Royal City Record 35th Anniversary

New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 23

Royal City Volume 9 Number 36

RECORD New Westminster’s Hometown Newspaper

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

On the INSIDE

Pg. 28 - Tej Kainth loved growing up in the 1980s in New West Pg. 41 - ’Bellies battled their way into the record books 25¢

The 1980s Special Edition

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Confessions of an ’80s party gal

Looking back at the ’80s in New Westminster as the Record celebrates our 35th year Page 25

SkyTrain rolls into New Westminster Page 39

King Neptune Closes Its Doors Page 33

Murder rate jumps in city Page 27

New Westminster was a party kind of place in the ’80s. Above, legendary Las Vegas choreographer-producer Jeff Kutash dons urban cowboy garb for the opening of the Chicago Tonight nightclub in 1980. Read a brsthand account of club life in ’80s New West on pg. 30.

24 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

“Congratulations to The Record on your 35th anniversary

it’s great to have such a longstanding local community newspaper in the City of New Westminster.”

Adam Isfeld,

Winnipeg Beach Rebels 1986

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New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 25

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

Papers run in the family Why did we pick the ’80s?

I remember my mother bringing me into the NOW newspaper office at Sixth Street in New Westminster when it first opened and I

My mom was an advertising salesperson, and she stayed on with Burnaby NOW and the Record as advertising manager until

Lara Graham was born to a newspaper family was 12 years old. Little did I imagine that almost 30 years later I would be the associate publisher of two of these newspapers, Burnaby NOW and Royal City Record.

When the daily Columbian folded in November of 1983, my parents were among a group of ex-employees who decided to start their own suburban newspaper chain. First off the presses was Burnaby NOW, and NewWestminster NOW came along shortly afterwards as a competitor for the Record.The two papers merged a few years later.

To this day, people in New Westminster and Burnaby still ask if I’m related to Laila Graham and Neil Graham. Dad was The Columbian’s managing editor and later became managing editor of The Province.

she retired in 2008.

I’m told my mom was a key driving force behind the success of the new suburban community newspaper chain.

From the beginning, she was intent on making sure all her former Columbian clients advertised in the new papers, and she was not one to accept no as an answer. For the record: she still rarely accepts no for an answer.

My parents met while working at a newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya, so all my life I have been surrounded by newspaper talk, newspaper deals and spent many hours hanging around newspaper offices. Some of it must have rubbed off. So it’s probably not surprising that I ended up in the business.

Deadline driven, newspaper people seldom have

1987: a 14-year-old Lara Graham had style and a great sweatshirt.

PHOTO /Graham Family

time to look back over our shoulders to last week, let alone a decade ago. So I was delighted when we decided to celebrate the Record’s 35th anniversary with a special section remembering some of these years.

There’s simply nothing like this business.There’s a saying that history is being written in headlines every day. And I get to see that and help keep that process alive. It isn’t just my family heritage, it is my passion.

– By Lara Graham, Associate Publisher

Wondering why we city in the ’80s we knew chose the ’80s to focus it would be fun to take on for our special annia stroll back through versary edition today? memory lane.

You’d be right if you It was clear that, in answered that the Rethe ’80s, NewWestmincord was literally born ster was poised for a in 1981. But that’s not turning point. It could the only reason.We had either remain a city been pondering a wider look at the city through the Record’s 35 years of newspapering. But we were overwhelmed by the wealth of material. We knew we had to narrow it down to a decade. But how?

We chose the ’80s because it seemed to be a pivotal point in the city’s development.

Readers, we felt, would find it interesting to learn that parts of the city were veritable dens CIRCA 1981: The serious of drunken debaucheditor in her Gloria Steinem ery in the ’80s. Bad be- glasses. haviour loomed large in headlines, and the with the most bar stools city cops and politicians in the Lower Mainseemed to be wrestling land or clean up its act with a city beset with and find a new path. numerous problems. It Arts advocates got acwas a very different city tive claiming a permathan the one we live in nent home, SkyTrain now. And for those who provided a much-needwere growing up in the ed transportation link,

and a vision for the waterfront was just beginning as the Quay started to take shape in the early ’80s.

There’s something very compelling about hindsight.You get to see what was, but also what might have been. It’s also, of course, 20/20.

Thirty-five years after this paper was started, much has changed, both in the city and in the media. But one thing has not changed: the city’s quest to become a better community.

Oh, and in case you missed it, we copied the design our newspaper used in the ’80s.

It looks pretty overstated – all bold, capital headlines with lots of underlines. But it matches the fashion style of the ’80s – big shoulder pads, big hair and big glasses.We like to think we all look better than we did in the ’80s – and so does the Record today.

– By Pat Tracy, Editor

IT TAKES A CITY TO RAISE A NEWSPAPER The story of the Record newspaper is one of try, try, try again.

The first Royal City Record was launched in the 1950s by a local printer.

Few copies of it still exist – and those that do are very thin – but it appears to have been published sporadically into the late ’60s with some local advertising support.

It relied on a news/features “The Rrst couple of years were not money makers, despite the Columbian’s decline and eventual closure in 1983.” service called the Toronto Telegram News Service and CBC copy for editorial. Local readers were treated to a mix of Toronto news and the occasional photo of a polar bear or two.

During the 1970s, New Westminsterites considered the Columbian daily to be their local newspaper – al-

though it was a suburban daily that also covered Coquitlam, Burnaby and Surrey.

It wasn’t until 1981 that Ron Loftus, a Vancouver Sun sports reporter, and a small group of city residents decided that the city needed, and deserved, a newspaper that was solely dedicated to New Westminster.

Helen Sparkes (who later became mayor) was the paper’s first circulation manager, Lori Pappajohn, a reporter, the first full-time employee and Helen Sparkes’ daughter Jane wrote some articles.They were soon joined by others intent on making the weekly paper solvent.

The first couple of years were not money makers, despite the Columbian’s decline and eventual closure in 1983.There were times when the payroll couldn’t be met, and Loftus was still working days at the Record

for $30,000 in 1984.

He knew what had to be done and started turning it around, but a small group of former employees of the Columbian had launched a Lower Mainland chain of communiPast papers: Front pages from two of the ’80s papers.

