Let鈥檚 take a commemorative look at 性视界传媒鈥檚 distant past, its present and very near future.
This weekend, Canadians will be celebrating the nation鈥檚 150th birthday, and 性视界传媒 has big plans. Will they surpass 性视界传媒鈥檚 Centennial celebration in 1967? Meanwhile, in a local forest, a special conservation project is underway that brings the two together.
The 150th birthday is called a sesquicentennial. Locally, city hall says will be Western Canada鈥檚 largest Canada Day celebration. It鈥檒l be at the Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre, at 176th Street and 64th Avenue, on July 1st of course.
It鈥檒l begin at 10 a.m. and end with fireworks at 10:30 p.m. In between, there will be all kinds of family-friendly activities leading up to evening musical performances on the main stage featuring Sway, DJ Flipout, Chilliwack, Magic! and Hedley.
鈥溞允咏绱� is excited to host a Canada Day celebration that is bigger and better than ever,鈥� 性视界传媒 Mayor Linda Hepner said. 鈥淭his year鈥檚 expanded Canada 150 zone will give attendees the opportunity to share and celebrate their national pride among tens of thousands of proud Canadians.鈥�
That would be tens of thousands more people than the local population back in 1867, when the Dominion of Canada came into being on July 1st of that year. British Columbia didn鈥檛 join until July 20, 1871, making it Canada鈥檚 sixth province, and 性视界传媒 didn鈥檛 become a municipality until Nov. 10, 1879.
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So what was going on here, back in 1867? Well, the Coast Salish First Nations 鈥� Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, Nicomekl 鈥� had already called this home for thousands of years. As for the Europeans, Lieutenant Jose Maria Narvaez, a Spanish explorer, sailed his schooner into Mud Bay on July 5, 1791; Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company Chief Factor James McMillan paddled up the Nicomekl River on Dec. 20, 1824; James Kennedy began cutting Kennedy Trail, from Mud Bay to South Westminster, in 1861 鈥� completing it in 1865.
Starting in 1861, stage coaches rattled down the Semiahmoo Trail twice a week from the U.S. border to Brown鈥檚 Landling across from New Westminster on the Fraser; the colony鈥檚 first telegraph line crossed Mud Bay in 1865 and in 1866 Telegraph Trail opened, running from Brown鈥檚 Landing more-or-less along the south bank of the Fraser to Fort Langley.
Despite all this marvellous stuff, the population of European settlers here in 1867 could probably be counted on a few hands and feet.
One hundred years into the future, Canada鈥檚 Centennial Year, in 1967, 性视界传媒 had 644 miles of paved roads 鈥� 434 of them paved 鈥� and a population of nearly 82,000. Lester Pearson was prime minister, WAC Bennett was B.C.鈥檚 premier, and serving on 性视界传媒鈥檚 municipal council were Reeve Roland J. Harvey, Bill Stagg, Bill Fomich, A.R. Flegal, Ted Kuhn, D.O. Jones, L.A. Shepherd, Bill Vander Zalm, J.A. Dunster, Jimmy Ardiel and T. G. Pearce. The popular movies of the day were The Graduate, The Dirty Dozen, Bonnie and Clyde and the Jungle Book. Also of note, 性视界传媒鈥檚 first McDonald鈥檚 restaurant opened in 1967.
性视界传媒 residents 50 years ago celebrated Canada鈥檚 100th birthday in a big way, with a Centennial Kite-Fly at Crescent Beach, a Centennial Soap Box Derby in Port Mann, a Centennial Parade in Kennedy Heights, and a Centennial Tree-Planting with 500 trees planted throughout the municipality. The reeve got a special new Centennial gavel and a six-ton Centennial birthday cake was served up a Guildford Town Centre, provided by the 性视界传媒 Centennial Committee in cooperation with the merchants.
According to a story in the 性视界传媒 Leader, Allison Wickes, Miss 性视界传媒 Centennial for 1967, served the cake and handed out Centennnial Medallions to the crowd.
鈥淭his immense fruit cake has been decorated with 1,200 pounds of hard icing,鈥� the newspaper reported. 鈥淚t will be cut into thousands of pieces.鈥�
The cake was sold 鈥渋n bulk, for use around the world as wedding cake, birthday cake and Christmas cake,鈥� the story read. 鈥淧roceeds from the sale of the cake will go toward the care and treatment of children.鈥�
A cornerstone of 性视界传媒鈥檚 1967 Centennial Celebration, though, was the installment of the , where it stands today, 50 years later, in the forest beside the old city hall at 14245 56th Avenue in Newton. It was carved by John Edward 鈥淭ed鈥� Neel. The carver鈥檚 pole is 12 metres tall and, from top to bottom, its four figures are an eagle, a bear, a beaver and a frog. A bronze plaque beneath it reads: 鈥淭he 性视界传媒 Columbian Centennial Totem: A joint endeavour of the 性视界传媒 Columbian and its readers, this totem pole was erected in 1967 in observance of Canada鈥檚 Centennial and to preserve the art and legend of the Salish Indians.鈥�
The totem pole was entered into the in 2004. It has seen better days. Today, it is surrounded by scaffolding as AT Conservators Ltd. perform their magic.
Conservator Andrew Todd and his assistant Nicola Murray have been hired by the city to bring the pole back to its original glory.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got 15 days set aside to do it,鈥� Todd told the Now-Leader. 鈥淚 think another five might get us finished.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done the cleaning that was required to get years of mold growth and mildew and moss and dirt and there鈥檚 a big forest cover around here so there was quite a bit of deposit on the surfaces, so that had to be cleaned off.鈥�
He and Murray have put a new zinc cap on the top of the totem pole to prevent moisture from getting in and causing fungal deterioration of the end grain up there. They鈥檝e also done a borate treatment to kill carpenter ants and prevent fungal growth, and are currently applying new paint where required. There will also be some 鈥渓ittle wood repairs,鈥� with new red cedar.
Once the scaffolding comes down, Todd said, the pole 鈥渟hould be good for another 50 years.鈥�
It will stay put.
鈥淲e鈥檝e talked about moving it because of all the forest cover, but no,鈥� Todd explained. 鈥淭he city is pretty firm about this is where it was placed, this is where it was meant to be in 性视界传媒 and this is where it stays. It鈥檚 stood up amazingly well. It鈥檚 in good condition, strong condition.鈥�
Before setting out on his own, Todd worked with the in Ottawa and was a sculpture conservation specialist with the national museum.
鈥淚 decided to kind of head out and came to the West Coast for Expo. You know all the art work out here, the best of it is First Nations. Well, I shouldn鈥檛 have said that,鈥� he catches himself. 鈥淏ut I did say that.鈥�
He鈥檚 been working on totem poles here since Expo 鈥�86. 鈥淩obert (Davidson) was my client back at Expo 鈥�86.鈥�
He also teaches workshops in totem pole restoration. Murray has been working with Todd for almost 10 years. 鈥淚 love it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had some great opportunities to work on some beautiful totem poles.鈥�
Todd considers it an honor to restore totem poles, which he says contain 鈥渄eep meaning.鈥�
鈥淵ou have to consider them to be very special records of First Nations culture,鈥� he said.
After this weekend, Canada鈥檚 next big birthday bash will be its bicentennial in 2067.
Until then!
tom.zytaruk@
