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

Hi

I was down at a dock in the North Arm a few days ago trying to bring back my fishing childhood with my trusty AND REPAIRED NUMEROUS TIMES,$12.95 Army and Navy Fibre Glass fishing rod . I found the old Penn Reel, that had a loose button that put it in and out of gear most of the time, It was great, scrounging through the old rusty tackle box, getting ready to fish for Chub again ! Wow whats this warning thing, do I really need a Federal fishing licence to fish for CHUB , BULLHEAD and PIKE MINNOW in Celtic Slough !, my gosh I have been doing my spring chubbing ever since I was 7 years old and it cost me nothinG BUT A SLICE OF BREAD !! Bait , I always took a ball of wet G. B. White Bread,” Chub do not like the brown whole wheat stuff “, a few worms and a little” Knobbly Wobbler Half and Half spoon” that my mom bought for my dad at the Army and Navy Store in the 1950ies . It was great to mosey off down to the little slough at the south foot of Blenheim Street , to fish with the other Blenheim Flats kids and of course the sloughs GREAT BLUE HERON we all called BIG FOOT, was always waiting for a Chub or two !

I can always remember many year ago spending lots of time polishing the Knobby Woddler Spoon with moms Brasso and getting ready for a fishing trip to the Green Light on the west end of the North Arm Jetty . Dad said do not foget my Knobby Wobbler spoon for it would catch all most every thing that has fins on it ! It was a 39 cent Army and Navy Coho Blueback and Chub killer and I kind of always liked the little fish lure for I was incharge of looking after it ! We chugged out of Celtic Slough on a outgoing tide, in our Easthope powered Gillnetter, with lots of fishing friends on board . Destination was the Green Light on the sea ward end of the North Arm Jetty. It was dark so i turned on the Puffs running lights and lit the cabin top Hurricane Lantern ! Boy were we ready for a morning of Spring Blue back Coho salmon fishing out in the Big Sea . The 5 horse power Easthope engine with its model T, 6 volt wooden box coil egnition, sparked in tune with the one lung engine that we salvaged from a wreck on Point Grey ! I loved to steer the old boat with one hand, trying hard to miss the many dead-heads in the river . It was hard peeking by the cabin door that slid back and forth when a tug boat went by! The dangerous to kids, high amperage buz coil sparked and went buz buz as it sat on the windshield shelf ! Do Not touch it dad warned or you will be electrocuted ! The heat from the” Easthopes Goose Neck Exhaust ” was very welcomed inside the carbon monoxcide laced air of the cabin, it kind of made you sleepy, unless the cabin door was wide open ! Dad and friends ,”we for -sure were overloaded with fishermen friends from up the Blenheim Street Hill on this trip ! They ” were very busy polishing the Knobby killer and other spoons and shivering in the cold morning air ! They all kind of huddled under the net drum in the back of the boat with their fishing rods and complained a lot ! Time for a hot breakfast dad announced , as we passed the Inner Light , he took a can of beans, punched a hole in the can and hung it close to the now cherry red goose Neck exhaust pipe of the engine, for we had no stove to cook our breakfast on ! It was a great fishing trip and the “Knobbly Wobbler Half and Half out fished all the Gibbs spoons and flashers ten to one !

So today I am again fishing for Chub, Bullheads and Pike Minnow, with no licence of course and oh my gosh it seems they all kind of like the G. B. White Bread paste and here they go, the nasty Pike Minnows grabbed the old Army and Navy Knobby Wobbler too !

Terry

Fresh off the desktop…  DRA June 2011 Newsletter

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.