Archives Photos of the Day: Markets

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

Farmers markets, night markets, and our beloved Granville Island Market are a big part of what makes living in Vancouver so great. In fact, the city could nearly double its farmers markets by the end of this decade. Today, I’ve dug up some old market photos from the Vancouver Public Library and City of Vancouver Archives:


1889: Exterior of Van Volkenburgh and Bro. Market at 17 Water St. Archives# Bu P463.


1890: Steveston Meat Market. Archives# Bu P674.


1890s: Interior of Mainland Meat Market on Cordova St. Archives# Bu P557.5 &
1932: Interior of Victoria Produce Company. VPL# 7921B. Photographer: Leonard Frank.


1900s: Women at City Market on False Creek at Westminster Avenue (Main St). VPL# 7513.
Photographer: Philip Timms


1908: New City Market on False Creek. VPL# 4990 & 7435. Photographer: Philip Timms


1925: New City Market. Archives# CVA 99-1265. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.


1923: Provincial Public Market at Granville and Smithe. VPL# 21400. Dominion Photo Co.

Experience YEW seafood + bar

Comments 253 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The award-winning Yew Restaurant + Bar at the Four Seasons in Vancouver is now YEW seafood + bar with a rebranding that launched this week. The seafood concept is a permanent change, helping the restaurant deliver the best sustainable seafood dining experience possible.

The YEW team began a journey to deliver a restaurant experience that our guests, and food lovers in general, really wanted. Research told us that our guests liked seafood – over 70 percent of you ordered it – and that you preferred a certain kind of dining experience – approachable yet seamless. With the needs and wants of our guests in mind, YEW has evolved into one of the city’s very best seafood restaurants over the past 21 months. [Source: Press Release]

Yew’s modern and social dining room with communal table options make it a favourite after-work destination for a sip of the Okanagan’s finest wines and the coast’s freshest oysters. Looking at the menu, starting from the top down, I know I’m immediately hooked with dishes like Albacore Tuna (with grapefruit and ginger, soy and mustard vinaigrette), Wild Salmon (with papaya and peanut salad, Thai vinaigrette), and Halibut Ceviche (with corn, avocado, jalapeno, and crispy corn chips) — and those are just the raw starter options.

Shellfish, fish to share, main courses with fish, and a selection of non-fish items (salads, chicken, beef, quinoa) round out the rest of the dinner menu. Other menus include breakfast, brunch, lunch, vegan lunch, vegan dinner, dessert, coffee bar, cocktails, and wines.

They also have special event/occasion menus and prix-fixe dining options like the upcoming Father’s Day Brunch.

If you would like to experience the fresh, sustainable, and locally-sourced dishes at YEW seafood + bar they have offered up dinner for two, for several Miss604 readers. For this contest, I’ll draw a winner using each entry method — Comment, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter — who will each receive dinner for two at YEW seafood + bar. Here’s how you can enter to win:

  • Leave a comment here naming your favourite West Coast seafood item (1 entry)
  • Re-Pin this post on Pinterest tagging @FSVancouver & @Miss604 (1 entry)
  • Capture a photo of the the new YEW seafood + bar logo (on a sign, ad, or anywhere in the city) and post it on Instagram. Include @fsvancouver & @miss604 in your description of the image (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win dinner for 2 at #YEWyvr from @FSVancouver + @Miss604 http://ow.ly/m0rx2

Follow YEW seafood + bar on Twitter and Facebook for more information and the latest menu offerings.

I will announce one comment, one Pinterest, one Instagram, and one Twitter winner at 12:00pm on Friday, June 21, 2013. You may enter using any and all of the methods (so up to four entries per person). Must be 19+. Gratuities not included. Prize is valued up to $150.

Update Twitter winner: @FunSizedJenn; Comment winner: Sevie; Pinterest winner: siobhansmeets; Instagram winner: @Bruise_Violette

PNE Concerts: Summer 2013

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Fair at the PNE has announced their concert line-up for the season, bringing in big names and legends for over a dozen performances on top of their regular entertainment and attractions. Running from Saturday, August 17th to Monday, September 2nd (excluding Mondays on August 19th and August 26th) you’ll also be able to enjoy everything from mini donuts to those famous Superdogs shows.

PNE Concerts

Summer night concerts will take place nightly at 8:30pm, thanks to sponsors WestJet and the Vancouver Sun, and the concert venue is even bigger this year.

Surrey Party for the Planet 2013 : Lights Surrey Canada Day 2012
Lights & Sam Roberts. Photo credit: John Bollwitt & John Bollwitt for Miss604.
  • Saturday, August 17: Melissa Etheridge Live
  • Sunday, August 18: The Jacksons: Unity Tour 2013
  • Tuesday, August 20: Dean Brody
  • Wednesday, August 21: Great Big Sea
  • Thursday, August 22: Colin James
  • Friday, August 23: The Beach Boys
  • Saturday, August 24: Sam Roberts Band
  • Sunday, August 25: Corb Lund & the Hurtin’ Albertans
  • Tuesday, August 27: Foreigner
  • Wednesday, August 28: The Proclaimers
  • Thursday, August 29: Big Wreck
  • Friday, August 30: Pandora Jewelry Presents: Martina McBride One Night Tour
  • Saturday, August 31: REO Speedwagon
  • Sunday, September 1: Lights
  • Monday, September 2: An Evening with Loverboy

All concerts are FREE with admission but fans looking for reserved seating will have the opportunity to purchase a limited number of reserved seats in the new WestJet Fan Zone starting Friday, June 14, 2013 at 10:00am.

