Red Robinson

I was watching Global BC the other day and a legend was on. Red Robinson. I decided it was time that I ensured that my readers knew about this local treasure. So, with the help of Wikipedia, BC Radio History and Red Robinson's website, I gathered some information to share. Boy, did I find information!

Robert Gordon Robinson was born on March 30, 1937 in Comox, British Columbia. At some point, he moved to Vancouver and Robinson went to King Edward High School at West 12th and Oak Street. (As you may remember, I have written on the school and a reader had informed me that the school was destroyed in a fire.)

Robert used to call in to radio station CJOR "Theme for Teens" show and do imitations of Jimmy Stewart and Peter Lorre. At the age of 15, Robinson would hang around CJOR in the basement of the Grosvenor Hotel. A young broadcaster by the name of Al Jordan, who was not much older than Robinson, allowed the young man to write scripts for the show. It was 1953 and Jordan could see that the younger man was a natural.

Jordan left the station a year later, moving to Penticton to work for the new station CKOK. Jordan's replacement, Rod Hume, turned out to be a stroke of luck for the young Robinson. One day, not long after Armistice Day, Hume failed to show up for a shift and the station manager, Vic Waters, told the 16-year-old Robinson to show what he could do. That is just what Red did!

Robinson did well and was offered a job which paid $35 a week - thirty dollars less than that which the other, more established DJs, made. For three years, Red could be heard from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm; 9:00 pm to 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm to 1:00 am. His success grew as he played that new, rockabilly music and he not only garnered the attention of listeners but also from the competition. When the station manager, George Chandler, was approached about giving Robinson a raise, Chandler said, "let him go".

So, Red went to work for the 50,000 watt station, CKWX where manager Frank "Tiny" Elphicke paid the young man a lot more money. And Robinson did what every red blooded Canadian young man would do with an influx of monies. He bought himself his first car - a shiny, red convertible with a mobile radio to do broadcasts. This Ford Fairlane cost Robinson $3100. 

In 1959, Portland and KGW Radio/TV seduced Red with a $22,000 offer and he went south. Red spent two years across the border - six months of those were spent serving in the US Army at Fort Ord. That was the law at the time.

In 1961, Red Robinson came home and went back to CKWX. However, Elphicke had passed away and the station wasn't the same. So, he left there and became program director for C-FUN. He was there for six years and worked with such people as his old friend Al Jordan, Brian Forst, David McCormick, Tom Peacock, Fred Latremouille, Ken Chang, Brian Lord and others. From '64 to '66 were the years that CFUN started to get some real competition from CKLG. 

On a personal note, Red married his wife Carole in 1963.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love stories like this. My older brother once paid an ultimate compliment by telling someone that I was "a rocker chic from a way back" and my novel Mystique Rising is a paranormal adventure that deals with the injustice of music censorship. I love hearing how people like Red Robinson brought the music to our ears.

I have a lot more to tell you about Mr. Red Robinson. After all, this was only one decade! So tune in Wednesday for more!

I hope you find the beauty around you.


Karen Magill, Vancouver, Red Robinson, C-Fun, Rock 'n Roll, British Columbia

Belvedere

This is Belvedere Court, built in 1911. According to a 1927 fire insurance plan, the building's name was Harris Block so it was changed after that.

A few final notes on Mount Pleasant today. There is a street allure to the district, kept alive by the numerous amount of artists in the area. As well, the formation of the Fringe Festival, the Public Dreams Society and Video In Media Arts, the establishment of Mount Pleasant’s artist in residence program, and the conversion of the Western Front into a nationally-acclaimed art space are all events that have happened within Mount Pleasant and aid in the artistic, street culture atmosphere.

Artists have helped promote 'cultural ecology' in the area in addition to affecting the residential flavour by industrial spaces into live/work lofts. They have also added a vibrancy to Mount Pleasant by establishing numerous artist-led cafes, restaurant/bars, boutiques and galleries.

