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1977

This year is sponsored.

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You'll note that this year includes events listed under “Also in . . .“ These are events for which we don't have a specific date. If YOU know the
specific date of an event shown there, please notify us . . . and cite the source! Many thanks!
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January 1 The British Columbia Ferry Corporation (“BC Ferries”) was established as a provincial Crown Corporation, successor to the British Columbia Ferry Authority. For more on the history of the corporation see this site.

January 17 Hugh Neil MacCorkindale, educator, died, aged about 88. He was born in 1888 in Owen Sound, Ontario. A graduate of the University of Toronto, “Dr. Mac” first taught in Ontario (1906). He came to Vancouver in 1914. MacCorkindale served as an artillery officer in France from 1916-18. He later taught at South Vancouver High School (now John Oliver). He was the first principal of the new Point Grey Junior High School from 1928 to 1933, then superintendent of Vancouver City schools until his retirement in 1954. He was a member of the UBC senate.

January 25 The Wreck Beach Preservation Society began operation, fighting to keep the clothing-optional beach untouched by development on the lands above the beach. See their web site here.

January Newspaper executive Erwin Swangard, 69, was appointed president of the Pacific National Exhibition, a post he would hold for 13 consecutive annual terms. He came to be known as "Mr. PNE." See a biography of this very influential chap here.

January Mission Institution opened, a full-service medium security facility, the first built as part of the B.C. Penitentiary decentralization plan. It is “home” to about 275 male offenders

February 16 Marjorie Cantryn became a judge, the first native Indian woman in BC to be so appointed.

February 21 North Vancouver’s Carrie Cates died. Married to John Henry Cates of the famed tugboat firm, she was elected mayor of North Vancouver three times (1964, 1965 and 1967).

March 9 An 18-year-old Port Coquitlam student and star basketball player, Terry Fox, lost his right leg to osteogenic sarcoma. While Terry was in hospital waiting for the operation to remove his cancerous leg, his basketball coach Terri Fleming gave him a sports magazine that included a profile on a one-legged runner named Dick Traum who had competed in the New York Marathon. The Traum story inspired Terry, the night before the amputation of his leg, to take on a challenge that would eventually raise tens of millions of dollars for cancer research. His goal was to run across the country and receive one dollar in donations from every Canadian. As every Canadian knows, he accomplished that and more.

April 2 Vancouver's restored Orpheum Theatre opened with a special concert as the new home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Reaction to the refurbished theatre was wonderfully positive. The design architect was Vancouver’s Paul Merrick.

Merrick tells a nice story about Tony Heinsbergen, the man who had given the theatre its exotic and colorful look back in 1927. Merrick had gone down to Seattle to talk to the architects whose company had been founded by the theatre’s original architect, Marcus Priteca. The Seattle firm told Merrick that the man who had embellished Priteca’s architecture with such exotic decorative touches in 1927 was still, 50 years later, professionally active and living in Los Angeles. “So,” says Merrick, “I went down to California to see Tony Heinsbergen.” He arrived at Heinsbergen’s place, and talked to the artist in his L.A. studio. “It was the size of a three-car garage and twice as high.” Merrick talked about the Orpheum project, and not long after Heinsbergen set about developing ideas in rough form in his studio—developing a “decorating thesis,” Merrick explains.

Orpheus was associated with music, so Heinsbergen conceived of a large mural that would celebrate music. Oval in shape, it would surround the massive chandelier in the centre of the auditorium’s ceiling. The mural was painted during the winter of 1975/76 on 24 large canvas panels in his Los Angeles studio. The panels were shipped to Vancouver and glued to the dome.

And although the mural is peopled with mythical and fanciful figures, many of the figures are based on real persons. The bearded man serenading the muse is Paul Merrick (who is beardless today), and the Merrick kids—photographed by their father to aid Heinsbergen in his work—are up there, too: Natasha, Nika, Maya and Kim. Maya is the angel. “They’re all in their thirties today,” Merrick says. The man conducting the orchestra is project architect Ron Nelson, not, as is sometimes heard, former conductor Kaziyoshi Akiyama. The music he’s conducting is Brahms’ Lullaby. The tiger in the mural represents Heinsbergen’s Nova Scotia-born wife, Nedith, whom he called his “little tiger.”

