The Bulkley Valley Museum has memorialized the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic within the community.
Last week marked the one year anniversary of the pandemic that left many businesses closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
According to museum curator Kira Westby, the museum decided to do a lookback to leave memorabilia for residents of Smithers in the future.
She said the museum wanted to make the lookback specific to Smithers.
“It’s been such a once in a generation life changing event for everybody, it just felt right that we needed to document something about it specifically to Smithers in our collection,” Westby said.
She added the museum had help from local photographer Chris Duncan to document the pandemic.
According to Westby, one photo that was a shock to her was seeing Main St. empty in the afternoon.
She said the museum thought about doing a physical exhibit this year but thought that it was too soon.
“We’re still living it, so it’s too much in the moment but I can see a five year look back or a 10 year lookback and I think that is something in a few years we’ll be ready to reflect on it a bit more,” Westby said.
The museum was closed from March 17, 2020 until June 2020.
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