RECORD /Archived Files ty newspapers, and evening shifts at the He had been district manand one of Sun. He then found himager of the circulation detheir papers was the larger self in trouble with his empartment at the Vancouver NewWestminster NOW. ployer, who considered his Sun and Province and had And there were rumours of involvement in the Royal been involved in some Coa third newspaper coming City Record a conflict of lumbian offshoots. He was to town.The former Columinterest.While his employer looking for an opportunity, bian employees, helped by didn’t force him to choose, and he found it in the Renew investors, and with the it was time. Steve Houston cord. Houston bought 60 leverage of several newspawas hooked on newspapers. per cent of it from Loftus pers and a larger staff both

in sales and editorial, took on the Record with gusto.The Record was outgunned, and it didn’t help that the NOW chain also had a small investment in the Record ownership.

Houston saw the writing on the wall and sold to the NOW in 1989. He stayed on as assistant publisher guiding the merger of The Record and NewWestminster NOW. For a time the newspaper was called the NOW/Record, but as time went by it was clear that New Westminster considered the Record to be its hometown newspaper, and the NOW was dropped off of the nameplate. Since then there’s been different owners, different publishers and staff changes, but the mandate has remained – the Record, New Westminster’s hometown newspaper, is solely dedicated to this city, its past, present and future.

26 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

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New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 27

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

Murders rocked the city during the 1980s The safety of children was top of mind as New Westminster entered the 1980s, but by the end of the decade concerns shifted to violent crime and a soaring murder rate.

By CAYLEY DOBIE In November 1980, now infamous serial killer Clifford Olson abducted his first victim, a 12-year-old girl from Surrey.

Her body was found on Christmas Day. Olson’s spree heated up in 1981. Between April and August, he kidnapped and murdered 10 other children, including a boy and a girl from New Westminster.

Olson was arrested on Aug. 12, 1981 and pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder.

But by then damage was done.

Olson left behind a fear that parents just couldn’t shake. Selfdefence seminars started popping up aimed at teaching kids about safety. Seminars for parents on

child abuse were also commonplace. Parents were taught about warning signs, preventative measures and information on support services equipped to help children who experienced abuse.

By the mid-’80s, however, there was a new villain lurking in the shadows of the Royal City.

In March 1985, 71-year-old David Dailey was attacked by two men while walking in Moody Park. He suffered broken ribs, a broken spine and skull fractures.

Dailey had been in the park early in the morning collecting bottles, which he cashed in and then donated the proceeds to the local hockey association.

Safety was top of mind for New West residents in the 1980s. RECORD / Archives Dailey’s murder sent a shockcrimes, including assault, homiin the rising crime rates. wave through the community. cide and robbery, increased by By 1986, police were scram“He was a quiet man who went 27.5 per cent. (There were five bling to get a handle on soarabout his work. He never commurders in 1984 compared to ing crime stats. Crimes includplained. He had a lot of friends. only one in 1983.Three homiing theft, harassment and drug … It was a shock all right. It realtrafficking near the newly opened ly makes you think what the world cides per year was the average for a city at the time.) Sociologists cit- SkyTrain stations were of particis coming to,” a friend said at the ed economic difficulties and famular concern, especially for busitime. ily breakdown as dominant factors nesses in the downtown core. OfFrom 1983 to 1984, violent

30 years later – crimes unsolved Stevie Ashly Radic

Five-year-old Radic was at home with his three older brothers and sisters when a fire was set in their Queens Avenue home.The older siblings – ranging in ages from six to 16 – escaped the fire unharmed. Everyone had been in bed when the oldest sibling was awoken by the sound of crackling fire.

Investigators believed the fire, which happened on March 31, 1985, was deliberately set.The inside of the home was completely destroyed in the blaze.

“There are indications it may be arson,” New Westminster Police Supt. John Lucas said at the time.

“But we can’t really say.

It is still under investigation.”

Investigators eventually homed in on a suspect, but before charges could be laid the suspect died, according to a statement provided by the New Westminster Police two years ago.The file is now closed.

Stevie and his family lived at 905 Queens Ave. Thirty-five years later, the family hasn’t forgotten

about Stevie. His siblings have set up an online memorial page to remember their young brother.

Fred Barker, the [rst ‘AIDS murder’ of the 1980s

Fred Barker was 42 years old when he was found dead in his home at 1318 Sixth Ave. But Barker’s death was a first for the New WestThe murder of a mental health nurse afflicted with AIDS remains unsolved.

RECORD / Archives minster Police Department. Barker, a known Cross began testing all Meanwhile, police nevtime between Sept. 12 homosexual, as he was reblood products for HIV, er determined who comand 15, 1985. Barker was ferred to in news reports, mitted the violent crime. a mental health nurse at was believed to be the very and the first Canadian Conference on AIDS Investigators at the time Woodlands Hospital at the first murder victim who was held in Montreal. were looking at it as a time of his death. had AIDS. Initially called While investigating Barkbreak-and-enter gone Barker’s homicide is Gay-Related Immune er’s death, police issued a wrong, but some believe currently assigned to deDeficiency or GRID, the warning to the killer, saythe boyfriend of the victim tectives with the New rare disease caught the ating he may have contractshould have been looked Westminster Police Detention of the U.S. Cened AIDS. Officers themat as a suspect, accordpartment’s major crime ters for Disease Control selves were extra careful ing to media reports at the unit. His case, like othin 1981. Soon AIDS had while at the scene, weartime. er cold cases, is “reviewed garnered the attention of ing gloves at all times Investigators were told at minimum on an anhealth authorities around and using extreme cauby witnesses that a man nual basis.With periodthe world, including the tion when handling any driving a light brown com- ic advances in science World Health Organizablood-smeared evidence pact car and carrying a and technology, detection. Canada had its first or touching the body. stained glass picture of tives would re-examine evreported case of the disNew Westminster coroa butterfly was seen apidence to see if anything ease in March 1982, and ner Diane Messier exerproaching Barker’s house was suitable for DNA exby 1985, the year Barkcised similar caution durbefore he was murdered. amination with the view er was killed, it was detering the autopsy, too, as It’s unknown if the man to identifying suspects in mined that both women Barker was her first expeever entered Barker’s the case,” read a statement and men could contract rience with an AIDS vichome. Police reports indiprovided by police two the disease. In the same tim. cated he was killed someyear, the Canadian Red years ago.

ficers often blamed the train itself for making it easier for criminals to travel between cities.

In response, the New Westminster Police Department ramped up enforcement – especially around SkyTrain stations.They also enlisted the help of the community, recruiting volunteers for their Crime Watch and Block Watch programs. By 1989, the department was bringing on new cops by the handful, and with the opening of the new Columbia SkyTrain station looming, the top brass were hoping the city would approve the hiring of an additional 10 officers at about $50,000 per year each.

The department also introduced a new four-day, 12-hour afternoon shift to provide additional patrols for peak times, and it was quite successful, according to reports at the time.

