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A Pictorial History of White Rock, BC

Traces of Evidence is “An interesting pictorial showing White Rock, BC’s history, from the early beginnings as the Semiahmoo Homeland through early logging, to a thriving modern-day beach town.”

Did you know there was a boathouse on the famous White Rock Pier at one time? Speaking of the pier it looks like it has been a regular place to congregate for many decades. As you will read below, the video created a lot of questions for me which I will have to try and get answered somehow. If you know some of the answers, please feel free to comment.

The entire video is laid on a bed of nicely selected music and tasteful sound effects. If you’d like, look in YouTube notes for the music credits.

At 0:00 – 01:23 Traces of Evidence starts out paying pictorial homage to the Indigenous people who lived and still live in the area. Photos of Indigenous people are sprinkled throughout the video.

At 01:24 minutes the video starts to show the forestry that took place and shots of this are interspersed throughout the rest of the video too. There is one photo of a giant old-growth cedar which if you go for a walk in some of the local parks you will see remnants of today because the stumps still remain. 

At 01:56 we begin to see photos of some of the people who moved here in the early 1900s. We see one of the first lumber mills and some of the first homes too.

03:10 – The railway eventually came to White Rock connecting the city to the U.S. and the rest of Metro Vancouver. It travels along White Rock beach where it still is today. There’s even a photo of a 1920’s food truck. I guess those have been around for a long time!

Then there are pictures of some of the first roads and a May Day celebration from 1937.

Around 6:00 minutes you will also see what appears to be the opening of The Peace Arch that is located at the Canada / U.S. border (I wonder how the lineups were back then?)

At 09:24 there are photos of school children and possibly one of the first school buildings. At 09:53  a school building is shown that Semiahmoo High Secondary would eventually be attached too for many years until it moved to 148th Street in Surrey.

At 10:59 there are photos of people in the military which makes me wonder, was there a military base in the area at one time?” and “did some of these soldiers go and fight in any of the World Wars?” Possibly World War II?

At 12:26 there are photos of Marine Drive, first called Washington Avenue, and a bus with the word “Vancouver” on it which must have taken people to and from Vancouver. What was the trip like back then?

15;15 – Apparently, there was quite a large fire at one point along Marine Drive.

Near the end of the video, we begin to White Rock resemble the way it looks today, minus the high rises. There are some photos of the Tour de White Rock, the well-known bike race that tests cyclists as they race up and down the city’s steep hill’s.

Photo:  Traces of Evidence – A Pictorial History of White Rock, BC

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Summer Craft idea for kids
CULTURE

Cool Summer Craft For Kids

It’s heating up here in the Fraser Valley and you might be looking for some new summer craft ctivities to help cool down. Here’s a fun and “cool” (literally) summer craft you can do with your kids!

What you’ll need: Summer Craft for Kids 1

  • Coffee Filters
  • Washable markers
  • Pipe Cleaners
  • Ice Cubes (you could probably also use water with paintbrushes but ice cubes are the “cool” part of them because, you know, they’re cool)
  • Plastic table cloth

 

Step One: Flatten the coffee filter and begin to colour. I did a few in wedges of colour and a few in patches of colour. The girls (4 and 2) just did squiggles for the most part, which of course is fine, but if you put more colour on the brighter the butterflies will be.

Summer craft 3Step Two: Move an ice cube over the coffee filter to blend the colours. I like to use a circular motion but really anything that gets the ice cube melting and the colours running together will do.
Step three: Set filter aside to dry.

Step four: Once dry pinch the coffee filter in the middle and wrap the pipe cleaner around the center to make antennae.

That’s it! Super cute and a great way to cool down on a hot day!

 

~ By Becca Toews

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COVID 19 Wedding Plans
COMMUNITY

Changing Wedding Plans During COVID-19

By Becca Toews

All of us have experienced some level of loss during this COVID-19 pandemic. It ranges from canceled plans to loss of loved ones, loss of freedom to loss of safety while going about your job.

