On March 12, 2010, the spirit of the Olympics was amplified when the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games opened in front of 60,000 people at BC Place and featured amazing acts like Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli. The theme was “one inspires many” and it was certainly off to the right start.

Ten years ago I wrote the following about the opening of the Paralympics in Vancouver:

Miss604.com on March 12, 2010
I had a familiar feeling this morning as the Paralympic flame looped its way around the downtown core during its 24 hour relay. Pedestrian thoroughfares, tents, displays, torchbearers, and cheerful passersby wearing red mittens. The Vancouver 2010 Paralympics Games kick off tonight with the Opening Ceremony at BC Place and the excitement among the Canadian Paralympic Committee members and their athletes is palpable.

“The hype has taken our athletes by storm,” said Chef de Mission, Blair McIntosh. The athletes were welcomed at the airport, honoured at a pep rally in Whistler, and now they’ll get to march into BC Place Stadium as representative of excellence in sport for their country.

“The team is the strongest and biggest ever,” McIntosh added saying that the Canadian Paralympic Committee is projecting that Canada will finish within the top 3 countries in medal standings.

He was right! Canada finished third in the medal count with 19. I got to witness history in Whistler on March 18, 2010 during the ParaAlpine events. I saw Viviane Forest win gold (after her silver earlier in the week), and Josh Dueck win silver. Over in the Callaghan Valley Brian McKeever got his 9th Paralympics medal. As McKeever and his guide skied down the final stretch, the announcer proclaimed to the enthusiastic crowd at Whistler Paralympic Park that they were witnessing the greatest cross-country skier of all time.

Relive and celebrate some of that magic on Thursday, March 12th as the cauldron is re-lit in the afternoon.

10th Anniversary of Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games

What: Lighting of the cauldron
Where: Jack Poole Plaza
When: Thursday, March 12, 2020 from 2:30pm to 3:15pm
Details: Special guests include The Honourable Lisa Beare, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture; The Honourable Shane Simpson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction; Ian Aikenhead, Q.C., Chair, PavCo; Gail Hamamoto, Vice President, Canadian Paralympic Committee; Nate Riech, Professional Athlete, Team Canada; Elizabeth Irving, performing ‘O Canada’ and ‘I Believe’

This event has been postponed.

Browsing the City of Vancouver Archives is an always an adventure, like the other day when I was looking up the Haywood Bandstand and stumbled across photos of bison in Stanley Park. Bison? I had to investigate further:

Bison in Stanley Park

The last time I saw a bison was during a Badlands Tour in Southern Alberta and at Elk Island near Edmonton. The last time bison were naturally grazing around Southwest British Columbia was about 12,000 years ago. So, where did this photo of Bison in Stanley Park come from? You may have already guessed, they were in the Stanley Park Zoo.

“We had the park, we had Sunset Beach, we had English Bay, we had Second Beach, we had Third Beach, we had Lumberman’s Arch, we had Brockton Oval, we had a herd of bison in Stanley Park…” – Ann Frost, recalling growing up in the West End in the 1940s

[Vancouver Heritage Foundation]

According to the Stanley Park Ecology Society, in the 1890s the Bison Ranch was located where the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club is now.

The latest photo I found was from 1939, submitted to the archives by Major Matthews.

I couldn’t find any information about when the bison were removed from the park, but hopefully they were there are a part of conservation efforts. [Update] A Facebook follower just confirmed she remembers seeing them in the late 1960s!

To learn more about what Canada is doing for the bison population, Parks Canada has some insights here.

When you’re less than a kilometre from Stanley Park, it’s hard to stick out as a green space in this town. However, Alexandra Park on Beach Ave has something unique: The Haywood Bandstand.

Alexandra Park, Haywood Bandstand

A designated heritage building built in 1914, it was restored by the Vancouver Park Board in 1987-88 with financial assistance from Haywood Securities, Amon Industries, and the B.C. Heritage Trust, and was renamed the Haywood Bandstand.

“Its Queen Anne architecture is characterized by a light and airy wooden structure, curved brackets cantilevered floor, ornate fretwork, and hipped roof.” [Vancouver Heritage Foundation] The architecture of the structure helps project sounds (instruments, voices) from within to the audience around it.

It was built at a time when parks came with bandstands, in fact an identical one stood in Stanley Park in 1911, until 1934 when Malkin Bowl was built. Music brought people together and entertained in those days, when radios were just becoming common place in homes.

“The Moral Reform Association did object to certain types of music,” historian John Atkin told the Vancouver Courier during the bandstand’s centennial in 2014. “So the park board said that on Sundays only military or religious music could be played in the bandstands.”

