993.” 

Much of the material, collected by CHCO-TV, formerly known as the Saint Andrews Community Channel, was digitized by Cardy. Brian Dickson and Chris Flemming, who founded the channel, were heavily involved in the filming. 

Flemming,, who died in October 2022, hosted Saint Andrews Today, the very first television show on CHCO-TV. 

Cardy and Archives Manager Anna Krentz said there was something very compelling about the material that led them to choose it as the first film. 

“I think there is something really compelling about this material,” she said. “The way the community comes together. The way the kids are engaged. It’s really good community content that way.” 

The video isn’t the only thing the archives have, according to Krentz. 

The first film features the build and unveiling of the playground at Vincent Massey Elementary School, which also featured on CHCO-TV’s first show Saint Andrews Today. (CHCO-TV)

“We have photograph albums of the building of it,” she said. “We have the hand-drawn logo that was done for the projects, correspondence, and all of these things.”

“It is these community stories, as well, that’s a part of history and one that we value at the archives.” 

The third week will feature Elvira Bershins and an interview done in 1995. 

“She was a refugee who came from Latvia to Saint Andrews in 1951,” said Cardy. “She was just before her 95th birthday. I talked to her about what it was like coming to Saint Andrews without much or any English and she managed, and how Saint Andrews received her.” 

Another film will feature the daily diary of a Rollingdam farmer from the 1870s. 

“He kept this diary for at least a decade, recording one entry every single day,” said Krentz. “Some are quite simple. That he was haying or going to town or things like that. But overall, it adds up to this remarkable picture of the everyday life of somebody in rural Charlotte County.” 

The archives has also prepared a catalog of what films will be shared. It features a small thumbnail and description for all the videos that have been digitized. 

In the end, Krentz and Cardy hope the community can appreciate this history of the community, much of which has been provided by CHCO-TV. 

“I’d love to do more in the future, but that speaks to the power of the videos, which gives you insight into what Saint Andrews really is,” Cardy said. “It’s not just here today. It’s these stories of the past that have shaped all the things and ways of life we have around us.” 

The archives can digitize eight-millimeter and VHS tapes, according to Cardy. 

“The best way to do it is to bring it to us and we can digitize it,” he said. 

Krentz said the archives are hoping to really inform both locally and provincially what is available in the collections of the CCA. 

“We are working on making more and more things available online,” she said. “So it is focusing on that going forward and dealing with some of the challenges that come with being a small archive that relies on grants and donations.” 

The Historic Home Movies Series began on January 26 at 2 p.m. and will run for four weeks. 

To donate to archives, visit the Charlotte County website.

Author

  • Nathalie Sturgeon, Local Journalism Initiative, The Courier. The Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada, aims to provide journalism to underserved communities. She joined the team in August 2024 and was formerly a digital broadcast journalist with Global News in New Brunswick. She has past experience as the editor of the Kings County Record in Sussex, N.B. She is from White Rapids, New Brunswick, just outside of Miramichi. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in journalism from St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Nathalie is a strong supporter of local and community news -- and hopes to tell the most important stories for the people of Charlotte County and beyond.

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