Happy Canada Day! This postcard takes us back almost 100 years. According to the caption, it's the Longest Single Flag-Pole in the World, 205 feet, grown in British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. And when they say 'grown', they refer to the fact that this flagpole was once a tree! This flagpole remained in front of Vancouver's Court House until 1936, according to blizzy63 on flickr:
A flag pole, said to be the tallest in Canada, was erected on the center of the then-new Vancouver Court House lawn at 800 West Georgia Street in Vancouver, BC on August 29, 1913. Cut at Stillwater, BC, it weighed 9 tons and was raised by an elaborate steam-donkey arrangement. The pole was removed on November 4, 1936 due to its then deteriorating condition.
Update! Lani Russwurm sends me this period news article on the flag pole, from the February, 1914 issue of Popular Mechanics. There was a 500 lb weathervane arrow atop this pole!
As we celebrate Canada Day today, I'd like to take a moment to ponder a nationally significant upcoming anniversary. If you haven't yet considered this fact, 2017 marks Canada's 150th anniversary, and it is just 4 years away.
Conversations have already been spreading across the country, thanks in part to a conference series hosted by CBC/Radio-Canada, Community Foundations of Canada, VIA Rail Canada and other collaborators. They call the movement "2017 Starts Now", and I had the pleasure of attending the incubating event in Vancouver back in April. It was a heavy hitting lineup of local leaders, innovators, and creators, including Ian Hanomansing, Bif Naked, Adam Beach, Tzeporah Berman, and David Helliwell, to name a few. You can watch the entire 3 hour presentation here. To get in the mood, this 2017 STARTS NOW conversation kit will help to set the stage. The last conference in the series took place in Ottawa on June 27th, and following this trans-national tour, a summary document has been drafted.
So now the question arises. Can you imagine creating, contributing, or participating in some way that would make 2017 the most awesome Canada Day ever? I am certain there will be lots of official community programming; naturally, there will be plenty of music, artwork, and culture, and hopefully a good dose of history and comedy too. But I'm also interested in the possibilities that exist with locally born, indie-crafted ideas.
For example, here are two really outstanding examples below. First, the Great White North show currently running at HotArtWetCity is an amazing collection of re-imagined Canadiana. Shown at left is one of the works of art in the show, a must see cross-stitch by Sharon Piekarski. My second example, shown at right, was created by students on Vancouver Island a few months ago. It was assembled in honour of Lester B. Pearson's 50th anniversary since he became prime minister in 1963.
Left: Bob & Doug cross-stitch by Sharon Piekarski, at HotArtWetCity's Great White North show until July 13. Right: Lester B. Pearson, rendered in 1,200 Rubik's cubes by Vancouver Island students in April.
Ideas such as these show what is possible with independently inspired, grass-roots contributions at a very local level. So the challenge is on — how would you like to celebrate Canada Day, 2017?!
