Port Coquitlam Heritage
& Cultural Society
Newsletter
Summer 2014
Community Archives
2100-2253 Leigh Square
Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 3B8
604-927-8403
email: [email protected]
LOOKING BACK
Larry Jacobsen, Editor
Being members of a heritage society we seem to spend a lot of time at the mirror — examining our past. As most
of us are well beyond our “best before dates” we have a lot more “past” than “future” to be concerned with. As
such we tend to fixate on anniversaries and such. Last year we celebrated a very special one — Port Coquitlam’s
100th. This year it was City Hall that saw its centenary and what better time to observe it than during our annual
May- Day festivities. Speaking of May Day, Following are a few photos I took that day (May 10).
WOW! A 60-foot War Canoe. First thoughts — what kind of turning radius does this baby need to turn around?
As I walked up Shaughnessy Street, this cedar canoe
was the first exhibit I encountered. Fitting, I thought,
since it belonged to Kwikwetlem, the PoCo First Nations people who may have been here for over ten
millennia — a bit before our European ancestors arrived
two centuries ago. I’ll bet it could move at a good pace.
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Mark Twain: from Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.
On polygamy - No man can serve two masters.
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This boat with its massive outboard motor is no
doubt used more frequently than the canoe on
the previous page. It certainly required less
manpower. But one wonders what is lost by
stepping into the 21st century. The canoe would
provide the means of building fitness and pride
in its crew members. What speed could a well
trained complement of paddlers attain with
such a canoe? The canoe would present an
awesome sight as it sliced through the water
toward you.
Below: Vancouver’s finest parading their bikes
along Mary Hill by the courthouse.
Parades without bands? The two have always gone together and still do, and the tuba still plays a prominent role. Pictured is the Inter-city band followed up by some Redcoats in its rear. Where are their horses?
PoCo’s next generation making sure they will not be left
behind nor forgotten.
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The Rotary club has been an important part of PoCo for
many years
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I never saw any of these trams, but I remember the Vancouver street
cars only too well — the tail end of one almost hit my front fender while
turning left at an intersection. I was in the curb lane.
Is the S.P.C.A. be on a tight budget? No one complained about my miserly donation to it.
Cruise anyone? First ship I have seen with its funnels abreast instead of in-line.
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Is that Pippa?
We didn’t have to LEARN how to play when I was a
youngster. Is it a wonder that I am asocial?
The flagship of PoCo’s navy with Emily at the helm.
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Our Central School students appear enthusiastic as they parade this imposing display up Shaughnessy.
What an exquisite and imaginative Falun Gong (Dafa) display. I enjoy these people’s use of colour.
This spiritual movement has been dealt with harshly in
China by the authorities for the past twenty years as it
grew in popularity.
From The Way of Chuang Tsu
by Thomas Merton.
The Man in whom Tao
Acts without impediment
Harms no other being
By his actions
Yet he does not know himself
To be “kind,” to be “gentle.”
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TRUTH SPOKEN IS A LIE BY Larry J.
Who knows does not speak
Who speaks does not know
For how can insight and awe
Be reduced to words
Yet still retain their power
How can wonder be expressed in
language
Yet recall the power felt
For experience uttered is as empty
As the sound of one hand clapping
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Are parades dangerous — or do these First-Aid men just abhor being unnoticed? From left to right; Mehran,
Larry (me), Travis, and Curtis. Jamie (not shown) took the photo.
For the children of Port Coquitlam what could be more enticing after the parades were
finished than to make haste to
the amusement park set up at
Wilson Centre. Its rides might
not rival those at the P.N.E.,
But for the younger tots, those
rides would have been scary
enough.
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Central School Memories
One hundred years ago, in May of 1914, pioneer
Donald McLean sold 1.9 acres of farmland to the
local school board where they would erect a modern
state-of-the-art four-room school. The old Junction
School on Wilson and Schoolhouse Road (circa
1890) was no longer adequate to handle the population boom expected with the growth of the newlyincorporated city of Port Coquitlam, and was closed
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in 1913. School Trustee (later Mayor) Arthur Mars laid
the cornerstone on September 5th 1914, and Central
School officially opened for the business of teaching and
learning on October 1st, with Miss Ada Irvine as Principal. [Did they actually build that school in under a
month?] Many old-time senior Central alumni remember
Miss Irvine from their days at the school. She was a very
strict disciplinarian, but compassionate on the welfare of
her students’ education, and taught at both Junction and
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Central for 39 years (1907-1946). A name familiar to
us all was Miss Hazel Trembath, another long-time
teacher from 1924-1951.
