In just a few days Vancouver will celebrate the largest patriotic party the city has ever seen. At any given time, during those two to four weeks in February of 2010, you could catch a round of “O Canada” being belted out in arenas, at SkyTrain stations, and walking down the street.
While the tune we recite today was written by Calixa Lavallee of France for Quebec’s celebration of St. Jean Baptiste Day, and the lyrics are from a poem by R. Stanley Weir, our anthem actually has a Vancouver connection.
Around 1880 Calixa Lavallee composed the melody for “O Canada” as we know it today and French lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. Prior to that, Canada had several unofficial anthems. English-speaking Canadians would sing “God Save the King” or “The Maple Leaf Forever” while French-Canadians used “Chant National” by Routhier. English lyrics for Lavallee’s music would not come about until several candidates (all originally poems) had been considered.1
English versions of Routhier’s lyrics were translated around the turn of the century followed by poems by Dr. Thomas Bedford Richardson, Mercy E. Powell McCulloch (who won a Collier’s Weekly competition), and another by Ewing Buchan, who worked at the Bank of Hamilton in Vancouver. The version we sing today was penned by lawyer Robert Stanley Weir of Montreal whose poem was pared down and used in 1908. It was officially adopted in 1927 (fit for school children to sing, and made popular by soliders in World War I) and in 1980 Weir’s poem was proclaimed as Canada’s national anthem.2
Ewing Buchan’s version was considered for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927 however it didn’t get much further after Weir’s words took off. Buchan did manage to pen his “O Canada” – one of the first English versions the national anthem – in 1908 from a house in Vancouver’s West End.3 He wrote it in the parlour, accompanied by his daughter on piano. For fun, you could try singing the Made in Vancouver version by Buchan to the tune of our official anthem:
O Canada, our heritage, our love
Thy worth we praise all other lands above.
From sea to see throughout their length
From Pole to borderland,
At Britain’s side, whate’er betide
Unflinchingly we’ll stand
With hearts we sing, “God save the King”,
Guide then one Empire wide, do we implore,
And prosper Canada from shore to shore.
The house in the West End still stands today and was given the “City of Vancouver Heritage Award of Honour” in 1997. It currently operates as O Canada House, a Bed & Breakfast located at 1114 Barclay Street.
1 Canadian Heritage
2 Canadian Heritage
3 O Canada House
Last August I announced that Vancouver 2010 Winter Games street banners were for sale from VANOC with proceeds benefitting Tradeworks Training Society. A few months later, and closer to the anniversary celebrations, there are still banners available for purchase from The Flag Shop.
The banners range from $34.95 to $79.95 (for ones with Olympic rings that are signed). Proceeds still benefit Tradeworks Training Society’s program The Fab Shop which provides training to at-risk individuals who are trying to re-enter the workforce.
The The Flag Shop is located at 1615 Powell Street in Vancouver.
Last August, after the iconic marshmallow-like dome of BC Place was deflated and removed, I posted a construction update. Now that all of the masts for the new roof at the stadium are in place, BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) announced today that they expect the project to be complete by September 30th, 2011. Here’s a look at the progress so far:
January 2011
The stadium, with its new retractable cloth roof, is set to be open for the BC Lions’ upcoming season and will host the 2011 Grey Cup. Other recent news includes the new Terry Fox Memorial design for the Robson plaza and the announcement that Budweiser will be the official beer partner of the BC Lions, Whitecaps FC and BC Place.
Since it is such a prominent piece of Vancouver’s landscape, featured on everything from coffee mugs to postcards, I thought I would check in to see what the public reaction is so far.
[poll id=”60″]
You can follow @BCPlace2011 on Twitter for construction and event updates.
Vancouver Twestival 2011 will take place March 24th and my organizational team is already on their toes, arranging sponsors, prizes, and securing a venue. For those unfamiliar with Twestival, Vancouver’s largest Twitter-based fundraiser, here’s a bit of background.
Tweet. Meet. Give.
Twestival is a Twitter Festival, the brainchild of a small group of people who got together in 2008 for a Tweetup (meetup of people organized and promoted through Twitter) for a cause. They put their heads together and thought about what kind of impact an event like this could have on a global scale. A daunting task, but by 2009 Amanda Rose and her global Twestival team rallied just over 200 cities who all hosted a Tweetup for the same global cause, on the same night and Twestival was born.
I found out about this event through Twitter (naturally) and in February of 2009 I organized Vancouver’s first Twestival at the Opus Hotel, benefitting Charity:Water. Thanks to Twestivals around the world, Charity:Water received $264,000 to help drill wells and provide clean water for communities in developing nations. Vancouver’s contribution was just over $4,000.
