WAVERLEY: As Waverley gets ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gold Rush Days, some of the community’s youngest residents are helping tell the story of the place they call home.
Students in Grades 2 through 5 at Waverley Memorial Elementary have been busy creating a collaborative mural celebrating Waverley’s history, familiar landmarks, local stories and the beauty of the community.
With support from Halifax Regional Arts, the students have worked together to create a colourful piece of artwork that reflects Waverley through the eyes of its youngest generation.
The timing is especially fitting.
The mural was created to coincide with the 50th annual Gold Rush Days celebration, giving the students an opportunity to become part of a community tradition that has been bringing Waverley residents together for five decades.
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Rather than simply learning about their community’s history, the students have put their own artistic spin on it — capturing the places, stories and images that help make Waverley special to them.
The finished mural will be displayed at various locations throughout the Gold Rush Days festival, where residents and visitors will have an opportunity to stop, look and appreciate Waverley from a child’s perspective.
It is also a chance to reflect on how much the community has changed over the years.
For longtime residents, the artwork may bring back memories of Waverley as it once was, while for younger residents it offers a glimpse of the community they are helping shape today.
After 50 years of Gold Rush Days, there is plenty of history to celebrate. And thanks to the students of Waverley Memorial Elementary, there is now a new generation helping to tell that story.
