Mining for Gold — Collecting our Oral Histories

I loved meeting all these wonderful people who generously left their stories with us. I’d go to them in their homes, or they’d come to mine, and we would spend an hour visiting their past. When I hit the recorder’s stop button, to bring us back to the present, it felt like I was leaving a time and place that was unique to that person, and that I had just been given a remarkable gift. I wanted to rush back immediately to share it with my fellow committee members—it was their combined talents that would find a way to have these conversations heard and preserved. 

Sadly, in the years since the beginning of this project, we have lost some of these people we interviewed—this has been hard. We feel very fortunate that their beautiful voices remain with us. 

As I contemplate the launch of this site, thinking about all the people we interviewed and the Stories we created, my hope is that you will enjoy dipping in here and there, exploring our site, learning about the past and growth of our extraordinary St. Clair West neighbourhood. There is treasure to be found here.  

Please leave us any of your thoughts—we love listening!  

Raylea Lambert