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Ed Brown family fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97218
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1912-1920
- Collection/Fonds
- Ed Brown Family fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 12 photographs: 7 b&w jpgs.; 4 sepia jpgs., 1 med. b&w print.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs that belonged to the Brown family. Photographs depict Ed Brown, his wife Jennie, and their children at their homes on Royal Oak Avenue and McKay Avenue; Brown's trucking company; and other Burnaby locations and events.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1912-1920
- Collection/Fonds
- Ed Brown Family fonds
- Physical Description
- 12 photographs: 7 b&w jpgs.; 4 sepia jpgs., 1 med. b&w print.
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Accession Number
- 2008-03
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs that belonged to the Brown family. Photographs depict Ed Brown, his wife Jennie, and their children at their homes on Royal Oak Avenue and McKay Avenue; Brown's trucking company; and other Burnaby locations and events.
- History
- The following is copied from an article written by Brown's grandson, Jim Ervin, for "Old Autos" in 2003, in an article entitled "Grandfather was a trucker...": The roots of my family run deep in Burnaby, especially on my mother’s side. It was her father, my grandfather, who started one of Burnaby’s first trucking businesses, E.S. Brown’s Transfer. I could find no record of when he actually began operations but I have pictures to show that he was using horses before he had trucks. One of my enclosed pictures dates from about 1910 since I know the birth dates of his two oldest daughters and they are in the picture as very small children. He met and married my grandmother, whose maiden name was Jennie Birtch, from Ontario, and I still have relatives back east from both branches of the family. They were married on Sept. 27, 1905. But where, I can’t say. They had their first child, Hazel, born April 2, 1908. Then came seven more daughters but no sons to help with the family business. The business was located at the family home at 3131 Royal Oak Ave. in South Burnaby. That was close to the top of one of the steepest hills in Burnaby and must have made for a real test of man and machine to drive it, especially in winter. The children loved it for sleigh riding but probably not father. My mother, Inez, was the second oldest daughter, born Oct. 9, 1909. She would have been born, along with her sister Hazel, in the big house shown in the picture and built by my grandfather. But this house was to later burn down. That’s when Edward Sadler Brown decided to move his family from the side of the hill to the top and much closer to the main road, Kingsway. Most of the area was forest at that time and one of Ed’s first jobs was to haul shingle bolts out of the forest, with a team of horses. Please don’t ask me what a shingle bolt is but my mother knew and used to have to grease the skids placed on the logging trails for the loaded sleds to be pulled out on. One time, as she told me, there was a huge forest fire and my grandfather barely escaped with his life and one last load. Later, when the area had been cleared, he helped to build the Oakalla Prison Farm, now replaced by town-houses on Royal Oak Ave. This job led to him becoming the first contractor to haul the license plates made by the prisoners. Some of these plates would be worn by Ed’s own trucks. The trucks, which he eventually acquired, included some pretty obscure makes such as Hufman, Garford, Stewart (which my mother often said was no good), Gotfredson and the more common names of Chevrolet and GMC. A Ford Model T would probably have been too light for the kind of hauling Ed was doing in the 1920s. I always thought that his main cargo was coal and coke, but I received quite a surprise with some recently discovered information. It started when I was removing boxes of general junk from the house to the garage to make more space. One of those boxes broke open and one item which came out wasn’t junk by any means. It was a copy of a business card for Brown’s Transfer, a company which hauled coal, coke, wood and did furniture moving as well. My mother often described my grandfather as a “go-getter” for business. I believe I see what she meant. Never was I so glad to have a cardboard box break open and to retrieve such an important item. My mother was a saver like you wouldn’t believe, a habit which the Great Depression drilled into her. In another box containing old receipts, I found a copy of one from Brown’s Transfer which offered even more insight into the company. The receipt isn’t dated but only the last number of the year required filling in on the form. And this dates it