story:one armed pitcher

James Anthony Abbott (born September 19, 1967 in Flint, Michigan) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who is best known for playing despite having been born without a right hand! He played for the California Angels, the Yankees, the White Sox, and the Milwaukee Brewers, from 1989 to 1999.

Imagine playing baseball with only your left hand! Abbott used his to throw a no-hitter for the Yankees on Sept. 4, 1993, used it to compile an 18-11 record with a 2.89 earned-run average with the Angels in 1991. He used it to pitch the USA to an Olympic gold medal, used it to win award after award from sports and charitable organizations.

After all this came an extended losing streak. Jim was demoted to the minors in August 1996 to work on his pitching form.

On Aug. 22, 1996, in his home debut for the Pacific Coast League Vancouver Canadians at Nat Bailey Stadium before 6,638, Abbott lost the first minor-league decision of his career, 5-0 to the Tucson Toros. I was at this game at Nat Bailey Stadium and saw Jim pitch well, but he did serve up a three-run homer to Roger Luce, the No. 9 hitter in the Tucson Toros' lineup. So the questions he faced from the media, were about one thing and one thing only: The enduring agonies of constant, relentless losing. He had a truly terrible year in 1996, posting a 2-18 record with a whopping 7.48 ERA and briefly retired.

"I'm a believer that through adversity, there's growth," Abbott said. "Sometimes you have to break through ground to get to the more fertile soil. I am a believer in that. I think this year, in a way, has been profitable. I'm not sure that the Angels want to hear that, and I'm sure I didn't want to go through this, because it hasn't been a whole lot of fun. Sometimes pain can be an important part of finding out who you are."

James Anthony Abbott is an inspiration. He is proof that through perseverance, almost any challenge can be overcome. There are thousands of two-handed pitchers who never came close to Abbott's stature, never showed one hundredth of his courage. The way he handled the success was a marvel; the way he has confronted this debacle of a season has shown, almost refreshingly, that everyone has limits.

By a Huge Fan, Doug Anderson.

PS

How did he play with only one hand?

When getting ready to pitch the ball, Jim Abbott would rest a right-handed thrower's glove on the end of his right forearm. After releasing the ball, he would quickly slip his hand into the glove, usually in time to field any balls a two-handed pitcher would be able to field. Then he would remove the glove by securing it between his right forearm and torso, slip his hand out of the glove, and remove the ball from the glove, usually in time to throw out the runner and sometimes even start double plays. At all levels, teams tried to exploit his fielding disadvantage by repeatedly bunting to him; this tactic was never effective.

story: In and Out

Kelsey Mackintosh took these amazing polaroid photos during Car Free Day on Sunday June 20th. She is a local photographer who lives in the Riley Park neighbourhood.

story: Eddie

Eddie has volunteered here at the Riley Park Community Centre for about 5-6 years. He manages the Community Garden and is on the Seniors Committee. Eddie seems to be a very busy fellow, despite being retired for 20 years!

Eddie wanted to start the garden here for the seniors. He began getting involved by leading the groups of high school kids who would volunteer to clean it up and get school credit. Although he has never worked as a gardener, he learned all he knows through reading, as well as trial and error he says.

Eddie shows me (Lisa W.) around the garden, pointing out that not much has come in this year due to some cold weather. He is growing three different kinds of lettuce, potatoes, beets, and loads of rhubarb. He also has numerous planters of beautiful flowers, which are planted by Beverly!

Eddie comes here a few days a week to care for the garden, which is handy because he lives across the street from the community centre! Before being involved here Eddie ran a grocery store on 41st and W. Blvd. His family is from China. In 1851 his Great Grandfather started a sugar plantation in Hawaii, and in the 1880's his Grandfather came to BC to work on the rail roads. Eddie was born in Vancouver, and was the only Asian person in his high school grad class in 1948. He just had his 60th reunion at Magee Secondary School.

In the four decades he has lived in this neighbourhood, Eddie has noticed a lot of new families moving in. He hopes the garden will stay where it is even though the Community Centre is being demolished. He is busy today preparing the garden for the 18th Annual Little Mountain and Riley Park Festival, which is Sunday June 27th from 11:00am - 4:00pm. He will be giving away plants, flowers and bulbs.

Eddie says of the garden, "It's a nice little plot for anyone who wants to grow things... It gives me a little peace of mind."

story: East 33rd

In 1952 East 33rd at Main Street used to look like this:


Here it is in 2010.

The Chevron apparently grew up, grew old and moved on...
Coming soon!
Condos!

story: 1952 Nat Bailey aerial

Check out this aerial shot!

You can even see the wing of the plane at the top of the photo.

This image is part of the VPL archives from 1952.

You can get a real sense of the changes in the area around Nat Bailey. Particularly when you consider the new Olympic sized pool and all the new facilities that are built in the land to the north of the ball park!

Please notice the Riley Park Community Centre isn't even built yet, nor is Percy Norman Memorial Pool.

story: Daphne's kids

Daphne Holmes moved here from England in the 1940's and raised a family...

She was a longtime resident of Riley Park,

a true community player,

a mover and a shaker and

a generous spirit with a very forward thinking attitude toward children and their education.

