On September 10th, 1898, New Westminster was very nearly destroyed by what is now referred to as “The Great Fire”. Pictures show a city completely ravaged; the devastation razed most of the city’s buildings. On Saturday, September 10th (the same day and date of the Great Fire), New West Fire Fighters will be flipping the pancakes and cooking ham for Sapperton Old Age Pensioners Association. Sapper Flap Jack Saturday is from 8:30 am to 12 noon.

New Westminster is a proud and busy place this week. As the Hyack Festival proudly begins its 40th year of celebrating the city, children around the city are busy practicing how to folk dance and dance together around May Poles to celebrate May Day on May 25th. Through his 96 years in New Westminster, J.J. Johnston attended every May Day celebration, was actively involved in many of them. So much so, to the people of our city he became known as “Mr. May Day”.

Many afternoons or weekends over the past 12 years living on the Quay, I have seen amazement on the faces of children and elderly people pointing out on the river as they share tales of the past with a very knowledgeable person at one very special point on the waterfront. The place is the Samson V and the person is Mark MacKenzie, the smart man who devotes himself to the care of this wonderful ship.

My memory of growing up around Lord Kelvin school and Moody Park area in the ’50s was mostly of unrestricted roaming and fun, with groups of boys and girls from the post-war baby boom filling the neighbourhood houses. Younger kids would move through the back lanes, neighbourhood streets, over back fences and through yards and the neighbourhood streets in packs, older kids in groups of 4 or in pairs. This was all without supervision of course, at any age, but there was a curfew for children in the 50s.

For almost 14O years, thousands of New Westminsterites have enjoyed celebrations like May Day, the famous Ancient Hyack Anvil Battery, parades down our main streets and the crowning of Miss New Westminster. The Hyack Festival Association continues these New Westminster traditions that many people have enjoyed for their whole lives, introduces them to new generations and shares them with people from around the world. People enjoying the festivities and the city often wonder what the word ‘Hyack’ means and how it became such an important part of the language of New Westminster.

For many younger people, it can be harder to understand the importance of Remembrance Day because fewer Veterans are left surviving from times of war. Over the past 150 years, thousands of people have protected New Westminster, and fought, served and died elsewhere around the world during several times of war, since the time Queen Victoria sent the Royal Engineers here to protect the Fraser River.

People looking down to the Fraser River from the West End and enjoying beautiful views from the River Walk at Port Royal or the Esplanade at Westminster Quay always notice the cottonwood trees growing tall and wild on Poplar Island. It appears untouched by anyone, but it actually has a long history. Many things, people and struggles have lived for 150 years on or about the unique island.

The Brewery District is a new development being built in Sapperton on the corner of Brunette and Columbia Streets. Its name remembers beer brewed successfully there for 110 years. New Westminster beer has been on tap since 1862 for thirsty residents who have always enjoyed it. By 1880, an alderman complained because for every 28 residents there was one place serving alcohol.

Theatre does not have to be a faraway and inaccessible activity that happens mysteriously somewhere else. But rather, theatre created by those living in the same community can be something that brightens the cultural landscape on the most direct level possible. It takes a city already enriched by its own history, and makes sure that the history goes on for current and upcoming generations of those interested in artistic expression.

People in New Westminster love Markets. You can see it today in the popularity of The Royal City Farmer’s Market and the anticipation about the long-awaited reopening of River Market. But the same has been true for many years. People bartered and sold their goods on the streets right from New Westminster’s beginning.

Translink recently announce a new bridge will be built in the next 5 years between New Westminster and Surrey, the third bridge across in the past 106 years.

New Westminster’s heritage architecture is one of its biggest assets. While there are pockets of heritage neighbourhoods throughout the Lower Mainland, New Westminster is lush with vintage appeal. At June 14th’s Regular Council meeting at 7pm, Mayor Wayne Wright will recognize two award-winning local historic properties and present plaques to a number of recent homes that have received municipal heritage designation status.

In search of a museum gallery that connects to the toddler, the parent, the teenager, the tourist, the old timer and the teacher all at once, New Westminster Museum & Archives curator Rob McCullough is hosting a May 4 visioning workshop at the museum.