as issued sometime during the 1920s. The surprising thing is the amount of items sold by my grandfather. Not just coal, wood and coke anymore. Now he was into sand, gravel, cement, brick lime, tile and sewer pipe. Furniture moving seemed to be sort of a sideline, mentioned in smaller letters at the bottom. But notice some of the other items on the hand written receipt. There’s lumber, grass seed, paint, glass, a loan (spelled lone) on painting a house. I’m not sure that I understand that one or the payment on house or the one about the toilet. But it’s obvious that this was a man who knew how to make a buck in many ways. He was almost his own building supply store, it would seem. Also mentioned on the form is an office location at 4009 Kingsway. The building is no longer there but it did survive into my life time. Often, my mother would point out to me where the office once was on the north side of Kingsway, near McKay Ave. Still standing, though, ist he old family home at the former address (now changed) of 3131 Royal Oak Ave. That’s where my mother and all seven of her sisters were born. These were the “swampers” on dad’s trucks, a job hard enough for a man. Ed did hire men as well to work as drivers and even employed his own mechanic. But for the girls, it wasn’t really a paying kind of job. “Some times he would buy us an ice-cream cone,” my mother would say. In those days, parents wanted large families to help with all the work which needed doing. Payment in dollars and cents just wasn’t usually part of the deal. I never knew my grandmother, Jennie, who died in 1946 at age 61, an early age to go but likely reflective of a lifetime of hard work and too many children. However, I did know my grandfather who lived into his 70s.His company came to a rather sad end, as related by my mother, in the dirty 30s. Apparently a certain sister of my grandmother, great aunt to myself, reported to the local school board that grandfather was supplying them with an inferior grade of coal for the schools. Then the school board cancelled his contract and that put him into bankruptcy. Whether the story is true or not doesn’t seem to matter much any more since no one who could have known is still among the living. Ed Brown, the industrious, rugged individualist did make a small come-back in the early 1950s with his own plumbing business. The details of that enterprise, I don’t know. But I do remember his old International panel truck he used. People such as my grandfather made a great contribution to Burnaby.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- BHS298
Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee collection
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription12986
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1970-1971
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee collection
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 57 architectural drawings + approx. 45 cm of textual records + 94 photographs + 1 video recording (mp4) + 1 film reel
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of records documenting the planning and development of the Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee's commemorative project, Heritage Village (Burnaby Village Museum) prior to it's opening in November 1971. These records were created and/or accumulated by various members of the Burnaby…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee collection
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 57 architectural drawings + approx. 45 cm of textual records + 94 photographs + 1 video recording (mp4) + 1 film reel
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of records documenting the planning and development of the Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee's commemorative project, Heritage Village (Burnaby Village Museum) prior to it's opening in November 1971. These records were created and/or accumulated by various members of the Burnaby ’71 Centennial Committee sub-committee, Heritage Village staff and the Century Park Museum Association.
- History
- The Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee was formed in accordance with the British Columbia Centennial '71 Act and was directed by the Provincial Centennial '71 Committee. In April 1970, a representative group of Burnaby citizens were appointed to the committee. Members of the committee included: Ex-Officio Mayor Robert W. Prittie; Chairman, James A. Barrrington; Vice Chairman, Gordon H. Skene; Secretary-Treasurer, Charles B. Brown; Alderman, John D. Drummond; Mrs. Joan Johnston; Mrs. Martin Dunsmuir; Miss Rose Bancroft; Msgr. J.E. Brown; Messrs. Elmer Buckingham; A.B. "Sandy" Stewart; Vic Stusiak; Fraser Wilson; Don Copan and Richard Smith. The purpose of the committee was to ensure that all Burnaby citizens as individuals, family groups