Kiosks a treasured hit with the community

John Ashton says he was both surprised and thrilled with the response to the East River Community Kiosk Project.
Four kiosks are now on display in Sunny Brae, Churchville, Eureka and Hopewell featuring documents, photos and memorabilia that reflect the history of each particular community. "We averaged about 130 people per celebration, per official opening," says Ashton, the concept developer for the project. "That's almost half the population of some of these communities."
The unveiling of the Sunny Brae kiosk last November came one day after hurricane Noel ripped through the region. Nonetheless, a little bad weather didn't stop people from turning out for the event. That really impressed Ashton.
But the project is far from over. Ashton says they hope to erect another kiosk in Lorne this fall, depending on whether they receive funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. (He estimates they'll need between $15,000 and $16,000.) The Pictou Regional Development Commission has also been an instrumental contributor to the project.
Currently, Ashton and his team are researching for any relevant historical information relating to the community of Lorne. Researching the information that will fill the kiosks' interpretive panels can be a tedious chore, Ashton admits, but he says he's uncovered some fascinating things through his work.
He mentions, for instance, a photograph he came across of a man named William Ross. The photograph was taken sometime in the 1860s during the Fenian Raids, when a group of Irish Americans began attacking British army forts located in Canada in order to pressure Britain to withdraw from Ireland. Pictou County was one of the areas put on high alert, and so militia regiments were formed to protect the county. Ross is photographed piping in some of the soldiers. This historical photograph is now part of the kiosk in Sunny Brae. "His descendants still live in Sunny Brae," says Ashton. "Actually, that's how I got the picture."
But not everyone is so willing to lend their historical documents and photographs. That's what Adele Cyr says she discovered when she began collecting for the Churchville kiosk. "The things people had they didn't feel were important or relevant, yet they had treasure chests full of old photographs," she says. "But when these are photographs and documents of their lives, of their family's lives, they don't feel it's worth sharing."
And that, say Ashton and Cyr, is frustrating. "We wanted everything and anything people had stored in their attics or in their closets," says Cyr.
Ashton agrees, adding: "We had to pry information from a lot of people."
He hopes that will change this time around, with the possible new kiosk in Lorne.
In the meantime, Ashton says other communities have also expressed interest in the project. Specifically, he says kiosks could some day be erected in River John, Scotsburn, Thorburn and Merigomish. "Each of these areas has a wonderful, wonderful history," Ashton says. "It's just unbelievable what you can discover when you start digging."