When we arrived back at the museum, the parking lot was quickly filling up. We made our way in and found the previously empty pavilion packed wall to wall with guests. We had quite a while before the dedication ceremony itself, so we wandered around the pavilion and the actual museum itself across the street.

The pavilion itself boasted a number of builders' models for Canadian Pacific ships; Empress of Britain (II) and the original builder's model for Empress of Ireland among others. The interesting thing about the Empress of Ireland model is that after the tragedy, the ship's name was removed from the model and it was renamed Montroyal. CP did not want to associate itself with the tragic name. I think this was just one of many things that contributed to the obscurity surrounding the sinking, but one can understand the company's difficult position in the wake of such an event.

The museum, a converted house across the street from the pavilion, is home to countless Empress artifacts. Portholes, a ship's wheel, navy phones, telegraphs and other equipment such as showers and sinks were nicely restored and displayed. As I documented everything on video, Dianne, Chris and Edith drifted about marveling at the items on display. I could only imagine what it must have taken to gather these items together in one place. Seeing these things with my own eyes, I can reiterate my belief that relics of an ocean liner wreck should be recovered and placed on public display. Leaving these things on the ocean floor (or the riverbed in this case) would only serve to deny the depth of the story behind the tragic sinking of a great ship.

At the far end of the exhibit floor in the museum is a room tilted on it's side. Actually the walls are slanted to give the illusion of a list while the floor is level. To the left are glassed displays with bottles, silverware and china from the wreck of Empress of Ireland. To the right, are video screens running footage of divers exploring the wreck. Straight ahead (and I hope to get a video-capture here soon) is a door from the wreck, tilted on its side to match the walls. It's an amazing effect and I was very impressed with the effort and detail put into the small museum. Just outside the "listing room" is a tribute to the many divers who have visited the wreck site. Several have died while diving on Empress of Ireland and their losses are remembered with honor. A diving suit from the time of Empress gives you an idea of the technology of the time. A brass diving helmet secured to a canvas and rubber suit. Amazing that people actually went down to such great depths in these things. There is also a model, made of GI Joe figures and cardboard that shows, to scale, the depth and size of the wreck. I was enthralled with the model; it's simplicity was overshadowed only by it's brilliance. A very nice way to demonstrate the challenges faced by divers descending to the wreck.

The opening of the pavilion featured a 3D "multimedia" show in the theatre. They called people in for the French version, and seeing how I don't speak French, I opted to wait for the second show, which was to be in English. Anyway, it was before the English viewing that the compass would be unveiled. Chris, Edith and I decided to take the lighthouse tour. Out tour guide, a very cute young lady, took us up the hundreds of steps that spiraled up the lighthouse's 114 ft tower. She told us the history of the lighthouse and gave us a very detailed account of how the mechanism that turns the fresnel (the prism that surrounds the light itself) and how the number and sequence of flashes identify the lighthouse to ships passing in the St. Lawrence. In the age of geo-positioning satellites, however, the lighthouse was no longer used as a navigational beacon. We admired the view, which gave us a spectacular panorama. To the southwest was Rimouski, while the open St. Lawrence stretched into the hazy horizon to the north and east. After a few pictures, we went back to the pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, Chris and I met two wonderful ladies who had emigrated to Canada from England in the 1950's. Chris developed an immediate rapport with them while I videotaped the conversation. The images at left are all video captures. Accompanying them was a gentleman by the name of Renshaw (I didn't catch his first name). He told me about his time of Empress of Russia. Serving aboard her in World War II, he found her accommodations as a troop ship far from luxurious. Outside, we met Terry German, a Canadian diver and videographer. Terry has filmed more footage of the Empress wreck than anyone and spoke at length with us about the politics of wreck preservation. He also had dinner with us later that night and beers with us back at the hotel.

They called us in for the presentation of the compass. Dianne, Chris and I were ushered up onto the stage, where the compass was placed on a pedestal with a red velvet drape over it. Serge Guay, the museum's director, introduced Dianne and spoke of the museum's appreciation for the first item donated from the United States and thanked the LostLiners Foundation in particular for making the donation happen! Dianne got up, said a few words about the day in August 1970 when she and her husband Ron found the compass. "...and now in <Ron's> memory...and in honor of the LostLiners Foundation..." The compass was unveiled before a cheering crowd. Then Chris and I took turns speaking, I think we basically said the same thing, but since I don't speak French, I can only say for certain what my words were....

"Empress of Ireland is often referred to as the Forgotten Empress. Hopefully, with the efforts of people like Dianne Strong, Chris Cadieux and myself as well as the staff of the Musèe de la Mer at Point au Père, that will change. It is our goal to return to this place all the artifacts that have been removed from the wreck. It our hope that Empress of Ireland will be forgotten no more..."

We then watched the multimedia show, which was a combination of live actors and computer generated scenery. It was a riveting account of the last night of Empress of Ireland and I doubt very much there was a dry eye in the house.

Following the ceremony, we mingled about, drinking champagne and chatting with people. After a while, as the crowd dwindled, we decided to go to dinner with some of our new friends.

At dinner, Chris, Edith and myself were joined by Marc Morin, a producer from Quebec City. A friend of his had designed the multimedia show and he was there as moral support, but had been fascinated by the tale of the compass and how it came to be at the museum. He took to us instantly (and we to him) and we talked about all kinds of things. His interest was not so much in liners, but he and I found common ground in video production. Working in the audiovisual field, I work with all kinds of video equipment, so he and I compared notes on cameras, editing systems, video formats and anything else you could imagine.

Our evening ended back at the hotel with everyone in the room Dianne and I were sharing, drinking beer and talking about wrecks and the like. We called it an early night because we had to get up early the next morning and charter a boat to go out to the Empress wreck!