This trend continued well into the 1990s, but we’ll save that, and the police crackdown that followed, for another time.

POLICE BLOTTER The Police Blotter column in the ‘80s was filled with an assortment of crimes. Here’s a sample: Grinch stole Christmas

Little Drew Labell’s Christmas skates were stolen just hours after his grandma gave them to him.The Labells were in New West visiting the grandparents at their home in the 1200 block of 10th Avenue.

Just after midnight a thief stole the skates and some other holiday loot from the family’s car.

Bandits make off with cab

A taxi driver was hoodwinked into transporting two armed robbers from Vancouver to New West.The men had the driver take them to a laneway between Fourth and Fifth streets where they pulled out two guns and stole $120 from the cabbie.The suspects then threw the driver out of the car before making their escape in his vehicle.The cab was eventually recovered but the suspects never were.

Dairy robbed

Friday the 13th started badly for the Bluebird Dairy. At 10:05 a.m. a man walked in asking for cigarettes but demanded money instead. He fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

28 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

‘I REALLY MISS THAT TIME’

She’d go back to the ’80s in a Uash Tej Kainth lives in the here and now, but if given the chance to take a trip back to the 1980s, she’d go in a heartbeat.

Kainth remembers a garden on the south side of the park facing Sixth Avenue.

“They used to have a beautiful bed of flowers that

By THERESA MCMANUS Kainth, executive director of Tourism New Westminster, was born in New West in 1981 – the same year the Record started publishing in the Royal City.

“I really miss that time.

I’d love to go back,” she said. “If I had a time machine I’d go back to the ’80s.”

The youngest of five kids, Kainth loved hanging out with her older sisters and their friends – even if they weren’t too keen on the tagalong little sister. As a kid, she remembers playing California kickball and baseball and creating a relay route through the West End with neighbourhood kids. Next door neighbours, known as Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy, would bring out crackers and cheese, peanut butter sandwiches and lemonade for Kainth and her pals.

Along with the playground at Grimston Park,

said Welcome to New Westminster. It was facing the bridge,” she says. “I used to adore that growing up.

I thought it was the most beautiful thing. I was only five or six years old. It was gorgeous.”

As a kid it was exciting to visit an aunt who worked on McBarge during Expo 86, but Kainth has fond memories of family outings closer to home including visits to Army and Navy (which always included a frosted malt),Woodward’s and movies at New West Cinemas in Westminster Mall.

Playing in Queensborough after attending prayers at the Sikh temple was always fun for Kainth.

“Back then, there was so much agriculture there.

There were farm animals,” she says. “We would be in our Indian suits and we’d have our heads covered.

After we’d pray, everyone would go to eat, and me

and my cousins would run out and start looking at the horses and chickens.”

On days when she wasn’t at the temple, Kainth was likely sporting Transformers and Care Bears attire, listening to Roxette, New Kids on the Block or DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and watching shows like Out of ThisWorld, Today’s Special and WWF with wrestlers like Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior.

Kainth attended Lord Tweedsmuir from kindergarten to midway through Grade 5,when her family moved to the other side of

Growing up: A five-year-old Tej Kainth, left, during school photos at Lord Tweedsmuir.

Her dad did her hair that day.

Above, Kainth today. She currently serves as Tourism New Westminster’s executive RECORD /Archived Files director.

had to wear a dress.”

Attending May Day, says Kainth, was a “huge thing” for kids growing up in New Westminster.

“May Day was a big thing

“May Day was a big thing growing up, doing the folk dance, the maypole, the relays,” she says. “We used to have relay races. Those were so much fun.”

12th Street and she started attending Lord Kelvin Elementary School. A self-described tomboy who loved basketball and track and field, Kainth ran for May Queen when she was in Grade 6.

“I just did it because it was a dare,” she says. “That was probably the first time I

growing up, doing the folk dance, the maypole, the relays,” she says. “We used to have relay races.Those were so much fun.”

Kainth, who was New Westminster’s 123rd May Queen in 1993, was the first South Asian elected as May Queen.

“For my parents and the

community, that was a big thing for us,” she says. “I knew it was tradition, and to be involved and be a part of something that was so valued in our community was a huge honour to be a part of.”

Kainth, a former Royal City Record delivery girl, now lives downtown in a condo overlooking the Fraser River and Westminster Pier Park. As much as she loves travelling down Memory Lane, she loves that there’s “an abundance of activities” taking place in all parts of the city these days.

“It really is a fun city,” she says. “We really have some fun programs going on and incredible restaurants to check out and some upscale

bars too.There’s this new wave of energy and people that is nice to see. It’s nice to wake up, have your coffee on your porch and see how packed Westminster Pier Park is.”

Kainth also likes knowing that today’s youngsters in New West are making memories they’ll treasure in the years to come.

“Coming to downtown New Westminster, growing up in the 1980s, I still get that nostalgic feeling sometimes when I am walking by the Army and Navy,” she says.

“But what it has transformed into – these are memories that this next generation is going to be enjoying.”

HEADLINES AND CLIPPINGS THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE The following are some of the local issues reported on in the early years of the Royal City Record: May 1986: The luxury cruise ship Pegasus arrives at New Westminster’s waterfront.The 340-cabin ship was acting as a floating hotel and was docked upstream from the S.S. Prince George. Both hoped to cash in on Expo 86 visitors.

September 1988: New Queen Elizabeth Elementary School opens in Queensborough.

June 19, 1983: Because of the recession, the Royal City Record stops publishing for three weeks.

“The Royal City Record has not escaped this devastating financial crunch,” the front page article says.

Nov. 28, 1984: 110 tons of herring are sold at CK-

NW’s herring sale at the waterfront.

May 21, 1988: headline: Display OK, says inspector.

There’s nothing wrong with a mannequin (or shall we say womannequin?) dressed in showy lingerie in a display window on 6th Street, says the city’s chief license inspector Mel Clerihue.

“I was just up there and I saw nothing that contravenes city bylaws,” Clerihue told the Record.

The decision means the shop can keep its risqué window display in place – despite complaints from some irate citizens.

In a letter to city council, a resident said the store is “plainly a sex shop.

I never thought I’d see this in a busy thoroughfare in New Westminster… “

Dec. 10, 1988: Record editorial urges city aldermen to stop being sexist and adopt the term “councillor” as women are elected to city council.

The men are reluctant to change the status quo.

Sept. 17, 1988: The city spends $300 in lab fees trying to discover what the white powder is that is left at the base of numerous trees and lamp posts in Queen’s Park.

