Last week I featured a recent recipient of Surrey’s Good Citizen Award and wondered whatever happened to Vancouver’s similar medal of distinction.

Strolling the archives on VancouverHistory.ca I kept coming across recipients of the “Good Citizen Award” like Pearl Steen, Sister Frances, or Arthur William Delamont but it made me wonder if this award still exists today. [Yes, I'm quoting my own post]

After a few inquiries I heard back from the city archives so here’s a quick update:

City archive sources have no record of when the award ceased to be handed out, however it appears that its last recipient was in 1981.

With that, the Good Citizen Award remains a piece of our history and as Vancouverites we should always remember those who helped make this city great (you know, all those selfless volunteers and innovators pre-1981). If you’re interested in learning more, the pamphlet is available for free at the City Archives.

Oodles of glorious sunshine being predicted for this weekend gets me thinking about outdoor activities. Should a Metro Vancouverite feel like a mini-escape, perhaps even a multi-hour adventure in a single day, what are the options? I’ve decided to pull from a pool of childhood Sunday drive memories and highlight a few gems in this new series: Day Tripping.

Photo credit: Stephen Rees

Located just over an hour outside of Vancouver, heading East on Hwy 1, you’ll come to the lovely town of Hope (also known as the gateway to holidayland).

Once in Hope you can split off to the Crowsnest Highway, which will take you along Southern BC to the Alberta border, up to the Fraser Canyon along Highway 1 (Trans Canada), or take the 5 along the Coquihalla to Merritt and beyond. More info about regional highways is available at DriveBC. However, there is much benefit to staying in the Hope-land area.

Aside from being a great breakfast spot with amazing mountain views nestled between those evergreen-covered giants, hope is also very historically significant for BC. Located along the Fraser River it was a major pit stop for those gold-rushing up the canyon.

The area I would like to feature is Coquihalla Canyon Park which is more commonly known as the Othello Tunnels. This quintet of railway tunnels, originally part of the Kettle Valley Railway are intertwined with a series of bridges which follow a relatively straight line through a gorge lined with sheer, flat rock cliffs. [TheKettleValleyRailway]

Photo credit: Stephen Rees on Flickr

Trains don’t pass through the tunnels anymore but they’re seriously fun to check out - if you can stand damp darkness and the feeling of being rushed back a hundred years. Here’s an excerpt from a great local resource, FindFamilyFun:

If you have a flashlight, bring it. There are puddles inside the tunnels and I stepped right in the middle of one. In between the tunnels are viewing spots where you can see the Coquihalla River. Be careful, it’s a long way down.

Age group: I saw people from all ages going to the tunnels. You may not enjoy it as much if you don’t like walking (because it takes about 15 minutes to get there), or if you’re scared of the dark.

Oh yes, and there are bats… just so you know.

Photo credit: Stephen Rees on Flickr

We used to go trudging through with my dad (while my mom sat in the car) and always enjoyed the adventure. I haven’t been in about 20 years but it looks like the paths are more cleared away and marked, I recalled saying, “are we supposed to be here?” several times thinking a train was going to rush up behind us at any minute.

In grade 12 for my provincial exam in English our essay theme was “Hope” and I wrote purely about our adventures to Hope and the Othello Tunnels. I’m sure they were looking for something more traditionally inspirational, but seeing my score of 90% lead me to believe the board appreciated my spin.

The Othello Tunnels make a great day trip, and I would also recommend stopping in at Rolly’s in Hope for breakfast on your way out there (if you like the vinyl booth + eggs n’ sausage with never-ending coffee breakfasts like we do). Around the corner on Fraser Street there’s also one of those wooden boards with a space cutout to insert your head on Rambo’s body. Good times.

The thing I love about living in the West End is that once you walk in a block from the bustling Robson or Davie Streets the sound of cars and crowds turns into lawn mowers and birds chirping. Green grass grows in small corner parks like urban savannas while sunbathers find a level surface on which to stretch out and avoid the game of frisbee being played over their head. One of such metropolitan refuges is Barclay Heritage Square and one of its main features is Roedde House.

Photo credit: superliciousness on Flickr

Roedde House at 1415 Barclay was built in 1893 for Vancouver’s first bookbinder, Gustav Roedde. In 1927 the house was sold by Gustav Roedde in 1927 to H.W. Jeffreys and it later became a boarding house called the “Oehlerking Rooms.”

