story: Forests of Riley Park

It is often good to get a little context in relation to the history of the area when gathering stories...in the library one day I came across this little historical anecdote:

In the early 1900's a fellow by the name of Hugh Gunn* was hired to clear Main Street all the way south to 33rd. The idea of course was to expand the community and provide roads. In those days, Hugh needed to cut down a lot of trees since it was dense forest...but what Hugh didn't know when he started the project was that between Main and Fraser was mostly swamp!

Apparently Hugh needed to fit the oxen with snowshoes to allow them to walk on the boggy areas! He certainly didn't want to lose his oxen team disappearing into the swamp!

Imagine that sight: a team of strong oxen wearing snowshoes!

The rest of the forest from 33rd south to 41st wasn't logged and cleared for housing until the 1950's.

Until that time folks continued to hunt for rabbits in there... if you can believe it!

*Hugh Gunn unfortunately blew himself up while building Hastings Street many years later.

story: good start to the day

Teresa Paris at her 10am Aquafit class at Percy Norman...

you can find her there most mornings!

story: type

I took this photo while Jenny was working on her post with lisa g. It's a good picture to me even though it's not one person posing. I don't care that it's blurry. It reminds me that it is art, it's just a normal day and not a special occasion. People wouldn't normally take this photo. It expresses my feelings.

Lisa is in a good pose thinking of something. I don't know what she is thinking of but I bet it's really good. Maybe she is thinking about Jenny's story, taking pictures or Sports Plus. I wonder if she is thinking about something bad or good or in the past.

By Vivian

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: O o o o opera

Every Tuesday I use to go to opera lessons with my mom. On the first day I was in opera lessons I met the most nicest girl for all the girls I knew, her name was Christina and she was my best friend there. Every Tuesday we practiced and practiced a lot for concerts. We sang in Oakridge mall, in theatres, and many more. But when the next session started I had to quit because my mom could not pick me up or drop me off. The sad part for me was when I had to leave my best friend Christina I will never forget her.