I was researching two Wooded Stern Wheelers built in False Creek for the Yukon River in 1898 . One was the “James Domville” and the other was the “Honest Citizen” .

Now my old boss at the “1941 Forest Service Shipyard on the North Arm of the Fraser River” was Thomas Edwards. Yes it was his dad James Edwards who skippered the coal fired sternwheeler the James Domville from False Creek to the town of St. Michaels near the mouth of the Yukon River !Tom told me the story of his dads trip up the coast of B. C., across the panhandle , to the town of St Michaels . Yes it was a hair raising story!

What happened to the James Domville on the Yukon River was a mystery to me , untill this evening , when I Googled the two False Creek wooden built Sternwheelers ! I slipped into a site called the” Yukoner Magazine Stories ” Buzzsaw Jimmy 1998 by Darrell Hookey ” Ah I fooled you that time you Son of a Bitch ” it was great piece of writing and opened the door to what finally happened to the J. D. on the Yukon ! And guess what , the Buzzsaw Jimmy was a wood cutter and deck hand on the James Domville , that False Creek sternwheeler had a short but interesting life on the Yukon River! What the Buzzsaw did with one leg and numerous body injuries in his life was unbelievable !

Tom Edwards my old wooden Boat building boss just died recently and I am so glad he told me the stories of the trip of the Stern Wheeler James Domville, from False Creek ,north to the gold fields of Dawson City ! Its a great story and at last it has a ending for me ! Terry

Also…

Hi All

A little history: Thought you would like this , quite a few of the Alaska Gold Rush Yukon River Wooden Stern Wheelers were built around Vancouver and in New WestMinister and after all the easy gold was gone , they were used as Lumber Barge Stake Boats on the Fraser River!

The” Senator Janson ” Stern Wheeler, Stake boat worked out of Frasers Mills side towing lumber barges for a few years ! The Greenwood, Alice, Sampson and Bonacord were Marpole Cannery sternwheelers moving canned salmon and goods on the North Arm of the Fraser River in the early days . Snag Pullers , navigation bouy tenders and floating museums are other uses for old and rotting retired Sternwheelers !

The False Creek built Sternwheeler “James Domville” on her first trip during the 1899 ice breakup season on the Yukon , was heading back to Dawson City and was wrecked in the 30 mile river, just 24 hours into her trip ! As a jesture of good faith and appreciation , Captain Ferris paid off the crew in full, including Buzz Saw and they all departed in different ways ! It is thought the stern wheelers bones and boiler are still located on the shore of Lower Lake Laberge ! Born in False Creek , the James Domville ended its life on the icy shores of Lake Laberge !

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on that marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee

Robert Service

Musqueam Elder Rose Point will be leading two ‘Nettle’ walks in order to acquaint people with this extraordinary healing plant and to teach them how to use it to advantage. Her walks are scheduled for Wednesday March 14th at 10.00am and on Saturday March 19th at 1pm.

Meeting point: The second parking lot on Crown Street south of Marine Drive. Please wear boots and appropriate clothing.

Cooking with nettles will also be the topic at one of the upcoming Salmon Berry Days events in May when on Thursday May 3rd in the kitchen of St. Philip’s Church Hanno Pinder will demonstrate how to make a delicious nettle soup from nettles picked in the neighbourhood

Hello Neighbours,

Many of you have been following the Supportive Housing development on Dunbar & 16th and may have noticed the construction of this site.

The building is now finished and fully occupied. There are 51 tenants from different paths of life who found a new home at the 3595 W. 17th Avenue location. They are supported by Coast Mental Health as the project sponsor with multiple programs like help on medication, a meal program and other support to be able to lead an independent life.

If you are interested in this project please visit the Open House which will be held on Sunday February 26th from 1pm to 3pm.

Best Regards

Robert Westendorp

Hi This is a a Old Slack Family Christmas Story, its kind of sad , but a part of early life in Canada for the Slack Family ! It was a cold and wet winter in 1951 and 4 float houses were anchored or tied next to old abandoned lumber scows under the cliffs of Point Grey, at a place know by the log boom tug boats, as the C. M. E. booming grounds ! Grand dad Frank Slack , Jack and family and Alf and Family moved their float houses from Iona Island to this place under the cliffs, in July 1950 ! A slippery trail followed beside a roaring creek and up to” civilization a , road” , as mom put it ! It was a long walk east along the S. W. Marine Drive road to P. O. Box 13 and a little shopping center at Dunbar and 41st Avenue., it was at last our first introduction to the real Vancouver and had no river to cross to get there !

It was about 2 weeks before the Christmas of 1950, when the rain storms started and they never stopped , the snow melted and the big tides and southeast winds rocked our float house ,. Jack and Alf managed to get more ropes to tie the houses and shore catwalks to trees on the shore line under the cliff ! We had a good supply of cut firewood for our stoves, they made it warm and cosy and it was kind of nice listening to the wind and rain, as we were sleeping next to the warm stove ! We opened our Christmas presents from England a week early and I was really happy to get a Tiddly Winks game and a Boys Own book ! Valerie opened her present to find a Snakes and Ladders game , boy that was great we all enjoyed tossing the dice and moving up the ladder and passing by the snakes ! Just a few days to go to Christmas and the rains came down harder and harder and dad and mom could hear trees cracking on the top of the Cliff ! The tap water from the cliff springs got muddier and muddier and then it clogged up the hose pipe , dad said he would fix it in the morning and we all went to bed, with rain water coming off the roof in sheets,it was like sleeping under a waterfall !