Read about more public art and architecture in Vancouver in the Vancouver Icons series here »

Are you in search of your next adventure? Maybe it’s something to do this weekend, new trails to hike or bike, or bars and restaurants to explore with friends and family? If so, you’ll want to bookmark Coquitlam’s 2020 Travel & Experience Guide. 

Best Places to Eat, Drink, Shop & Play in Coquitlam 2020

Their newly released issue reveals some of the best places to eat, drink, shop and play in Coquitlam this year. Think free festivals in the park, outdoor concerts, family-friendly events and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors – all easily accessible by transit.

You can read the guide on Coquitlam’s Tourism website – or pick up your printed copy of the magazine at any Coquitlam facility (libraries, recreation centres, City Hall) or email [email protected] and they will mail you one. Here are 10 reasons to check it out! 

Update: March 25, 2020 a statement from the TUTS Board:

A Message to Our Community

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to you all for your unwavering support of Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) and for all you have done and continue to do to support the organization. These are difficult and unprecedented times. After considering every possible measure and eventuality, it is with heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of the 2020 TUTS season: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Hello, Dolly! 

All of us here at TUTS send our heartfelt wishes to you and those affected by the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus.

Cancellation of the 2020 productions is one way we can prioritize the safety of our audiences, artists, crews, staff, and volunteers, while supporting our city and those working on the front lines to help flatten the curve. These measures will also ensure that TUTS remains strong and healthy as an organization, returning to Malkin Bowl in 2021 with the presentation of fantastic shows that you – our beloved audience – anticipate year-over-year. 

If you are a 2020 TUTS subscriber and current ticket holder, we have a couple of ticketing options available to you. This information will be forthcoming before end of day today (March 26). Thank you for your patience. 

We remain extremely grateful for your continued love and support of TUTS – together we will manage through the challenges ahead. We look forward to seeing you all next season where our artists, crews, volunteers, and staff will return – stronger than ever, thanks to your support. 

Please stay in touch. You can do so via our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Stay well and be safe, 

TUTS Board

80th Season of TUTS Presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Hello, Dolly!

For the 80th season of TUTS audiences will be enchanted with presentations of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Hello, Dolly! on alternate evenings July 4–August 29, 2020, at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl. Celebrating a milestone 80 years in Stanley Park, Theatre Under the Stars (“TUTS”) has become a summer mainstay of Vancouver cultural calendars since it was established in 1940. 

Where: Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park (610 Pipeline Rd, Vancouver)
When: July 4–August 29, 2020
Tickets: Two-show subscription packs are on sale TODAY through May 1, 2020. TUTS’ two-show subscription pack allows audiences to secure their seats to both productions for one great price. Subscriptions are $80 for adults, $50 for children and youths, and include Premium tickets to both productions, a souvenir programme, and exchange insurance for both nights. Subscriptions are available until May 1st by visiting tuts.ca or by calling 1-877-840-0457.

A tale of true love, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast follows the enchanting story of Belle, a young woman imprisoned by the Beast. She’s a small-town girl with big dreams and he’s a selfish prince transformed by a wicked spell. Can the Beast learn to love and be loved in order to break the curse? He must race against time to find out. Filled with some of the most memorable songs, including Be Our Guest, Human Again, and the titular Beauty and the Beast, this romantic production reminds audiences of the power of love. Following on the success of his direction in 2016, Shel Piercy returns to direct the beloved spectacle, injecting a host of new, exciting surprises. Fans will remember the magic of his most recent TUTS directorial extravaganza in 2019, Mamma Mia!

In Hello, Dolly!, audiences join meddlesome matchmaker Dolly Levi as she travels to Yonkers, New York to find a wife for the curmudgeonly “half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. Dolly’s romantic schemes soon entangle Horace’s two clerks and a lovestruck young artist. As she busies herself finding mates for the suitors, Dolly realizes it’s her turn to find her own perfect match. One of the most entertaining musical comedies of all time, Hello, Dolly! is a beguiling romp in the universal search for love, with numbers such as Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, and of course the show-stopping Hello, Dolly! The talented Tracey Power makes her TUTS directorial debut this summer, although Vancouver theatre-goers will be familiar with her critically acclaimed direction in Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen and her playwriting from the recent musical Miss Shakespeare.

In 1940, Theatre Under the Stars started when a group of local theatre people formed to produce professional quality musicals during the summer.  Since then, TUTS has been a Lower Mainland tradition, delighting generations of locals and tourists alike under the stars in the pastoral outdoor setting of historic Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park.

For more information follow Theatre Under the Stars on Facebook and Twitter.