The Orpheum was not Heinsbergen’s first Vancouver project. He had been here about 1918 working on an earlier Orpheum and had also come here three times between 1916 and 1924 to work on the now-demolished Pantages Theatre, then at 20 West Hastings.

April 6 Jack Wasserman, Sun columnist and broadcaster, died in Vancouver, aged 50. He was born February 17, 1927 in Winnipeg. He came to Vancouver with his family in 1935, aged 8. He dropped out of law school to take a reporter's job with the Ubyssey. Wasserman graduated from UBC (1949), and joined the Vancouver Sun, becoming a police reporter. Legend has it that he was covering the 1951 royal visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip somewhere in the Interior (before their arrival in Vancouver) and, rushed for time, simply phoned in his notes. The notes were so good, the story goes, the Sun ran them verbatim. Then, starting May 12, 1954, they gave him a man-about-town column, and he hit his stride. His column on “the second front page” of the afternoon paper, often detailing the city’s underbelly, became a hugely popular feature. His biggest scoop was the death in 1959 of Errol Flynn in a West End apartment.

Wasserman hosted an open-line program with CJOR, later hosted Hourglass on CBC TV. He was fired by the Sun in 1967 for hosting his radio show but rehired 18 months later. He died of a heart attack while speaking at the Hotel Vancouver during a roast for Gordon Gibson, Sr.

May 25 The movie Star Wars premiered in the US. TIME lists this as one of 80 days since the mag began (1923) that changed the world. See a reminiscence by Carrie Fisher at this site.

May The Grouse Mountain Cadet Camp, at the 900-metre level of Grouse Mountain, opened to its first group of young cadets. It was an instant success. The staff at Grouse Mountain had decided that the old Village Inn, at the perimeter of the cabins atop the mountain, should be torn down. The building had been badly damaged by vandals. But a better idea bobbed to the surface from Grouse consultant Frank Ogden. He went on television and announced that the building would be leased for $1 a year to any group demonstrating a genuine need for it.

Capt. Paul Hallum did that. He informed Ogden there were thousands of cadets in B.C. for whom the building would be a great camp. You can see a photo here.

May One of the largest state-of-the-art electronic automatic telephone exchanges ever put into operation by BC Tel began service in Whalley.

June 8 Vancouver Harbour Centre was officially opened. At 481 feet (146.6 m) it was the tallest building in Vancouver. (Today the tallest is Wall Centre at 492 feet (150 m), although loftier buildings are coming.)

There’s a funny story related to its construction. Jeff Veniot, a young tour guide, happened to be going by the construction site one day and saw the building’s lofty mast lying on the ground, waiting to be lifted into place. Jeff whipped out an indelible pen and wrote his name and the date on the top of the mast. Later he watched in pleasure as the mast was lifted atop the building. For a time, his name was the highest in the city.

This is the building housing at its top The Lookout, a big circular room through which visitors stroll to enjoy dramatic panoramic views of the city. See the August 13 entry below. There is a revolving restaurant one floor below, and, on lower floors, this building houses the downtown campus of Simon Fraser University.

June 17 The first SeaBus went into service. As the population of the North Shore grew, so did the demand for a “third crossing” of Burrard Inlet to ease the pressure of traffic on the two bridges. Instead of a third bridge or a tunnel, the SeaBus appeared. It was a high-speed marine passenger service. Built completely in British Columbia, SeaBus was the first marine transit service of its kind in the world. Each of the catamaran-style SeaBus ferries was 34 metres long, with a capacity of 400 passengers. Constructed of lightweight aluminum, the vessels were powered by four diesel engines with a cruising speed of 11.5 knots. (Terminal to terminal: 12 minutes.) Highly maneuverable, the double-ended ferries could move in any direction and turn in their own length.

June The Heritage Festival began. This was an offshoot of Festival Habitat, a city-sponsored music, drama and dance event that ran during the UN Habitat conference, and that had actually generated a surplus of $40,000. Maurice Egan, the Director of Social Planning and his planner-cum-festival producer, Ernie Fladell, were urged by music critic Ian Docherty to replicate its success. Renamed the Heritage Festival and organized in cooperation with the VSO and CBC Radio, in June of 1977 the event again succeeded in attracting large audiences for music, drama and dance—and yet another surplus. Vancouver summer entertainment, which previously revolved around the PNE and Theatre Under The Stars, was never to be the same again.