The lab conducted numerous tests, dissolving the substance in acids, trying inorganic tests and organic tests, finally they realized it was plain ordinary flour. No one knows who put the mysterious piles of flour at the base of the trees and lamp stands.

June 18, 1988: A downtown forum decides it’s time to hire a paid coordi-

nator to help in revitalization. “Participants in the forum agreed that enough revitalization talk has taken place (20 years of it, in fact) and now is the time to act.”

Sept. 26, 1987: School trustees decide against suing members of council.The New Westminster school board decided to not seek legal action against city council despite the scorching trustees received at the Sept.

14 council meeting over the adult crossing guards issue.

The board considered legal action when aldermen blasted them with criticism over the way they handled the controversial adult crossing guard issue. Aldermen accused the board of having a ‘hidden agenda,’ being ‘intellectu-

ally dishonest’ and manipulating the press.

In the past, the city hired and trained the guards with the school board reimbursing the city. But this year the city refused to continue.

The crossing guard issue resolved itself when the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of Greater Vancouver offered to administer the program which is paid for by the school board.

Feb. 27, 1983: The New Westminster school board makes the daring move of changing a 112-year-old tradition in the Royal City, much to the horror of some aldermen and residents.The board approves including boys in the May Day Royal Suite.Their role will be decided by the schools

and by the May Day committee.

Said Ald. Joe Francis: “We’ve had it the traditional way for 100 plus years and we should keep it that way.”

The Record editorial (written by a male) lambasted the teachers for wanting to involve boys in the May Day Royal Suite.

The editorial called their idea a “farcical display of petulance.”

The editorial said teachers should be sticking to teaching – not changing the city’s time-honoured traditions. A May King indeed.

Editor’s note: Boys have been involved in the May Day Royal Suite for more than two decades now as Royal Knights. In fact, you could almost call it a tradition.

New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 29

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30 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

Confessions of a Royal City party girl Back when earrings were big and bangs were bigger, NewWestminster was a hopping place – a little too hopping for a group of ministers in the late 1980s who complained it was fast becoming a boozesoaked, drug-riddled capital of crime.

By CORNELIA NAYLOR Those holding the Chi Chis in the city’s many nightclubs, though, saw things a little differently.The Record sat down with one recovering ’80s NewWaver, born and bred in the Royal City, to get a first-hand account. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent.

a little strip competition for money.They had a fabulous DJ.The reason I went to Chicago’s so much is that they had a DJ who really picked up on some of the really new music. It’s very old now, but the Safety Dance. He played the Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. I would request it from radio station and they had no clue who Men Without Hats were. A lot of NewWave stuff, Missing Persons, the Stranglers. He did recognize that that wasn’t going to fly all night every night, so he had to mix it up a bit.

There was Michael Jackson; Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order was a big song. He

There was also a nightclub, Mardi Gras, in the Royal Towers Hotel and a pub, Rosie O’Grady’s, with a room at the back called Rosie’s Den where guys would go and watch strippers.There were a lot of strip clubs in NewWest back then.

There was also a place out in Sapperton, EJ Jackson’s. I think they had a shooter bar, where you had to sit down and take your shot leaning back.

A lot of older folks used to go down to the Terminal; it was a beer parlour.There were also theWindsor and theWindjammer on Columbia Street.

When did your life as a Royal City partier begin?

I didn’t start partying right away, but a lot of people who grew up in NewWest in the ’80s probably went into local bars before they were allowed to.They would sneak in.

Where did people your age go?

The College Place Hotel is probably the first place that they drank. It was on Carnarvon Street. It’s where the Lookout Society has their shelter now. It had been a hotel and it had been a drinking establishment for many, many, many years. On one side, you had Mugs and Jugs, which during the day was a strip bar and at night was a pub. On the other side of the building, with a separate entrance, was Chicago Tonight, which was a nightclub. It was the place to be.You would go to Mugs and Jugs to drink, and at the end of the night, you’d go to Chicago’s if you wanted to dance or if they wanted to meet someone.

Was Chicago’s your favourite place to party?

So many people from NewWest would go there on a Friday night.You didn’t have to go to a house party because so many people that you went to school with or that you knew from older grades or younger grades, they were all there. In about the late ’80s, maybe early ’90s, Kits Pub opened up on Front Street, and it sort of became the place that everybody went to. My age group moved off to Kits and probably some of the younger people kind of kept going to Chicago Tonight.

What were Chicago Tonight and Mugs and Jugs like?

Mugs and Jugs was a pub place with a stage for the strippers in the middle of it. In the evening, people would sit on the stage.

There was a second bar that was open on one side to Chicago Tonight and on the other to Mugs and Jugs. If you were in Mugs and you wanted to go dancing, and you were kind of worried that Chicago’s might be getting a lineup, you could look across…

You had to go outside to go, but you could see through the bar.

Chicago’s you would never forget.When we first started going there in the early ’80s, it had booths and there were telephones in the booths that you could use to call someone (I never did this) across the room and chat with someone sitting somewhere else.

It was quite a tacky place.There was a giant wax figurine Elvis and a ‘get lucky ball.’

There was a disco ball and strobe lights and a “hot buns night,” where people would do

What about make-up?

Nothing too wild and crazy there. A lot of eyeliner.

What were people drinking in those days?

You hear about all the craft beer nowadays. Back then it was Coors Lite or Bud. People would drink Zombies, Paralyzers.

Long Island Iced Teas were a big seller at Kits Pub. I used to have Chi Chis when I was underage or just of age and didn’t really drink a ton.That would be my drink.

I’d have a Chi Chi at Chicago’s and I’d be good to go. I could dance the night away.

But Mugs also had draught cider, and, to this day, I’ve never known of another place that has ever had draught cider, so that was a thing. It was a buck for a glass of cider. A buck!

What about drugs?

It was a big cocaine decade, and I think that in a lot of ways I was actually quite naïve to the prevalence of it. Especially by the late ’80s or the early ’90s at Kits Pub, yeah, you knew it was easily accessible if that’s what you wanted. People smoked pot. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like it’s more prevalent now.Weed was more of a thing that people did at parties. For my group of friends, alcohol was the drug of choice.

When I started going downtown toVancouver for clubbing I started to hear more about other drugs.

If you were looking for a good time in New West in the 1980s, you may have found yourself at the College Place Hotel, home of both Mugs and Jugs and Chicago Tonight. RECORD /Thinkstock

played Bon Jovi and the hair bands too.

