Blue Heron, CDM 998.236.1

“Before Television” is a newsletter feature that shares the Courtenay and District Museum collection with readers and highlights the ingenuity and creativity of people as they added beauty and personal style to items from their home and work life.

This painting of a blue heron is from an instruction booklet created by Rose Baikie (later Rose McKenzie) when she was a teacher in the Comox Valley. Rose carefully painted images of a dozen local birds and gathered facts about their habits to share with her students.

Rose (b. 1906 – d. 1979) spent her first years of teaching at the McGuigan School (Camp 3) in the 1920s. She also taught at Lazo School and Comox Elementary before marrying William Samuel McKenzie in 1927. Rose left teaching until 1957 when she returned and taught again for 13 years before her retirement.