In my daily quest to find history tidbits to share with my readers about our fair city sometimes the best leg work that can be done is by simply going for a walk. As I was walking down Richards street yesterday on my way to dinner I passed the large “Richards” condo development sign, next to Richards on Richards.
If you recall last June the “little green house” at 1062 Richards street was sold to make way for development. The owner, Linda Rupa, held out for many years and finally sold her cottage and two 25-foot lots in 2007 for $6 million, which is a nice chunk of change compared to the $16,000 she paid for it in 1962.
Putting it off for so long because she loved the house so much, the 80-something year old’s bank account finally caved and the $36,000 a year for property taxes on the lots proved to be too much (leaving her with literally pennies to her name) pretty much leaving her no other option but to sell.
“I’ve been here a long time, and I’m just a Safeway girl, I worked for Safeways throughout my career. And the Army and Navy department store when I first came to Vancouver. In those days we only made 99 cents an hour. [Vancouver Sun]
Rupa watched as the properties around her were bought up and the landmark houses where her friends lived for 50 years were demolished one by one.
She reminisced in the Sun article, dropping names of her neighbours and fellow Vancouverites from back in the day.
It was a lovely neighbourhood, where people cared about each other,” says Rupa, who gives her age as “just about 80.” “Really a nice neighbourhood. Mr. Kripps on Granville street, who has the drug store, he’s an old-timer here. We had the Filippone and Iaci families.
You may recognize the name “Fillipone” or Philliponi which is the family that owned The Penthouse over the years [VancouverHistory].
The slick orange and white boards advertising the proud project by the Aquilini Investment Group sits next to the old night club and current live music venue. However, during my walk yesterday I spotted something taped to it that seemed a little out of place. Upon closer inspection I had found two birthday cards dated June 8th.
The first read: “Happy 100th Birthday!!! 1062 Richards!!! June 8, 1908 – June 8, 2008. With love, (signed) xo xo xo xo xo xo”.
Directly underneath it, wrapped in the same protective plastic was another card, “Happy 100th Birthday little green house there’s been many warm memories of people and pets through the years. Enjoy your new facelift, (signed).
Pieces of Vancouver’s past disappear everyday, sometimes it’s for the best and shows our growth as a city, but many times we still need to slow down and appreciate where the city came from. I bet those little houses on Richards street sure could tell some stories.
I’ve been getting some excellent suggestions for additions to the Parks Series, the latest coming from Barbara of The Love Blog who shares some photos below from one of her favourite beaches, Blackie Spit near Crescent Beach.
How to get there: Located at 3136 McBride Avenue, you can take the 351 Crescent Beach bus and get off at the corner of McBride and Sullivan. Driving along Highway 99 turn off on King George Highway heading South. From KGH turn onto Crescent Road then head all the way to the end, over the train tracks and right on McBride.
Features: A fully fenced dog off leash area, dog swimming beach, shelter, picnic area, washrooms, natural area trails, and walking paths. Home to the Surrey Sailing Club and Crescent Beach Swim Club.
History: “George and Isabella Gordon were the first family to live on the waterfront in Crescent Beach. Gordon leased the land and buildings from Walter Blackie from 1896 to 1906… …Walter Blackie settled on the land, and built a log cabin and barn. The area became known as Blackie’s Spit. The cabin was located at what is now the south end of O’Hara Lane.” [George Gordon Family Site]
Notes: Today the park is, “one of the best bird watching areas in Canada with almost 200 species of birds recorded over the different seasons. The sandy spit, surrounded by tidal marsh and Eelgrass beds, is an important stop for migrating and wintering waterfowl and shorebirds as they make their way up and down the coastline of North and South America. Fall migrants start arriving in late August and September, with spring migrants arriving in mid-March and gone by the end of May. The park is managed as a wildlife conservation area and habitat enhancement activities are ongoing throughout the park. The sand bars are a favourite resting place for Harbour Seals and their pups.” [City of Surrey]
Barbara’s post from 2006 also suggests it’s a nice place for a calming walk. I know my sister loves taking the kids there as it’s nice and sandy (ideal for sand castles), the water is much more calm in the channel, and it’s far less crowded than the other beaches.