It was NewWest, so you had some people who were pretty alternative looking, and you had some very traditional looking people. I had a friend once who had the big schwoop in her hair, and people would cockadoodle-doo at her when she walked in.They weren’t quite ready for it, but the music brought that kind of element to the place.

Did other bars and clubs have different reputations?

Absolutely, Casablanca’s was over on Church Street. It was sort of the funk place.

There were a lot of people who came up from the States to go there. A lot of navy guys fromWhidbey Island came up to go there. It was a hugely popular place.

What was the most decrepit bar?

That was theWindsor on the corner of Begbie and Columbian. It was a heritage building and it had separate entrances for men, ladies and escorts.

Were there any gay bars?

There were no gay bars that I know of in NewWest, but there was a bathhouse down on Front Street … In the ’80s, because you had bands like the Eurythmics and the Culture Club, who had these either gay or androgynous singers, there were a lot of gay people who were starting to go to Chicago Tonight, for example.

Were they openly gay?

I had crushes on a couple of them, not knowing.

“Kits Pub opened up on Front Street, and it sort of became the place that everybody went to.”

How did you get ready on a typical Friday night?

I usually just consulted with my girlfriends and found out what everybody was wearing and where we were going.

People from around the Lower Mainland went there for that type of music and it was a hopping place.

There was Good Rockin Tonight and California Dreamin. I think one came before the other.They were behind what is now the Old Spaghetti Factory before SkyTrain.That was the rocker place. I only went there once or twice. For me as a little new waver, it seemed like a rougher crowd.

That was the rowdiest.That would have been the place that bikers would have gone.

What did you wear?

It would have been probably a long stretchy pencil skirt, a longish blouse that would have had a giant belt that would have been hanging low, lots of jewelry, lots of bracelets, rows of pearls. Madonna fed into the whole big jewelry thing, big gaudy earrings, and then a lot of people had some really big hair going on. I didn’t go too outrageous with the hair. I did have some big bangs, though, and had to spend some time gelling and blow-drying.

Did people come from outside of New West to party here?

Yes, because back then NewWest had a lot of places to party, a lot of nightclubs and they were diverse. So, yeah, you had people coming from other places because I don’t think that those communities had the establishments that we did.

What was New West’s reputation at the time?

It wasn’t a great reputation. It was really looked down upon. It was definitely not a hip place; it was a working man’s kind of town. Columbia Street at the time was pretty dead, so I think that kind of image is what a lot of people had of NewWest. It wasn’t a place where people were going to come fromVancouver too much to party. It looked down and out even though there was a lot going on in terms of places to go.

What changed? Do you think New West is the same place it was then?

I don’t party too much anymore, but I think that nowadays there’s more pubs and lounge-type places.There’s none of the big nightclubs that we had back then, aside from the one on Church Street. And that was something that happened because of lots of complaints about noise, and I think there were allegations of bikers taking over places.

Is New West a better place today?

I don’t know what the younger people’s party habits are like.There’s lots of pubs and lounges, but back in the ’80s, the College Place Hotel was a real focal point. It was like the Cheers of NewWest. If you went in there on a weekend evening, you were pretty much guaranteed to find someone you knew. I don’t know if there’s any place like that now.

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THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

WHAT KEPT LOCALS BUSY IN THE CITY

If you wanted to catch ’80s flicks like Raging Bull, Top Gun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Breakfast Club or Platoon, there were a few options around town, including the Columbia Theatre and Paramount Theatre (before it became a lapdancing establishment) on Columbia Street and New West Cinemas in Westminster Mall.

Folks looking to do a bit of gambling (and able to handle the smoke) may have enjoyed a night of bingo. New West has been home to a few bingo halls through the years, including Sunday night games in the New Westminster City Market at 1051 Columbia St. – a site that’s now home to Columbia Square shopping centre.

Woodward’s. Need we say more? It was the go-to place for pretty much everything you needed including clothing, shoes, groceries and toys.You could enjoy a quick bite to go at the malt stand or sit down for a coffee or a meal in the res-

taurant. Come Christmas, there was no place quite like a visit with Santa at Woodward’s. In the early 1990s, Woodward’s relocated into the new Woodward’s Centre (now Royal City Centre) at Sixth and Sixth and eventually closed shop.

If you needed to get the newest release by the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, the Police or Billy Joel, you headed to Kelly’s Stereo Mart at the corner of Columbia and Sixth streets (where Starbucks is now located) or Big K Music in Westminster Mall.

While White Spot has been located in Royal City Centre for many years, in the 1980s it still stood on the corner of 12th Street and Sixth Avenue, across the street from Lucky Strike Bowling.You could dine inside at the counter or a table, or get served in your car by the White Spot carhops.

If you wanted a homecooked meal, you likely ventured to the Waffle House – when it was located on Sixth Avenue.The 600

block of Sixth Avenue, now home to the Royal Bank and some dollar stores, was the site of others businesses in the 1980s, including Cartwright Jewelers, Kelly’s Men’s and Boys’Wear and Parkhill Bakery.

If you have an appetite for fish, you would have headed down to the waterfront in April for the seasonal eulachon run in the Fraser River. Fishermen sold the eulachon for about $1 a pound.

Nightlife proliferated in New West in the 1980s, offering up everything from nightclubs where you could dance the night away to oldschool beer parlours.The College Place Hotel (Mugs and Jugs and Chicago Tonight), the Royal Towers Hotel (Rosie O’Grady’s pub and Mardi Gras nightclub), Casablanca’s on Church Street, E.J. Jacksons in Sap-

Downtown: The Paramount Theatre (left), built in 1902, was still operating as a movie theatre in the 1980s.

Top, the 600 block of Sixth Avenue in 1984.

RECORD /Archived Files

perton, Fronts of Front Street, the Windjammer, the Windsor, the Terminal Pub, Moonrakers, and the King Edward Hotel – and a few we’ve likely missed.

Late night munchies?

There’s a good chance you hit up Bino’s Restaurant (fries with gravy or a jumbo bran muffin, anyone?) in Westminster Mall or Venus Pizza, the predecessor to River’s Reach neighbourhood pub.

Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons inspired many folks to don spandex and

leggings and do aerobics. Locally, Fitness New West at the Centennial Community Centre and theYMCA of New Westminster on Sixth Street were the places to get fit.

Sports fans enjoyed action at Queen’s Park Arena, where the senior Salmonbellies enjoyed great success in the 1980s (see page 41). Come winter, they could enjoy watching future NHLers Bill Ranford and Cliff Ronning take to the ice for the New Westminster Bruins.

Levis were still on trend, but Sergio Valente and Jordache were among the hot denim brands of the 1980s.