Daphne with her great-grandchild Abigail Lim in her side garden in the summer of 2008.

One rainy morning I sat with her and her son Greg to learn more about her.

"It is important to get kids to like to come to school. It was Greg who couldn't stand the grade one teacher and I had an awful time with him! He would get to the end of the street and then that was it…

I would get a phone call, 'Is Greg sick?'

And I would say 'No, I sent him to school.'

And he would be hiding and I would have to go find him, but he just couldn't stand that teacher. So I said to the principal at the time, 'Can we change him over?'
And the principal said 'No, he'll have to get used to all these different teachers.'
So I called the school board and said 'He is only 5 years old, and it is an experience for him and he can't stand it! Every child is an individual and you never know what is going to happen, and this one just can't take it!'
I thought this is one time I've got to stand up for him and protect him."

The PTA at General Wolfe School. Daphne is sitting down second from the left.

Circa 1962 or 1964...

"And so I joined the PTA and told them that we have got to do something, so kids are not scared to come into school!

A lot of the kids couldn't care less but then you get these ones that are a little bit shy and people would call them slow, but they are not slow!
A lot of parents would say 'Oh well, they will get through'…but I think you have to stand behind these kids."
(Daphne got Greg successfully transferred from the class but then he got that same teacher again in grade 3!)

"I warned the principal that I would be watching out for him!"

"Because I had 3 boys I was very interested in what was happening in the schools, and I have always gone up different times to meet the new principals to see what was going on, you see, eventually I had my grandchildren going to the same school. It is still a very good school!" (General Wolfe Elementary.)

"I think all my kids' friends knew exactly where the cookie pot was. It was a good thing my husband was on shift work, because after school they all came swooping in! Some mothers were working but of course I wasn't, so I had babysitting at my house. I did eventually go to work, but not until after the boys had grown up."

This picture is from a camping trip in and around the time of cookie thievery, 1962.

Greg (top left), Carl (top right), Marc (bottom left) and Steven (bottom right).

Carl wasn't Daphne's son but a neighbour kid who hung around with them A LOT. Kind of an honourary member of the family.

Also notice Daphne's husband George chopping wood!

"I volunteered every Thursday afternoon, for many years and weighed all the new babies in the neighbourhood at the Health Clinic on Main street at 24th. In fact I might be right to say 27 years! They gave me a little tea and presented me with a little gift saying I had weighed the babies for 25 years... and then one of my neighbours got up and said 'She has been doing that for more than 25 years!'

I knew every kid and watched them grow up! What a happier life than that? And some of their parents I knew when they were kids! Everybody knew where I was on Thursday afternoons."

Here is the health centre June 3, 2010, still there after all these years...

"I met someone I had weighed just the other day at the Centennial Anniversary of General Wolfe School. I attended with my two sons but as we got out of the car into the beautiful blue sky day...there came this incredible storm! So Greg got me settled in the basement so he could go and help outside to bring in chairs and hold the tents down. Rocks were flying off the playground into their faces! I sat with one of the present day General Wolfe students -- because he also didn't want to go out into the storm! As we were chatting, I realized he was a little scared. I told him that one of his parents would soon come and he would be ok. When his mother showed up, I recognized her and then realized I had weighed this little guy I was talking to! He was much bigger of course, so I joked: 'I don't think I could lift you now!'"

"I always liked kids. I took a few years of training [in England] - how to look after kids and that...then, much later, I went back to night school here in Vancouver -- at Langara -- to get my Pre-School Education. I should have done this before my kids were born!

[Historically speaking this program wasn't offered back then!]

I learned an awful lot! I went for 3-4 years, and I was the oldest student. I was in my 50's, I was a grandmother! And I was with all these young people and I had never been to college in my life! But I was the top of the class, probably because I had so much experience being with children already."

Greg: "You got the job right across the street from our house, at Little Mountain Daycare!"

Daphne: "Yes that's right, and I would open up the daycare, then go back and help at lunchtime, and then go back and close. I did that 5 days a week. I was so happy to get so far and in my 50's! And pre-school in those days, was not so well looked after, but now they go to UBC to get their degree. It was a new thing back then. I worked at Little Mountain Daycare until it closed, probably about 20 years or so. I thoroughly enjoyed that."

Daphne and her Little Mountain Daycare kids in and around 1974.

"My husband wasn't too keen on his wife working, but I enjoyed it, and when he saw I was enjoying it, he quit yakking about it and if he got home before me he learned to put the supper on!"

Greg: "Which he never did before…"

Daphne: "And then I would come home from the daycare and supper would be ready for me! I mean, I would make it ready but he would cook it. He would look outside the front window for the last car to leave picking up kids and he would turn the oven on!"

Daphne's husband outside General Wolfe's birthplace in Westerham, Kent... England.

Greg: "It was handy for the daycare too, having my Mom live across the street, when parents couldn't make it to pick their kids up on time, she would just bring them home and then the parents would pick them up here at our house! Convenient for people…especially single moms."