The Bluebird Dairy corner store, long an icon at 8th Street and 4th Avenue, was unceremoniously demolished today. I feel a bit sad.  Long ago, as a young early 20s single woman-about-town, I used to rent the top floor of that big brown house next to the Bluebird. And I bought a huge amount of my groceries at the little corner store. I came to rely on the Bluebird. The staff became familiar faces.
On September 11, 2001, I was on my way to work, and stopped in at the Bluebird …

I was in the Queen’s Ave Armories the other day talking with Captain Vernon, an officer in the Royal Westminster Regiment. We had Farmer’s Market business to discuss as the armories are neighbours of the market and I was gauging their interest in joining the RCFM on a project. Captain Vernon was very gracious with his time and during our discussion he reminded me that the public was invited to a ceremony that Sunday, September 13th, in the Queen’s Park Arena for the Change of Command Ceremony.
Wow, that was an …

I am having a real problem writing this post. I am a white guy and as my ancestors came to New Westminster in 1909. I am one of the very, veeery few New Westminsterites whose oldsters may have actually participated in active or passive discrimination of Chinese Pioneers in this city’s past.
I fully understand my position in this story but as a bleeding heart liberal and as a BC elementary and secondary student whose history education consisted of French Canadians, Aboriginal Canadians, Chinese Canadians and South Asian Canadians to the …

Recently, commenter and contributor Ruth Seeley mentioned a link to Rick Springate’s website Go See TV, a website that contains fascinating old video footage of New Westminster events, converted into easy to view digital vignettes. This website is a rare treasure trove of nostalgia for all who have lived a life in the Royal City or who are interested in the way lives use to be lived here.
One page of Go See TV exclusively presents footage from most May Day celebrations from 1932 to 1963, all of which were …

I popped by a Public Information Session a few weekends ago at the Admiral Anson Bed and Breakfast. I’ve never stayed at the Admiral Anson, but it’s a pleasant member of my neighbourhood with a well kept yard. As a fan of B&B’s, I think I’d like it and although I’ve not slept there, I do recommend it frequently to family and friends and have heard no complaints. According to the website, rooms are offered at $45 – $75 a night – which is incredibly reasonable – beyond reasonable, to …

I have had the rare pleasure of having a local newspaper delivered to my door (seriously, our paperboy must be stockpiling them for a Piñata-making party), and after reading through the agenda in the two-page ad for the Festival of Volunteers, I see now that they’ve buried the lede.
My co-author Jen has already covered the altruistic reasons to head out to Royal City Centre this Saturday for the Festival of Volunteers. But even if you have zero interest in volunteering, it will be worth it to come out to see Mayor Wayne …

If you’re passionate about theatre and New Westminster history, this could be right up your alley:
The Backroom Theatre Club is issuing a Call for Plays to the many playwrights in New Westminster to write short play vignettes, of about 10 minutes duration, on any New Westminster history theme of their choice. These vignettes will be produced throughout 2009 to celebrate New Westminster’s 150th anniversary.
It is expected that the vignettes will provide theatrical snapshots of what life was like in New Westminster in the past 150 years.
More: BTC 150th Vignettes Project …

New Westminster, the oldest city in western Canada, has much to offer the history buff. Yet our overstuffed museums struggle along piecemeal, cramming 150 years into nooks and crannies around the city. It does not do justice to the stories this city has to share. The New Westminster Museum is an artifact in itself yet the vast majority of the collection is not available for casual inspection. The cramped but fantastic Royal Westminster Regimental Museum screams for more space – but it is never open anyway, so no one knows …

Here’s a lovely hint of a story to think about as we approach Christmas: when soldiers were posted to B.C. in 1943 to guard against a feared attack by the Japanese, New Westminster opened its doors and made sure every last one had a home to go to for Christmas:
Despite omnipresent danger, tasteless bully beef and hardtack rations in the field, and nearly dying of pneumonia one year, Christmas in the army was the only place Charles Goodman wanted to be in his youth.
Having left home in Saint John any …

Local blog Regarding Place has an interesting feature called “A Year in Five Minutes” in which they write a quick overview of the highlights of a given year in history here in the GVRD. The latest was 1898, which was marked by (among other things), New Westminster’s Great Fire :

Another Great Fire

The year was bad for New Westminster. The entire downtown section of the city was burned in a great fire September 10/11, including almost all the commercial section. Hundreds were left homeless. Almost 60 city blocks were leveled. Vancouver Fire …

Those seeking ideas for sustainable decorations this Christmas, should cast their eye to the keepers of the past. New Westminster’s Irving House museum is profiled on Gardenwise for their unusual twist on a traditional garland that uses real apples for a beautiful and memorable look.
At Irving House in New Westminster the halls really are decked with boughs of holly — and lots of other traditional accents that transform the home into a celebration of a Victorian Christmas.
There are probably not many better places to evoke the spirit of the season …