 Mount Pleasant is unique in another way. The composition of buildings. In the north-west sector, there are industrial buildings; in the northeast, there are apartments; in the south-west, a person will see the higher value homes on larger lots while in the southeast, there are more affordable, smaller homes. However, those affordable homes are rapidly becoming pricier. That, however, is commonplace for most of Vancouver. This is an expensive city to live in.

This variety in composition makes Mount Pleasant a diverse, culturally infused, desirable and unique. Since there are so many older places - places that have had the mortgages paid long ago - a person can rent a unit at a reasonable price. There is no need to increase rents beyond basic renovations. The mixed -use residential/industrial areas lower land values and house jobs.

However, the evil glass towers with large (ie expensive) square footage commercial space would take away from Mount Pleasant's look and atmosphere. Gone would be the independent business model, historic look, pedestrian friendly experience and the core of the Mount Pleasant Community Plan.

Other cities in North America, such as Portland and San Francisco, have embraced their heritage and older buildings. That gives those places a special look and feel. Why can't Vancouver do that?

This building is a 1910 structure.

This concludes much of my writings on Mount Pleasant. At least those that I will be getting from Ramp Vancouver since I have relayed all that information. However, there is a lot more photos to get!

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, Belveder, Mount Pleasant Community Plan, Mount Pleasant, British Columbia

Wenonah

These are the Wenonah Apartments at 2703 Main Street. The building has stood there since 1913. Wenonah was the daughter of Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief who allied his tribe with the Brits and Canucks for the War of 1812. 


We are back in Mount Pleasant today and when we last left, we were discussing the fact that so much of the heritage in Mount Pleasant is being lost due to progress. However, all is not lost.

There is an obvious pride in the history of the area as can be seen with the tributes to the past that are everywhere. The Mount Pleasant Business Association sponsored a bus shelter that is a replica of the original streetcars that used to run in that area. The shelter is located at Broadway and Kingsway.

There is restored old-style street paving at 10th and Alberta and 10th and Columbia.

In 1996, “the City of Vancouver Planning Department adopted the Brewery Creek Guidelines which allowed the city to request developers to recognize and commemorate Brewery Creek in return for granting relaxations benefiting their proposed new developments near the route of the creek”.


I showed you the Brewery Creek Cairns, which have been added to the core of Mount Pleasant. These Cairns have plaques that tell a little of the history of the area. And you have seen the cast iron clock. These all help to remind visitors, and residents, of the rich history of the area.

Outdoor spaces have been reclaimed as well. One example is the Brewery Creek Native Plant Park next to the Artiste at Brunswick and 5th and Scotia and 5th. The plants there are ones that would have grown and flourished in that area many years ago. 

So, as you can see, there is a love of the history of the area. But there is no real protection. Nearby Gastown has a heritage protection policy and a Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee composed of representative interest groups from the Gastown area. This ensures that, for the most part, the heritage buildings are preserved. There have been attempts to adopt a similar plan for Mount Pleasant but not everything is in place yet.


There was talk about upzoning the area around Mount Pleasant's oldest block. These drastically high buildings would threaten the existence of Mount Pleasant's heritage structures through overshadowing and the out of scale feeling the skyscrapers would lend to the area. (I actually thought that in certain areas of the city there was a height restriction on new buildings but from what I have been hearing and seeing lately, I don't know.)


The city admits that “the existing Mount Pleasant residential zoning has worked very effectively to conserve neighbourhood character while allowing significant densification” 

It is a sticky situation. Real estate in Vancouver is expensive and in order for the developer to make a profit, he or she has to build up or charge so much that most people will be unable to buy. Yet, our history is important too and we must preserve that too. Whichever way you turn, there is a loser.


Thanks to Namely Vancouver by Tom Snyders and Jennifer O'Rourke for the history on Wenonah and to Ramp Vancouver for the information on Mount Pleasant.


I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, Wenonah, Tecumseh, Mount Pleasant, British Columbia