Van Isle History Explorer

Hi, I’m Dalys Barney!  That’s me with Nanaimo’s first mayor, Mark Bate. After a full 36 years of living on Vancouver Island I still can’t seem to get enough.  I love learning new things about this awesome place – especially anything to do with history.  Through my work in the technical services department at the Library at Vancouver Island University, I often come across interesting resources about the Island, and I’ve always got my eyes peeled for more.  Last year I joined the Nanaimo Historical Society, where I’ve enjoyed listening to presentations from a variety of great speakers.

I thought it might be kind of fun to start a blog highlighting my personal exploration and discovery of Vancouver Island’s history.  At this point I’m thinking it will be a mixture of research I’m discovering, comments on local heritage events I’ve attended (including the Historical Society), book reviews, and other ramblings.  While my main focus will be the history of the Island, especially central Vancouver Island, I also foresee posts about new Island discoveries: parks, trails, venues, activities, etc.

I’m totally new to this whole blogging thing, but I’m pretty excited, so here goes!