The following September, a new type of Twestival emerged. This time it was Twestival Local, a chance to fundraise for a local cause but hosting events in over 200 cities around the world on the very same day. Twestival “headquarters” supplied blogs, UStream accounts, ticket processing systems, images, and more for cities around the world that wanted to take part. Once again Vancouver raised over $4,000 but this time for our local cause of the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation‘s “Be a Super Hero” campaign.
I also encouraged Janice LaCouvee in Victoria to sign her city up for Twestival and soon BC had two major cities participating in the worldwide event.
With the growing popularity of Twitter we had an overwhelming response by the time the third Twestival came around in March of 2010. This was a Twestival Global once again, with over 200 cities raising funds for Concern Worldwide on the same day. I signed on a stellar group of volunteers to help with the task of organizing this event and Marc, Azita, Kirsten, Kim, Melissa, and Sonia (along with day-of volunteers) helped host our most successful Twestival in Vancouver to date. In one night at the CBC Audience Lounge, we raised over $9,000 for Concern through ticket sales, raffles, and silent auctions. Almost 200 people gathered to Tweet, Twitpic, and meet friends from Twitter — some for the first time.
Twestival 2010 in Liberia from Concern Worldwide.
It’s now been almost a year since the last Twestival Global and we’re heading back to the Twestival Local style. Vancouver is now joined by Victoria, the Fraser Valley, Kelowna, Whistler, and the Comox Valley in hosting Twestival Local events on March 24th.
My organizational team (with the addition of Bob from Vancouver is Awesome) and I are currently accepting nominations for local (Metro Vancouver-based) causes and we will be selecting our cause of choice this week. The non-profit must be based in Metro Vancouver and must be able to describe a specific project that our Twestival funds will go toward. We are also looking for sponsors as 100% of all proceeds from tickets sales and raffles must go toward the cause. We rely fully on sponsor support to make this event happen and we have been very fortunate to work with some generous companies in the past.
Please save the date for Vancouver’s Twestival Local coming up March 24th and should you be able to donate a prize, sponsor dollars, or even your time, please contact our team by emailing twestivalvancouver [at] gmail [dot] com. Tickets will be going on sale mid-February once our non-profit partnership is announced. Follow @YVRTwestival for updates and information.
February is Black History Month and in Vancouver, there’s a significant amount of history to share and celebrate. From the groundbreaking work of Emery Barnes to the life-saving Joe Fortes who was named the “Citizen of the Century” by the City of Vancouver. Settlers of African-American decent came from Victoria (and prior to that places such as Louisiana and California) and built up neighbourhoods in North Vancouver and East Vancouver. The centre of this, was Hogan’s Alley in Strathcona.
Vancouver Archives loc. 164-F-3 file 1
Per the City of Vancouver Archives, “Hogan’s Alley was the colloquial name for the lane between Union and Prior Streets, roughly between Main Street and Jackson Avenue. Many of its buildings were demolished as part of the Georgia Viaduct Replacement project.”
What made Hogan’s Alley significant, however, is that before it’s destruction in the early 1970’s it was the epi-centre of African-Canadian culture in Vancouver. Due to the close proximity to the train station and the large number of Afro-Canadian sleeping-car porters, a significant concentration of families took up residence in the alley and it’s surrounding areas; it also became the site of numerous Afro-Canadian businesses, and the city’s only Afro-Canadian church, the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel. Yet due to Vancouver Mayor, L.D. Taylor’s infamous “open town” policy – focusing on major crimes, rather than “vice” crimes – Hogan’s Alley became a red-light district home to illegal drinking houses, brothels, and gambling until Taylor’s landslide loss in the 1934 civic election. [Beyond Robson, 2008]
1958 – Hogan’s Alley. Vancouver Archives Item# Bu P508.53
Hogan’s Alley became well-known for its distinctive culture, featuring blues musicians and chicken eateries. It was also associated with illegal gambling, drinking and prostitution. In the 1960s, the area was razed to make way for a modern development. Protesters managed to shut the project down but not before the block housing in Hogan’s Alley had been destroyed. In 1972 the Georgia Street Viaduct was built over the area. [Vancouver Public Library]
1968 – 800-804 Main St. Vancouver Archives Item# 196-C-2
Since 2002, the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project has been dedicated “to keeping the black history of Vancouver alive and a part of the present”. While the website is infrequently updated, it is a great resource for history tidbits, initiatives, and even additional information about the Jimi Hendrix Shrine.
Even though places such as these are gone, they are not forgotten. Through grassroots campaigns, blogs, articles, heritage websites and archived accounts, the history of Vancouver’s melting-pot culture lives on.
You can view a full Black History Month event calendar on the City’s website.
Reminder: The Vancouver Heritage Foundation is looking for public nominations for their “Places That Matter” campaign. Nominate a significant place, venue, or event location online until mid-March.
