Back at 1941

On July 19, 1941 the first twilight horse races were run at Hastings Park.

From 1926 to 1931, the Governor General of Canada was the Marquis of Willingdon. There is a street in Burnaby named after him. On August 12, he died at the age of 75.

Dan Sewell's marina at Horseshoe Bay was the headquarters for the Sun's Free Salmon Derby on August 26, 1941.

The Free Salmon Derby ran from 1940 to 1984, according to an article I read in the 100th Anniversary edition of the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Howe Sound would be jammed with hundreds, even thousands of boats, all jammed to catch the biggest fish and win the great prizes. (In 1957, the derby was held on August 18 and there were $6,000 in prizes including a 19-foot Sangstercraft boat with a 35 horsepower Evinrude 'Big Twin' motor.)

This derby was taken seriously. In fact, in 1967, the winner of the derby was discovered to have purchased his 37-pound salmon at a dock. The man was thrown in jail for six months!

The first annual civic picnic was also held in August of 1941 in North Vancouver.

56-year-old William Cullham Woodward was sworn in as B.C.'s Lieutenant Governor on September 5. Woodward was the son of local retailer Charles Woodward and father of Charles 'Chunky' Woodward. William Woodward succeeded Eric Hamber and would serve untiil 1946.

September 15 was a day of pouring rain but that didn't stop the football team, the Vancouver Grizzlies, from winning their first, and only, regular season win. Considering that this was the team's only season, that isn't all that bad.

The Grizzlies played in their all red uniforms at the Athletic Park at 5th and Hemlock against Saskatchewan Roughriders and a touchdown by Jack Horne ensured a 7-6 victory for our home team.

September 18 was a sad day. It was the last day that the Asahi baseball team played. The Asahi was a club of Japanese-Canadians formed in 1914. They played at Oppenheimer Park in what was once Japantown.

However, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, all those in Little Tokyo were exiled to farms and internment camps.

There was a Province columnist by the name of Jimmy Butterfield. In 1923, Butterfield started a daily column entitled The Common Round. In this column, Butterfield discussed happenings in the city and his style of writing came across as personal - contrary to the somewhat stiff and ponderous writings of the time. On September 23, 1941, he passed away at his home in Penticton at the age of 63.

I have to thank the website The History of Metropolitan Vancouver for the above information. And to the residents of Vancouver and the city who have planted such beautiful flowers! Aren't they gorgeous?

I hope you find the beauty around you. It's out there, I promise.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, flowers, history, 1941, British Columbia