Oak Island Treasure - the world's greatest treasure hunt - Oak Island Treasure

Fri. Dec 4 - 4:46 AM

BRIDGEWATER — Oak Island has been a source of fascination and controversy for more than 200 years, and news that the Oak Island Tourism Society wants to fold is just fuelling that intrigue.

"It became very clear to us our mandate of building an interpretive centre and have walking tours of the island was not going to move forward," vice-chairman Danny Hennigar said Wednesday. "That was the brass ring we’d been pursuing for the last eight years."

The society had two goals when it formed eight years ago. One was to reinvigorate interest in the mystery of Oak Island.

That was easy, Mr. Hennigar said, with this past year’s annual three-day Explore Oak Island Days attracting 700 people to workshops and a tour of the island. If you count school kids who toured the island last year, the number of visitors was closer to 1,000, he said.

The second goal hasn’t been so easy. The society has met a number of times over the years with the provincial government, tourism operators and Oak Island Tours Inc., which owns 78 per cent of the island, all in hopes of opening an interpretive centre on the island.

Mr. Hennigar said that’s not going to happen, and it’s difficult to keep people motivated when they know their ultimate goal will never be fulfilled.

So, the board of directors has called a meeting for Monday afternoon to present a resolution to dissolve the 160-member society.

"This may be an ending, but it also heralds a new beginning," Mr. Hennigar said, because the society plans to hand over artifacts for display by the Chester Municipal Heritage Society, most likely at the former train station or at Lordly House.

These items are not on display now, "so this is a huge opportunity," Mr. Hennigar said.

They include photographs and documents, some stones recovered from deep underground, the mask of a diver who went down Borehole 10X in 1971 and the tea pot belonging to Hammy — a treasure hunter by the name of Erwin Hamilton who worked on the island in 1938.

Jo Atherton has crossed the Atlantic from her home in London, England, four times to attend Explore Oak Island Days and she gets together with like-minded enthusiasts at The Captain Kidd pub on the River Thames every year to discuss theories of a hidden treasure. She even started up a website devoted to the mystery of Oak Island that has about 500 hits a day.

She said she’s sad to see the society fold, but believes there’s enough interest to carry its vision forward.

"The Oak Island mystery has all the elements of those exciting stories which captured our imagination as children, and in a world where everything is so certain, it’s compelling to ponder one of the very few remaining mysteries. Oak Island remains a tale of fortitude, passion and intrigue," and that will make it a worthy tourist destination, she said.

Charles Barkhouse also sees hope for the society — if not under its current guise then through a new organization.

He has relatives who live on Oak Island and has lectured on its mysteries at the Oak Island Resort & Spa. He isn’t a member of the society, but said he is one of about 10 people who had hoped to take out a membership in it, but were not allowed. He did not elaborate on why he wasn’t allowed to join the group.

He also said he knows of a number of members who are upset they won’t be able to attend Monday’s afternoon meeting, and are not allowed to vote by proxy.

"Now the society wants to shut down. I don’t understand why. There are people who want to join this organization and get involved. There are lots of people interested in this," Mr. Barkhouse said. "The whole point is, if the present group doesn’t want to continue, there are lots of people who do and would like to see it continue. The society has valid goals."

There are people who would like to work to see those goals come to fruition, he said.

In terms of any treasure on the island, Oak Island Tours Ltd., co-owned by Dan Blankenship of Western Shore and a group of Michigan investors, has applied to renew its Treasure Trove Licence, which was valid for two years, but that application has not been approved.