Media Releases
The Bog Tour
Before there were parking lots and government buildings at Kent and Euston streets, there was The Bog — Charlottetown's historically Black neighbourhood. And on this Tour Guide Tuesday, historic interpreter Tayo Ajibaibi tells us about the importance of sharing its history with Islanders. Listen at the link below:
The Bog tour | Island Morning | On Demand | CBC Listen
Making Brooms the Old-Fashioned Way
It's an art piece — but also something you can use in your day-to-day life. Barbara Little of Baba's Brooms hosted a workshop in Summerside where participants learned the history of broom-making, and got to try the craft themselves.
Listen to Barbara Little chat about broom-making and her workshop at the link below:
Making brooms the old-fashioned way | Island Morning | On Demand | CBC Listen
The National Trust for Canada is bringing back Historic Places Days
P.E.I. holds many historic sites, from houses to museums to places where Mi'kmaq and Acadians lived. We talk about some of the sites here on P.E.I., and how you could enter contests put on by a national organization that is trying to promote history across Canada.
Listen to Wayne Thibideau (CBC Mornings), Sonia Kruitwagen (National Trust for Canada), and Mitchell Crouse (PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation) discuss Historic Places Days at the link below:
Beloved beach and park at P.E.I.'s Basin Head voted one of Canada's best 10 vacation spots
A listener-led CBC Radio effort has put the P.E.I. provincial park in the spotlight
P.E.I.'s Basin Head Provincial Park and its Singing Sands recently landed in the top 10 of a Canadian travel bucket list put together by CBC’s The Current. (Jane Robertson/CBC)
When Ottawa resident Lana Gauthier visited P.E.I. last summer with her family, she was told she had to check out the beach at Basin Head Provincial Park.
"We went on a Monday, and we loved it so much, we went again on the Friday," Gauthier told CBC's Island Morning.
"We tracked the tide, so we knew the tides would be high on the Monday and low on the Friday. And each time was totally different."
Gauthier was so taken with the park that she recommended it to CBC's The Current, which was building a Canadian travel guide based on listeners' recommendations. More than 2,000 suggestions poured in from across the country.
With nearly 50,000 votes, Basin Head landed on the list of the top 10 destinations.
For Gauthier, one of the beach's most unique features is its Singing Sands — a nickname based on the high silica content in the sand, which makes the beach squeak when you walk on it.
"Even just the fact that the sand makes noise when you step on it is just, in itself, an amazing thing. We sat on the sandbars and just let the waves touch us. The water was so warm," she said.
"We looked for rocks. We walked along an expansive stretch of beach, and we saw the shipwreck with crabs on it. Our dog got to swim in the ocean at Basin Head. We took great family photos with the red cliffs behind us. We got ice cream."
More than just a beach
The park is also home to the Basin Head Fisheries Museum, which shares the story of P.E.I.'s inshore fishing industry. The museum includes the original building of a historic fish cannery and has displays and exhibits that bring the past to life.
Matthew McRae, executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, said the museum is the second-most visited in the foundation's network of seven sites.
Together with its gift shop, it draws more than 20,000 visitors each year, out of the 60,000 to 70,000 who visit the provincial park every summer, he said.
McRae said the foundation is working with federal and provincial governments on a new interpretive plan that will tell a more comprehensive story of the site.
"The Basin Head museum is 50 years old now, so how do we tell the story — since a lot has happened in 50 years, to the fisheries, to Basin Head, to everything?" he said.
"We want to make sure that we're linking up those different stories, the Singing Sands, the beach, the cannery that is down there on the waterfront, which was an operating cannery in the 20th century."
The park is also home to the Basin Head Fisheries Museum, which shares the story of P.E.I.'s inshore fishing industry. (Jane Robertson/CBC)
A crucial part of that story is the park's marine protected area — one of only 14 in Canada, and one of the few accessible by land.
"It has a unique ecosystem that doesn't exist anywhere else on P.E.I. or the world, and that includes a special species of Irish moss that's only found in the basin at Basin Head," McRae said.
As part of the new interpretive plan, the foundation has worked with several partners, including the Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation, the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association, and members of P.E.I.'s Indigenous communities.
"We're just in the stages of preparing that interpretive plan report that we'll hopefully use then to start making changes to the site," McRae said.
This summer, the museum will offer special guided tours that take visitors from the basin to the beach to the museum. The Mi'kmaq Heritage Actors will also return to perform.
Uncover Prehistoric PEI at Fossil Day
The PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation is hosting Fossil Day at Beaconsfield Carriage House in Charlottetown featuring PEI fossils, hands-on activities, and local fossil expert, Laura MacNeil.
Take a step back in time at the event on Friday, May 2, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Admission is free, and donations are gratefully accepted, with all proceeds going toward new storage cabinets for the fossil collection.
"Fossil Day is the perfect way to explore, ask questions, and touch real pieces of our history. Islanders and visitors of all ages are welcome to come out and discover the treasures that make our province truly one of a kind."
- Minister of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Zack Bell
“Prince Edward Island’s prehistoric past is a unique and fascinating story and is attracting more and more attention around the world,” said PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation executive director, Matthew McRae. “This heritage belongs to each and every person living on the Island, and we are thrilled to be able to share some highlights of our amazing fossil collection.”
For more information visit PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation. Follow the foundation on social media at @heritagepei.
Media contact:
Mitchell Crouse
PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation
mcrouse@gov.pe.ca