Collected by editorial for use in a February 2005 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Fifteen year-old Kyle Turris is committed to playing hockey for the Burnaby Express next season and the University of Wisconsin in 2007."
Photograph of Shelley Morten signing to wrestler Pier Morten, as a crowd of South Slope Elementary School students applaud in American Sign Language behind them.
Photograph of Shelley Morten signing to wrestler Pier Morten, as a crowd of South Slope Elementary School students applaud in American Sign Language behind them.
Collected by editorial for use in a December 2001 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Shelley Morten signs to her husband, Pier, what is happening behind them, as volleyball players at South Slope Elementary School applaud the blind and deaf wrestler, also using sign language. Pier was honored by the school as an inspiration to its own athletes, some of whom are also deaf."
Collected by editorial for use in a March 2002 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Agatha Van Der Starre admires some of the medals she's won throughout her long speedskating career. At 71, she's still going strong, having just set four records in the short track provincial championships in Burnaby last weekend."
Photograph of Anthony Ferrari, an athlete with the Burnaby Winter Club AAA Bantams hockey team, planting vegetation during an environmental event with the Toronto Dominion Bank in Beecher Park.
Photograph of Anthony Ferrari, an athlete with the Burnaby Winter Club AAA Bantams hockey team, planting vegetation during an environmental event with the Toronto Dominion Bank in Beecher Park.
Collected by editorial for use in a November 2002 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Anthony Ferrari , a player with the Burnaby Winter Club AAA Bantams, does his part to help restore the natural habitat around Beecher Creek. Members of the team joined staff from the Toronto Dominion Bank Saturday to plant trees and native vegetation in the ongoing effort to maintain the creek as a home for fish as it passes through Beecher Park."
Photograph of the Women's Athletic Coordinator at Simon Fraser University, Barbara Robertson, sitting on the bleachers in the Simon Fraser University gymnasium.
Photograph of the Women's Athletic Coordinator at Simon Fraser University, Barbara Robertson, sitting on the bleachers in the Simon Fraser University gymnasium.
Photograph of Canadian Olympic wrestler Daniel Igali shopping for cereal in the Metrotown Save-On-Foods grocery store as promotion for a fundraising event for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, sponsored by General Mills and Save-On-Foods.
Photograph of Canadian Olympic wrestler Daniel Igali shopping for cereal in the Metrotown Save-On-Foods grocery store as promotion for a fundraising event for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, sponsored by General Mills and Save-On-Foods.
Collected by editorial for use in an August 2000 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Canadian Olympic wrestler Daniel Igali isn't just shopping for his breakfast cereal at Save-On Foods Metrotown. He, his sponsor, General Mills, and the grocery store are hoping people will contribute non-perishable goods to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. All donations will be matched by General Mills."
Photograph of Burnaby Mayor Dave Mercier, wearing a t-shirt which reads: "THE MAYOR" helps out during McDonald's Restaurants McHappy Days. Joining the mayor at McDonald's Hastings Street outlet were Harold Snepts of the Vancouver Canucks on the far left, and Gino Bolognes of the North Burnaby Lions…
Photograph of Burnaby Mayor Dave Mercier, wearing a t-shirt which reads: "THE MAYOR" helps out during McDonald's Restaurants McHappy Days. Joining the mayor at McDonald's Hastings Street outlet were Harold Snepts of the Vancouver Canucks on the far left, and Gino Bolognes of the North Burnaby Lions beside him. A female employee is visible on the other side of the mayor, and looks to be pushing him, to get closer to the hamburger buns that they are all helping to dress.
Newspaper clipping attached to verso of photograph reads: "HAMBURGER HELPER ... Burnaby Mayor Dave Mercier, wearing identifying T-shirt, used his former experience as short-order cook to pitch in with McDonald's Restaurants McHappy Days last Wednesday. Joining the mayor at McDonald's Hastings St. outlet were Harold Snepts of the Vancouver Canucks on far left, and Gino Bolognes of the North Burnaby Lions beside him. Regular restaurant employee on far right tries to squeeze into the action as well."
File contains photographs of Emanuel Sandhu, the 2003 Canadian Men's Figure Skating Champion, signing autographs at the Bank of Montreal in the Metrotown Centre. Photographs depict Sandhu with Kelsey Vriend of Abbotsford and with other unidentified autograph-seekers.
