The West Coast Chapter of the Captain Cook Society met on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Tigh Na Mara Resort in Parksville, British Columbia.
After making opening remarks, Randy Komar acknowledged that this was our 5th annual meeting. He added that in spite of the small number of members in attendance our group continues to grow up and down the west coast of North America, from California to Alaska as well as Hawai`i and New Zealand.
The 250th anniversary of Captain Cook rounding Cape Horn, and his explorations of New Zealand and Australia, will be celebrated in various places in those countries. It is still possible that some of our members will be able to attend, but travel plans are uncertain just yet. Some of our members have been to New Zealand, and have seen various places connected to Captain Cook’s history there. John Thornton spoke of his visit to East Yorkshire in the UK, seeing some of Cook’s “homesteads” and the Cook-related museums there.
Randy mentioned that Karen Hofstad of Alaska was instrumental in getting the missing Captain Cook plaque in Hawai`i replaced as it had gone missing.
There was discussion regarding how we could commemorate the upcoming 250th anniversary in 2028 of Cook’s landing on the coast of British Columbia at Friendly Cove at Nootka Sound. We talked of bringing the First Nations groups to take part in whatever activities we plan. We brainstormed ideas for who to contact at the BC Museum in Victoria and the Simon Fraser University, and perhaps find out if there is funding through the BC or Federal Government to help.
One of the highlights of our meeting each year is “show & tell”, where we share interesting books we’ve been reading and ideas for future events. One of those ideas is to have an event where we have a typical meal like Cook’s men would have had in his ships. A recipe for Ginger Parkin, a nutritious and apparently delicious cake, will be shared among us.
Our intent is to keep moving forward, creating events that generally create more awareness of Cook’s achievements, and what they meant to not just our country, but to the world.
Maggie Komar
Originally published in Cook's Log, page 7, volume 42, number 2 (2019).