The Superdogs at PNE Evolution of Extreme Today in Vancouver Part 2: Swingers and Spinners | The PNE Fairgrounds
Photo credit: Michael Kwan & Michael Kwan & [travelfox] on Flickr

New This Year

Genghis Khan: The Exhibition, 80s Forever, Dueling Pianos, Sportacular, and a 50/50 Draw. There is also a 20% drop in general admission and parking at the fair this year. Purchase your fair passes by July 31st and receive a free coupon book.

Returning Favourites

Family Feud Live, Superdogs, The Peking Acrobats, DrumBeats, RCMP Musical Ride, Tribute Nights on the Chevrolet Performance Stage, Safeway Farm Country, Kids Discovery Farm, and the fabublour Prize Home draw.

For more information about entertainment, attractions, activities, and passes follow The Fair at the PNE on Facebook and Twitter.

Blogger Profile: Lori McGrath

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Over the years I have profiled bloggers from the Northwest Territories to the Fraser Valley, anyone that interests me and that I hope will interest you as well. A few years ago I started asking a standard set of questions and I’ve sent these out to a few local bloggers for this week’s series. Click, share, explore, and enjoy.

Lori McGrath

Blog: The Write Mama | Facebook: TheWriteMama | Twitter: @TheWriteMama

Blogger Profile Lori McGrath
Images by Bethany

How long has your blog been around?
I started my blog in September 2010. I was feeling isolated staying home with my precious son and turned to social media to get connected.

What is your role?
I am a one woman show – owner, writer, reviewer and I also love to tinker with my WordPress theme.

What does your site do/what is it about?
At its heart, The Write Mama is a mom blog.

What can people see, read, and do when visiting your site?
I write about everything from what motherhood means to me to current issues I am passionate about in my community to things I love with fun reviews and giveaways. You’ll also notice a strong focus on supporting families who are going through infertility because that is something I went through on my path to motherhood.

Why do you blog?
I blog because I am a writer at heart and I just love it. It’s funny because for a lot of years I worked in communications and did a lot of business writing but it is so much more meaningful now that I blog for myself.

What is the ultimate goal for your site, how would you like to see it grow?
My ultimate goal is to maintain my love of writing while balancing blogging with the needs of my family and to see where that takes me.

Follow Lori on her blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Read all entries in my Blogger Profile series and feel free to suggest a blogger for possible feature in the comments of this post.

Vancouver History: William Robert Broughton

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

John and I enjoyed a few days exploring “The Other Vancouver”, which is Vancouver, Washington. Located about two hours south of Seattle along the I-5, this Vancouver sits along the Columbia River and was incorporated in 1857, 29 years before Vancouver, BC.

Captain Vancouver Monument
Captain George Vancouver Monument in Vancouver, Washington

I’ve always loved looking up the origins of park, island, and street names in Vancouver, from Abbott to Tatlow and beyond. While in Vancouver, Washington recently I came across the name Broughton when reading about that Vancouver’s history so I thought I would educate myself about William Robert Broughton and his connection to both Vancouvers.

Captain Vancouver Monument Captain Vancouver Monument
Captain George Vancouver Monument in Vancouver, Washington

Most of the inlets and islands explored by Captain George Vancouver around BC are named after his admirals and officers, as was Royal Navy Tradition. However, Vancouver in Washington State was named after the captain himself, by Lieutenant William Robert Broughton.

In 1792, Captain George Vancouver followed the North American coastline and entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He proceeded to survey every inlet and outlet on the West Coast, as were his orders, and was the first European to enter Burrard Inlet on June 13th, 1792. [Source: George Vancouver 1757–2007: 250th Birth Anniversary, Survey of the Southwest Coast of BC, June 1792].

He later discovered that Spanish explorers Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores were also in the area using crude charts of Georgia Strait created by José María Narváez, under command of Francisco de Eliza. Captain Vancouver also acquired Robert Gray’s charts of the lower Columbia River, which makes up most of the border between Washington and Oregon today.


(Left) 1910: Broughton Apartments in Vancouver. Archives# CVA 99-98
(Right) 1960: Looking east on Georgia form Broughton Street. Archives# Air P91.

Wanting to do a more thorough investigation of the Columbia River, Vancouver sent Broughton up the river in October of 1792. He got as far as the Columbia River Gorge, sighting Mount Hood and naming it after Viscount Samuel Hood, Admiral of the British Fleet. [Source: Western Lives: A Biographical History Of The American West]. Broughton then named an area on the north side of the river after George Vancouver.

Gray’s charts and Broughton’s map of the Columbia River became instrumental in the planning of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Broughton’s legacy includes several places, and even a cricket team, named after him in the South Pacific and New Zealand from earlier expeditions. In Vancouver and Victoria we have streets named after him and up the coast there is the Broughton Archipelago Provincial Park, which is BC’s largest marine park.

I was pretty pleased to learn more about the namesake of a street in my West End neighbourhood, even if it did take going to the other Vancouver to spark my interest.