August 12 A plaque, Wasserman’s Beat, by artist Stjepan Pticek was installed at the northwest corner of Georgia and Hornby Streets, dedicating a section of Hornby Street (between Georgia and Dunsmuir) as “Wasserman's Beat,” in memory of the late Sun columnist. The Cave, a now-vanished nightspot, and a favorite haunt of Wasserman’s, was down the block on the east side of Hornby. See the April 6th item above.

August 13 Margaret Elinor Rushton, Holiday Theatre founder, died in White Rock, aged 69. She was born September 28, 1907 in Wigan, England, came to Canada in 1930, the same year she married author and historian Gerald Rushton (1898-1993). She joined Vancouver Little Theatre, serving as its president from 1949 to 1954. Her interest in children's theatre led her to Holiday Theatre, where she was tour coordinator. When Holiday Theatre became part of the Playhouse Theatre Centre, she was public relations officer and organized B.C. tours. A member of the Dominion Drama Festival national executive, she was also a president of the B.C. Drama Association. She retired in 1971.

Also August 13 The Lookout! opened high atop Vancouver’s Harbour Centre. Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, ascended to the top in one of the building’s famed outdoor glassed-in elevators, and left his footprint as an official memento of the opening. It’s still on display there. See the June 8 item above.

August 16 Elvis Presley died.

August 17 The last of Vancouver’s little cab companies went, when the 10-car Forum Empress Taxi Co. was purchased by Yellow Cab. Forum Empress, its 10 company and nine privately-owned cars operating from a converted house at 2053 East Hastings St., had formed when the Grandview, Forum, Empress and Hastings services amalgamated in 1964.

August 23 The British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, or BCRIC (pronounced brick) came into being. It was a holding company formed under the government of Premier Bill Bennett. BCRIC took over ownership of various sawmills and mines that had been bought and/or bailed out by the provincial government. It would come to grief in 1979. More details when we get that year up.

Summer The Italian Cultural Centre opened in east Vancouver on Slocan at the Grandview Highway. The Centre, built mostly by volunteers, included a restaurant, banquet hall, art gallery, daycare centre, television production centre, and even an indoor bocce court. Every summer, the Centre hosts a week-long Italian festival. The Italian-born Anna Terrana of Burnaby, later the MP for Vancouver East, was a strong force behind the construction.

September 14 Lansdowne Park shopping mall opened in Richmond.

September 18 Leo (Michael Leo) Sweeney, cooper, died in Vancouver, aged 91. He was born April 17, 1886 in London, Ont. He came to Victoria as an infant in 1888, where his father founded Sweeney Cooperage, a barrel-making firm. He was named managing director in 1912. Two years after buying Canadian Western Cooperage in 1921, he moved to Vancouver. Sweeney served on many civic boards and committees. As president of the Vancouver Tourist Association, he wore a straw boater when it rained “to prove it was liquid sunshine.” The company operated at the east foot of Smithe Street until 1981, when the land was expropriated for B.C. Place and the cooperage, one of the oldest industries in False Creek, was torn down. For more on Sweeney’s life and his cooperage (including the unusual disposition of the machinery and other equipment after the company closed), see here.

September 24 The Gastown Steam Clock was dedicated. It had started as a solution for the problem of steam venting into the Gastown air from the Central Heat Distribution Plant, which supplies steam to hundreds of downtown buildings . . . and which vents excess steam through manholes here and there throughout the downtown. Jon Ellis, the city’s planner for the Gastown area, had the notion to have clockmaker Ray Saunders devise a steam-powered clock. It’s easily the most-photographed object in Vancouver even if (pssst!) it isn’t really steam-powered and, we learned within the last few years, never was.

September 25 The Italian Cultural Centre officially opened.

September L’Ecole Bilingue Elementary school was born, a renaming of Cecil Rhodes School. This was one of the first French bilingual schools in the province, created because many Vancouver parents wanted a French immersion school.

