Eve Lazarus
Deidre Keohane (Deirdriu Ni Cheochain) moved into the Birkdale Apartments on West Broadway with her boyfriend Marty Lacroix in 1980.
Birkdale Apartments:
The Birkdale Apartments first appears in the city directories in 1922, and at some point became the Burkdale Apartments on the front of the building. Not long after moving in, 22-year-old Deidre, an art school grad and Marty, a dancer with Paula Ross, took a can of spray paint to the name, replacing Burk with Rat and the Ratdale was born.
One of my favourite parts about writing this blog is getting comments from people that add to the story, and often take it in a whole new and unexpected direction. I get really excited when someone sends me a 100-year-old postcard or a photo of Vancouver that’s never been seen outside the family album.
Maria Brunskog saw my story on the Wigwam Inn at Indian Arm and sent me this postcard.
Before it was a housing development and golf course, Westwood Plateau was a 1,400 acre-odd parcel of land that included a racetrack.
All photos by Bruce Stewart in 1970.
Two of the streets in the development – Deer’s Leap Place and Carousel Court – were named for the track’s most challenging sections.
The Dewdney Trunk Road Pleasure Faire was held over three days in September 1971, on land that was designated to become a federal penitentiary in Mission, BC.
All photos by Bruce Stewart
The Deluxe group—Alan Clapp, Dan Clemens, Ian Ridgway and Ray Clark—applied for the permit, and Clemens and Ridgway spent the summer deconstructing barns and designing and building a 60-acre village.
I went to the PNE last week, the first time in more than 15 years. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty underwhelming.
For this post, I thought I’d draw from comments left on my August 17 blog and on my Facebook page Every Place has a Story.
The Dollarton Pleasure Faire was held in the summer of ’72 at the Maplewood Mudflats in North Vancouver. It was a celebration of alternative living, an acknowledgement that its days were numbered, and it was timed to clash with the annual PNE.
At least as far back as the 1940s, squatters were part of a long tradition of settlements such as Crabtown in North Burnaby and Finn Slough in Steveston.
The PNE kicks off today (Saturday August 17) and runs until September 2.
In 1992, I worked at the Vancouver Sun and that year I spent most of my August shifts at the PNE.
One day I’d write about the rodeo clown who had broken every bone in his body at least once.
Last week’s blog on Kitsilano featuring Bruce Stewart’s photos, brought back memories and a healthy does of nostalgia from those of you who were lucky to have known Kits in the ‘70s.
In this week’s blog I’m delighted to bring you photos from Angus McIntyre, Gord McCaw, Peter Dobo and a couple more from Bruce, interspersed with your comments.
