Every Place Has a Story

Main Street Farmers Market

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False Creek:

False Creek is a realtor’s dream. It’s a model of sustainability, with housing options—that include the condos and townhouses in the Olympic Village—a school, a seawall for walking and running and biking, and a waterway filled on any given day with kayaks and canoes and dragon boats. The neighbourhood has fitness facilities, outdoor play areas, breweries and artistic venues—even a science centre left over from the heyday of Expo 86.

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Cold Case Canada is a Webby Award Nominee!

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I am thrilled to tell you that Cold Case Canada is up for a Webby Award – the only Canadian nominee in the Crime and Justice podcast category. This is a really big deal. The New York Times called the Webby’s “the Internet’s highest honor.”

Vote for Cold Case Canada at the Webby Awards

There are two parts to the award.

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The 1976 Murder of Elizabeth Gardner

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In 1976, when Heather Ede was 14 years old and living in Powell River, BC, the body of her friend Elizabeth (Lizzie) Gardner was found under the Lois River Bridge. For over 45 years Heather wondered what had happened to her friend and if the police were still investigating her death. In January 2022 she filed a Freedom of Information request with the RCMP.

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Granville and Georgia Streets: 150 Years in Virtual Reality

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It’s Heritage Week (February 19 – 25) and if you’re looking for something to do Sunday, drop by Heritage Hall on Main Street and check out the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s community fair. This year’s theme is Layer by Layer. It’s a great opportunity to meet a host of different community groups and take in Brian Walters’ seven-minute, award-winning virtual reality film.

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The House that Joe Built

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Multiplexes will soon replace single family homes all over Vancouver. How many stories will be erased from our history?

I was reading an article in the Vancouver Sun yesterday called “Multiplexes may be coming to your neighbourhood soon.” It’s City Hall’s way of densifying our neighbourhoods, replacing those entitled single family homes with up to six strata homes on a single lot.

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Francis Rattenbury: A Halloween Horror Story

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Francis Rattenbury moved to Victoria in 1892. The 25-year-old had beat out 60 other architects to win the design competition for BC’s Parliament Buildings. Although massively over budget, the commission propelled the young architect’s career, and before long he had a slew of buildings after his name including the Empress Hotel, The Crystal Gardens, the CPR Steamship Building, the Bank of Montreal on Government (Irish Times Pub), and the Law Courts (Vancouver Art Gallery), as well as his own Oak Bay Mansion–Iechinihl, now a private school.

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Elsie MacGill (1905-1980)

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October is Women’s History Month in Canada. This gives me a great excuse to write about Elsie MacGill, the Queen of the Hurricanes.

Elsie Gregory MacGill grew up on Harwood Street in Vancouver’s West End in the early years of the twentieth century. While other little girls in her dance class dreamed of performing on stage, Elsie wanted to know how things worked.

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