BANFF – The Fireside Chat Series returns for its 20th iteration at the Whyte Museum on Oct. 20, with a well-known speaker providing his take on the history of the Bow Valley.
“Ted Hart is my guest, and he has had a remarkable career,” said Chic Scott, Banff historian and interviewer.
Hart came to the Banff area in 1972 and began working at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies as an archivist and eventually the executive director of the museum. He would also serve as the mayor of Banff from 1995 to 1998.
“Ted also wrote books about the history of the area, so it will be the chance to hear some really interesting stories,” Scott said.
Hart will tell stories of Catharine Whyte and the founding and growth of the Whyte Museum, his life as a historian and how Banff was incorporated in 1990. He will also share stories on the challenges of running the museum and being mayor of Banff.
The Fireside Chat Series is celebrating its 20th interview, with the series beginning 10 years ago as an oral history project for the museum.
“It was an idea that I had of just sitting down with a member of our community, not necessarily someone famous or a great mountain climber,” Scott said. “Just some person who had a really interesting story to tell.”
The series involves Scott sitting down in front of a live audience to help the speaker tell a story.
“The idea was to film them so that they would be preserved,” Scott said.
The filming aspect is central to the series, as it keeps history alive, for future generations to enjoy and learn from.
“We all know people with dementia who are losing their memory. History is our community memory and if you don’t celebrate the old stories and history, and record and save them, there is no group memory,” Scott said.
The group memory, for Scott, is how history is kept alive and how a community knows where it has come from and the important people of the past.
“It gives us our identity,” Scott said. “History is our identity.”
Choosing names to host at the chats can be difficult, depending on the person, but Scott has a long list of people to interview to keep the series alive.
“People are always suggesting names to me and that helps. I have a list of 30 or 40 names to think about,” Scott said.
The person Scott chooses needs to be a good speaker though, with the needs to tell a story for upwards of an hour in front of a live audience.
“That can be quite daunting for some people,” Scott said. “This is not something that everyone can do. It can be stressful for some people, but we are well-prepared, so we know where we are going.”
Overall, the Fireside Chat Series has been very well received and is always well-attended. The series will likely continue for some time yet, with how popular it has become among residents in the Bow Valley and elsewhere.
“We have a great following of local residents, and even people from Calgary who drive up for these,” Scott said. “They love these fireside chats, and they really find them enjoyable and quite enlightening. The response has been great.”