File contains photographs of Emanuel Sandhu, the 2003 Canadian Men's Figure Skating Champion, signing autographs at the Bank of Montreal in the Metrotown Centre. Photographs depict Sandhu with Kelsey Vriend of Abbotsford and with other unidentified autograph-seekers.
Collected by editorial for use in a March 2003 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata for 535-2282-1: "Emanuel Sandhu, the 2003 Canadian Men's Figure Skating Champion, signs an autograph for Kelsey Vriend, of Abbotsford, during an appearnce at the Bank of Montreal in the Metrotown Centre. Vriend was the top fundraiser in the Community Skate-A-Thons to Support Kids and she won a trip for two to the World Figure Skating Championships, in Washington D.C."
Caption from metadata for 535-2282-2: "Emanual Sandhu, 2003 Canadian Men's Figure Skating Champion, signs autographs for fans during an appearance at the Bank of Montreal in the Metrotown Centre. Sandhu, who trains at Burnaby 8 Rinks, is preparing for the World Figure Skating Championships, March 27-30 in Washington DC."
Photograph of Ian Gregson running along Prairie Avenue in Port Coquitlam during that municipality's first Terry Fox Run. He was Canada's top amputee athlete in 1983 and went on to represent Canada in the Paralympics in 1984 and 1988. In 2001 he ran for Member of Legislative Assembly in Vancouver Ha…
Photograph of Ian Gregson running along Prairie Avenue in Port Coquitlam during that municipality's first Terry Fox Run. He was Canada's top amputee athlete in 1983 and went on to represent Canada in the Paralympics in 1984 and 1988. In 2001 he ran for Member of Legislative Assembly in Vancouver Hastings as the Green Party candidate and received 14% of the popular vote. He lives in East Vancouver and is married to textile artist Heather Cameron.
Note on recto of photograph reads: "Ian Gregson 20 of Bby who lost his leg in an accident 4 yrs ago runs down Prairie Ave in PoCo./ Pic is NOT backwards (his shirt is inside out)"
Collected by editorial for use in an April 2003 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Zak McLaren is participating in the adventure of a lifetime, the 150-mile Marathon des Sables through the Sahara Desert in Morocco."
Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with "The Bollywood Boyz", Harvinder Sihra and Gurvinder Sihra conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Rajdeep.
00:00:00 – 00:05:26
Gurvinder “Gurv” Sihra and brother Harvinder “Harv’ Sihra introduce themselves, providing details on …
Interviewer: Rajdeep
Interviewees: "The Bollywood Boyz", Harvinder Sihra and Gurvinder Sihra
Location of Interview: Burnaby Village Museum
Interview Date: July 8, 2023
Total Number of tracks: 2
Total Length of all Tracks: 01:02:03 min
Digital master recordings (wav) were recorded onto two separate audio tracks, edited and merged together and converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
Photograph credit: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Scope and Content
Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with "The Bollywood Boyz", Harvinder Sihra and Gurvinder Sihra conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Rajdeep.
00:00:00 – 00:05:26
Gurvinder “Gurv” Sihra and brother Harvinder “Harv’ Sihra introduce themselves, providing details on where they were born and grew up (in Burnaby), names of their parents and provide details on their family history. They describe how their grandparents and other relatives continued to live in Punjab after their father and mother immigrated to Canada in the 1970’s, recall the reasons their parents decided to immigrate and details of their lives before and after arriving in Canada.
00:05:27 – 00:06:46
Gurvinder and Harvinder describe some of their experiences travelling through Vancouver airport and compare their experiences with their mother’s own experiences. Gurvinder and Harvinder describe the layout of the airport and how customs and immigration has changed over time.
00:06:47 – 00:09:21
Gurvinder and Harvinder provide details about their mother, Parveen Sihra. They share information regarding her education in India and how she was unable to get work related to her degree in biology after immigrating to Canada. They convey how she worked in the Burnaby City Hall cafeteria in the 1990’s and how she worked part time in order to take care of her children. They share how their parents were proud Canadians participating in events inside and outside the South Asian community and were both fluent in English but often spoke Punjabi at home.