October 18 Willy de Roos arrived off Point Grey in his 13-metre steel ketch Williwaw. He had come (east to west) through the Northwest Passage, in the smallest boat to make the journey. It was also the first time a sailing vessel had made that voyage since Amundsen in 1906. From a review of his 1980 book North-West Passage comes this: “Countless seamen have risked—and many lost—their lives in the polar seas in their search for the North-West Passage. In 1977, when Willy de Roos set out from Falmouth in his 13-metre steel ketch Williwaw, he had the advantage of all the accrued information gathered by previous explorers, but the challenge of the North-West Passage was scarcely less awesome: the compass useless in Arctic waters, the charted depths not wholly reliable, the destructive cold and sleeplessness (for most of the passage was conducted single-handed) which sapped his strength, and above all, the unpredictable movement of the pack-ice, which constantly risked trapping him without means of escape before the brief arctic summer ended.”

October The White Rock Hotel, a 50-room, four-storey hotel which had opened July 1, 1912 with a luncheon for 300 guests, was torn down for development.

Fall Harry Ornest wins a PCL franchise. He will put the Triple-A Vancouver Canadians on the field in 1978. See more when that year is up.

November 21 CKO-FM 96.1 signed on as part of the CKO national news network. The network, which grew to eight stations in major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, would last until 1989. See the Wikipedia article here.

November 25 First World’s Worst Art auction. This became a strange and funny annual event. It’s nicely described by Elizabeth Macleod (in a funny article about one of her own paintings) in the Winter 2001 edition of Life Writing from Brock House. “Dr. Norman Watt, a UBC professor . . . while visiting an antique store in New York City in 1969 came upon an oil painting which he immediately labelled ‘The World's Worst Oil Painting.’ The owner sold it to him for $5.00. When Dr. Watt returned to Vancouver he showed it to his friend William Goodacre. Together they decided to visit flea markets, garage sales and second-hand stores and build up a collection, agreeing that they would pay no more than $5.00 for any one purchase. In time they persuaded Doug Mowat, then the Executive Director of the British Columbia Paraplegic Foundation, to sponsor an exhibition. The 24th Annual Exhibition and Auction of the World's Worst Oil Paintings was held in November, 2000 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. To date this project has raised $600,000 for the Paraplegic Foundation.”

December 6 Josephine A. Dauphinee, special education pioneer and women's activist, died in Vancouver, aged 102. “She was born,” writes Constance Brissenden, “November 15, 1875 in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. In 1908, when she arrived in New Westminster to work for her uncle Dr. G.E. Drew, she was a trained nurse and teacher. After training in Seattle, she taught at Central High School and was soon supervisor of special classes for mentally challenged children. She travelled across the US, observing teaching methods. By her retirement in 1941, the number of special classes had grown to 27. She was a founder of the Vancouver Business and Professional Women's Club (1922) and its president (1928-29). She helped establish the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs in 1930, and was its president from 1932 to 1935.”

December In December, the Workers Compensation Board’s Rehabilitation Clinic moved to its new Richmond facilities at the Centre which included the Rehabilitation Residence. (The WCB name has changed to WorkSafeBC.)

Also in 1977

Jack Volrich became mayor, succeeding Art Phillips. He was born in Anyox, B.C. “Volrich,” wrote Donna Jean McKinnon in The Greater Vancouver Book, “was a founding member of TEAM, but his priorities and outlook seemed more in keeping with the free-enterprise mayors of previous years. He considered running as an independent in his second bid for office, and later still was a member of both the Progressive Conservative and Social Credit parties. Volrich was fiscally conservative and presented a stabilizing force and return to the old values in the midst of social ferment. He re-introduced much of the pomp and ceremony to the mayor's office, yet could be wooden and humorless.”

Memorial to Frank Rivers, a 20-foot totem pole carved by Stan Joseph, was placed at the Mosquito Creek Marina. Rivers, the marina's first manager, died in 1976.

Lynn Patrick, 65, retired as vice president of the St. Louis Hockey Club. He joined the club in 1967 as its general manager.

Under the leadership of Barbara Brink, the Junior League of Greater Vancouver and the City of Vancouver, the dream of establishing a science centre for Vancouver began. It would open as the Arts, Sciences & Technology Centre in temporary quarters at Granville and Dunsmuir Streets on January 15, 1982. Today, known as TELUS World of Science, in an Expo 86 legacy building at the eastern edge of False Creek (opened as Science World May 6, 1989), it is a top local attraction.

