The Surrey Historical Society wants to bring “Old Curly” back to Surrey.
The Society (SHS) held its AGM April 19 and one of the projects they’re looking at is to bring the old locomotive south of the Fraser.
“We feel, with a new Mayor and Council, the time is right to continue the work Roger Bose (SHS member) has done to bring Old Curly, a very significant part of Surrey’s past, back to Surrey from Burnaby,” president Evelyn Wedley revealed in a letter, the “2023 Board Report,” to SHS members ahead of the meeting.
Old Curly is a locomotive from the 1880s. It’s the oldest surviving steam locomotive in British Columbia and was used to build part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It’s currently located at the Burnaby Village Museum.
It was the Surrey Historical Society’s first in-person meeting since their last AGM held in April 2022 at the Beaverlodge in Cloverdale. During the course of the year, they met on Zoom only.
Held in the basement of the Surrey Archives building, about 30 people attended.
“The meeting started off with a wonderful presentation by four Grade 12 Semiahmoo Secondary students,” said Michael Gibbs, past president of the SHS and past commissioner of the Surrey Heritage Advisory Commision.
He said the four students—Mehak Dhaliwal, Dasnoor Kaur, Jasmine Mangat, and Simrit Mangat—introduced their documentary and then answered questions at the end.
“The video focussed on the process of reconciliation between the school and the First Nation,” Gibbs said.
The 21-minute doc, Truth and Reconciliation: A Tribute to the Semiahmoo First Nations, can be found on SHS’s YouTube channel and below.
“They even managed to get an interview with Chief Harley Chappell, which I understand is hard to do because he’s a very busy man,” added Gibbs. “It was very well done.”
In other items from the “2023 Board Report,” Wedley wrote that she spent a lot of time reviewing the history of the Society in an effort to familiarize herself with all the initiatives the SHS has undertaken in the past.
“We have discussed several projects that we hope to bring forward for discussion,” she noted. “One of the priorities is to get our website operational so we can keep it up to date.”
She explained that planning has begun for the recognition of the 200th anniversary of the James McMillan Expedition that took place in 1824.
“We have had preliminary discussions with several organizations, including the Surrey Museum & Archives, the Langley Heritage Society, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University,” she revealed. “We would like to make this a true recognition of this past event that affected the entire area, including several First Nations.”
Wedley said the SHS has now established a YouTube channel that already has a few videos uploaded to it.
She also encouraged anyone who wants to preserve their family heritage to get in touch with the Society.
Wedley said the SHS would be happy to work with families who have historical documents and photos to share.
SEE ALSO: Replica hall considered after ‘accidental’ fire ruined renovation plans
SEE ALSO: New-look Surrey Historical Society website
“These can be digitized and the originals returned to the families or turned over to the (Surrey) Archives.”
As for Gibbs, he was voted in as a director-at-large and he couldn’t be happier. It’s the first position he’s taken on since he suffered a serious medical incident in 2021. It was also the first AGM he attended, online or otherwise, since 2020.
“The meeting was excellent,” noted Gibbs. “There is a real interest on the part of the members of the society to reach out and get involved in the community more.”
One of the initiatives the Society talked about was restarting their oral family history video series. In the past, the SHS filmed local families and recorded their stories of growing up and living in the area. The series focuses mostly on Cloverdale, Gibbs noted, but now the Society wants to expand it and concentrate on all other areas of Surrey.
“We’re kind of restarting after COVID,” explained Gibbs. “A lot of the discussions centred around finding our feet again.”
He said the SHS also wants to partner with schools and look for ways to engage members of the wider community on local history issues.
Other topics that were discussed included: preservation of family pictures and articles, potential meetings and speakers, a revival of the campaign to bring Old Curly back to Surrey, recognition ideas for the 200th anniversary of the James McMillan Expedition in 1824, and steps toward collaboration efforts with local First Nations.
Gibbs said he was exhilarated to actually be back at an in-person SHS meeting for the first time in several years.
“It sure felt good,” said Gibbs. “A lot of people came up—just to make sure it was me.”
List of Surrey Historical Society board members elected April 19
President: Evelyn Wedley
Vice-President: TBD
Treasurer: Roger Bose
Secretary: TBD
Membership Chair: Ellen Edwards
Director-at-large: Rick Hugh
Director-at-Large: Jim Foulkes
Director-at-Large: Michael Gibbs
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
