It’s New Westminster’s 150th anniversary so they’re celebrating with events and activities throughout the year. Yesterday while out and about for my third annual Sapperton Days adventure I found out about a heritage trolley tour taking place next weekend.
Six trolleys will be running around town on Saturday, June 20th and you can hop on/hop off at any of the designated stops from 11:00am until 4:00pm. You’ll be able to explore various places of significance in Western Canada’s oldest city and the first capital of BC. Here’s what you can look forward to at each stop, as outlined in The Record.
Hyack Square (Columbia and Eighth streets)
The Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Society is holding its Royal Tea, and city official say this will be the hub of activity throughout the day. Quick tidbit, the word hyack means hurry or ‘quickly, quickly‘ in the Chinook trade language.
Uptown (Sixth and Sixth)
Family fair with games, food, and entertainment outside Royal City Centre shopping mall.
12th Street (at Seventh Avenue)
A costumed conductor will welcome people to 12th Street, where they can enjoy cancan dancers, clowns, face painting and live music.
Arts Council of New Westminster (in Queen’s Park)
At the Arts Council enjoy entertainment and an art exhibit about the city’s art history. People are also invited to take a short guided walking tour of some of the heritage homes of the Queen’s Park neighbourhood (the first of three tours starts at noon).
Quayside (Inn at the Quay or Reliance Court on Quayside Drive)
Celebrate National Aboriginal Day (June 21) at the centre and listen to Musqueam First Nation storyteller Larry Grant. There is no admission charge to the centre for trolley tour participants.
Sapperton Plaza (East Columbia and Knox streets)
Entertainment and an open house at Knox Presbyterian Church.
Queensborough (Port Royal Community Garden)
Enjoy a garden party at the Port Royal Community Garden. People can enjoy cold beverages and “delicious savouries” and hear about the benefits of gardening in a community setting and pick up some helpful gardening tips.
New Westminster Museum and Archives (302 Royal Ave)
Enjoy the museum’s current exhibition, The Birth of the Royal City, which explores the first decade of New Westminster’s life as the first city west of the Great Lakes.
Irving House
Storytelling and music will take place from 11:00am – 3:00pm at historic (and rumoured to be haunted) Irving House off Royal Avenue.
There will be about 30 minutes to explore each stop before moving on to the next. Only about 1,000 tickets are available from New Westminster Scotiabank locations or the Parks and Recreation Administration Office. They’re $10 for a family of four or $5 (per adult) / $2 (seniors and youth) and also include a 15-minute boat ride by Paddlewheeler Riverboat Tours, from the Quay to Queensborough.
A few months ago Bluewater Adventures came on my radar and I’ve been curious about their eco-tours and Island adventures ever since.
Last Friday a small group was put together and we set sail from Deep Cove, to the very tip of Indian Arm in order to get a sense of the Bluewater Adventures experience. It was but a 3-hour tour however I never tire of exploring our region and watching the waves roll by past the tree-covered shores of mountains. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
I was asked to speak at the Enterprising Mom’s Network conference today and my focus was social media for business, in particular Twitter.
I recently re-vamped my Twitter for Business talk to be a bit more in-depth and to go from the very basics, to cool tips for power users. As promised at the end of my talk at the conference, the slideshow is now available below (slides only, no sound):
You can view all of my tweets from today under the Twitter tag #EMN09 and we’ll be adding photos to the new sixty4media group on Flickr.
Ideas on Tap is happening tonight at the Commodore Ballroom from 5:30pm until 8:30pm.
Correct me if I’m wrong but with 800 tickets scooped up already this may very-well be the largest social media-type gathering this town has seen (I’m thinking Northern Voice say numbers up to 400 so this could be the case). Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
The other day I admitted to getting a bit lost in Richmond. I’m not too familiar with it having only visited landmarks such as Minoru Park, Richmond Centre, Steveston and the Vancouver International Airport. As such I thought I would dig up a few more history tidbits in order to become better acquainted with this island city.
Most of the city sits on Lulu Island, which was named after a popular actress (and showgirl) from the mid 1800s. Lulu Sweet was the charm of Col. Richard Clement Moody and asked him what the name of the Island was as they passed by on a steamship. Since it had no name, he said he would name it Lulu Island in her honor.
On October 17, 1920, the first flight across Canada touched down in Minoru Park in Richmond (arriving from Halifax)
Mitchell Island is named after Alexander Mitchell, who was a pioneer resident of the Island.
“In 1922 the last remnant of the Frasea Dairy Farm on Sea Island, once Richmond’s largest dairy farm, was torn down when Vancouver International Airport began building its third runway. The farm had been established in 1922 by Jake Grauer, and at one time was home to 500 cows.” [VancouverHistory]
You can check out its latest architectural wonder, the Olympic Oval, on June 21st as they host a public art event.
It’s home to DotComPho every weekend.
My top picks for places to explore in Richmond include the historic Minoru Chapel, Steveston Village, and Iona Beach. It’s also worth spending time at the National Historic Site, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery – a place John and I have been meaning to visit for years. Julie Ovenell-Carter has a great post up that lists interesting places to visit as well.