00:09:22 – 00:16:06
Gurvinder and Harvinder recall their childhood experiences growing up in Burnaby. They talk about the sports that they were involved with including hockey and Taekwondo, family vacations spent travelling to India and their experiences attending Marlborough Elementary School and Moscrop Secondary School.They describe how they first became interested in watching wrestling and trying it out on their own in their family home. Gurvinder and Harvinder recall their own experiences of discrimination while growing up and playing sports.
00:16:07 – 00:27:37
Gurvinder and Harvinder reflect and recall events that lead them to their dream of becoming professional wrestlers. They talk about pivotal events including attending their first live wresting event at GM Place with their father in 1996, beginning their training in Calgary in 2004, travelling across the country to participate in minor wrestling events, wrestling in Rogers Arena in 2017 and 2020 and getting their first call to join WWE. They talk about the support that they’ve had along the way to getting them where they are today and comment on why they want to be wrestlers in the WWE.
00:27:38 – 00:29:25
Gurvinder and Harvinder provide background information on their various wrestling personas and names in the world of professional wrestling including the Singh Brothers and the Bollywood Boyz.
00:29:26 – 00:38:43
Gurvinder and Harvinder talk about their experiences wrestling in India and the support and expectations of family members in becoming successful. Gurvinder and Harvinder recall and reflect on the experience of being fired from the WWE when cutbacks were made during the COVID pandemic.
00:38:44 – 00:42:53
Gurvinder and Harvinder describe what a day in their lives looks like now. They talk about how they’re still very passionate and focused on their wrestling careers and describe their experiences of having support and enthusiasm from fans and their parents. They talk about travelling across the country to particpate in different wrestling events.
00:42:54 – 00:47:18
Gurvinder and Harvinder talk about their training regimen including exercise and diet and describe areas in Burnaby where they like to train in gyms and the outdoors.
00:47:19 – 00:49:49
Gurvinder and Harvinder talk about neighbourhoods in Burnaby including Metrotown and Deer Lake and how they’ve seen them change over the years.
00:49:50 – 00:54:27
Gurvinder and Harvinder talk about their highest and lowest points in their wrestling careers, highlighting specific events. They talk about the physical stamina it takes for wrestling and compare their sport with the sport of Kabaddi (a contact team sport between two teams originating in India).
00:54:28 – 00:59:01
Gurvinder and Harvinder reflect on what toughness means to them, and what keeps them motivated to do what they do.
00:59:02 – 01:01:31
Gurvinder and Harvinder impart their words of wisdom to younger kids in chasing their passions and dreams and talk about their favourite Bollywood films and actors.
History
Interviewees' biographies:
The Bollywood Boyz are a Canadian professional wrestling tag team composed of brothers Gurvinder "Gurv" Sihra (born in 1984) and Harvinder "Harv" Sihra (born in 1987). The pair are best known for their time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where Gurvinder and Harvinder performed under the ring names Sunil Singh and Samir Singh. They were both born and raised in Burnaby by their parents Harjeet and Parveen Sihra and attended Moscrop Secondary School. Gurvinder graduated from Douglas College where he studied criminology and has worked in loss prevention and has a third degree black belt in Taekwondo. Harvinder attended Douglas College with studies in history and has worked as a model and an actor. Both Gurvinder and Harvinder Sihra are Sikhs.
Interviewer biography:
Rajdeep was born and raised in the Lower Mainland and is of Punjabi (South Asian) descent. She has an Associate of Arts degree in Asian Studies from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. She is a student in the Restoration of Natural Systems program at the University of Victoria. Rajdeep works at Simon Fraser University as a Program Assistant and as a researcher with the City of Burnaby. At Burnaby Village Museum, Rajdeep contributed to the exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”.
Item is a silent digitized colour and black and white film segment identified as Reel 3. The film segment opens with footage of Digney family automobile travels and of Pelican Lake, Alberta where the family spent their summer, the footage switches to footage of a parade somewhere in the Rockies (B…
Item is a silent digitized colour and black and white film segment identified as Reel 3. The film segment opens with footage of Digney family automobile travels and of Pelican Lake, Alberta where the family spent their summer, the footage switches to footage of a parade somewhere in the Rockies (Banff) which begins in black and white and changes to colour format. This is followed by colour footage of car racing at the Digney Speedway located on 10 acres of property on MacPherson Ave. Jelopy stock car racing is seen taking place with crowds of people looking on.