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Interview with Maureen Olofson by Kathy Bossort October 14, 2015 - Track 3
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory571
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1942-1980
- Length
- 0:06:55
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Maureen Olofson’s description of the food sources on the farm including the garden, food animals, berry picking and bears. She also describes what her parents did after giving up the farm, opening sporting good stores on Hastings Street and then in North Vanco…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Maureen Olofson’s description of the food sources on the farm including the garden, food animals, berry picking and bears. She also describes what her parents did after giving up the farm, opening sporting good stores on Hastings Street and then in North Vancouver.
- Date Range
- 1942-1980
- Length
- 0:06:55
- Names
- Olofson, Axel
- GAK Fur Farm
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Lochdale (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Westridge Area
- Lochdale Area
- Interviewer
- Bossort, Kathy
- Interview Date
- October 14, 2015
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of an interview with Maureen Olofson conducted by Kathy Bossort. Maureen Olofson was one of 23 participants interviewed as part of the Community Heritage Commission’s Burnaby Mountain Oral History Project. The interview is mainly about Maureen Olofson’s memories of growing up on her parent’s Burnaby Mountain mink ranch between 1942 and 1950 and about the operation of the farm. She also talks about her parents’ history, her teaching career, and her thoughts about the beauty and value of Burnaby Mountain’s natural area.
- Biographical Notes
- Maureen Olofson was born 1938 in Glote, Harjedalen, Sweden, to Axel (1906-1998) and Kerstin Margareta (1906-1980). Axel and Kerstin Olofson, who had separately immigrated to Canada in 1928 and 1913 respectively, married in Canada and then returned to Sweden where Maureen was born. They moved to Burnaby in 1942 with their daughters Maureen and Anita Lea, and bought land and a mink ranch on Burnaby Mountain with their partners Gus Skofteby and Karin Ericksson (Kerstin’s sister). The GAK Fur Farm, located in the old Hastings Grove subdivision on 4th Avenue near Curtis Street, was one of the largest mink ranches in BC, an award winning operation with over 1200 mink animals. In 1950 the partners sold the land and the Olofson family moved to rented homes on Sperling Avenue. In 1952 Axel sold the last of his minks and opened a sporting goods store on Hastings Street. In 1954 the family moved to North Vancouver where Axel Olofson reestablished his sports business. Maureen attended Sperling Avenue School from Gr. 1 to Gr. 8 and Burnaby North High School to Gr. 11, completing school in North Vancouver, before going to UBC where she trained as a teacher. She returned to Burnaby in 1977 to teach, retiring in 1997. She is a volunteer with the Swedish Canadian Rest Home Association and the Dania Homes Society. Maureen continues to enjoy activities on Burnaby Mountain and works toward preserving the natural beauty of the mountain.
- Total Tracks
- 8
- Total Length
- 1:19:04
- Interviewee Name
- Olofson, B. Maureen
- Interview Location
- Maureen Olofson's home in Burnaby
- Interviewer Bio
- Kathy Bossort is a retired archivist living in Ladner, BC. She worked at the Delta Museum and Archives after graduating from SLAIS (UBC) in 2001 with Masters degrees in library science and archival studies. Kathy grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and, prior to this career change, she lived in the West Kootenays, earning her living as a cook for BC tourist lodges and work camps. She continues to be interested in oral histories as a way to fill the gaps in the written record and bring richer meaning to history.
- Collection/Fonds
- Community Heritage Commission Special Projects fonds
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
Audio Tracks
Track three of interview with Maureen Olofson
Track three of interview with Maureen Olofson
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS196-004/MSS196-004_Track_3.mp3![The Fair Haven, [between 1950 and 1957] thumbnail](/media/Hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/251/305-001.jpg?width=280)
The Fair Haven
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription36597
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1957]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. postcard ; 9 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photographic postcard of "the Fair Haven," a group of United Church homes for Senior Citizens. The road in the foreground is Rumble Street, and the long road to the right is Sussex Avenue. The small forest behind "the Fair Haven" is the David Gary Park.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1950 and 1957]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Vera Jackson Pel subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. postcard ; 9 x 14 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 305-001
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS1992-46
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photographic postcard of "the Fair Haven," a group of United Church homes for Senior Citizens. The road in the foreground is Rumble Street, and the long road to the right is Sussex Avenue. The small forest behind "the Fair Haven" is the David Gary Park.
- Subjects
- Aerial Photographs
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Buildings - Residential - Seniors Housing
- Names
- Fair Haven
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Typewritten note on verso of postcard reads: "AERIAL VIEW/ 'The Fairhaven', Burnaby BC / United Church Homes for Senior Citizens / 4341 Rumble St., Burnaby, BC"
- Handwritten note on verso of postcard reads: ""The road in the foreground is Rumble Street. The long road to the right is Sussex Avenue. The road, going up, on the left, barely visible is McKay Avenue = lower corner. Behind Fair Haven is the future David Gary Park cleared in the late 1950's - then more trees were felled in October 1962 with Hurricane Freda (blown over, uprooted trees) that left the park as it is today in 1993. The top row of little (5) white cottages were moved from the N.W. corner of Willingdon and Kingsway where Old Orchard Mall is now - they were part of Old Orchard Auto Villas, the first Fair Havens. Note: All cottages on right side of Lodge have been moved to Vancouver Island in 1991 for Motel units - by barge."
- Printed on verso of postcard: "Traveltime product, made in Vancouver, Canada, by Grant-Mann Lithographers Ltd."
