Photograph of a runner wearing a cow-spotted costume during a 24-hour relay race at Swangard Stadium. Other runners and participants with a banner are on the track behind the runner and many people are sitting in the stands in the background.
Photograph of a runner wearing a cow-spotted costume during a 24-hour relay race at Swangard Stadium. Other runners and participants with a banner are on the track behind the runner and many people are sitting in the stands in the background.
Photograph of Amy Wong and Derick Ng, grade 1 students at Deer Lake School with toys, clothing and food they and their schoolmasters collected for local charities. In the background are grade 10 students Jose Quezada and Alicia Haney.
Photograph of Amy Wong and Derick Ng, grade 1 students at Deer Lake School with toys, clothing and food they and their schoolmasters collected for local charities. In the background are grade 10 students Jose Quezada and Alicia Haney.
Photograph of two unidentified children posing with rolls of coins in a box and in a bucket. Posters for the Terry Fox Run are posted on the classroom wall behind them.
Photograph of two unidentified children posing with rolls of coins in a box and in a bucket. Posters for the Terry Fox Run are posted on the classroom wall behind them.
Photograph of an unidentified person, wearing a shirt that reads "Metrotower [illegible] Complex," cooking hamburgers at an outdoor charity event. A banner reading "Cookin for the Kids" is hanging behind the barbecues.
Photograph of an unidentified person, wearing a shirt that reads "Metrotower [illegible] Complex," cooking hamburgers at an outdoor charity event. A banner reading "Cookin for the Kids" is hanging behind the barbecues.
Photograph of an unidentified person holding up a plastic bag filled with water and several goldfish, during at fundraising event at Simon Fraser University.
Photograph of an unidentified person holding up a plastic bag filled with water and several goldfish, during at fundraising event at Simon Fraser University.
This portion of the interview is about Sev Morin’s appointment to SFU Senate and his views about the university, and his involvement in other organizations such as Rotary, the Variety Club and Telethon, Burnaby Hospital (with Bill Lewarne), the Restaurant Association, and Vancouver AM Tourism Assoc…
This portion of the interview is about Sev Morin’s appointment to SFU Senate and his views about the university, and his involvement in other organizations such as Rotary, the Variety Club and Telethon, Burnaby Hospital (with Bill Lewarne), the Restaurant Association, and Vancouver AM Tourism Association
Date Range
1970-1990
Photo Info
Sev Morin (left) of Severin's in Burnaby (formerly the Gai Paree) hosting a gala New Year's celebration, 1979. Item no. 480-712
Recording is of an interview with Severin "Sev" Morin, conducted by Rod Fowler. Sev Morin 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 mainly about Sev Morin’s banquet hall, restaurant and night club business on Kingsway, originally named the “Gai Paree Supper Club” (1947-1976) and later “Severin’s” (1976-1985) and “Diego’s” (1985-1994), its function as a Burnaby landmark, and the entertainment and political people he met through his business. He also describes his many volunteer activities in Burnaby, including member of the SFU Senate, Rotary Club, Variety Club and Telethon, fund raising for Burnaby Hospital, and tourism related groups, and his political work for the federal Liberal party. He talks about his parents’ origins, the lives of his brothers Rudy and Rene, and the family’s involvement in establishing the “Gai Paree”. He also shares his views about the business and cultural development of Burnaby. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
Biographical Notes
Severin “Sev” Rene Morin was born September 21, 1927, in Bonneville, Alberta, to Rene Pierre Morin (1878-1963) and Anne Marie (nee Lachiver) Morin (1886-1956). Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Morin and their son Rene Francois (1905-1954) immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, from France in 1913, where Rene Pierre Morin worked for the C.N.R. and a second son Adolphe “Rudy” Ferdinand (1922-1969) was born, followed by their third son Severin. In 1943, after R.P. Morin retired, the family moved to Burnaby to a house on Sperling Avenue. Sometime earlier the two older Morin brothers found work in Trail at the smelter and developed musical careers. In 1946/47 the Morin family purchased property on Kingsway and built a banquet hall, the “Gai Paree Supper Club”. Sev and Rudy Morin managed the club and Rene F. Morin moved to Burnaby to join them with his band. The supper club, with its live music and dance floor, became a popular meeting place and wedding venue, eventually expanding into a restaurant and nightclub in the 1970s. The “Gai Paree” was renamed “Severin’s” in 1976 and “Diego’s” in 1985, closing finally in 1994. Sev Morin’s business life included three record stores which he owned with his friend Jack Cullen. Through these businesses Sev Morin was well known in the entertainment and hospitality industry. He and his restaurant also hosted political and social events that made the restaurant a community landmark. Sev Morin contributed many volunteer hours to community and charitable organizations, including an appointment to the SFU Senate, fundraising for the Burnaby Hospital, Director of the Variety Club and Rotary Club, and consultant for a variety of tourism related ventures. He also was active in the federal Liberal Party. Sev Morin and his wife Pauline married in 1950 and had three children. Sev Morin died at age 86 on March 28, 2014.
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.
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.
Photograph of Leanne Thornley, property administrator of MetroTowers office complex wearing a santa hat and handing out cookies to an unidentified woman as a part of a Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society fundraiser.
Photograph of Leanne Thornley, property administrator of MetroTowers office complex wearing a santa hat and handing out cookies to an unidentified woman as a part of a Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society fundraiser.
Photograph of Marie Schneider, facilities manager for Rogers, getting "dunked" at British Columbia Children’s Hospital "Cooking for Kids" summer barbecue fundraiser at Metrotown Plaza.
Photograph of Marie Schneider, facilities manager for Rogers, getting "dunked" at British Columbia Children’s Hospital "Cooking for Kids" summer barbecue fundraiser at Metrotown Plaza.
Photograph of Mark Fletcher of Burnaby Fire Department handing a cheque to Joy Yorath of Burnaby Hospital to kick off the Fire Fighters Benefit Christmas Magic Show fundraising drive at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. The photograph also includes an unidentified ventriloquist with his …
Photograph of Mark Fletcher of Burnaby Fire Department handing a cheque to Joy Yorath of Burnaby Hospital to kick off the Fire Fighters Benefit Christmas Magic Show fundraising drive at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. The photograph also includes an unidentified ventriloquist with his puppet.
File contains photographs of a fundraising bikeathon for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Photographs depict cyclists during the event, fixing bicycles, and participants dressed for the rainy weather.
File contains photographs of a fundraising bikeathon for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Photographs depict cyclists during the event, fixing bicycles, and participants dressed for the rainy weather.
File contains photographs of the Terry Fox Run event at Swangard Stadium. Photographs depict runners Shawna Soles and Kevin Smyth warming up before the race and unidentified participants starting the race on the stadium's track.
File contains photographs of the Terry Fox Run event at Swangard Stadium. Photographs depict runners Shawna Soles and Kevin Smyth warming up before the race and unidentified participants starting the race on the stadium's track.
Collected by editorial for use in a September 1999 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata for 535-3342-1: "Shawna Soles and Kevin Smyth stretch prior to the Terry Fox run. Shawna and Kevin were part of a group of over 100 who took part in the run"
Caption from metadata for 535-3342-2: "Start of Terry Fox run at Swangard Stadium"
Caption from metadata for 535-3342-3: "Start of Terry Fox run at Swangard Stadium"
Photograph of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and crowd at New Westminster's Royal City Centre for the Western Society for Senior Citizen Services fundraiser.
Photograph of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and crowd at New Westminster's Royal City Centre for the Western Society for Senior Citizen Services fundraiser.