or members of community organizations had an opportunity to participate and contribute to celebrations marking the 100th Anniversary of the entry of British Columbia into Confederation and further to make written suggestions of a permanent Centennial project of lasting value and significance to the community. Programs and special events sponsored by the committee included; Flag raising ceremony on January 1, 1971, New Year's Day Ceremony, parades, plays (including "Barkerville '71"), musical events, Burnaby pioneer award presentations, a horse show, lacrosse jamboree, minor baseball, volleyball, tennis, football, soccer, judo and field hockey tournaments, a swim meet, an antique car rally, Easter egg hunt, Rocketry meet, Boy Scouts outdoor action show, Girl Guides "camporee", Midsummer Festival at Burnaby Arts Centre, Rhododendrun Festival at Century Gardens, Variety show, Centennial Ball, Burnaby Rhodendrun Flower show, a Miss Burnaby Pageant, Sports Day, Burnaby Amateur Radio Club party, Centennial '71 Caravan, Centennial High School Art Contest, Sod Turning Ceremony at Heritage park Museum and opening of Heritage Village Museum in November. A sub-committee of the Centennial Committee was responsible for the development of a City of Burnaby permanent commemorative project which became Heritage Village. Sandy Stewart was the sub-committee chair who worked with Richie Smith and Vic Stusiak to develop the concept for an open- air museum reflective of a tram stop community. Architect Rudy Kovacs was hired to come up with a design for the project. Official sod-turning of Heritage Village took place on April 11, 1971. Mayor Bob Prittie officially turned the sod in front of the Elworth house before a crowd of 500. In the spring of 1971, a Heritage Village Director and Curator were hired to oversee the development of the project and acquire artifacts. Salaries were paid through the Parks Commission. The sub-committee continued to assist in overseeing the project to completion. Vic Stusiak set up an administrative structure to govern the new museum. The building of the museum was contracted by Ballarin Bros. Construction at a cost of $121,000 and work began in mid July. Trevi Construction Co. was contracted to do the finished carpentry on the project. The Century Park Museum Association was formed to govern Heritage Village with directors elected on October 26, 1971. Heritage Village officially opened on November 19, 1971 with Mayor Bob Prittie and Governor General Roland Michener in attendance. On January 27, 1972 the committee turned over the Heritage Village Project to the Corporation of the District of Burnaby. After this, the committee was dissolved and all remaining funds were transferred to the Century Park Museum Association which took over the governance of Heritage Village, later known as Burnaby Village Museum.
- Creator
- Burnaby Centennial '71 Committee
- Accession Code
- BV985.6018
- BV000.18
- BV019.52
- BV020.5
- BV022.9
- Date
- 1970-1971
- Related Material
- Century Park Museum Association fonds
- Donald Copan collection
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Arrangement
- Records were accumulated and donated by various donors over time. They were arranged and described by subject and format as discrete items originating from this committee.
- Notes
- Title based on content of collection
- Some records within this collection have restricted access - contact Burnaby Village Museum for further information
- Further accruals are expected
Burnaby Girl Guides fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription4614
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1914-2009
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Girl Guides fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 22 scrapbooks : photographs + textual records + illustrations + digital files : col. (pdfs) + photographs : col. (tiffs) + col. (jpegs) + 222 photographs : b&w ; col. + 12 cm of textual records + ephemera
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of a collection of scrapbooks containing photographs, textual records, illustrations and ephemera along with individual photographs and textual records related to Burnaby Girl Guides. Records document the activities and functions of Burnaby Girl Guides through histories, journals, ne…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Girl Guides fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 22 scrapbooks : photographs + textual records + illustrations + digital files : col. (pdfs) + photographs : col. (tiffs) + col. (jpegs) + 222 photographs : b&w ; col. + 12 cm of textual records + ephemera
