The TimeKeeper’s Collection
The TimeKeeper’s Collection was created by James Blondeau in 1983 when he began interviewing on video tape, veterans and Canadian senior citizens about their eye witness accounts from the 20th century. In 1988, he formed a partnership with Deborah Mackay, which created a national component to the project. We have traveled across Canada from coast to coast 11 times, and have recorded hundreds of interviews. The Collection features multiple topics from the early settlers, aboriginals, farming, medicine, the years of war, disasters and the depression to reunions, aviation and general Canadian and world history.
In 1992, 1995 and 1997, we held national video contests, where students invited veterans and seniors into the classroom to be interviewed on tape. Prizes were awarded and over 500 schools participated, contributing hundred of tapes to the collection.
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When James Blondeau began recording these interviews in 1983, he gave his word to hundreds of Canadian senior citizens and veterans. James told each interviewee that by contributing their eye-witness accounts to the project, their interviews would be turned into an educational tool in the future. At the time, we didn’t even know about the internet. People actually laughed and wondered why we were wasting our time, interviewing seniors about our history. Today, the collection exists, and with the evolution of technology and the internet, the educational possibilities are endless. Since many of these seniors have passed on, the interview tapes are the only records of their life stories. From Emmett Hall of Medicare to the Parliament Building Fire of 1916, we believe these tapes are absolutely invaluable to students.
1] a three minute audio soundtrack from the senior’s interview
2] black and white archival photos and video material
3] letters from the era and personal photographs
4] pictures of artifacts
5] maps of the area being discussed
6] hot links to museums, newspapers and the National Archives
7] an internet connection to a series of special youth TimeKeeper’s Clubs
We presently manage and own the rights to the tape collection. Creating a special fund from other documentary productions we produced, we purchased a complete digital video edit system and the computers to create the web pages. We have built an internet home for the collection called IBS257 or Internet Broadcast Station 257. We also spent time and money training a special team to research, verify, edit and create the individual web pages for the collection.
After investing thousands of hours and dollars into the project, we are still not ready to begin. We had hoped to launch the first 300 segments from the collection in 2001, but due to a lack of funds to pay the technical team and to purchase archival material, we have been unable to reach our objective. Our new objective is to find the funding from a sponsor or from a group of interested Canadians who would support and fund our technical team. If we can not find a sponsor, this invaluable collection of our Canadian history will be left to deteriorate in boxes. This must not happen!
Summary of Content [ A small example of some of our topics ]
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Farming in the 1890's Ottawa River Loggers The History of Medicine Beaumont Hamel Flu of 1918 Life in the 1920's Gandhi In India Emmett Hall - Medicare World War II The POW Story Anne Frank Story Air Vice Marshal Bennett Cameron Highlander The Great Escape History of Aviation Alberta Cowboys Springhill Mining Disaster Canada Remembers Holland The History of Radio |
Early Settlers Parliament Building Fire 1916 Grizzly Bear Terror 1927 Vimy Ridge My First Automobile 1928 The Depression The Winnipeg Strike Tank Battle Falaise Gap The March of Tears Sinking of the Athabascan Buchenwald Camp Early Post Office Aboriginal Stories The Railroads Telesat Canada Halifax NA337 Recovery Premier Clyde Wells Halifax LW682 |
RCMP 1925 Halifax Explosion Fishing In B.C. 1919 WWI Fighter Pilot First Telephones Silver Dart Aircraft Homesteading Pathfinder Squadron D Day Princess Louise Dragoon Guards R.A.F./R.C.A.F. Veterans Russian Spy Scandal The Blitz Tholthorpe Air Base Lech Walesa Warsaw Uprising Auschwitz The History of Television The Film Makers |
The Solution
We have the tape collection, the editing equipment, and the trained editing team to accomplish our objective. To complete the project, creating hundreds of individual web pages, we are seeking the sponsorship support of the federal and provincial governments, private companies and the people of Canada.
At this stage, we are hoping to accomplish 4 objectives:
1] Locate a sponsor or group of sponsors to provide funding to pay for our trained team of editors and web pages designers, for a period of one to two years to create 300 to 500 pages
2] Locate funding to cover the cost of items such as archival photographs, office overhead and a second computer editing system.
3] We are looking for a sponsor to supply the necessary bandwidth for the internet. Still photographs will be used in the beginning with the possibility of video clips becoming available when the technology evolves.
4] We would like to express our interest in locating other collectors who are looking for a web location to place their personal collections. If everyone could search their basements, storage lockers and attics for old photographs, letters, audio and video tapes, we may find a whole new treasure chest of educational material for young people.
We have an enormous amount of interviews and educational material ready to be used in this project. From history, science and nature to music, art, international underwater adventures and special projects for youth, this collection can be used to the advantage of people, young and old, all over the world.
If we can find the funding to drive the development of the TimeKeeper’s Collection, then IBS257 will expand into a new kind of educational web site, unique to the world, featuring original programs on many important topics.
The need for funding this project is urgent since many of the video tapes are now over 15 years old and deteriorating due to age.
If you know of anyone in Government, media or the private sector who may help sponsor this important, educational project, contact `The TimeKeeper’, James Blondeau at 613-832-1514 or Tallimar@istar.ca