BACKYARD GETAWAYS

If You Go

For current park information and upcoming events be sure to visit parks.canada.ca/lhnnhs/bc/langley. There are a lot of fun events hosted by the park during the year and not just in summer (like Brigade Days every November).

For reserving an oTENTik go to reservation.pc.gc.ca or call 1-877-737-3783.

Admission fee: Adults $8.50 but an annual Parks Canada Discovery Pass is an (not very) inexpensive option and gives visitors access to 80 sites, not just the fort. There’s ample parking outside.

Nearby attractions. There are neighbouring attractions to explore for a full immersion in the past, including the BC Farm Museum (bcfma.com) and the new Arts, Culture, and Heritage Centre called the Salishan Place by the River, which will house the Langley Centennial Museum, which is now closed at its present location. Check for Salishan Place’s opening date at tol.ca/en/ salishanplace.aspx

What to do in Fort Langley town. This lively town is full of bakeries/cafes, gift and craft shops, an excellent bookstore/ café, restaurants, a pub and some heritage B & Bs.

More fort history. Originally constructed in 1827 at a location four kilometres upstream of its present site, the post was relocated and rebuilt in 1839, only to be destroyed by fire in 1840 requiring it to be, once again, rebuilt. The Hudson’s Bay Company continued to run a post on this site until 1886. It became a national historic site in 1923. Starting in the 1950s, many buildings were added to restore the atmosphere of the original fort. Today, Fort Langley National Historic Site is part of a nation-wide family of protected areas managed by Parks Canada.

Graham, “and you can’t cut a beaver in half so you might instead barter with a fur of less value, like fox or otter whose fur might only be worth $50.”

An avalanche of voices is approaching. It’s time to make tracks. Graham pulls herself up staunchly as she bids us farewell and we slip past the excited knee-high crowd, motivated by their thirst for knowledge, (with a little help from their teachers perhaps). Lots more to see and the rain is still contemplating its attack.

NOW IT’S OFF to the Big House, once the spacious home of the fort’s managers. It was reconstructed in 1958 on the Colony of British Columbia’s centennial. This is where we find one ‘classroom’ full of more eager chil- dren, who are crowded around a table with the cultural interpreter, totally engrossed. Close by, two striking large canvases facing one another snag our attention and I ask Szymanski about them: “When Parks Canada commissioned the first mural, the goal was to bring life to the November 19, 1858, ceremony, where British Columbia was proclaimed a crown colony,” she explains. “In 2014, nine years later, the second work was commissioned to address the absence of Indigenous perspective in the narrative surrounding the proclamation. Parks Canada is committed to developing a system of national heritage places that recognizes the role of Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s culture and in the traditional use of these special places. Live mod- els from Kwantlen First Nation, who are descendants of the families present in 1858, were used in this work.”

We check out the rest of the spacious and carefully furnished downstairs rooms that reflect what life was like for these officers and then head upstairs to sit at many different stations looking at video programmes that highlight the life and the works of the Métis Nation. We had not realized they were such a strong presence on the west coast.

IN SPRING AND Summer, the fort offers daily interpretive programming, special events, and for visitors looking for an enhanced experience, there are five heritage-themed oTENTiks, a Parks Canada exclusive front-country camping accommodation. Children also get to explore the Children’s Play Area, pan for gold or discover all kinds of other hands-on activities. For example, visitors can get immersed in history through demonstrations on woodworking, blacksmithing, cedar weaving, wool spinning, wood oven baking, and from May to September, there are the farm animals to interact with, such as rabbits, goats and chickens. They can walk through the heritage garden as well.

TODAY, OF COURSE, the heritage gardens are dormant but we’re still not sorry to be here now, even though the rain has begun its assault. There may not be as much happening but there has been lots to see and learn.

Roof Top Patio opening Spring 2021

Ktunaxa Grill open Wednesday – Sunday Dinner reservations are required

Contemporary rooms and suites love of the sea and their love for each other.

As I was about to drop anchor in preparation for spreading Freddy, I saw to my horror that Suzy had already opened the urn and had walked out on the boat’s swim grid to toss his ashes overboard. “Stop,” I hollered, “We need to turn the bow into the wind first!” Fortunately,

With the boat properly anchored and positioned, the signal was given and Freddy’s ashes were dutifully scattered, followed by a few rose petals. Unexpectedly, an errant gust of wind blew some ashes back onto the floor of the cockpit! “Jesus Mary, Joseph, I did not expect Freddy to come flying back like that!”

“No problemo,” said I, deftly brushing Freddy’s last remains out of the cockpit (using a whisk broom and dust pan conveniently located for just such an emergency). On “automatic idiot mode” I could not resist blurting out: “I bet this is the first time your husband ever got

After what seemed an eternity of silence, both Suzy and the minister erupt-

I just sat demurely, then wondered if they were now going to share their basket of goodies with me. No worries: my companions quickly spread out the table

I suspect Suzy and her late husband had many such laughs during their lifetime together. Maybe Freddy had a hand in creating that sudden gust of wind; his

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Over the years while chartering my sailboat—mostly doing “cruise and learns”—I had many requests to do spreading of ashes ceremonies at sea. I really did not look forward to these occasions as I teared up a lot, and being the sensitive kind of guy I am, often went home sad—which is curious since never once did I know the deceased or the family who hired me. Maybe that was why I was referred to as the “go-to” guy