Putting cultural heritage on the map in Kawartha Lakes

Are you a resident of the City of Kawartha Lakes with a story about the heritage or culture of your community? If so, the City of Kawartha Lakes wants to hear from you during a series of community workshops this month.

The “Gathering Our Stories” workshops are being held in Omemee, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Manvers, Lindsay, Carden, Kinmount, and Coboconk. The first workshop was held in Omemee on Tuesday, June 2nd, with the remainder of the workshops happening during June.

The workshops are part of a cultural heritage mapping project led by the Economic Development department of The City of Kawartha Lakes — a component of the City’s 10-Year Cultural Master Plan published in May 2013.

If you’ve never heard the term “cultural mapping” before, it’s a systematic approach to identify, record, and classify the cultural resources of a community.

Cultural mapping includes tangible assets (like cultural organizations, facilities, festivals and events) and intangible assets — including the unique stories, folklore, and traditions of a community. A municipality can then use this information as a resource to support plans for economic and community development.

At the June workshops, the City is encouraging residents to contribute to the cultural mapping project by sharing stories about their local community. These could include stories about the origin of the community, place names and street names, notable locals, lakes and waterways, local traditions and celebrations, special places, the history of local arts, and more.

“We’re looking for written short stories or descriptions two or three paragraphs in length that would fit into a pop-up box on a map,” says Debra Soule, the City’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Development Officer.

The information could also include a reference for further details, as well as digital copies of relevant photographs.

“There may also be a few key stories that are selected for audio or video presentation,” she continues. “We’ll work directly with the story contributor or author on these.”

Ultimately, the collected stories will appear on a digital map, with an icon attached to a particular address and associated with a specific year or period in time.

“It will look like a typical online map, but when you click on the icon, a pop-up box will open and tell the story — either through text, pictures, an audio recording, or a video file,” Debra explains.

“The map will be interactive, so if someone wants to add a story or present a different perspective on an event or place, they can provide input that will be considered for inclusion on the map as well,” she says. “This will enable a wonderfully fluid, multi-faceted and continuously evolving view of our local cultural heritage.”

The digital map is being developed by the City’s Geographic Information System (GIS) staff in partnership with the post-graduate GIS program at Fleming College, where several students are working on the project as part of their applied coursework.

When the digital map is completed — expected sometime this fall — it will be accessible through the City’s website.

---

“Gathering Our Stories” Local Workshops

Community	Location	Date	Time
Bobcaygeon	Kawartha Settlers Village	Tuesday, June 9	9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Fenelon Falls	Fenelon Museum, Langdon Room	Thursday, June 11	1 – 4:30 p.m.
Bethany / Pontypool / Manvers	Manvers Community Centre	Tuesday, June 16	1 – 4:30 p.m.
Lindsay	Lindsay Public Library	Wednesday, June 17	1 – 4:30 p.m.
Kinmount / Burnt River	Kinmount Community Centre	Monday, June 22	1 – 4:30 p.m.
Carden / Dalrymple / Sebright	Carden Recreation Centre	Wednesday, June 24	1 – 4:30 p.m.
Coboconk / Kirkfield	Coboconk Service Centre	Thursday, June 25	1 – 4:30 p.m.

---

For more information, visit the Gathering Our Stories Facebook page and follow @KawarthaStories on Twitter.

All photos from “Gathering Our Stories” on Facebook