The crashing of trees continued long into the night and then there was a roaring noise , it was the steep bank of mud and shrubs crashing down on top of our float house , the trees missed Franks and Jacks float house and scored a direct hit on the roof of ours !

One large fir tree caved in the roof of our house , just missing us in bed and dad yelled get out , but the deep mud was all around the float house and dad got mired in up to his waist in it ! Jack and Frank came to lend a hand in the pitch black dark and helped us get to a safer place, away from the falling trees ! It was morning and the tide was coming up and flooded out the float house, for it was stuck in the land slide mud and trees and mom just looked and cried and cried ! We had lost every thing that was so precious to us , all our “Christmas Presents” , clothing and food was covered in mud ! It took Dad , Frank and Jack all day to dig the float house free of the mud and thank goodness it floated on the next high tide ! We all pitched in and cleaned up the float house , fixed the roof and got the wood stove going again all in time for Christmas ! Val and I glued up the coloured paper chains to decorate the inside of the repaired roof and I cut off the top of a Hemlock tree that missed our house, it made a lovely well earned Christmas tree ! About 5 days later we celebrated Christmas, next to our old but warm stove and we all played the Tiddly Winks Game long into the night ! This was a never to forget Christmas at the Booming Grounds . I still go down the cliff trail today to see the slide that nearly killed us all and remember that Christmas of 1951 !

Terry

Hi

The city was digging the road up at 30th and Dunbar today and found a few deep underground wooden rail ties that were probably supporting old Dunbar Street Car tracks ! I was wondering, was there a tram stop at 30th and Dunbar, on the east side of the street ?

Talking to the city crew, they noted that the wooden ties have been found all along the Dunbar Construction zone on the west side and now on the east side they are now just being discovered ! Sounds like the Street Car wooden support rail ties were just abandoned and filled over with soils on both sides of Dunbar ! I managed to obtain a 3 foot sample of the unearthed street car track ties, not sure what to do with it ! I am sure more will be discovered as digging will take place at numerous other street ends on the east side of Dunbar !

The plans for digging next week at Dunbar and Marine Drive, going up the hill east to Collingwood, could just maybe unearth some interesting Dunbar heritage artifacts . The Collingwood and Marine location was near the end of the 1863 North Arm Trail and the horse and buggies had a full head of sweaty steam, heading down to todays Dunbar Street ! Should make interesting “Mud Larking” for the city crews ! The trail was kind of the very early 1863 hub of horse transportation for the early farmers down on the flats ! Yes there was also a old 1800 Corduroy “early logging skid road” around todays Marine Drive and Dunbar Street . There are old time rumors of a logging camp located in the small wood lot between Marine Drive, Dunbar and 47th Ave. In 1913 the Scott and Young Logging Company was logging partly cut and fire damaged trees from Marine Drive and Dunbar Streets and down to the North Arm of the Fraser River !

Should be very interesting digging by the city next week and a nightmare for car traffic !

Terry

2011 TNA Westside Cycling Classic

presented by Shape Properties & Mosaic Homes
New PreFondo Event & B.C Provincial Championship Races For 2011

On Sunday, June 12th 2011, the Wedgewood Cycling Team presents its seventh annual road race on the streets of Vancouver.

Returning to the scenic route surrounding Pacific Spirit Park near the University of British Columbia, the race will again be set against a spectacular backdrop of the Pacific Ocean and the Coastal Mountains and will attract racers from around the Pacific Northwest and Canada anxious to compete in one of Canada’s premier cycling events.

NEW for 2011 is the PreFondo Race/Ride which is sure to attract a great deal of interest for people preparing to ride one of the many GranFondo or Charity Rides this year. The PreFondo will be the perfect introduction to riding in a group and can be ridden with team mates, friends or family in preparation for the bigger events later in the season.

Important Notice to Residents

Road closures will be in effect during this Event. A document outlining the closures has been delivered to all residences in the neighbourhoods surrounding the race course. It is also available for download here.

Tuesday, May 2 is ELECTION DAY in Canada!

The Dunbar Residents’ Association and St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Anglican Church invite you to a Meet the Candidates evening with Vancouver Quadra candidates:

• Victor Elkins (NDP)
• Deborah Meredith (Conservative)
• Joyce Murray (Liberal)
• Laura-Leah Shaw (Green)

Candidates will be responding to moderator questions followed by questions from the floor and informal conversation over refreshments.

This is your opportunity to meet the candidates and hear what they have to say about the issues that are important to you.

Just a quick note to invite you to our Going Green on Dunbar event, this Saturday (March 12/11) from 11am – 3pm.

Highlights –

• Experience the bike lane with free pedi-cab rides. Pick-up/drop-off locations in front of Tim Hortons, at Dunbar & W29th, and the Scotiabank parking lot.
• Also at these three locations, we have FREE St. Patrick’s Day give-aways to help you go green, literally!
• Look for bike safety, community information, an interactive public art project, scavenger hunt, and live Irish entertainment at Dunbar & W29th.

This event is presented by the businesses and property owners of the Dunbar Village Business Association. We hope to see you there!

We’ve added Disappearing Dunbar to our side panel of Dunbar Links of Distinction.

This is a website about Dunbar’s redevelopment and the site notes our changing Dunbar neighbourhood what with old houses making way for the new,and  much larger, houses often with laneway houses.