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HORSESHOE BAY HISTORY - cont'd. Horseshoe Bay 1936. Photo courtesy West Vancouver Memorial Library. continues to thrive. Sewell's annual fishing derby attracted visitors eager to snag "the big one" and garner a Sewell hand-built boat as first prize. With the outbreak of World War 11, North Vancouver shipyards prospered, and many of their workers settled in Horseshoe Bay. Overnight, the little seaside resort became a village. When Seattle's Blackball Ferry Company inaugurated ferry service to Gibsons in 1951; the future of Horseshoe Bay's waterfront became hotly debated in the community. In order to expand its service to include Nanaimo, the company insisted it needed the entire waterfront. Tempers flared and the debate raged for two years, culminating in a public vote that refused to give up the cherished waterfront. Nevertheless, Blackball made do, and the first car ferry for Nanaimo left the dock at Horseshoe Bay in 1955. In 1961, the BC government took over the service. Today's park is quite different from the site so passionately contested in the early fifties. Once the hotel was demolished, the site was filled, raising the park to its present level. Shotcrete, a spray-on concrete, was applied to create a seawall protecting the shoreline from erosion. Stairs now lead down to the beach at low tide. In 1986, the park received a major facelift, including a new playground, spray pool, fountain and circular plaza. Featured in the park are a 5000 pound cast-bronze propeller from a converted whaling ship and two totem poles, providing symbolic reminders of the Page 4 Cont’d. next column. HORSESHOE BAY HISTORY - cont'd. Photo circa 1940. 1963 future Ferry Terminal. Photo courtesy of West Vancouver Memorial Library. park's rich and varied history. I REMEMBER....DO YOU? Submitted by Dave Barker I grew up in a fantastic time in West Vancouver. It was during the 40's and 50's. West Van was still a small town - a great safe place for kids and there were beginning to be plenty of us. It seemed every time we turned around a new school was being built. The other day I was reminiscing with a few of my childhood friends about our lives as kids in West Van. It turned into a "I remember...do you?" Some of these were: â-¡ The Blue Bird Confectionary where you could spend your 25 cent allowance on a myriad of candies from chicken bones to jawbreakers that lasted for hours but you had to check every few seconds to see what colour it was. Some candies had politically incorrect names that we don't use today. â-¡ The slough at Ambleside that was full of ducks and cattails. â-¡ The Army Huts at Ambleside Park. I remember when they hauled a couple of them up Street to become part of the high school. The parking lot on 17‘h in front of the High School. I remember that when Stalin died one of the students lowered the flag in the Cont’d. page five.