Large events have been canceled and while some of us are grieving a concert or sporting event we were looking forward to, many Fraser Valley residents have been faced with the decision about what to do about their upcoming weddings. As we head into summer, more and more people are having to make the decision to postpone or seriously alter their plans for how their wedding day will look.

Jenn Bateman

Jenn Bateman, a Fraser Valley wedding officiant, has had a varied response from couples who had planned to get married this spring. “Some have just chosen to reschedule to 2021, some have chosen to forgo a large wedding and just have a small ceremony with under 10 people, and some people are having a simple ceremony this year and then we’re doing their big wedding, that they rescheduled next year, so essentially two ceremonies.”

There really are lots of options, though none of them ideal. Weddings take so much time, energy and money to plan and it can be really disappointing to give up the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. It can also be a beautiful experience.

Jenn says, “I’m a big believer that weddings don’t need to be long and drawn out in order to be special and meaningful. Starting a life together is intimate and special and deserves to feel that way, and sometimes all of the fanfare with big contemporary weddings can take some of that away. For those who choose to go ahead now- This unique circumstance of limiting weddings might be a chance for some couples to enter into that lifetime partnership in a really meaningful way. But it also deserves a celebration, so I’m hoping for a lot of one-year anniversary parties with family and friends so they get that too.”

Austin and Becca Toews

Ceremony Changes

When it comes to the practical moments of the ceremony, Jenn says she has had to make some changes, such as not touching the rings and bringing along separate pens for signing the paperwork, “I don’t come within six feet of any of the wedding guests and I make sure that the couple has checked with us about health measures beforehand. We definitely want to be able to accommodate people who still want to get married in the most simple way and still make it special for them”

Cody and Analea

One couple, Cody and Analea (Styles) Friesen held their wedding ceremony two weeks early after gathering restrictions were announced in March. They had planned on a very large wedding of 500 people and ended up having eighteen people in attendance, following the restrictions of no gatherings over fifty people that were set at the time. Cody says, “Our concern was more of ‘are we still able to get married’ because we were at the start of the COVID-19 wave, we didn’t have a lot to go off of.”

“This is why we moved the date up two weeks – worried that we would go into complete lockdown and [we would be] unable to get married at all,” adds Analea.

The Hardest Part

When asked what the hardest part of changing their wedding day was, Cody responds, “The hardest part was not having all of our guests there to witness and celebrate with us. As well as that everything about our day was different other than the person that we got to marry.“

“Losing the people,” adds Analea, “not even having our full wedding party or best friends or grandparents being able to attend was heartbreaking.”

YouTube

Cody and Analea had a great plan when it came to sharing their ceremony with their invited guests. On April 4th, which was the date they had planned for their wedding, they uploaded and published the video from their wedding ceremony to YouTube and invited all their guests to join them for their “virtual wedding” They both went live on their Instagram and Facebook (dressed in their wedding suit and dress) to answer questions, explain what had happened, and watch their ceremony with everyone on YouTube.

An Unexpected Tiny Wedding

Even though their wedding wasn’t exactly what they had expected, there are still parts of it that they will look back on with fondness, “The beautiful intimacy of [the] tiny wedding was actually so amazing. There was less pressure and the ability to be so natural and real with one another. The support and love from our community even from a distance was heartwarming and so encouraging. The realization that all that really mattered was marrying this person – not any of the extra pieces – was so special.”

While communicating with your guests and the wedding party is at the top of the advice list, one of the most important things to remember is,

“Breathe,” says Cody, “this is not normal, and that’s okay. Keep the main thing the main thing. You are marrying the love of your life and that is enough”.

Austin and Becca Toews

It Could Be Sad

Analea also has some advice for once the wedding day has passed and you’ve started your new life together, “realize it’s still going to be hard after the wedding. You’re going to be sad about what you lost and maybe struggle with disappointment, envy, and frustration, but it’s truly worth it. We’ve never regretted it for one second”.