The City of Vancouver bought the Gustav Roedde House [in 1966] and made it the centrepiece in what came to be called Barclay Heritage Square, bounded by Barclay, Nicola, Haro and Broughton Streets in the West End, and which features nine historic houses built between 1890 and 1908.

Photo credit: superliciousness on Flickr

In 1990 the restored Roedde House Museum opened its doors for community events and tours. Having done many tours of Victoria during our girls weekends, I’ve become pretty familiar with the architects that formed our big coastal cities in BC, however I had no clue that there were murmurs that Francis Mawson Rattenbury built Roedde House. Rattenbury being the designer of the Vancouver Art Gallery (former Court House) and Victoria’s Parliament Buildings and Empress Hotel [VancouverHistory].

John and I have yet to make our way over to Roedde House for a tour (Tuesday to Friday, 2:00pm to 4:00pm), or even Sunday tea (served from 2:00pm to 4:00pm) but it’s definitely on our list of things to do. They also do group tours by appointment, lecture series, musical evenings special events, and you can book the entire house for a small dinner party at a per hour rate.

Surrey’s Good Citizen Award was handed to Jim King this past week for his work “…as an executive director since 1997, being a past-president of the Surrey Chamber of Commerce and a founding member and past director of the Surrey Tourism and Convention Association” - [Surrey Leader].

The award is given to an individual each year who has performed outstanding service for the betterment of the community.

Photo credit: Squeaky Marmot on Flickr

Recent recipients also include Volkmar (Wally) Sandvoss in 2007 and Bruno Zappone in 2006.

Surrey’s first ever “Good Citizen” was Len Shepherd.

“Len Shepherd was a Surrey municipal council member from 1932 until 1937. In 1937 he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly serving the Delta riding, covering the area of Richmond, Delta, Surrey and Langley. In his very first term as MLA, Len Shepherd presented a petition to this very House with over 3,100 names from the people of the Fraser Valley, asking that the new Pattullo Bridge be free of tolls. Very quickly, he became an avid advocate for the working people.” [Debates of Legislative Assembly]

This all makes me wonder what ever happened to Vancouver’s Good Citizen Award? Strolling the archives on VancouverHistory.ca I kept coming across recipients of the “Good Citizen Award” like Pearl Steen, Sister Frances, or Arthur William Delamont but it made me wonder if this award still exists today.

The first Good Citizen was fire chief John Howe Carlisle in 1922 and the title was since bestowed upon maybe good souls in the community every year but I haven’t heard of any new recipients since the 1980s. I believe there are awards for volunteers in Vancouver, but I’m still wondering whatever happened to the city’s recognition for its outstanding (and often selfless) members of the community with the “Good Citizen Award”.

Regardless, I’m pleased to see the folks of Surrey doing good in their neighbourhoods, schools and businesses. Congratulations to Mr. King for being Surrey’s 2008 Good Citizen of the Year.

I just realized that my last few posts were pretty bullet-pointed so I apologize for this. The first Vancouver History: Oddities entry was well-received so here’s another.

Photo credit: Rod Templeton on Flickr

Often my inspiration comes from Chuck Davis and his team at VancouverHistory.ca. Chuck is also putting together a book called “The History of Metropolitan Vancouver”, which is due out next year. If you would like to be involved in any way, companies can sign up to sponsor a year in the book.

This afternoon my dad pulled out his digital camera and showed me a photo of a nice man that sort of looks like he could be one of my mom’s cousins in Germany. Turns out my dad visited with one of the most successful race car drivers of all time, Mario Andretti, while he was making a public appearance at Route 99 Tire Shop in Surrey last week.

This got us talking about some of the larger, more world-class events that Vancouver used to host before it became dubbed the “no fun city“, from which it’s still trying to bounce back.

Photo credit: Squeaky Marmot on Flickr

I’m not sure if I miss any of these events really, although having Surrey on the world’s stage for the gold tournament was pretty sweet. Vancouver’s personality has changed over the years and during my lifetime Expo was probably the catalyst for a lot of things. I look forward to different festivals and events every year and am simply glad that the city is still mixing things up, although don’t even ask me to predict what this place will be like after 2010.

It’s no secret that we have a strong and proud Asian Heritage in Vancouver, which is one of the reasons why May has been named Asian Heritage Month.

