A Visit to Haney

We took a drive to Maple Ridge as it is now know, where we grew up. We stopped to visit mom and dad and people have placed about 40 wind chimes in the tree near the headstones. Very peaceful and we passed Thomas and Anne Haney's monuments near the entrance, whom the town was named for. We drove past our old house that was on the Lougheed Highway and later moved back, so the Chevron garage could go in there - still looks good today. We went down Carr's Hill, past the old meat packing plant and Billy Miner's Pub. It used to be the Bank of Montreal when Dad was a kid and the Church next door was where the horse was tethered and broke loose every Sunday so they'd have to walk all the way uphill home. We went up to the Westminster Abbey in Mission which was built by the Benedictine Monks in 1982. It is 162' long, 110' wide and has 64 stained glass windows, blue on one side and orange/red on the other. A dome of coloured glass rises 60' above the altar. Very beautiful.

We lost a good friend

Our friend Debbie passed away from a brain aneurysm Wed. So difficult to believe. This picture is from a Christmas in Palm Springs. We think of her and Peter with love and will miss her wonderful smiles and laughter.

Trethewy House at Mill Lake

The Abbotsford Lumber Company built this "arts and crafts" style bungalow in 1920 for B.C. timber baron J.O. Trethewey. The house has been restored to c.1925.
Abbotsford's most important early industries are represented in Trethewey House: it was built with the finest fir lumber produced at the mill on Mill Lake. The mill was operated by the Abbotsford Lumber Company, which was owned by J.O. and his brothers. The bricks used in the chimneys and fireplaces were made with clay mined on nearby Sumas Mountain and processed at Clayburn Village, B.C.'s first company town.
Trethewey House was designated as a heritage site in 1983, and is now operated by the MSA Museum Society.
Heritage Gallery and the MSA Museum Office are located in the Carriage House, a reproduction of the original building used to house the Tretheweys' automobiles and Joey's pony and motorcycle. See an interpretation of Mill Lake and brief history of the company and its connections to the oldest extant Sikh Temple in Canada where Abbotsford Lumber donated building materials for its construction in 1911.
Joey's Playhouse - Joey Trethewey had the smallest family bedroom but compensation for this included the space for his pony and motorcycle in the Carriage House and his two room playhouse, now used as a pioneer classroom for school programs and venue for summer day camp.

History and Chess

We drive past the Gur Sikh Temple every time we go to 7 Oaks mall where Ron walks if it's raining. The first Sikhs had arrived in the Fraser Valley in 1905, from Punjab in India. This heritage Sikh Temple, opened on Feb. 1912, is the oldest surviving example of the temples which formed the religious, social and political centre of pioneer Canadian Sikh communities. It was built on a one acre property on a prominent hill adjacent to the mill at Mill Lake where about fifty or so Sikh men worked. These men and others who worked on the farms in the area used to carry local timber donated by the Tretheway family’s Abbotsford Lumber Company on their backs up the hill from Mill Lake to the Temple site. Architecturally, it is an adaptation of traditional Sikh forms, to Canadian conditions which nevertheless embodies the fundamental beliefs of Sikhs and their early experience as immigrants in Canada. It is 2 stories and has 2 soldiers on horseback outside to the right.
Ron watches the locals play crib in the Mall, even got in 2 games one day. Players arrive with a round cylinder containing the board and men, and there are usually 3 -4 games going in the afternoons in the food court.

The town of Chilliwack

We went out to Chilliwack and had a lovely visit with Adele and Bob.
As always I am fascinated with the history. 10,000 years ago there were 40,000 to 60,000 the native Sto:lo living along the Fraser River. Europeans arriving in 1782, introduced diseases reducing them by 95%. When gold seekers first arrived in British Columbia in 1857, there were few aboriginal people left.
By December, 1858 up to 30,000 miners were pouring into the area, with most traveling through the Chilliwack area on the old Yale wagon road. By the mid-1860s a few of the gold seekers had established small farms to service this growing population. These farms were located near riverboat landings. In Chilliwack, this meant that Miller's, Sumas and Chilliwack Landing became early population centres.
The Township of Chilliwhack was incorporated in 1873, the third oldest municipality in British Columbia. The settlement was concentrated along the Fraser River where the steamboats carried goods and passengers. It expanded to the junction of the New Westminster-Yale Wagon Road, Wellington Avenue and Young Road,the main commercial area of the town moved up the road, now Five Corners where heritage buildings like the 1929 Telephone building remain.
In 1881 a large subdivision called Centreville was developed. In 1887 the name was changes to, Chilliwhack.
Weather is so funny near these mountains, sunshine on the way out, then a massive hail storm under black clouds.

Back to Mill Lake

We had Chris, Julie and kids over for dinner Monday so are really enjoying being in the same town. Today's walk took me back to Mill Lake, stocked with rainbow trout right in the middle of the city. I talked to an old guy in his wheelchair one day 'just dangling his fishing rod in the water', likes the fresh air. It's beautiful with babies feeding ducks, mountains in the background, a huge eagles/osprey? nest in the tree, swimming pool and water park at one end.
In 1903, the Tretheway brothers bought the Abbotsford Lumber Company on the north shore and soon the mill site and area became Milltown, due to the mill buildings, company housing and general store. Due to employment at the mill, many newcomers and immigrants were drawn to the area. The Lumber Company donated lumber to build the Gur Sikh Temple in town and bath houses for the Japanese workers. By 1930, the Great Depression shut the mill down and today only the pilings remain at the edge of the lake.

Come to the ARC

That is Abbotsford Recreational Center - it has everything. As I walked in, for my Sunday swim, a little girl and dad were leaving, both with their hockey sticks. There's a small skating area for beginners and there is even speed skating and a local hockey team.
The pool is very nice with a climbing wall and fun equipment for the Family Fun Swim, a TV to watch while you're in the hot tub, all sorts of lessons.
There are 4 different areas with fitness equipment, always in use, seniors center, weekly movies, crib tournaments, indoor walking track and many many more activities. A picture in the senior's center say 'Dance like no one's watching, sing like no one's listening.' It's just a 10 minute walk from the house.