The Civil-Mechanical Building opened at UBC.

Capilano College established a regional campus in Sechelt.

UBC’s W.H. New succeeded George Woodcock as editor of Canadian Literature. He will serve as editor to 1995, and be succeeded by Eva-Marie Kröller.

Shortly after he became editor, New edited the book A Political Art: Essays and Images in Honour of George Woodcock. This web site lists works by Woodcock, a jaw-dropping list of writings covering many decades.

The book The Langley story illustrated: an early history of the municipality of Langley by Donald E. Waite appeared.

The book The enterprising Mr. Moody, the bumptious Captain Stamp: the lives and colourful times of Vancouver's lumber pioneers by James Morton appeared.

The book Vancouver’s First Century appeared. It was prepared by Anne Kloppenborg, with assistance from her Urban Reader colleagues, Alice Niwinski and Eve Johnson. More than 300 photos and advertisements from the city’s past were complemented with excerpts from newspapers and memoirs, with an introductory essay by the late David Brock. It was a terrific book, still one of the best in the field. Supplementary and updated versions would appear in 1985 and 1991, retitled Vancouver: A City Album.

The book Kids! Kids! Kids! And Vancouver! appeared. Authors of this very successful guide book featuring activities and attractions for kids in Greater Vancouver were Daniel Wood and Chuck Davis. Wood did virtually all of the writing, and authored later editions and offshoots of the original title.

Whitecap Books of North Vancouver was incorporated. They are publishers of scenic and natural history books, regional guides, gardening, history and children's non-fiction.

Cartoonist David Boswell, born in London, Ontario in 1953, came to Vancouver to contribute cartoons to the Georgia Straight. His most well-known work will become Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman. See this site.

A number of local publications debuted in 1977. They included:

British Columbia Curling News, a bi-monthly out of Langley.

Chamber Comment and the Chamber Newsbulletin, a free monthly publication from the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

Good Friends, a monthly publication of the Vancouver Canada-China Friendship Association, featuring suggestions for trips and features about the People's Republic of China.

Outdoor Report, a quarterly from the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. It contained informative accounts of developments in outdoor recreation of interest to the Council's members as well as elected officials, recreation managers, media and public libraries.

Seniors Choice, a monthly publication in Langley.

WCEL News, a biweekly newsletter from the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation.

Working Teacher, a quarterly from the Working Teacher Educational Society.

Michael Walsh describes three locally-made 1977 movies:

In the film Greenpeace—Voyages To Save The Whales (directed by Michael Chechik, Fred Easton and Ron Precious) Don Francks narrated the story of the good ship Phyllis Cormack and its crew of Vancouver environmentalists as they faced down Soviet whalers on the high seas, an encounter captured by Simon Fraser Film Workshop alumni.

La Menace [aka Flashback]. (Directed by Alain Corneau) A co-production with France, this mystery-thriller ends with Vancouver truckers chasing a suspected killer (Yves Montand), a man on the run from his violent past in Europe.

Skip Tracer (director: Zale Dalen). Death threats prompt some serious lifestyle changes for a hard-driving Vancouver repo man (David Petersen).

George Norris, sculptor, created the welded stainless steel Swimmer at 1050 Beach (outside the Aquatic Centre).

Jack Harman created the bronze Bust of Charles Bentall, at 595 Burrard (Bentall Building). Bentall founded Dominion Construction Co.

Bridge Beardslee created Energy Alignment Sculpture: Pyramid in the Golden Section, a tubular blue steel construction. See here.

A sculpture titled Arrow in Tree, artist unknown, was created for a 1977 outdoor sculpture symposium held at Deer Lake Park. This piece, writes Elizabeth Godley, was a last-minute entry, and was not included in the catalogue. Ironically, she writes, it is the only work left in the park from the symposium.

West Vancouver and the Park Royal Shopping Centre hosted “Wood Sculpture of the Americas,” a symposium that included ten sculptors from Canada, the U.S. and South America. The resulting works were placed in various locations:

Two Columns in Space No. 5, by Barry Cogswell (North Vancouver), is at Klee Wyck House, 200 Keith Road.

