After four years of gathering stories and photographs, researching, writing and editing, the Pleasant Valley History Committee will launch its book, “Pleasant Valley: Our Community History and Stories”, on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m., at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Church.
An outdoor interpretative panel will also be unveiled.
“Pleasant Valley: Our Community History and Stories” is richly illustrated with hundreds of photos that help document the development of Pleasant Valley as a community. It also provides an account of the families who settled there – those who stayed and those who moved on – the stories of their daily lives, of how world events affected them, stories of families and individuals who left to make their marks in other regions and professions and stories of change.
Pleasant Valley was first settled in the early 1800s. Many of its residents can trace their families back five generations. This book opens a window to the past and provides a glimpse into what life would have been like for the early ancestors in a time when hard work and determination were essential to survival, and the threat of the wilderness and the force of nature was real.
“Pleasant Valley: Our Community History and Storie”s will be available for purchase at the launch. It is published by the Pleasant Valley History Committee with financial assistance from the government of Canada New Horizons for Seniors Program.
Joan Sinclair of Homegrown Books designed the book pulling together more than 600 photos in a 512-page book complete with index.
Visit pleasantvalleypei.ca for more information or to order a copy of the book online.
Launch information:
- What: “Pleasant Valley: Our Community History and Stories”
- When and where: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m., Pleasant Valley Memorial Church
- Committee members: Arnold Smith, chairman, Carol MacLellan, Louise Weeks, Verna Lynne Weeks and Carter Jeffery, project co-ordinator.
- Supporters: Pleasant Valley Memorial Church applied for funding for the book through the government of Canada and New Horizons for Seniors, which granted $14,000. The Pleasant Valley Memorial Church contributed $3,000, made possible by bequest of the estate of Alice and Doris Abbott. In partnership with the Pleasant Valley Women’s Institute, they contributed $3,000 from the proceeds of the sale of the Pleasant Valley Community Centre