The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanicwill be marked with a step back in time in Hantsport.
The Friends of the Hantsport Public Library are using their resources to host a commemorative event that will take the modern public back to the day the Titanic, dubbed an “unsinkable ship,” met an untimely end during its tragic maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
Friends of the Hantsport Public Library member Lorraine McQueen says the idea behind the event, which aims to fascinate, educate and entertain through images, music and words, came from a captivating read.
“The library [received] a book of letters from people who were interested in sailing on theTitanic and people who survived the sinking of the Titanic,” McQueen said.
The letters will be featured at the April 15 event, running from 2-4 p.m., at theHantsport Fire Hall.
“We have people dressing up in costumes of the day to read the letters. We hope to make it a very lively and entertaining couple of hours.”
McQueen says Mayor Wayne Folker has offered to read a letter one of his distant relatives — an acquaintance of TitanicCaptainEdward John Smith— wrote in support of the captain when the investigations into the 1912 sinking of the ship called his judgement into question.
“We have people dressing up in costumes of the day to read the letters. We hope to make it a very lively and entertaining couple of hours.” - Lorraine McQueen
The Hantsport & Area Historical Society will present information that links the Haven of Hospitality to the Titanic. Guests will also be invited to browse through a display of Titanic-related literature and treated to a slideshow of century-old images.
“When we started we knew the basic bones of the story of the Titanic but we’ve just learned so much as we’ve been putting this program together,” McQueen says.
“We just hope to make it an interesting, very fact-filled time to learn a lot and to enjoy a lot and to see what the library has to offer.”
And, some talented locals have agreed to add music to the mix.
“We learned thatRebekah Maxner, a music teacher in the town, has done quite a lot of work on the music that was played on the Titanic and that she had given her students some pieces of music to play from that period,” McQueen says.
“She’s done some research, so we asked her if she would like to provide some music for the event.”
Light refreshments will be served. Admission is a freewill donation.
