Immediately following the devastating windstorm that ripped through Stanley Park overnight Dec. 14 and 15, 2006, park board employee Derek Sayles and a team of seven foresters armed with chainsaws went to work.
As the workers sawed through the massive amount of debris, Sayles followed behind with a front-end loader cutting one small swath at a time to create some order out of chaos. The city's street tree crew helped with that initial clean-up. "It was pretty unreal," Sayles told me this week. "It was so devastating."
Sayles says the crew worked steady for three months to clear paths, haul stumps, saw tree trunks and stabilize areas of Stanley Park. More than 10,000 trees were uprooted or splintered during the storm. Many trees were left balancing precariously against each other, creating a danger for workers. "But luckily no one was injured," Sayles said.
Sayles describes the storm and aftermath as an event none of the workers involved in that initial clean-up will ever forget. "It was once in a lifetime."
Sayles supplied the Courier with dozens of unpublished photos of the clean-up efforts. A gallery of them is available now at vancourier.com.
Jews on ice
The Sunset Ice Rink, located near the Sunset Community Centre on East 51st Avenue, is the location for Chanukah on Ice Dec. 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. When I researched this event online, I found posts from previous years that describe a large hockey-inspired menorah. Unfortunately for hockey fans, I saw no mention of it for 2011. Instead a menorah will be carved from ice, which sounds pretty cool, and a lighting ceremony will take place.
Skaters, and non-skaters, can also enjoy a hot dinner, latkes and donuts. And of course, there will be dreidels for the kids. Music and entertainment complete the Chanukah on Ice fun. The event costs $5 and includes skate rental. Chanukah on Ice is organized by the Centre for Jewish Life. For more information and to RSVP, call 604-266-9841 or visit ChabadEastVan.com.
Yuletide sweats
This is news to me, but apparently not everyone spends Christmas Day in a turkey/stuffing/mashed potato haze.
In fact, some Vancouverites actually exercise on Christmas Day, so the park board is accommodating them by offering hours at select community centres for swimming, working out and skating. For a complete list of holiday hours and to find out where you can get your exercise on Christmas Day, go to vancouver.ca/parks. The park board administration office at 2099 Beach Ave. will be closed starting Dec. 23 and will reopen Jan. 3 at 8:30 a.m.
First draft
The Courier heard from a reader who recently published a book called Beer Barons of B.C.
You might be wondering just what does this have to do with the park board or community, but it turns out a section of the book is dedicated to the former Stanley Park Brewery, which was once near Lost Lagoon.
The book, written by Bill Wilson, is an in-depth look at B.C. breweries from 1858-2011 and includes a chapter featuring the secrets of the Stanley Park Brewery. For more information, contact Wilson at [email protected].
Season's best
Merry Christmas to all of our Courier readers and a special thanks to everyone who emailed and called throughout the year with your thoughts, information and opinions. I appreciate the great amount of information held by Courier readers and their willingness to share it.
Twitter: @sthomas10