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of a collection of scrapbooks containing photographs, textual records, illustrations and ephemera along with individual photographs and textual records related to Burnaby Girl Guides. Records document the activities and functions of Burnaby Girl Guides through histories, journals, newspaper clippings, certificates, awards, programmes, photographs, illustrations and newsletters. Scrapbooks were created by Burnaby Girl Guides and Girl Guide leaders and deposited with the Burnaby Girl Guide Archivist prior to being donated to the Burnaby Village Museum. Record descriptions are available at both item and file level. Fonds is arranged into the following series: 1) Burnaby Girl Guides scrapbooks and photographs series 2) Burnaby Girl Guides administrative records and histories series 3) Burnaby Girl Guides newsletters series 4) Burnaby Girl Guides memorabilia series
- History
- The Girl Guide Movement began in England in 1909 when girls in England demanded to take part in a Boy Scouts rally at the Crystal Palace in London, organized by Chief Scout and Boy Scout founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell. Following this event, Baden Powell asked his sister, Agnes Baden-Powell to help him start a similar organization for girls and Girl Guides was formed. Girl Guides came to Canada in 1910 and the first troop in British Columbia was registered in Victoria in 1912. In 1913 Amy Leigh moved to Burnaby from England and enquired about a Guiding company in her area and was disappointed to find none. On June 11, 1914 at the age of 17 years, Amy registered the 1st Burnaby Girl Guide Company and became the captain. On April 2, 1916 the 2nd Burnaby Guide Company registered and met at Edmonds School. In this same year, the very first Burnaby Girl Guide Rally event took place at Central Park and by 1920 another took place at the Burnaby Municipal Hall (Edmonds) and was attended by both Burnaby and New Westminster Guides. The First Burnaby Brownie Pack was registered on December 1922 with Mrs. W.J. Matherson as Brown Owl. The Brownie Pack met in a West Burnaby facility. The First Burnaby Land Ranger Co. was formed on November 29, 1923 and by 1924 Burnaby became a District with four Guide companies, four Brownie Packs and the Rangers. In 1923 records show Mrs. Gavin as commissioner, Mrs. C.F. Carter in 1924 and Miss Amy Leigh between 1926 and 1928. The first District camp was held near Sechelt in 1927 on the property of Mrs. Deal and Mrs. Nixon with annual camps held here until 1930 when the Guide camp at Wilson Creek was established. In 1929 Guides and Brownies began taking part in the Annual May Day Celebrations at Central Park. In 1930 Burnaby became a Division with Mrs. C.F. Carter as Division Commissioner and Mrs. G. Peel as District Commissioner for South Burnaby and in 1931 Miss Amy Leigh became the first North Burnaby Commissioner. The 5th Burnaby Girl Guide Company in North Burnaby began publishing a bulletin in 1935. In this same year Burnaby Girl Guides attended a rally for Lord and Lady Powell who were visiting Vancouver and Burnaby Girl Guides became affiliated with Greater Vancouver Girl Guide Council. The packs and companies of North Burnaby were attached to the eastern section of Vancouver while South Burnaby and South Vancouver District became another Division. Mrs. Pochin organized the Burnaby Lake District in 1943 becoming the first District commissioner (In 1927 Mrs. Peel had guides in this area). The first training classes for Girl Guides were held in 1943 in a hall on Buller Avenue at the BCER tracks and also Phillips Hall on McKay Avenue. By 1945 a training camp was held on Mrs. Pochin’s property on Deer Lake. South Vancouver, South Burnaby and Burnaby Lake Districts took part in the training which was a change over from war time service and the return of Pioneer camping. Miss E. Perition was in charge of camp which was attended by Mrs. J. Quinnell, Mrs. J. Albertson and many guiders. In 1946 Lady Baden Powel returned for a visit to Vancouver and there was a rally at Connaught Park and Chief Scout Lord Rowallyn held a rally at Brocton Point. In 1947 Mrs. J. Albertson became Division Commissioner for South Vancouver and South Burnaby. Districts of Burnaby Lake and South Burnaby each adopted a European child and undertook to send regular parcels and by 1948 these Districts became a Burnaby Division once more under Division Commissioner Mrs. W.M. Wall. In September 1949 the first Sea Ranger Crew “S.R.S. Royal Oak” was formed under the Skipper, Miss E. Periton. The S.R.S. Royal Oak met at All Saint’s Church Hall on Royal Oak Ave. In 1950 Packs and Companies in North Burnaby organized into a District under Mrs. Hebron and in 1953 Sperling District was organized by District Commissioner Mrs. Hancock. 