Give and Take

Regardless of a pandemic, weddings are a time of giving and taking. So often brides and grooms think their wedding day will be exactly what they want, only to get to the planning stage and realize that their parents and other people close to them have ideas about what the day should look like too.

The Important Stuff

The wedding planning process is the perfect time to practice compromise, weighing what is really important to you and what you are willing to let go of. It seems like that is what couples are facing now, more than ever. Weighing what is the most important part of your event and making decisions based on what is best for you.

Celebrate Love

Whether you are facing a wedding that doesn’t look like what you always thought it would be, or you’re grieving the fact that you can’t be there for a wedding of someone close to you, this is a time to celebrate love, to celebrate commitment and care for one another, and to cheer on those people who are probably thinking a lot these days about vowing, “in sickness and in health”.

Photos Jamie Delane 

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CULTURE

Socially Connecting

During the COVID 19 pandemic, we are all learning what it means to practice social or physical distancing. At the same time, are you noticing that more and more people are gathering online to connect with friends and family? We sure are.

WAYS OF CONNECTING

People are reaching out to their family’s on programs like FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts and more. There were even churches located in the Fraser Valley that met online this past week as they have been forced to close their doors for the time being. We’ve also seen coaches, counselors, and people from all walks of life and professions offering to meet with people online instead of in person.

If you have a Gmail address you have access to Google Hangouts and you can meet with a group of people using this free program. CLICK HERE for Google Hangouts instructions.

Zoom is another option to connect socially and they have a free option too. The free Zoom program allows you to meet with up to 20 people for 40 minutes for free, but everyone needs the software which can sometimes be a challenge. CLICK HERE to read more about Zoom

 

FACEBOOK

Although it can get a little overwhelming for some of us with all of the posts on social media it can be a place to connect and have conversations with friends and loved ones about the virus and find out how they are coping. Facebook provides the option of Facebook Live. Video hosts can comment as people post in the comments section.

Another Facebook option is to have a group messaging conversation. Our family has a group conversation going specifically based on the virus and I know other families do too. With family members living all over the world, this has been a good way for us to carry on a conversation and stay connected.

INSTAGRAM

Although less interactive, another option to connect with friends and family is to do an Instagram Live post and then respond to people as they text their comments. This is obviously a little less personable and interactive, but you can get a little bit of a live chat going.

IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

We have also seen fun things going on in neighbourhoods where people open their doors and play music on their front steps, create welcoming chalk drawings and post fun and encouraging posters in their windows and their exterior walls. In one townhouse complex in Ladner*, we read about a show of kindness and compassion by neighbours as they wrote birthday messages that said “Happy Birthday” to a four-year-old from their decks.*

And finally, there has been a very heartwarming and compassionate show of support to our very deserving healthcare workers as Vancouver apartment dwellers go out on their balconies at 7 PM each night and applaud and cheer for health care workers battling the COVID 19 pandemic**

Links
*Delta Optimist
**News 1130

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CULTURE

Indy Folk Valentine’s Day Playlist with Jon Bryant

Are you starting to think about Valentine’s Day? If you have gone to the grocery store lately or your local florist, you will see that the marketing push has begun!

If you would like some music to get you in the mood (and even if you don’t), we came across this beautiful “Indie Folk Love Playlist for Valentines’ Day 2020.

In the words of Indie Folk Central… “Cuddle up with your loved one and enjoy these dreamy indie-folk love songs. Specially created for Valentine’s Day 2020 | Acoustic, singer-songwriter, Americana | And it might even be a perfect playlist for those who hate Cupid’s favorite day!”

Some of the featured artists include Dustin Tebbutt, Children of Indigo, Lucia Fogale and one of our favorite, sometimes local Vancouver artist Jon Bryant.

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Photo: Pablo Merchan Montes
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