I’ve noticed an overall trend in the blogosphere which involves a conspicuous decrease in link love. Blogrolls are disappearing and going the way of the hat tip.
Blogrolls are link lists often found on sidebars of blogs or websites that list other blogs. People can display recommended reads, useful website tips, show off their friends, and give some overall link love when using a blogroll. Lately I’ve noticed a trend of moving this off of the main page and having a “links” page instead. Here are some pros and cons of a “links page” that I’ve discussed before with Duane.
Thumbs Up…
You don’t have to be limited to the sidebar width, meaning you can include little descriptions of the sites under their listing.
You can add photos or icons for the bloggers on your list.
You may be inclined to add more, which is always good for those you chose to mention.
Somewhere in the middle…
Your page rankings will probably go up. Technorati (although pretty much still a mystery to me) counts your “incoming” and “outgoing” links against each other, from what I’ve heard anyway. So if you have fewer “outgoing” links on your home page it works in your ranking’s favour.
Thumbs Down…
Do people look at other pages on your site aside from your home page?
“If everyone got rid of their blogroll it would throw Google Page Rank for a loop” – Duane
Some people can get very obsessed and possessive about their placement on your blogroll. Any sudden movements might cause disruption in the blogosphere.
If I didn’t have a blogroll on my sidebar it would look pretty empty, then I would consider removing it entirely. Then I would realize I like putting things over there, I’d miss it, I’d have to code it back in and really, it would really be a big waste of time.
I’m not going to be restructuring any time soon, I simply I put this out there to see what’s working for everyone in terms of link love – actively in posts or on a static sidebar or links page. In the blogosphere honor system, should there be an equal amount of give and take when it comes to links? Are there any rules or are links just from the goodness of one’s heart and no one is really obliged to provide info for any outside websites?
“I just hope blogs, no matter how big they get, don’t forget that at one time they prided themselves on not being mainstream media, and likewise held themselves to a different standard, including a basic respect of the friendly, easy hat tip.” – [David Markland on LA Metblogs]
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia is one of those albums you can and have to listen to all the way through in one clean shot. It’s one of those ultimate records that smoothly floats from beginning to end filling your mind with musical goodness.
That was the sophomore album by The Dandy Warhols in 2000 and since then they’ve released four more records with another coming this fall called, Earth to the Dandy Warhols (which you can download and preview on their website).
They’ll be in Vancouver playing The Vogue on June 18th and I would highly suggest checking them out while tickets are still available.
WARNING: Video contains nudity!
WARNING: Video contains nudity!
John and I will have the pleasure of interviewing them for the RadioZoom podcast. Check out our last episode in which we played two DW songs back to back.
For about two years my husband was unable to travel back and forth between his home country and Canada due to his immigration processing. At one point however, we took a drive down to South Surrey and ended up at Peace Arch Park. He walked across the “neutral” lawn and when nature called he decided to hit up the restrooms that were on the American side of the park. I swear I heard someone whistling the Star Spangled Banner…
Metrics: 9 hectares on the Canadian Side [Google Map]
How to Get There: The park is about 40 km south of Vancouver and is situated on the International Boundary at the Douglas Border crossing. This is at the junction of Highway 99 in British Columbia and Interstate 5 in Washington State. [BC Parks]
History: From PeaceArchPark.org: “The Peace Arch stands on the international boundary between Blaine, Washington, and Douglas, British Columbia. The Arch was constructed to commemorate the centennial (1814-1914) of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814.”
The American side of the Arch is inscribed with the words “Children of a Common Mother;” the Canadian side, with the words “Brethren Dwelling together in Unity.” Within the portal of the Arch on the west side are the words “1814 Open One Hundred Years 1914” and on the east side, “May These Gates Never Be Closed.”
Notes: From Dan’s Post: “Each picnic area on either side of the border has a large open space allowing for a variety of lawn games and clubhouse that can be reserved for large group gatherings. They’re equipped with full kitchens. (stove, fridge, microwave) as well as tables and chairs. The Canadian clubhouse has a fireplace with wood provided. If you’re on the Canadian side headed toward the park, turn right before the duty free to access the parking lot.”
Dan also gives this tip, “You can cross back and forth across the border with ease as long as you don’t leave the confines of the park. If you do that, you have entered either Canada or the U.S. illegally.”
