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Page 4 West Vancouver Historical Society May 2003 SOCIETY NEWS CURRENT AFFAIRS AND NEWS OF GENERAL INTEREST TO MEMBERS Membership Report By: Joan Skipper Membership Chair The following new members have all joined the Society since our last newsletter. Barbara Malicek Welters of Burnaby, B.C., who is our Museum Assistant Curator: Pamela Dalik of West Vancouver, B.C., who is one of our new directors; and Laura Miller, Editorial & Archival Services of New Westminster, B.C., who spoke at one of our recent general meetings. Laura has joined as a Corporate Member. We look forward to seeing you all at our meetings throughout the coming year. + + + + + + + + + The Kiosk at John Lawson Park By: Anne Vernon Your board has, for the past 5 or 6 years, wanted to erect a freestanding signboard close to John Lawson Park, just by the railway line, so that news of our meetings could be made available to a wider audience. It was also thought that we could display panels of historical photographs of West Vancouver, with details of "where, when and who." This, it was felt, would bring the history of our community to many people who are perhaps unaware of much of West Vancouver's past. We approached the District with our proposals, but they were in process of making plans for changes in the park and so they asked us to wait. Eventually, as those who walk along the Sea Walk know, these plans became reality and a new, and attractive, kiosk was built in the park itself. This building, adjacent to new public washrooms, houses a telephone for public use and also four display panels. These are distributed as follows - one to the District, one to the Museum & Archives, one to the Heritage people and the Society has the remaining one. (Our photographs on the "extra" page show the edifice in some detail.) Using your dues and donations, the society, together with other local bodies, shared the cost of building the kiosk. Our donation was in the region of $3,0(X). Surely money well spent. We now have our space for displaying panels of photographs and drawings of West Vancouver in past days. These are changed four times a year and have aroused a great deal of interest from many passers by who, often daily, walk along our beautiful Sea Walk. According to our feedback much of our historical vignetes are very new to many of them. (Ian Macdonald has taken this project under his wing and will continue to look after it on our behalf.) Introducing Our New Archivist By: Anne Vernon In our May issue we told you that the District had just appointed a new Archivist, Lois Enns, who would share her time between the District Archives and also the Archives at Gertrude Lawson House. Now we have a little more infor- mation about her which we can share with you. Lois is a graduate of the Master of Information Studies programme at the University of Toronto, with specialities in archival studies and electronic information systems. She has also worked extensively in the graphic arts industry and has a keen interest in photographic collections, other specialty graphic materials and maps. She has already familiarised herself with the Archives and Gertrude Lawson House and is always glad to see and help members seeking information. Lois Enns, Disirici Archivist PHOTO: W.V.M.A. Staff + + + + + + + + + CAPTAIN LANCASTER’S STORY (Cont.from p. 3) A TOUGH BUT GOOD JOB The confidence of the public, and especially of the people of West Vancouver, was astounding and they trav- elled regardless of the denisty of the fog, even bringing babies in their prams. The hours were long, the job was tough at times, but we were home every night - this was an ideal situation for those of us who had served on deep-sea ships before, with months away at sea. This is the end of Captain Gerry's story about his experiences on the West Vancouver Ferries. He has left us a vibrant picture of what life at sea was like in the pre-radar days here on our coast. I am sure his tales must have brought back memories to many of you who travelled with him so often. Why not write to us and share your stories with other readers. We would be very glad to hear from you. Our thanks to Jack Lancaster for sending us his father's writings. This is what history is really all about!