We are fortunate to have, in our PoCo Heritage
Archives, a number of former students’ recollections of
their time attending Central School through the ages.
They give us a glimpse of what life was like back in
those simpler, less-complicated times. Mr. Wally Stewart (1915-1917) recalled the students playing a prank
on their teacher by putting an alarm clock in his desk
drawer. Every time it went off, he thought it was the
phone in the hall, and left to answer it. When no one
owned up to the mischief, all the students got the strap.
Lillian Reid (nee Wingrove) remembered times in the
1920s when kids played marbles or jacks, and there
was no mixing of boys and girls during recess or noon
hour. During the 1930’s Lona Orr (nee Leacock) and
Annie Southern (nee Marshall) ate their lunch and
played in the basement on rainy days.
Chris Beddis (nee Marshall) recalled the war years
of the 1940’s, with its blackout regulations, and teacher Mr. Bill Brand (1942-1951) with his broomstick
brigade. By the early 1950’s, according to Stephanie
Friesen (nee Stewart), boys and girls were now allowed to play together, and tag was a popular game.
Although I wonder at times who was chasing who (or
is it whom?) Many will also remember teachers Jenny
Gardner (1951-1961) Glenn MacDonald (1963-1976)
and Judy Watkins (1974-1984), who were all part of
Central School’s 70th Reunion Committee in 1984.
Central School will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary on Friday October 10th, and extends an invitation to all former students and teachers to return to
their old alma mater and relive times past with old
friends and classmates. We look forward to seeing you
there! By Bryan Ness
Ada Irvine: 1914. Central School’s first principal. This picture was contributed by the Irvine family. WOW! They
dressed differently in those days.
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1921 Central School classroom.
Hazel Trembath in 1926. She taught from 1924 to
1951. Imagine - 36 years. She would have influenced hundreds of children.
1944 Grade Seven Army Cadets at Central
School. Photograph courtesy of Joe Nick.
Central School cornerstone — 1914
All the Central School text and and photographs were submitted by our PoCo historian, Bryan Ness.
Brian Hubbard and Cait. The hard-working and productive
president of the PoCo Heritage Society, is clearly elated
about something. I have never seen him looking so radiant. Did he just latch on to a pot of gold for the society, or
does sitting next to a comely lass influence his smile?
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The consummate salesman pitching his delectable wares.
Who, but a dyed-in-the-wool teetotaler could resist his impassioned pitch?
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Above:
Marg Owens and John Diack on behalf of the Community
Foundation presented an award to PoCo Heritage president, Brian Hubbard, last Thursday afternoon, at the
Gathering Place in Leigh Square (June 10),. It is one of
the inaugural awards that will support a program at Heritage at Leigh Square which uses artistic techniques
to educate, inform and inspire people about the history of
Port Coquitlam.
Right:
The legend of the Slumach gold mine was brought to life
at a presentation hosted by PoCo Heritage on May 3rd.
On the left is Brian Antonson, a co-author of the best
selling book, Slumach Gold. Standing next to him are:
Denise Maxwell, Ernie Higgins, and Sabrina Shong.
Sabrina Shong doing a presentation at Heritage. She is a former
May Day queen, and it is easy to
see why.
Ernie Higgins entertaining the guests at the Salon evening
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Our local Tory and web innovator is looking rather pensive.
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Pit Polder rock quarry courtesy of Bryan
Mike Cacic - BC Lions’ Defensive Tackle
Have you lived in Port Coquitlam long enough to
remember the old Commercial Hotel? It was torn down
shortly after I moved here in the mid Nineties. I stayed
in that hotel nearly fifty years ago and it was there that I
witnessed one of BC Lions' Defensive tackle, Mike
Cacic's lesser known talents.