Burrard Piece and Vancouver Piece by Joseph DeAngelis (Ontario), together with Caracas 77 by Domenico Casasanta (Venezuela), are in Park Royal's south mall.

An Enclosed Line Forming Three Planes Perpendicular to Each Other in a Symmetrical Order by Alan Chung Hung (Vancouver), and Standing Wave by Robert Behrens (Colorado) are in Ambleside Park.

Raven and the Sun by Calvin Hunt (Victoria), and Symposium Piece for Eva by Hayden Davies (Toronto), are at the West Vancouver Municipal Hall, 750-17th Street.

Bicycles by Fumio Yoshimura (New York); Mr. and Mrs. Carver Plumtree by Barbara Spring (California), and Tropical Woman by Hernando Tejada (Colombia), are at the municipal library, 1950 Marine.

Wooden sculptures on Ambleside Beach (Cathy Matheson)

History of the Tsimshian Indian Nation pole, Horseshoe Bay, Chief William Jeffrey, 46 feet tall, carved in 1975.

Kwakiutl Bear Pole, Horseshoe Bay, carved by Tony Hunt, 13 feet tall, carved in 1966.

A vice president of the Vancouver Stock Exchange fled to Britain to evade an RCMP investigation. They had charged him with 94 counts of conspiracy and taking bribes.

Dr. Masajiro Miyazaki was awarded the Order of Canada. His citation reads: “Retired osteopath who, over a period of 35 years, has given unselfish service to the residents of Lillooet, British Columbia, particularly those of Japanese and Indian backgrounds and who continues to serve his community in spite of ill health.” His connection to Vancouver goes back to his arrival from Japan on June 29, 1913 at the age of 13. As a UBC student, he took part in the Great Trek (Oct. 22, 1922). Miyazaki practised medicine in Vancouver until 1942 internment in Bridge River-Lillooet area. He served as doctor for 1,000 internees. In 1945, Lillooet petitioned for his release to replace its deceased doctor. See his My Sixty Years in Canada (1973).

Vancouver City’s Equal Employment Opportunity Program (EEO) was established. Their web site explains: “The EEO office works to support departments in meeting the goal of the City’s equal employment opportunity program: to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of our community. While hiring is based on merit, the City is committed to ensuring that the selection process is fair and recognizes the value of including individuals from under-represented groups. EEO works with departments, staff and community groups to create a workplace which is inclusive, respectful and welcoming of diversity.” Since 1989 the program has been administered by the city-owned Hastings Institute.

The Community Information Centre (which had started as the Community Information Service) became an independent United Way agency this year and acquired a new name, the Greater Vancouver Information and Referral Service (GVIRS, pronounced ‘Jeevers’ by its friends). Because Vancouver’s neighborhood centres had shrunk from 35 to just seven municipal/regional centres, GVIRS went back to providing direct service to the public. One of its services was The Red Book. This directory to various social and other services began to be published annually this year because of the rapid change in information about services. (70 per cent of the listings changed each year.) Today, GVIRS is Information Services Vancouver. There’s a good chronology of the organization at this site.

The British Columbia Psychological Association is the oldest such group in Canada, having been established in 1938. But it was not until 1977 that the Psychologists Act was promulgated and for the first time in BC the practice of psychology was officially defined, the title of psychologist protected by statute, and the practice of psychology regulated by a board representing peers and the public.

B.C.'s first Advisory Committee on Disability Issues was established by the city. In addition to seeing that past access problems are corrected, the Committee closely monitors new development projects.

Burnaby Hospital opened a $29.4 million acute care facility with 422 beds.

Health Minister Robert McClelland broke ground at 28th Avenue and Oak Street for the new Childrens Hospital.

The British Columbia Women's Hospital and Health Centre, at 4490 Oak Street, celebrated its 100,000th birth.

Dr. David Boyes, a Vancouver obstetrician and gynecologist turned cancer researcher, was appointed executive director of the BC Cancer Agency. He will serve for 10 years. He became a widely-honored world authority and advisor to nations on cytology screening programs and chairman of advisory groups including the Medical Ethics Committee to the B.C. government and the False Creek Toxic Waste Cleanup Committee.