If you needed a new pair

of jeans, you may have ventured in to Bootlegger in Westminster Mall or Kelly’s Men’s and Boy’s Wear on Sixth Avenue.

Big, big hair was a big thing in the 1980s, and locals visited places like Michael’s Salon, Raymond’s Salon in Woodward’s, Classic Hair Salon and He and She to get punky cuts, perms and other styles of the day.

New Westminster is home to grocery stores like SaveOn-Foods, Safeway and Buy Low Foods, but in the 1980s families would have headed to the Woodward’s Food Floor, Safeway or SuperValu in Westminster Centre for their grocery needs.

They still talk about King Neptune’s buffet A legendary part of New Westminster’s restaurant history served its last supper in 1982.

The King Neptune opened on the waterfront at the foot of Eighth Street

By THERESA MCMANUS in the late 1950s, quickly garnering a reputation as the go-to upscale restaurant in town. Diners came from across the Lower Mainland to feast on seafood.

“It was a seafood feast to remember. Lovely stuff,” recalls longtime New West resident Tony Antonias.

“They had crab, shrimp, prawns. It was just incredible. It was something to behold.”

After filling their plates at the buffet tables stacked with seafood, side dishes

and fruits, diners headed to the dining area that featured views of the Fraser River.

“King Neptune – where salmon jump from the Fraser into the pan,” reads a postcard distributed during the restaurant’s heyday.

While seafood lovers often dined at the restaurant, for many folks a night out at the King Neptune was reserved for special occasions.

“To go to the King Neptune was a night that you would hold very, very special,” Antonias says. “It brought a lot of people to New West. It was the talk of New Westminster. It was a special place.”

Many residents were saddened when the famous seafood establishment was forced out of its waterfront location in 1982, when the B.C. Development Corpo-

ration didn’t renew the restaurant’s waterfront lease.

First Capital City was an agency established by the B.C. Development Corporation and the City of New Westminster to work on the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront.

The restaurant’s closure led to plenty of legal wrangling in court, as the owners attempted to sue for breach of trust and negligent misrepresentation.The restaurant building was put in storage and the owners considered a new location in Surrey and Richmond, but it never came to be.

More than 35 years after the restaurant shuttered its doors and left New West, the King Neptune’s legacy lives on in the memories of residents and in mementoes like menus and postcards that pop up periodi-

Seafood dining: Denis Almas stands in front of the King Neptune Restaurant in 1981. The restaurant had been there for about 20 years.

RECORD /Archived Files

cally for sale on eBay. “Some of us have also never forgotten King Neptune,” local historian Jim Wolf told the Record in

2013. “It had a wonderful neon sign ... and when you came down the Eighth Street hill and there was King Neptune holding his

trident looking straight up the hill and beckoning people to come on in and eat the salmon.”

34 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

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New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 37

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

Dream for permanent home becomes reality The city’s arts community was hard at work in 1980s looking for a permanent home for a local arts centre.

The arts council had temporary quarters at a former Douglas College building

By JULIE MACLELLAN at McBride Boulevard and Eighth Avenue, but a request for a $5,000 city grant to help them complete an arts centre there was denied in June 1984.The city felt the money would be wasted if at a future date the school board (which owned the property) decided to sell the land for commercial use.

Later that month, a city report suggested that Centennial Lodge in Queen’s “To this day, the Arts Council of New Westminster remains headquartered at Centennial Lodge.”

Park might make a good permanent location for an arts centre – a suggestion that garnered some interest from arts council president EileenThompson.

After that, plans speeded ahead quite efficiently.

In July, city council agreed to an expansion of the building to accommodate an arts council gallery, workshop areas and office. In October, the arts council held a successful fundraiser – including a concert and sale of paintings – to help get the project off the ground.

By the following July, the arts council was announcing the hiring of its summer help – and, on Aug. 12, 1985, the official opening of the new arts centre hit the front page.

The festive event had about 200 guests in attendance.

To this day, the arts council remains headquartered at Centennial Lodge.

THE RECORD HITS 35

WHO WAS HOT ON THE NEW WEST ARTS SCENE?

Here are some of the local folks and groups we found making headlines in our back issues:

it family and friends and to show his work at the Bau Xi Gallery in Vancouver.

ALIX GIBSON: The 15-year-old dancer was featured in September 1984 with a host of hardware after earning the North American Irish Dancing championship title for girls under 15.

NANCY ISAAK: This New Westminster actress was featured on our front page in September 1985 as her TV and film career rose. Most recently, she had earned recognition as the “sob-

DOROTHY SMIBERT and YVETTE BOIVIN: These two New Westminster artists hit our front page in February 1984 when they were among the 350 selected from 12,000 entries to have their hand-painted ornaments hung on a special Christmas tree at the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute.They belonged to the Dogwood Tole Society. Smibert returned to the headlines in January 1989 when another ornament was chosen for the Smithsonian tree – her third such success.

Hansel and Gretel took centre stage in 1986

BERNARD RANGER: This Montreal-born local resident hit the front page in July 1985 when he opened the new Novo Art Gallery on East Columbia Street, the city’s first privately owned gallery. He promised complete artistic freedom for those showing in his space.

JOE PLASKETT: The acclaimed artist – yes, the Plaskett Gallery at Massey Theatre is named for him – hit the front page in September 1985.Then 67 years old and living in Paris, the New Westminster native was in town to vis-

bing bride-to-be” in a lottery commercial. She had also just finished working on The Finding, a feature film starring June Lockhart, Margaret O’Brien,Tom Poston and Jackson Davies.

ROYAL CITY DANCE CENTRE: This new New Westminster ballet company made headlines in January 1986 as it was getting ready for its debut production, Hansel and Gretel, which was set to take to the stage at the Douglas College Theatre. Suzanne Ouelette was the director of the new dance centre, which was a youth performing group for promising ballet dancers around the Lower Mainland.

COLLEEN WINTON: Yes, she’s still a very familiar face on the arts scene, and her star was already well on the rise in the

1980s. In April 1986, she was featured for her role as Sheila in the Vancouver Playhouse production of A Chorus Line (a role for which, by the way, she was nominated for a Jessie Award for Outstanding Performance in a Musical in a Supporting Role).

CHARLOTTE DIAMOND: You remember Charlotte – the former NWSS teacher-turned-children’s entertainer who remains popular today. In February 1987, she was headlining a benefit for the Vincent Massey Theatre Improvement Society. In May 1987, she appeared in a feature story in our pages after winning the Juno Award for 1986 Children’s Album of theYear.

