Page 2 I JANUARY 24th, 1991 MEETING The program was billed as "The Early Days of Logging in West Vancouver 1869 -1926" and the date, mark it well was the Eve of Robbie Burns Day. Hark the prophetic words of the Scottish bard, "the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley" - for that is exactly what happened. When Rudyard Kipling dubbed his 1890 novel, "The Light That Failed", he wasn't thinking of a projector bulb. For Hugh Johnston, whose contribution to the program was a slide presentation with commentary, the light that failed him - albeit less tragic than than that of Kipling's hero, was nonetheless traumatic. It is a tribute to Hugh that in an age when society has become addicted to the television tube and all manner of audio-visual aids, he was able to turn a mechanical glitch into an opportunity for the some 90-odd members and guests present to stretch their imaginations and "see" the phantom pictures intended to accompany his text. George Smith opened the program with a very informative talk on logging practices and a vivid description of exactly where and how they were carried out. We tend to see the streets and avenues of our community as a chequerboard upon which we've set our homes and gardens. George allowed us to see them as rutted tracks providing a means of getting logs down from the hills and into the sea. During the social hour, a number of people expressed the hope that the slide presentation could be rescheduled and so, at the Annual General Meeting, "back by popular demand", Hugh Johnston will have a second go at it. SIXTY, EH? There are a number of diamond anniversaries cropping up this year. A+ the International level, the game of Scrabble is celebrating Its 60th birthday. When it came Into this world in 1931, Its creator, an out of work New York architect by the name of Alfred Butts called it Criss-Cross and that stuck until a change of name In 1948. Over on South Granville, the Stanley Theatre has reached the big SIX-0. Currently on the market, it faces an uncertain future and could be deep-sixed before Its 61st. Neighbouring North Van's (Pacific 118) Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion Is receiving congratulations on their 60 years of sei vice to veterans and the community and on our own doorstep, come May 25th, we'll mark the 60th anniversary of the crowning of our first May Queen, Peggy Barker. May Day festivities flourished In West Vancouver for more than four decades and they live on today as happy memories in the minds of thousands. As former Society President Bernie Holt wrote in the October '85 newsletter: "It was for 43 years an event of total community involvement - something to be looked forward to with pleasure and to be looked back upon with nostalgia". Our 1990 backlog grant was used in part to organize archival records relating to May Day. This work Is essentially completed with the exception of the finding aid. With that in mind, and the 60th anniversary date fast approaching. It would seem a particularly appropriate time to ask you to dig through your old photo albums and memorabilia bins so that Information about new acquisitions can be Included In the finding aid, making the aid more comprehensive and at the same time acknowledging those new contributions. What do we want? To paraphrase a hungry Oliver Twist, "Please, members, we'd like some more!" - more of everything (the 1950s and 1960s, for example, are poorly represented in the archives) .... archival material, photographs and artifacts: crowns, gowns, scrolls and sceptres, programs and ribbons for sporting events and parade entries, etc, etc. You can bring your donations any Monday, Wednesday or Friday (10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) to the workroom at Cedardale Centre, parking lot level, entrance at the east end of the building. We hope to build the May meeting around the collection so now it's up to you.