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News Latest OI News New group to trumpet Oak Island
News Latest OI News New group to trumpet Oak Island | New group to trumpet Oak Island |
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Tue. Jan 5 - 4:46 AM BRIDGEWATER — Joy Steele couldn’t believe her eyes when old silver coins spilled from her cousin’s satchel onto the floor. He was a diver and had taken the coins from a ship that sank off the coast of Cape Breton in 1725. That’s the moment the 10-year-old’s love for shipwrecks, treasure and intrigue were born. Today, 37 years later, Ms. Steele is a founding member of a new group called the Friends of Oak Island Society, formed to promote the island following the dissolution last month of the Oak Island Tourism Society. The new society is not yet registered, but founding members are in the process of organizing their first meeting. "Entire fortunes amounting to the tune of millions of dollars have been squandered to crack this mystery, but she still stubbornly holds her secrets," Ms. Steele said of the curious island in Western Shore and why it intrigues her so. She was the sole person to vote against dissolving the Oak Island Tourism Society during its final meeting in early December. She said she was concerned about the fallout for local businesses, how to keep the story alive for tourists and what would happen with recovered artifacts. But those issues are now for the new society to worry about. Its mandate is to promote Oak Island’s history both locally and abroad by displaying research and artifacts recovered from the island in an interpretive centre. Those items are now in the hands of the Chester Municipal Heritage Society, but they will move back to the Gold River-Western Shore area once an interpretation centre has been built. Ms. Steele is sure public interest in the mystery of Oak Island is still vibrant, as evidenced through Internet forums, new books that are still coming off the presses and two new documentaries. "The real pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is the history and knowledge that can be gleaned from the island and then shared with the general public," she said. Oak Island landowner and treasure hunter Dan Blankenship and the four Michigan men who have invested with him are still awaiting approval from the province for their treasure trove licence. They have said the search for treasure will resume as soon as they have that licence. Ms. Steele predicts that the moment that happens, the eyes of the world will be back on Oak Island. "Who doesn’t love a great mystery and a treasure hunt?" |
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