- Geographic Access
- Rumble Street
- Street Address
- 4341 Rumble Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Alta-Vista (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Sussex-Nelson Area
Images
![The Fair Haven, [between 1950 and 1957] thumbnail](/media/Hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/251/305-001.jpg)
Interview with Toki Miyashita by Rod Fowler February 27, 1990 - Track 2
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory517
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1942-1969
- Length
- 00:07:41
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s growing interest in Japanese culture and arts, studying the Japanese language after she was 22 in Montreal. She talks about how she learned paper-folding (origami), to make silk dolls, flower-arranging (Ikebana), and how to wear a kimono, and …
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s growing interest in Japanese culture and arts, studying the Japanese language after she was 22 in Montreal. She talks about how she learned paper-folding (origami), to make silk dolls, flower-arranging (Ikebana), and how to wear a kimono, and then began to teach others these skills in Montreal .
- Date Range
- 1942-1969
- Length
- 00:07:41
- Subjects
- Education
- Arts
- Persons - Japanese Canadians
- Interviewer
- Fowler, Rod
- Interview Date
- February 27, 1990
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of an interview with Toki Miyashita, conducted by Rod Fowler. Toki Miyashita was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Toki Miyashita’s family’s internment during WWII, her awakening interest in Japanese culture after the war, her subsequent interest in teaching others about Japanese crafts and arts, and becoming a helpful intermediary between Burnaby and visitors from Japan. The interview explores her interest in the Ainu of Japan and their possible link to the aboriginals of BC, her impressions of the Ainu carver Nuburi Toko, and her involvement in the events surrounding the creation of the sculpture “Playground of the Gods” for Burnaby Mountain. The interview also contains interesting details about the art of Japanese flower-arranging. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
- Biographical Notes
- Toki Miyashita was born in Richmond B.C., ca. 1935, at the Nelson Brothers “fishery”, a second generation Canadian descended from the Oikawa family who settled on Don and Lion Islands (Oikawa-shima). In 1942 the Japanese Canadians in BC were forcibly moved from the coast and their belongings confiscated. Toki Miyashita, her parents, two brothers, and grandparents were first taken to Hastings Park where her father was separated from the family to work in road camps, and the rest of the family were interned in New Denver. Her resourceful grandmother moved the family to land outside the internment camp, growing a large garden from seeds brought with her. In 1946 the family moved to Kamloops and in 1958, after finishing high school, Toki Miyashita moved to Montreal to be with relatives and a small Japanese community. At this time she became interested in Japanese culture and took a Japanese language course at age 22. She learned about Japanese flower-arranging (Ikebana), paper folding (Origami), silk doll making (from a Russian Jew), and how to wear a kimono. She began demonstrating these arts in schools and to other groups, which she continued doing when she, her husband and two young children moved to Burnaby in 1969. Toki Miyashita has been called an unpaid “ambassador” of Japanese culture to the Lower Mainland. She has acted as liaison between Burnaby and her sister city Kushiro in Japan, which involved her in the creation of the Ainu sculpture “Playground of the Gods” on Burnaby Mountain for Burnaby’s Centennial. Toki Miyashita is a recognized Master in Ikebana Sogetsu, a school of flower-arranging, and has served on the board of the Vancouver Ikebana Association. She also served on Burnaby’s Family Court in the 1980s.
- Total Tracks
- 11
- Total Length
- 01:34:10
- Interviewee Name
- Miyashita, Toki
- Interviewer Bio
- Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
- Collection/Fonds
- SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
- Transcript Available
- Transcript available
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Web Notes
- Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Audio Tracks
Track two of interview with Toki Miyashita
Track two of interview with Toki Miyashita
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS187-017/MSS187-017_Track_2.mp3![Lenkurt Electric Company, [1957] thumbnail](/media/Hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/001/099-001.jpg?width=280)
Lenkurt Electric Company
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription34690
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1957]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 20.3 x 25.3 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of aerial view of the Lenkurt Electric Company at 6960 Lougheed Highway (later renumbered 7018 Lougheed Highway). A sign on the top of the building reads, "Lenkurt." An information sheet from the Company Relation Division of Lenkurt attached to the back of the photograph reads, "Aerial…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1957]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Photographs subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 20.3 x 25.3 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 099-001
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS2007-04
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of aerial view of the Lenkurt Electric Company at 6960 Lougheed Highway (later renumbered 7018 Lougheed Highway). A sign on the top of the building reads, "Lenkurt." An information sheet from the Company Relation Division of Lenkurt attached to the back of the photograph reads, "Aerial view of a 34,000 square foot building including a 19,000 square foot extension to the existing 15,000 square foot plant of Lenkurt Electric Co. of Canada Ltd. in North Burnaby, B.C., as at May 10th, 1957. / The building is situated on 20 acres of land and faces north onto Lougheed Highway."
- Names
- Lenkurt Electric Company
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Commercial Illustrators Industrial Photographers
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Stamp and annotation on back of photograph reads, "TA. 8817 / Commerical Illustrators / Industrial Photographers / 601 Denman St., Vancouver 5, B.C. / File No. 1080-1"
- Geographic Access
- Lougheed Highway
- Street Address
- 7018 Lougheed Highway
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Lozells (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Government Road Area
Images
![Lenkurt Electric Company, [1957] thumbnail](/media/Hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/001/099-001.jpg)
Standard Oil Company
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription34568
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1958
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 27.8 x 35.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photograph of the Standard Oil Company Stanovan Refinery, Burrard Inlet.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1958
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Photographs subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 27.8 x 35.5 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 052-004
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only
- Accession Number
- BHS2007-04
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photograph of the Standard Oil Company Stanovan Refinery, Burrard Inlet.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Aero Surveys Limited
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Back of photo stamped: "Photo by Aero Surveys Limited, Vancouver, BC, Canada / Identification No.: BO-58-444"
- Geographic Access
- Eton Street
- Street Address
- 4403 Eton Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
Images