MORGAN NYBERG: This New Westminster author was celebrating a prestigious literary honour, having won the 1987 Governor General’s Award for Best Children’s Book – an honour he captured for his work Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army.

The author and dad of two teenage sons (Lawrence and Carl) was featured in February 1988.

SCOTT BREMNER: The nineyear-old actor (son of Suzanne and Ron Bremner) made headlines in April 1988 for his TV career. Among his recent accomplishments were playing Scooter in a TV pilot for The Adventures of Beans Baxter and earning a nomination for Most Outstanding Actor 10Years and Under at the Youth Film Festival in Los An-

geles.

LINDA CULLEN: Yes, you know her too.The star of CBC Radio’s popular Double Exposure program was profiled in August 1988. At the time, she was recognized for her send-ups of such famous females as Pat Carney, Flora McDonald, Grace McCarthy, Margaret Thatcher and Lady Di – but never the Queen. She left that voice to her partner, Bob Robertson.

DOLORES KIRKWOOD: The dancer was running the Kirkwood Academy of the Performing Arts in New Westminster. She was featured in April 1989 as she got set for her finale production, 42nd Street, at Terry Fox Senior High in Port Coquitlam. Among her successful past pupils were professional performer Susan Anderson and professional ballet dancer Reid Anderson, who had become the new artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.

ED HARRINGTON: Harrington graced our pages in August 1989 for his efforts in setting up a new musical theatre society that would be known as the Royal City Musical Theatre Company. His fellow members of the steering committee included such notable locals as NWSS teacher Evelyn Benson,Vagabond Players’ veteran Bernie Legge, set and costume designer James Keary,TV newscaster Belle Puri and choir director Diane Staton.

YES, MICHAEL JACKSON DID COME TO CITY HALL “Glitter King parades with city’s finest.”

Thus ran the large headline across the front page on Nov. 26, 1984, when one of the most famous folks ever to visit New Westminster came quietly into town.

The King of Pop Michael Jackson arrived in the city on Sunday, Nov. 18 after being invited by New Westminster police officers.

Staff Sgt. Jack Fordham had come up with the idea of inviting Jackson to town after learning that the entertainer enjoyed soccer and was known to have a soft spot for police. Fordham and Const. Greg Donnelly were then heading up the police soccer school, and they thought it would be fun to have Jackson come visit while he was in Vancouver

for his Victory Tour.

Jackson agreed – he came to town, signed the city guest book, took an oath of police office and was given memorabilia including a police badge, uniform, identification card and more.

The visit was a “high-security operation” and intended to be kept secret, with only a small select group – including police, families and some soccer school kids – invited to meet Jackson.

But a small crowd that grew to about 50 people did end up converging on city hall to catch a glimpse of the soft-spoken musician – who reportedly barely uttered a word during his visit.

“He was a very quiet individual,” Donnelly told the The King of Pop Michael Jackson visited the city in November 1984 after New West Police Staff Sgt. Jack Fordham invited him to meet with officers. RECORD /Files, contributed paper.

38 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

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New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 39

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

It was ‘boozeminster’ back in the 80s

By February 1987, Rodney Loewen had had it.

The Evangelical Free Church minister had been the victim of two car thefts and three car break-ins, and his son had been beat-

according to 2015 population estimates.

The hard-drinking habits that fuelled all those extra bar seats in the 1980s likely had roots in New West’s history as a shipping ter-

By CORNELIA NAYLOR en up by four drunk youths “roaming our streets and looking for trouble.”

The problem, as he and 17 of his fellow ministers saw it, was the demon liquor.

Looking back, they might have had a point.

In 1987, the Royal City boasted 13,300 bar seats – one for every three residents, according to an articlein the Feb. 17, 1987 edition of the Record.

Today, there are 11,117 liquor primary seats in the city, and nearly half of those are in the Starlight Casino.

That’s less than half as many per capita as in 1987,

minal that cycled through many a thirsty sailor and longshoreman.

“New West was a lot of fun in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.There was basically a pub crawl route you could take through New West,” said New Westminster Museum and Archives curator Oana Capota, who is currently gathering material for an exhibit on drinking culture in the Royal City for next year.

She said New West’s old Labatt’s plant apparently did its part to keep the city awash in alcohol too by providing employees with free cases of beer every

A group of 17 local ministers joined together in 1978 to form the New Westminster Ministerial Association in hopes of curbing the city’s boozy ways. RECORD / Archives

month.

“The person I talked to was a very minor worker and she got six cases of beer every month,” Capota said. “She took it to parties.

I think some people who worked there full time got even more.”

As city council mulled over adding even more bar seats to the city’s already fulsome stock in 1987, however, Loewen and his fellow ministers organized themselves into the New Westminster Ministerial Association and said enough

was enough.

In briefs to city council and the police board, they demanded a freeze on bar seats, more police, stronger enforcement of drinking-driving laws, more severe sentencing of offenders and the delicensing of row-

dy pubs. In a letter to the editor on March 3, 1987, they insisted they weren’t prudes.

With 22 per cent unemployment in the city, they argued, residents were easy prey for the bottle and the city’s reputation as a boozesoaked, drug-riddled capital of crime wasn’t good for business and would affect the city’s tax base.

“The moral principle of anything is always costly and in the long run worth it,” wrote the ministers.

As clashes between residents and rowdy bars ramped up in the 1990s, though, residents voiced fewer concerns about morality and more about drunken fights, noise, property crime and vandalism outside their homes.

If you have a story to tell or an item to donate related to local drinking culture, contact Capota at 604-5153842 or ocapota@newwest city.ca.

Residents said they would make little use of the new ALRT line There may be no bigger piece of infrastructure that shaped the look and future of New Westminster than SkyTrain.

couver’s waterfront.

But even before the $854-million ALRT started operating on a regular basis in January 1986, some people were

By JEREMY DEUTSCH And in the ’80s, plenty of ink was used in the Record to cover the transit line, from construction to the first ride and beyond.

While most people can’t imagine the city without SkyTrain, history shows, not everyone was expecting it be a success.

Construction on the project, which was called the Expo line to commemorate the popular fair, began in 1983 and spanned 21 kilometres from New Westminster to downtown Van-

warning the line would be a bust.

A Record article from April 1984 suggested a “clear majority” of suburban residents will make little use of the line. Some of the resident quoted said they’d likely only use SkyTrain to get to and from Vancouver Canucks and B.C. Lions games. In fairness, the article mostly quoted people from the TriCities.