I was working for “H B Contracting” of Cloverdale,
BC in June of 1967 — pioneering the rock quarry near
present-day Swanee-Set Golf Club. This quarry still
operates today, a half-century later. It was here that I met
Mike Cacic, a formidable young giant, who played for
the BC Lions as a defensive tackle for ten years. That’s
a long time in a tough game. Mike stood 6’ 7,” weighed
270 pounds, and carried no visible fat on his body. He
still lived at home with his parents who had immigrated
from Yugoslavia and lived in Guilford. His stated purpose in working with us was to get into condition for the
Lions’ training camp. What impressed me the most about
Mike was his phenomenal strength. We had him swamping for a Caterpillar “D8” dozer skidding logs off the
property and clearing the brush. It was awe-inspiring to
watch Mike grab the big bull-hook, off the tractor's
winch, with one hand, and just run with it as he peeled
the inch and a quarter-thick wire cable off its drum as
though it was a piece of string. I no longer remember
what that hook weighed, but together with its thick, steel,
cable, it was heavy. No ordinary man could make it look
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The weather that June was extremely hot all over
the lower mainland, and at the quarry it was regularly up in the nineties (Fahrenheit). By the time we had
toiled in the sun for ten hours, we were thoroughly
dehydrated for we couldn’t seem to drink enough
water. When we reached the hotel each evening our
first order of business was to slake our raging thirsts
with a few glasses of beer. Mike Cacic was no
different from the rest of us in that respect, but he did
it differently. He had the bartender set six foaming
glasses of beer on the table in front of him. He then
tilted back his head and alternating with first one,
then the other hand, he proceeded to pour glass after
glassful of beer down his parched throat. He did not
swallow the beer; he literally poured each glassful
down in two to three seconds. After that display,
Mike would sit and sip his beer sociably with the rest
of us. I have met only one other man who reputedly
had that ability but Mike was the only person that I
personally witnessed doing it.
When I contacted Mike a dozen years ago he told
me that after retiring from football, he had worked
for the New Westminster School District as a plumber and welder for thirty years. He married at thirtyfour and raised two sons and a daughter. He may
now be trying out for a heavenly football squad for
he passed away a couple of years ago.
Julie Schmidt shared the responses to one question she asked us at the last
Rhymes of Times Session. -Tell us about your first recollection of having pop".
- Once, my dad brought home a case of 24 short
Stubby glass bottles of pop . That was our first pop
experience.
- We didn't have pop. Our mother would flavour
our hard water with a small amount of cordial flavoring that she had in an assortment of flavours. We
would also have lemonade made from lemons grown
in our garden. I remember seeing a keg of ginger
beer with a spigot
- Never having had pop before, we thought Root
BEER and Ginger ALE were alcoholic beverages.
While attending a 4-H meeting on growing potatoes, my sister and I had assembled the considerable
sum of 25 cents and purchased a large bottle of
Root beer. With difficulty we managed to consume
the whole bottle between us as others cautioned us
not to get too drunk!
- 10 of us each contributed 1 cent so we could buy
a bottle of pop for a dime at the bus depot cafe in
Port Coquitlam. We would then get 10 straws and
each draw up the pop that would fit in one straw by
closing its escape with our index finger and letting
the contents drip into our mouth until the bottle
made its rounds a second time. The store keeper said
she would have made more money if she sold us the
straws and gave us the pop free.
- My aunt made homemade root beer and let it process behind her wood stove. The root beer concentrate came in a tiny bottle and many families made
their own. That was a special treat.
-We never had any pop, there wasn't any available. It would have had to be brought in by train. We
didn't have lemonade either because the only citrus
fruit we had was a mandarin orange at Christmas.
We drank Kool Aid and my mom also made saskatoon berry cordial.
Come and join in the fun when we start up again in
September reminiscing about a different topic every
month. - Julie Schmidt - Vice President
Pictured is Linda Sliworski, one of our stalwart volunteers. Is that a city map beside her?
www.pocoheritage.org
UPCOMING MEETINGS
General Meetings
Thursday
1:00 pm, CR
General Meeting
COMING EVENTS
June 21, 9:00 am, Cenotaph - Walk for Veterans and for Peace. Start at PoCo Cenotaph - For information contact
Guy Black (604) 937-7673 or [email protected] Or - the Port Moody Station Museum (604) 939-1648
Hours of Operation
Monday
10:00 - 6:30 pm
Tuesday
10:00 - 7:00 pm
Wednesday
10:00 - 6:30 pm
Thursday
10:00 - 7:00 pm
Friday
10:00 - 6:30 pm
Saturday
9:00 - 5:00 pm
Sunday - CLOSED
CR - Community Room at the Gathering Place.
HALS - Heritage at Leigh Square (Museum & Archives)
Visitors are always welcome!
WANTED
2014 Board of Directors
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Director
Director
Director
Director
Brian Hubbard
Julie Schmidt
Cait Pilon
Margaret Owens
Lois McCrady
Brianne Egeto
Fritz Radandt
Michael Thomas
From time to time there are items we need at the
Archives. Rather than spending our limited $$$, it‛s
possible that some of our members may be able to help.
Our current needs are:
Plastic Totes with lids (all sizes)
If you have any of these items that you don`t need,
please bring them into the Archives, or give us a call
and we can arrange to pick up.
Thank you!
Newsletter Editor: Larry Jacobsen
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