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Local historian Greg Scott awarded Nelson's Heritage Award

Contributor
By Contributor
December 13th, 2017

During the 2017 Council Gala Monday at the Prestige Inn, local historian Greg Scott was awarded City of Nelson’s annual Heritage Award or his dedicated work in the education, promotion and preservation of Nelson’s local history.

The award comes with a $1000 honorarium.

“Greg Scott as an extremely worthy recipient of this award,” says Heritage Working Group Chair and Touchstones Museum Executive Director Astrid Heyerdahl. “His commitment to Nelson’s heritage is invaluable, and we are lucky to have such a resident, dedicated to keeping Nelson’s history alive.”

Scott’s contributions are many: an accomplished writer and researcher, his columns for the Nelson Daily News/Nelson Star document Nelson’s history, often highlighting stories, usually from the same month, fifty or a hundred years ago. A volunteer at the Shawn Lamb Archives at Touchstonesarchives for over twenty years, Scott now sits on Touchstones’ Board of Directors and was one of the founders of Kootenay History Interest Group and the former Touchstone’s Heritage House Tours.

Scott is the archivist, historian and tour guide pivotal in the interpretation of the Anglican Church’s St. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral stained glass windows; his research and subsequent publishing of the book on this subject, “Cathedral Whispers”, has added significantly to the preservation and documentation of Nelson’s heritage. Additionally, Scott gives monthly history/heritage talks at Broader Horizons Adult Day Centre, is a contributor to the 54th Kootenay Battalion website, and was recently appointed as the archivist/historian at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 51 Nelson.

“I am honoured to receive this Award, in what I am sure, is a well-deserving group”, says Scott.

“ In timing with my move to Nelson in 1997, I took my late father’s advice to explore a hobby or interest that would occupy retirement, although at the time, it was a dozen years away. He was of the opinion that upon retirement if you just went home to sit in front of the TV, you would be dead within a year. In that I have always had an interest in history, it was lucky for me that I was introduced to Shawn Lamb, the then curator of the Nelson Museum.

“As a result, I began volunteering at the Archives, Shawn became my mentor, and everything grew from there.”

The City’s Heritage Working Group established this award in 2015 to recognize individuals, groups, businesses, or other organizations that have made an outstanding contribution towards the preservation and/or promotion of Nelson’s heritage, and to reward and encourage initiatives in support of it.

Last year’s winner was the Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce for their restoration of the historic Canadian Pacific Railway Station, and the 2015 recipient was local retailer Cartolina, owned and operated by Fiona Richards and Douglas Jones.

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