But once it was finally open, large crowds came out to be a part of

the spectacle. On Dec. 11, 1985, an estimated 60,000 people, including Premier Bill Bennett turned out to take a ride on the SkyTrain.The line was operating for a few weeks for free before paid service began at the start of 1986.

And shortly after, residents were already complaining about SkyTrain, mostly about the disruption and devaluing homes.

“We’ve lost all of our privacy,” Judy Kaler told the Record in a story in Jan. 21, 1986.

Despite the myriad complaints, there was no slowing the SkyTrain down. Expansion of the service was quickly back up for discussion amongst the politicians of the day. By October 1987, New West politicians were pushing for

a decision on an expansion of SkyTrain to Coquitlam. New West was seeking a route from the Columbia Station east to the city limits.

Burnaby was pushing for SkyTrain to enter Coquitlam via its Burnaby-Edmonds station.

“The decision to go to Coquitlam is necessary for the overall system,” acting New West Mayor Calvin Donnelly said in the Record on Oct. 21, 1987. It would be almost 30 years before SkyTrain would end up in the Tri-Cities.

However, a month after the story, construction began in November 1987 on the SkyBridge, a new SkyTrain bridge that would link New West to Surrey.The $170 million extension was expected to be fully operational by 1990.

Premier Bill Bennett, front right, and Mayor Tom Baker, second row left, join other politicos for a ride on SkyTrain on its opening day in 1985. RECORD / File photo

40 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

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New Westminster RECORD THURSDAY October 27, 2016 41

THE 80s IN NEW WEST

THE RECORD HITS 35

Historic battles for ’Bellies in the ’80s

Distance doesn’t always create a fondness for someone’s company.

Nor do years always make memories softer.

When it came to the 4,378 kilometres that separated New Westminster, B.C. and Brooklin, Ont. in the 1980s, the gap couldn’t have been bigger nor rougher.

Between 1985 and 1989, the New Westminster Salmonbellies and Brooklin Redmen battled for national

in 1981 and ’86.The lessons learned over four tough final losses (in 1980, ’82, ’85 and ‘87) were paid in full as New West prevailed 10-4 to capture the 1989 Mann Cup national title in six games.

Celebrating the 1986 Mann Cup title were ’Bellies, from left, Ivan Tuura, John Gilchrist and MVP Geordie Dean.

In that rivalry brewed over RECORD /Archived Files four meetings in five seasons, a chapter of lacrosse mythology was written.

It pitted the best of box lacrosse in an East vs.West ing Mann champs.When “Believe me, you’d have out Gary Gait – a player crop. Seven times New West showdown for national the Queen’s Park dust setseen 23 Salmonbellies whom Bellies management was a finalist. Comparisons bragging rights. And while tled, New Westminster rode dead on the floor from exhad cheekily drafted in the to the Stanley Cup-feted star turns from a handful of haustion before you’d have spring WLA junior draft.

Montreal Canadiens franplayers to capture the naseen us lose another one at And while Brooklin put chise was natural.

By DAN OLSON tional hardware and end the home,” remarked the Westup a strong fight, the home Paraphrasing one of the decade on a victorious note. ern Lacrosse Association’s team was unwavering in fin- top TV shows of the era, box lacrosse supremacy four Brooklin had prevailed on And while Billboard’s No. 1989 scoring champion Ge- ishing the job and sending Cheers, in lacrosse everytimes. It was a period when two of those occasions – in- 1 song of that week seemed ordie Dean after the final.

Ontario’s best home unone knew the SalmonbelRonald Reagan had a plan to cluding one decided in overhappy. lies name. bring down the Berlin Wall time in Game 7 in 1987 New West’s Ben Hieltjes Coached by Bill (Casey) “Believe me, you’d have seen 23 and parachute pants was a – New West was willing to counted 10 goals in the Cook, that New West crew Salmonbellies dead on the Qoor from fashion statement, but there accept nothing short of resix-game series to earn the would continue its chamwas also no escaping the andemption.

Most Valuable Player award. pagne ways into the next exhaustion before you’d have seen us imosity on the floor when For the fans and hold-over Dean was midway through decade, beating Brooklin lose another one at home,” remarked these two storied franchises players from ’87 still baring a Canadian Lacrosse Hall again in 1991. the Western Lacrosse Association’s met in a Mann Cup champi- deep, painful scars, the 1989 of Fame-worthy career, and That would be the 24th onship final. rematch was akin to getting 1989 scoring champion Geordie Dean was surrounded by fellow and last time they would By 1989, familiarity bred Muhammed Ali and George on-floor leaders Eric Cowitaste Mann Cup success, after the Rnal. a special level of contempt Foreman together for one eson, Dave Durante, Andy part of a 16-year span that and competition that seemed more rumble in the jungle.

Ogilvie and Hieltjes. saw the Bellies advance to to leave sweat-soaked wood The legends of lacrosse in tune with the series – the That Game 6 score came The 80s were a fine time the national tournament 11 chips on the Queen’s Park took turns knocking each New Kids on the Block’s after Brooklin fired back to follow the red fish. As times, winning four crowns.

Arena floor. other down a peg in a rough Hangin’Tough – what fans with a desperation 12-8 win it was in 1981, when they As Cook said then, “It For the Salmonbellies, and tumble best-of-sevand players alike celebrated in Game 5.The Ontario blanked Brampton 4-0, was a tremendous team efplaying host to Brooklin in en series.The Bellies nevto was We Are the Champiteam’s lineup had been boland in 1986 when they fort.This is very satisfying.

September was a fitting finer trailed, leading the series ons, the musical anthem by stered in its drive for a third bounced Brooklin 4-2, the It doesn’t make up for 1985 ish to the ‘80s, a decade that 1-0 and 3-1 despite a vigor- Queen. Some things never straight Mann title by signRoyal City team proved to or ’87 – but this is 1989.” saw Sixth Street celebrations ous defence from the reign- change, nor should they. ing Victoria junior standbe the cream of the boxla

FIRST HERITAGE HOME IN THE CITY NDP power couple Dennis and Yvonne Cocke designated their 1910 home at 111 Fifth Ave. as a heritage house in July 1985 – making it the first designated heritage house in New Westminster. The Wintemute-Cocke house is now one of dozens of designated heritage buildings in New Westminster. The Cockes were well-known figures around town, as Dennis served as the city’s MLA and Yvonne was an alderman (in the days before they were called city councillors). Together the couple became known as the Cocke Machine for their phenomenal ability to run successful NDP campaigns. RECORD /Archived Files

42 THURSDAY October 27, 2016 • New Westminster RECORD

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