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Editorial: Murals a real draw

Many towns market themselves in different ways. Some places sell themselves on their great fishing, shopping and historic sites.Almost everyone can make those claims.In Chemainus, we can thank the forward-thinking approach of the Festival of Murals Society. Started back in the ’80s the idea of painting the town’s history on the walls of the town itself has grown to include more than three dozen murals and a handful of sculptures.They are a huge community asset and are, year after year, a massive draw for the tourism industryAnd now that the sun is shining, sometimes and depending on which way you’re facing, you are hard pressed not to see a tour bus docked at Waterwheel Park. The seats? Empty, as the passengers stroll the streets of Chemainus looking at the murals and popping in and out of new and old downtown shops.This weekend the town gets ready to celebrate the murals with their annual celebration.The crowning glory of this year’s event includes the unveiling of a new sculpture hand-carved by First Nation’s artist Carey Newman. The new sculpture depicts Carr’s Great Eagle Skidegate and will rest upon the longhouse front also carved by Newman in Waterwheel’s parking lot.The fact this year’s celebration coincides with the town’s Easter celebration is just another chocolate egg in an otherwise brimming basket.To celebrate, we want you to tell us what mural is your favourite and why.We will tabulate the results and look more closely at the murals, what they depict, who did them and when. Better yet! Send us a photo of you standing next to your favourite mural and we will run them.Please e-mail submissions, photos or otherwise, to editor@ladysmithchronicle.com.— The Chronicle





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