Bridge Club. When I asked one lady if she kne'' of some news I had heard, she replied, "If the Nickel Bridge Club doesn't know it, it's not worth knowing!" She, too, had a good sense of humor. There were few stores in our particular area of Burquitlam at that time. Copping's Corner at the corner of Hamilton and North roads, where the Burquitlam post office was, and a log-cabin store on Clarke ncar Smith Avenue, where the Burquitlam Plaza now stands - that was about all. There was also a small store on North Road, just up from the nowLougheed Mall. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment for young people in the middle and late 1930s, so we made our own. Some of us joined a few Burnaby people, from the other side of North Road, and formed our own badminton club at the St. Stephen's church hall. We played tournaments with reams throughout the fraser Valley and really looked forward to them. Saturday evenings, the stores were open in New Westminster, so many of us would go downtown and take in a movie at the Columbia Theatre, or the Edison Theatre on Columbia Street. The Edison had vaudeville acts as well as movies. Bill Rae, who founded radio station CKNW, performed there, among many others. Sometimes, we would just stroll along, meeting almost everyone we knew. We even knew all the sales clerks by name. It was a great gathering place, especially in those Depression days, when no one had much money to spend. The Agricultural Hall on the south side of Austin Road was run by the Burquitlan1 Agricultural Society. It was located appro~imatdy where Christmas Manor now stands. I recall attending dances there with my friends; there was also an annual fair. The hall later burned down. A lot of dances were also held at the Austin Road Ratepayers hall, on the property where the Legion's houses for seniors now stand. The gas station, on the northeast corner of Austin and Nortl1 roads, was run first by the Douglascs, later by the Goodriches. This, roo, was a popular meeting place for young people in tl1e area. There were slot machines here that were quite an attraction. In the summer time, we used to go down to Port Moody where there was a wharf. Below was a raH: .tnd diving board, where we swam and dove. In fact, my brother, Jack, and his friends learned ro swim by jumping off the end of the wharf, where the water was over their heads. The nearest beach was around at loco; many family picnics were held there. The street cars ran from downtown New Westmin ster to Braid Street in Sapperton. Those of us who ,,·orked late at night had to walk home from there. Many times, I had ro walk in rain, snow, or fog to Smith Road, around midnight. People in cars would often pick up anyone walking. One particular evening, a friend and 1 were picked up by two young fellows she knew. The driver, Albert Hutchinson, was to become my husband. When Albert and I were going together, he had, at one point, a 1927 Star touring car. It had isinglass curtains and leather scats, and was really cold and
Sunday sermon at Blue Mottntain Union Church in 1946. Olive Clemmts sta11ds in tbe middle of the church steps with her daughter, Mm·icl, seco1zd fi"om the righr.
which came from Port Moody. The car was run by Terry Andrews, and picked us up on North Road. It ran about twice a day. Later c.tme the bus, driven by Tommy Sproule, along the same route. This was the start of Columbia Stage Lines, which serviced our municipality for a good many vears. ' We had, in the early years, the Coquitlarn Farmers Institute, which was run by a board of directors. President and manager was Charlie Westoby. The institute provided many of the farmers who joined it with much better prices for their feed- grain, hay, poultry mash and hog mash. The institute put on whist drives and dances on a regular basis. These were held in St. Stephen's Anglican Church hall on Cameron Street, on the Burnaby side of North Road. They were a lor of fun for old and young alike, as cvcryom: mixed very well. People by the name of Ebert, whom we had known in Vancouver, came out to Burquitlam ahead of us and had a farm on North Road. Ebert Avenue is now n.tmed after them. Through their girls, I got to kno" a lot of young people. We had some good times together. My sister, Dorothy, was a lot younger than me and started school at Mountain View. My brother, Jack, also attt:nded there, and later went to Richard McBride in Sappcrton, while awaiting the completion of Austin Heights school on Austin Road. This school has just recently been demolished. Some of the ladies had a club they called the Nickel 216