1953 was also the same year that South Burnaby District was divided into three Districts: Central Park District under Commissioner Miss Perition, Douglas District under Commissioner Mrs. J. McKee Wilson and Kingsway under Commissioner Mrs. J.G. Fowler. A few years later, in 1955 the guides and brownies were out in force to welcome Lady Baden Powel at a rally held in the PNE Gardens building and by March 1956 Burnaby ceased to be a part of Greater Vancouver Area and was organized under two Divisions of the Province. The Sperling, Willingdon and Vancouver Heights Districts in North Burnaby became North Burnaby Division with Mrs. H. Hebron as Division Commissioner. With rapid population growth further decentralization became necessary and South Burnaby Division was split in two, adding the new division of Central Burnaby under Commissioner Miss E. Perition. Central Burnaby was composed of three Districts: Burnaby Lake, Central Park and a new District named “Windsor” under Mrs. C. Dumfries. South Burnaby was composed of three Districts: Kingsway, Edmonds and Lakeview (the latter two also referred to as Douglas with Mrs. McGeachie and Mrs. J. Park as the first commissioners of these two Districts). In 1957 Burnaby became an Area unto itself with three Divisions, and 9 Districts under Miss Periton as the first Area Commissioner. In February 1957, Burnaby entered into a contract with Vancouver Girl Guide Council to lease a part of the Wilson Creek campsite. Under the leadership of Area Commissioner, Miss Periton, work started on the development of the site with funds raised by both the Girl Guides, local citizens and associations. A camp committee was formed with representation from each Division and a lot of help from Miss Norah Weller, the Wilson Creek camp manager. Plans were laid for the site with a dining shelter, store room and cook stove contracted for while a subcommittee of men was appointed to purchase building supplies and organize work parties to build cabins, a staff house, water pipes and sanitary facilities. The site opened in May 1958 with $6000 expended on building and equipping the camp, while an official opening took place on June 8 and by July Girl Guides began camping on the site. The Burnaby Area Committee became a member of the Burnaby Community Council and a participant in Community Chest in 1958 and on May 1, the Burnaby Area office opened. By 1959, with further participation in North Burnaby, Sperling District was split to form Sperling and Hillview Districts and by 1960 Kingsway District of South Burnaby split to form Kingsway and Royal Oak Districts. By December 1960, Burnaby Area had 3 Divisions, 11 Districts with a total membership of 2, 331.
- Creator
- Girl Guides of Canada
- Accession Code
- BV015.35
- BV015.36
- BV016.49
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 1914-2009
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- Some scrapbooks are only available in digital formats
- Accessions that form part of this fonds include: BV015.35; BV015.36; BV016.49
Robert Rogers fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription21409
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1940-1968], predominant [196-]
- Collection/Fonds
- Robert Rogers fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 22 photographs
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs of members of the Rogers family and their family homes located at 6255 Willingdon Avenue and 6458 Willingdon Avenue as well as school class photographs while Bob Rogers was a student at Sussex Elementary School and Maywood Elementary School.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Robert Rogers fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 22 photographs
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs of members of the Rogers family and their family homes located at 6255 Willingdon Avenue and 6458 Willingdon Avenue as well as school class photographs while Bob Rogers was a student at Sussex Elementary School and Maywood Elementary School.
- History
- Robert "Bob" Rogers was born to parents Laurence Charles "Charlie" Rogers and Ethel Victoria (Hurl) Rogers and grew up at his family home at 6458 Willingdon Avenue. Charlie and Ethel Rogers were married in 1951 and had two children, Bob and Colleen Rogers. Bob attended Sussex Elementary School, Royak Oak Junior Secondary (now Marlborough School) and Burnaby South Secondary School. Bob's father, Laurence Charles "Charlie" Rogers was born in 1917 to parents, Edith Eleanor (Trimmer) Rogers (1881-1968) and Henry James Rogers (1877-1931) at their family home located at 6255 Willingdon Aveune, Burnaby. Edith and Henry James Rogers had three children; Isabel (Brown) (1912-1996), Norman Prior (1919-2009) and Laurence Charles "Charlie". Following the death of Henry James Rogers in 1931, Norman continued to reside at the family residence. Charlie Rogers served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed for some time in Goose Bay. Charlie Rogers died in 1992 and Ethel Rogers died in 2020.