This acknowledges the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada. Canada’s cultural diversity strengthens the country socially, politically and economically in innumerable ways. Asian Heritage Month is an ideal occasion for all to celebrate the beauty and wisdom of various Asian cultures. Canadians are invited to take part in the festivities that commemorate the legacy of Asian Canadians and their many contributions which have helped Canada to become the multicultural and diverse nation it is today. [City of Vancouver]

Two years ago John and I met David Suzuki duing the ExplorASIAN festivities and I’ll be posting a bit more about upcoming events around town.

The first installment of this month’s series (even though it’s still only April 30th) comes from a link sent to me over del.icio.us by our globe-trotting friend Henry Lee. It’s about the first Chinese-Canadian to play in the NHL: Larry Kwong.

Born in Vernon, BC, Kwong played for the Trail Smoke Eaters then when noticed by NHL scouts touring BC in the mid 1940s he was picked up by the New York Rovers.

NY Rangers

Seizing the opportunity to play in New York, Kwong registered 19 goals and 37 points in 47 games with the Rovers in 1946-47. In the process, he helped the team nicknamed the Red Shirts win its first Eastern Hockey League title since the pre-World War II era…

…Kwong had been dominating with the Rovers that season and was averaging well over a point per game. This had already made him a popular figure among New York’s Chinese community and his call-up to the NHL made headlines, particularly in Western Canada where he was already something of a folk hero…

…Kwong would play his only game for a Rangers team that barely qualified for the 1948 Stanley Cup playoffs against an even weaker team at the Montreal Forum… …Kwong’s moment on the ice was brief and fleeting — not much longer than one minute — but it was also historic and remains noteworthy 60 years later. [New York Rangers Website]

As much as I’ve never liked the Rangers (mostly since 1994), this story reminds me of Moonlight Graham. Larry Kwong opened the door for countless players of Asian decent (and of any other ethnic background, really) and is remembered to this day as a valuable member of the Rangers alumni.

“His career might have lasted for only a New York minute, but Larry Kwong’s role in hockey history will never be forgotten.”

There are pivotal characters that have put Vancouver on the map in many different realms, from First Nations literary works, legendary hockey skills, to helping children learn to swim in English Bay. Vancouver’s history is made by its people, from many generations.

Anyone who has passed by the intersection of Georgia and Hornby may have noticed a sign marking the route as “Wasserman’s Beat”. This refers to former Vancouver Sun reporter, Jack Wasserman.

Starting May 12, 1954, [the Vancouver Sun] 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. [VancouverHistory]

The self-described “Saloon Columnist” hung out at places like The Cave Cabaret, the Mandarin, and Isy’s Supper Club, which are now just faint dots in our city’s rear-view mirror. These nightlife hot spots (from the 1930s and into the 80s) hosted such acts as Mel Torme, Milton Berle, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, a young Yvonne De Carlo got her start at the Palomar (on Alberni and Burrard) thanks to Dal Richards. [source: SunSpots].

Photo Credit: Pacific Northwest Bands

“Vancouver erupted as the vaudeville capital of Canada, rivaling and finally outstripping Montreal in the East and San Francisco in the south as one of the few places where the brightest stars of the nightclub era could be glimpsed from behind a post, through a smoke-filled room, over the heads of $20 tippers at ringside. Only in Las Vegas and Miami Beach, in season, were more superstars available in nightclubs.” [Jack Wasserman]

In the heyday of night life in this town, Jack Cullen, Jack Wasserman, and Hugh Pickett would be running around having a late supper with Lena Horne or Duke Ellington and it was big news. Wasserman would have something in the Sun the next day, and Cullen could have an exclusive interview on ‘NW. Whenever he’d play an old interview of his, I swear you could smell the rum and cigarettes off of his breath. [TheCommentary]

Wasserman wrote about the city’s “underbelly”, but also covered political issues like 1952’s Provincial Election and what he coined “an unholy mess” made by the Social Credit party [see: CBC news archive footage].

He worked for the Ubyssey at UBC, the Vancouver Sun, CKNW and CJOR radio, CBC TV, and was a pillar of Vancouver journalism. At the Hotel Vancouver in 1977, he passed away mere yards away from what the city would commemorate as “Wasserman’s Beat”.