Last night at the third New West tweetup (soon to be blogged by @punkvspunk, I hope!), the idea of celebrating New Westminster’s future resurfaced. It’s no wonder it came up, given that we were twelve under-35′s, 6 iPhones, and one twitter hashtag (#newwest), meeting at a locale quoted by one tweeter as “the closest thing New West has to hip.”
It was roundly agreed that New Westminster as a city government and as a citizenry does a marvellous job of celebrating the past – from ragtime festivals to classic car show-n-shines, …

This is a guest post by Nancy Gephart from Clever Mink’s Gifts, ’the minksiest gift shop in the Lower Mainland,’ at 711 Carnarvon St.
Tourism New Westminster has a terrific new campaign this summer, the “Passport 150″. It is a part of the city’s 150th Anniversary celebration and it is an excellent chance to explore the city’s shops, restaurants, galleries, theatres, festivals and attractions. The way it works is simple:
1) Pick up a free Passport at any participating business (I have them here at Clever Mink’s Gifts) or at any of the …

In a press release today, the City of New Westminster announced it has received a $200,000 grant from the federal government towards the city’s planned 150th anniversary celebrations this year. The money will offset the $374,000 budget council approved earlier this year to plan and promote the events.
In the media release, 150th Celebrations Task Force Chair Rick Page is quoted saying, “We’ve been told that we received the maximum grant available under this program. That’s entirely appropriate given our status as the oldest city in Western Canada and the first …

New Westminster loves not only a parade, but events in general. Today’s ‘royal’ tea at Century House was no exception. The place was packed and the event sold out, with Mayor Wayne Wright and New West city councilors, MP Dawn Black, Poet Laureate Emeritus Edna Anderson, Salvation Army Captain Dave MacPherson, and Qayqayt First Nation Chief Rhonda Larabeeall in attendance. After being piped in, the pipers were paid and Master of Ceremonies Don Andrews introduced the mayor, who welcomed the crowd to the kickoff event for a year of celebration …

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 …

B.C. celebrates its 150th birthday this year, and as part of the Vancouver Sun’s coverage , it put together a list of the top 10 photos in our province’s history.
Somewhat surprisingly to me, only one is taken in New Westminster (but I suppose they had to spread it around a bit). It is the iconic image of a little boy running after his father , who is marching off to war. The photo was taken on Columbia Street by photographer Claude Detloff for The Province newspaper, and the man in the photo is Pte. Jack …