- Accession Code
- BV024.8
- Date
- [1940-1968], predominant [196-]
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
Walker family fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription78708
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1948-1957 (date of originals); 2013
- Collection/Fonds
- Walker family fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 38 photographs (7 jpeg : col., 300 dpi ; 7 jpeg : col., 96 dpi ; 10 jpeg : b&w, 300 dpi ; 12 jpeg : b&w, 96 dpi). 1 drawing (jpeg) : col., 300 dpi ; 2 maps (jpeg) : col. ; 96 dpi ; 397.67 KB of textual records.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of 41 jpegs of original photographs (some include annotation), maps, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Scotty Walker, his family and the Inter-City Driving Range that he created.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1948-1957 (date of originals); 2013
- Collection/Fonds
- Walker family fonds
- Physical Description
- 38 photographs (7 jpeg : col., 300 dpi ; 7 jpeg : col., 96 dpi ; 10 jpeg : b&w, 300 dpi ; 12 jpeg : b&w, 96 dpi). 1 drawing (jpeg) : col., 300 dpi ; 2 maps (jpeg) : col. ; 96 dpi ; 397.67 KB of textual records.
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Accession Number
- 2013-15
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of 41 jpegs of original photographs (some include annotation), maps, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Scotty Walker, his family and the Inter-City Driving Range that he created.
- History
- Scotty Walker purchased the property at 974 12th Avenue in 1948 under the Veteran’s Land Act (VLA) grant from the government. He was in the Air Force during the Second World War. Previous to the purchase he ran a trucking business in New Westminster and lived at 1421 Nanaimo Street. The family consisted of Scotty, his wife Elizabeth, and three children, Alex, Barbara, and James. The land was overgrown with trees, scrub bushes, and a general swampy area. Scotty had the plan to build a Golf Driving Range, but it would take a lot of work. He owned three acres and leased three acres from the Lady of Mercy Church. Then they started working the land. The trees and scrub bush had to be removed and it was all done by hand. As the weather warmed and the swamp dried somewhat, Scotty got the idea to do selective burning. After many times doing this in small sections, the wind changed and the fire was headed for some houses on Tenth Avenue. The fire departments from New Westminster and Burnaby showed up and he was severely punished. It created other problems too. The land was swampy and when it dried, it was a peat bog, so the fire would burn down and turn up all over the place. That winter when the rains came, the land flooded and froze. The kids in the neighbourhood took advantage of the open spaces and brought out their skates. They had a great time. Some pigs were purchased with the idea that they could help dig up the roots and could be butchered later. Well they cleared the roots, but the kids all said they would not eat the pigs. The pigs were sold as they had become like pets. The land was then bulldozed into a berm on the 12th Street side of the land and a fence was built on top of the hill. The Walkers still had to clear the roots and branches that accumulated on the berm. The big problem was snakes. There were pits of water snakes that had been moved with the bulldozing. The family is not sure what happened with the snakes but eventually they moved. The area that would have been to the left of the property was still a swamp, so maybe they went there. The Walkers built drainage ditches through the land and let it drain to the natural slope toward Eighth Street. Construction on the Golf Range started and the grass was seeded. The “Inter-City Golf Range” opened on June 16, 1951. It had been a long hard road for the whole family but it worked out quite well. There was no automatic machine picking up balls, it was all done by hand and washed in a washing machine. Eventually they got Shag Bags that helped some but it was a huge job. The Golf Range ran for a few years and then Burnaby had a very sunny summer and the sun was in the patrons' eyes. So Scotty decided to move the buildings to the 12th Avenue part of the land. The club house and coffee shop was moved. The family took the building apart board by board and reconstructed it at the other end of the land. This worked well. All this had been accomplished on a shoestring budget as there was no big money behind anything. The Walkers cut the grass with gas hand mowers, washed the balls with the washing machine, and worked very long hours. Then the Catholic Church decided not to renew the lease. The family had worked so hard and now Scotty’s dream was dashed. It was a devastating time. Eventually the property was sold to the Christian Brothers and the buildings to Gus Brown in Richmond. The church bought the land for $25,000, in 1957. The end of the dream was very hard on everyone. Eventually life went on. It is sad that Scotty was just so far ahead of his time. He was a small man about 5’6" and about 140 pounds but had dreams as big as anyone and worked like three men to accomplish his dream. The cleared land was eventually developed into Saint Thomas Moore School. Biography provided by B. Kromm
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Creator
- Walker family
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- Photo catalogue 557