I was browsing my favourite Vancouver History site the other day and came across a mention that Robert Burnaby has more landmarks named after him than any other BC pioneer. With so many streets, parks, and monuments dedicated to those who helped shape our region I decided to look a bit further into Burnaby’s past to see what made him rise above the rest.
Robert Burnaby was from Woodthorpe, Leicestershire, England and arrived in BC in the 1850s to survey New Westminster, upon the request of Col. Richard Moody (who also made him his secretary).
“Richard has got Mr. Burnaby now as his “Private Secretary” which will I trust be a great comfort to him, as he had no help before, and the letters of all kinds were innumerable.” — 3rd March, 1859, From the Letters of Mary S. Moody [source]
He was a businessman, dealing with affairs in Victoria as well as exploring areas in the Lower Mainland, in particular the region around Burnaby Lake in 1859. In 1892 the municipality of Burnaby received its charter of incorporation, and was named in his honor by Moody. According to the City’s website, “he has given his name to a city, a park, a lake, a hill, a Vancouver street, a mountain range in McKenzie Sound, an island and a narrows in the Queen Charlotte Islands.” Burnaby also spent time serving in the BC Legislature in Victoria.
Photo credit:
Marina on Flickr
You can explore the various landmarks, including the city, or even Robert Burnaby Park to enjoy his legacy. The park features a baseball diamond, dog off leash area, casual picnic area, playground, outdoor swimming pool, tennis, walking and hiking trails, disc golf course. Also, according to entertainment podcaster Marina Antunes, the park was also the home to the “Cabin in the Woods” and various sets for New Moon and Battlestar Gallactica.
For more information about local namesakes, I would recommend checking out the book Namely Vancouver: A Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names or browsing the Hall of Fame on the Vancouver History website.
Summer to us means packing up John‘s big blue backpack and heading down to the beach. We walk through forest trails that open up into sprawling sandy shores and rest for hours in the open air. Snacks include fresh fruit and water, while we either read books or use the headphone splitter to enjoy the latest sonic mixes John has on his iPod (from podcasts to our favourite albums).
The other day we had our first official beach day of the year and we decided to shake things up a bit and head out to Cates Park in North Vancouver. We had access to a car, which made our decision to venture outside of downtown an easy one, but you can also get there by transit. This recreational area along the Burrard Inlet, across from Burnaby and just near Deep Cove, is truly a gem.
At first glance it’s a boat launch, grassy picnic area, concession, sandy beach (with small rocks), and trail network. However there’s also a lot of history at this particular location including signs of the old Dollarton Mill burner (read a little bit about ‘Cates‘ in one of my previous local history posts).
First Nations tradition and culture is also highlighted through totem poles and a war canoe on site at Cates, whose ancestral name is Whey-Ah-Whichen (which means ‘faces the wind’). “Whey-Ah-Whichen is the Tsleil-Waututh name for this place which defines Indian Arm from Burrard Inlet. The Squamish know it as Atsenách. The point was named after Lieutenant Rocke of HMS Satellite, which patrolled the Northwest Coast in the 1850s.” [source]
The beach seems quiet and calm even when the park is packed with groups and families having cookouts and picnics. Also, it’s a great shoreline for beachcombing and exploring tidal pools. One of my beach pass times is rock balancing (on a very small scale mind you) but it was also the perfect place for that.
There are kayak rentals, playgrounds, a Wally’s Burger stand, and I would highly recommend exploring the Malcolm Lowry Walk. The park also has a dog off-leash area and in the summer it’s the home of a concert series, running every Saturday night this year from July 11 – August 22.
Exploring more of the beaches the Metro Vancouver area has to offer made me wonder — which is your favourite beach in the region? Could it be Iona? Belcarra? Crescent/Blackie Spit? Jericho?… Feel free to leave your answer below.
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The good folks at Just Here for the Beer are bringing back the Nando’s Canada Cup of Beer next week on July 4th. This will be the fourth annual event which is Vancouver’s largest beer festival.
Last year I played a tiny role as a sponsor (just by promotion) and it’s been neat to follow all the beer-related activities over the last twelve months such a pub crawls, food pairings and movie nights. On July 4th they’ll be at UBC’s Thunderbird stadium with almost 50 vendors including CAMRA BC, and our friends at Rickard’s, and Granville Island Brewing. It’s also the perfect opportunity to explore new brews from across the country, around the province, and over on Vancouver Island.
VIP tickets (that include a BBQ lunch, 4 full beers in the lounge, tasting tickets, souvenir mug, t-shirt, reserved seating etc.) are $60 and regular tickets (including 5 beer tokens, a souvenir plastic mug, and an event brochure) are just $15. There are also a variety of satellite events including an after party on July 4th.
I first discovered we had the Vancouver Police Museum last spring during the Amazing Hunt as they had a clue box parked outside. It’s taken me over a year to finally get in there and thanks to a chat I had a few months ago with Executive Director Chris Mathieson, I was able to rally a small group of friends (including the Biehlers and Keira) to go on a special tour last night.
Aside from being a comprehensive museum packed with anything and everything you’d want to know about Vancouver’s grimy, gritty, and sordid past they also run a number of public programs such as Forensics for Kids, educational programs, birthday parties, and spring break activities. One of their most popular features (however probably not recommended for the kiddies) is the tantalizing Sins of the City tour. It’s a walking tour around Chinatown and the Downtown East Side where Chris provides decades-old stories about illegal gambling, prostitution, brothels, opium dens, and everything in between. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Last year the official Blogathon.org site was out of commission so I took it upon myself to organize Blogathon Vancouver for those in the city that were interested in keeping the tradition alive. This year, the global event is back in full force taking place July 25th from 6am until 6am on July 26th.
Over the last three years I have been involved with Blogathon, either as a cheerleader, donor, participant, or local organizer. Essentially it’s a blogging marathon where participants publish one post on their blog each half hour for 24 hours. Along the way they collect pledges and donations online for the cause of their choice. With the official system back in place, tracking pledges will be much easier for all involved so I look forward to seeing that functionality returning. Another option is for participating bloggers to create a personal donation page on Canada Helps, a system that supports online donations for thousands of non-profits across the nation.
Karen from TinyBites.ca during her campaign / us at Duane’s during Blogathon 2008
If you are a local blogger and would like to participate in Blogathon 2009, please be sure to register on the global site starting July 1st. You can follow @blogathondotorg for their updates.
Once you’ve registered (or even if you’re thinking about signing on) please connect with me so that I can add you to a special Blogathon Vancouver blogroll and help promote your campaign. I have also arranged a place for all local participants to gather (Workspace in Gastown) should they wish to spend their 24-hours with others. The benefit of having people around is that it’s often easier to come up with post ideas, you could do a quick photo walk as a post, there’s encouragement from all sides, and you’ll be surrounded by others enduring the same insomnia/writing frenzy. I will try to register a Vancouver Tweetup during that time as well and Duane will be spearheading a Blogathon event in Chilliwack.
I will do my best to support the participating bloggers (we had 12 last year that raised well over $10,000) and I hope you’ll join us in using our online spaces to benefit some great causes.
Update: If you’re planning on signing up (starting July 1st) for blogathon, and you’re in the Vancouver area, feel free to add these badges to your site so you can start promoting your campaign a bit. After July 1st you’ll have your own donation page link etc. but it doesn’t hurt to start building the hype. Thanks so much to Kontent Creative for coming up with these. Right click and save/copy source for the file.
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