Daphne: "Some kids would even come to my house at 7:30 in the morning... since the daycare didn't open until 8am! And you know, no one ever took advantage of this. Which I was very proud of. Also every year the city would come and check things out at my house to make sure it was all safe. I was licensed to have the kids there. I had a good relationship with the health department! The neighbours wouldn't complain either. The kids would of course play outside too!"

Greg: "My mom, my father and my aunt Pearl started the Seniors Group at Little Mountain Neighbourhood House as well."

Daphne: "It is still going on I think."

The Riley Park Seniors Group. A bunch of big kids! Daphne sits second from the right.

"I think getting my preschool certificate was one of my biggest achievements since I didn't have that much education, there was no such thing as education when I went to school. You went to school, you turned 14 and then you were out. And I was a woman, so there were only so many things you could do. You could be a teacher if you were smart, or a nurse, but that took years."

"The most amazing thing [in regards to living 93 years and seeing so many things change], was the change in children…in that they now ask questions. I don't think at my age we would have ever dared to have done it! I think they aren't closing kids down now, they are opening them up more. That is what I noticed and that is what I tried to do to bring kids out."

"I still get Christmas cards from some of the kids I looked after!"

transcription by lisag

"I feel honoured to meet Daphne."

story: tomato nose

This is me.

I have been carrying this tomato around in the cuff of my pants all day.

story: Main and 25th - south west corner

1939
2010
*archival image courtesy of Vancouver Public Library

story: family outings

1971

1978

2001

See these images in a video called Changes.

story: Percy Norman Still Life

1960's tile style

Lifesaver

story: it got me thinking

I lived in a cute little apartment at 18th and Main Street in and around 1995. It was on the second floor of a big old house and organized like a railroad flat in New York City. Super narrow with room after room in a chain. I liked that. You entered in the kitchen and if you made a right you would hit the tiny little living room and then 3 steps forward, remembering to step over this weird step you would be in the bedroom. The living room had room enough for 2 comfy chairs, so entertaining was limited but not impossible. From the kitchen if you made a left you would be in the bathroom. All the rooms had a window except the bathroom so it felt bright and airy. I painted my bedroom dark brown. My living room was beige with burnt red trim and the kitchen and bathroom were baby blue. I had a claw footed tub which was really the clincher for renting it. I was delighted to live there. Prior to this I had had roommates and this place was all mine!



Now, I didn't really know many of the neighbours. Sure, I said hello if I saw someone in the hallways, but that was seldom. For me, this was perfect. I had this idea of anonymity, it was what I was looking for. You see, when I wasn't at home I was on the road, in a rock band. This was a time in my life when sometimes up to 10 months would be spent in a van, loading or unloading gear or at a motel. Of course a small percentage was the stage performance but all things considered, this didn't take much time. We had A LOT of fun but I was always around people, even our motel was shared. I was lucky since my band mates and tour manager were my friends, but being a kind of independent person who likes their down time… touring was a challenge.



With this new apartment came a new sensation…the magic of closing the apartment door and knowing it would only be me.


One of the few times I was back in Vancouver, I came up the front steps, checked my mailbox and opened the shared door to the entrance hallway. I was met with a bit of a bad smell. As I walked up the stairs it got a little worse, and more so as I walked down my hallway. I was a little nervous to open my apartment door. But when I did and went inside the smell was almost indiscernible. Apartment hallways often had strange smells, so I guess because of this I didn't worry too much about it.

The next morning however, as I left my apartment, the smell was much worse. The odour hit me hard in face. It was the kind of a smell I had never experienced. Was it mold? Was it garbage?

When I returned the smell again seemed worse, so I decided to call the landlord. We chatted about the kind of smell it was and wondered if a rat or a cat had died in the walls. Hmmm. I certainly didn't like the sound of a rat, but the idea that it could be someone's cat made me sad.

The next morning there was a kerfuffle in the hallway. When I peeked out my door I saw a whole fleet of men in hazmat suits…and the door to my neighbours apartment was open. A woman who lived in the floor above, the most prestigious apartment since it was the biggest and at the top, told me I should come to her house to hang out.

Very mysterious and definitely not on my solo agenda.

She introduced herself as Maryann and made me a cup of tea. She was older than I was and her place reflected this advantage over me. The view from her window was spectacular.

“Do you know the guy in the apartment opposite of you?” she asked

“Not really” I said. “I've seen him collect his mail once, but that's it”.

“Well, he died in his apartment and that's what's been smelling up this place for weeks.” she told me.

“Weeks?” I asked

“He was in there for 2 weeks… “ then with a change in her voice she added “No one called him. No one came by. No one missed him.”

This of course got me thinking. How long could I be dead and alone before someone missed me? People who knew me, knew my hermit practices. If I died people would just assume I was antisocial!

Well, I would like to wrap this story up in a tight bow and explain how I immediately changed my ways and welcomed friends and family into all parts of my life at all times. Change doesn't happen so quickly for me.

But it got me thinking.

by lisa g
inspired by The Columbia House

story: Walden Building

1930

2003
courtesy of superdubey

2010

This historic landmark
is located at 4120 Main Street (25th and Main)

story: Main and 25th - south east corner

1946
2010
1946
2010

Archival images courtesy of Vancouver Public Library