Still 1937

On Wednesday we ended with May 12, 1937. Here's some more information on that year.

On June 16 Boeing at Coal Harbour was awarded a federal contract to build eleven Blackburn 'Shark' warplanes for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On July 5 a Vancouver lawyer by the name of Gordon Sylvester Wismer began serving as attorney general in the Pattullo cabinet.

July 19 was the day that sliced bread came to Vancouver and sold for a whopping eight cents a loaf.

July 20, 1837 was a special day. At the Peace Arch border crossing women from Canada and the US sang the national anthems.

On August 2 Dr. Norman Bethune in Vancouver on behalf of the Canadian Blood Transfusion Service.(Note. Our current mayor, Gregor Robertson, is a distant relative of Bethune. His grandmother was a first cousin of this famous doctor.)

Two days later the Oak movie theatre opened at Kingsway and Marlborough and was hailed as a piece of 'art moderne'. It operated until 1968.

On September 29 BC sent a shipment of food to the Prairies since the citizens there were suffering through the worst of the Depression.

Also in September A.E. Crickmay shot a 235 pound bear at 234 East 15th Street in  North Vancouver.

On November 12 the Vancouver 'Non-Partisan Association' was formed at a luncheon at the Hotel Vancouver. The NPA didn't do so well in that year's election but in the future they did a lot better. In the 1990s the NPA was a domineering force in Vancouver civic politics.

On November 14 the Vancouver Golf Club clubhouse burned to the ground.

A day later the Pattullo Bridge opened to the public with Premier Duff Pattullo ceremoniously cutting through a metal chain across the roadway with a welder's torch.

Also in 1937 the Lougheed Highway was completed.

The Cave Supper Club on Hornby which would become a Vancouver night life fixture opened in 1937. It closed in 1981.

William Deverell, a Vancouver lawyer and author was born in Regina during this year.

An important piece of my personal history, my mother was born during this year.

Vancouver firefighters replaced their old, leather helmets with a new composition helmet this year.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Dr. Norman Bethune, Vancouver, 1937, Gregor Robinson, William Deverell, NPA, Royal Canadian Air Force