BC Heritage Week’s theme this year is “Stir the Pot”, an open invitation to celebrate food as a form of heritage. At Ross Bay Villa, our volunteers set the table seasonally with fake foods appropriate to the 1860s, when the Roscoe family lived there. Living so close to Ross Bay, we presume their diet would feature fish and other seafoods, some of which they might catch or harvest themselves, or which they could purchase from Indigenous or Chinese peddlers who came door to door. 

The oysters on the Roscoes’ table are particularly small, because they are the native Olympia variety, which are now extinct in local waters. We were fortunate to coordinate with Shuck Taylor’s Oyster Bar, which often imports Olympias from Seattle, and who has kindly passed on the empty shells to us. Thank you!!  

The shells are real, but of course oysters don’t keep well. These were made with Fino and hand-painted. Come and see the full display of fake food at Ross Bay Villa-there is a rotating seasonal display that features meats, vegetables and desserts, all appropriate to the time of year and the tastes of the family who lived there long ago.