Christine Pilgrim’s expertise at researching, writing tours, programmes and historic plays, creating characters, designing sets and sites, directing and teaching make her a valuable resource either as an interpreter or as one who can establish a tour, programme or play for any organization, museum or site.

She first caught the “historic performance bug” when she created, directed and hosted the Vernon Centennial Revue in 1992. Later, she established the Schoolhouse interpretive programme at Vernon’s historic O’Keefe Ranch.

She spent four seasons, between 1994 and 1998, as the Schoolma’am in Barkerville. She also performed at Barkerville’s Theatre Royal in children’s theatre and at the Kelly Saloon with several of her one-woman shows.

Mrs MacPherson the Victorian Schoolma’am also appeared at Fort Langley and at the Grist Mill and Gardens at Keremeos, where Pilgrim led the interpretation team and was responsible for programming. She and site manager, Cuyler Page, also created a summer kitchen where she demonstrated the domestic chores of the day. She often operated the mill, bred chickens, gardened, and was instrumental in establishing the Apple House Theatre at the site.

Between 2002 and 2004, she ran the old 1884 schoolhouse on Pleasant Valley Road in Armstrong, where she conducted summer day camps, gave “lessons” to visiting schools, established an old-fashioned Christmas programme and presented several concerts.

She performed shows and conducted tours, as Catherine Schubert, at Historic Hat Creek Ranch during 2004.

Special tours throughout the summer

In the summer of 2005, as Miss Yuul, she led tours of the Caetani House, which was bequeathed to the City of Vernon by renowned artist, Sveva Caetani whose unique, troubled life inspired a series of 56 paintings, called “Recapitulation”.

School tours available.

Pilgrim, as Mrs Grace Mackie, currently presents programmes at the Mackie Lake House which reflects British culture in the pioneer days of the Okanagan.

School tours available throughout
May and June

Tours and tea with 'Mrs Mackie'
some weekends this summer - call Mackie House
at (250) 545-1019 for details

She also gives presentations and conducts workshops at Historic Interpretation Conferences throughout Canada and teaches “History Through Drama” to youth at Vernon’s Community Arts Centre.