Norm Jewison, who was born in England in 1943 and grew up in Montreal, moved to Vancouver to become public relations director for the Vancouver Canucks.

A mountain in the Rivers Inlet area was named for Jack Manzo Nagano, a pioneer Japanese immigrant, in honor of the Japanese Canadian centennial. Nagano worked as a cabin boy from Nagasaki to New Westminster on a British ship, arriving in 1877 as the first Japanese immigrant in B.C. and possibly in Canada. See our May 21, 1924 entry for more on his interesting life.

The Norsal, built by Menchions' Coal Harbour shipyard in 1922 for use by Powell River Company executives, and which was sold in 1946 to the J. Gordon Gibson lumbering family, was sold yet again for operation as a coastal charter vessel. (Sadly, the Norsal would sink in Hecate Strait in 1990.)

North Vancouver’s historic Church of St. John the Evangelist was converted to a recital hall named for arts advocate Anne Macdonald.

White Rock bought its famous pier from the federal government for $1. They put in new pilings to strengthen the pier. The feds still own the end of the wharf, and are responsible for maintenance of the breakwater installed in 1953.

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club created a marina at Scott Point on Salt Spring Island.

A Vancouver-based CBC-TV series called Leo and Me premieres. The young star of the show is Edmonton-born (June 9, 1961) Michael J. Fox, a student at Burnaby Central Senior High School, who’s 15 and looks 12. Another star of the series: Brent Carver, 25, who was Leo. It must be said there is real confusion about peoples’ ages and airing dates of this series. Apparently it wasn’t aired until 1981, but the date of its production is murky.

A site that had been called “All Seasons Park,” on the Four Seasons development site at the entrance to Stanley Park, home to a number of squatters in 1972, became a park.

The Vancouver Pound sold and recorded a record number of dog-licence tags: almost 25,000.

The main building at Rainbow Lodge at Whistler burned down after 63 years of operation.

Burnaby's Christmas hockey tournament for junior teams featured 98 teams and 1,600 players. It had become the largest event of its kind in the world and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Many talented players were produced by Burnaby's hockey program.

Samuel McCleery's 1891 farmhouse at 2510 South West Marine was demolished.

Lions Bay Elementary School (covering playschool, kindergarten and Grades One to Three) was opened. The same year, Lions Bay Cablevision brought full cable TV service to a community that could previously pick up only two channels, and the provincial government provided an ambulance on permanent service in the village.

The federal government, which had bought (through Central Mortgage and Housing Corp.) all of Granville Island in 1973, bought out all the island’s leases and now owned the land and everything on it. The redevelopment of Granville Island was launched. Writes architectural historian Harold Kalman: “Architects Norman Hotson and Joost Bakker produced an inspired master plan that encouraged the mix of uses and the retention of an industrial vocabulary in building and landscape improvements. They also rehabilitated the former BC Equipment and Wright's Ropes factories to become the Granville Island Public Market (1979-80), retaining the travelling cranes that hang from the rafters. Nearby Ocean Cement, built around 1920 for Diether's Coal and Building Supplies, and Micon Products Ltd. (a forge that makes chains) are the last remaining heavy industries . . . Food market, arts and crafts, restaurants, theatres, marine industries, an art college, a brewery—all thrive at Granville Island, mostly in rehabilitated industrial buildings that have been adapted well to their new uses.”

The Vancouver East Cultural Centre opened in a building that had been Grandview Methodist (subsequently United) Church. The church had closed its doors in 1967. “It was adapted,” writes Harold Kalman, “to become a theatre, recital hall and community facility for the neighborhood. Founding director Christopher Wootten co-ordinated municipal, provincial, and federal support programs to make the ambitious project happen. The intimate audience chamber, with its good sight-lines and acoustics and a feeling of warmth, and seating for up to 350, has made ‘The Cultch’ a popular performing-arts venue that attracts people from far beyond East Vancouver.”

Continued....

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[1971] [1972] [1973] [1974] [1975] [1976]
[1977] [1978] [1979] [1980] [1981] [1982]
[1983] [1984] [1985] [1986] [1987] [1988]
[1989] [1990] [1991] [1992] [1993] [1994]