When Tim MacIntosh’s grandfather David Macintosh died, the elderly man’s voice and penchant for storytelling passed away with him.

Tim had always meant to record David telling his wildest stories – like how he’d once severed his Achilles tendon and was doctored up with a tendon from a donor kangaroo. David swore he needed special shoes because he was part marsupial, but Tim never knew for sure if he was hearing a tall tale or a medical marvel.

David was also a physician on a ship in the Second World War and did highly-classified coding and de-coding work, which made for more fascinating stories later in his life.

But Tim never got around to making that recording of his beloved grandfather.

“I don’t have that voice of his, and I miss it,” he said.

Now Tim, a carpenter and musician turned oral historian, is making it his mission to document other people’s loved ones to keep others from experiencing the regret he feels. He wants to ensure that the eldest generations can continue sharing their stories with the loved ones they will one day leave behind.

Tim encourages “the younger generation to get the older generation to tell stories as sort of a memorial-type way of recording histories for families.”

Sitting down with someone who was alive long before you to hear their histories and to consider how drastically the world has changed over time “is actually just really fascinating,” he said.

For instance, one woman he interviewed talked about discovering her Métis heritage later in life and her reflections on connecting with her culture. A gentleman he spoke with shared about being raised “in a plywood shack, basically, with a whole bunch of siblings.”

Tim is intrigued by stories of long ago and how those who experienced such a different past navigate today’s world.

“It’s really interesting to see the arc of these lives and what was important to them in those times. It’s humbling. It’s just really interesting looking across time, across the culture,” he said.

Tim’s oral history projects start at $150, with costs dependant on time requirements.

“The value is fairly clear,” he said. “It’s pretty neat having that voice in your head… It’s also about having these stories in their own words.”

For more information, visit www.kitestringsound.com.

Local musicians release fundraising CD

Tim invited local musicians from Invermere to Edgewater to perform at Christ Church Trinity so he could record them for a fundraising album for the Columbia Valley Food Bank.

Paul Carriere, Carol Wilke, Catherine Tumason, Barry Moore and Tanya Dubois are featured on the CD, which is called How to Save a Drontosaurus. The album includes jazz pieces, classical songs and some original compositions.

“These people are phenomenal musicians for sure,” Tim said. “It was great for me. It was just like having a private concert having these professional musicians come in and play. It was really fun.”

The musicians donated their time and performed songs of their choosing for the album.

“The track listing is not really curated. I just let them go. Each of them has a different sort of style, but it does all come together in a sort of a classical jazz way,” he said.

CDs are $12 and are available at the Invermere Bakery, Valley Foods, Black Star Studios, Pip’s Country Store and Blue Dog Cafe. Digital copies are also available online at www.kitestringsound.bandcamp.com.