Enchanting pink blossom season is here, with glimpses of exquisite flowers being spotted on the streets and avenues of Collingwood in early spring. Quite a few of the main boulevards, such as E 22nd Avenue and Rupert, have older trees with masses of pink blooms in April, while other streets have lighter blossoms earlier in March. Some of the trees are plum, and some are cherry. These are ornamental trees, meaning the blossoms are pleasing to look at, but won’t produce fruit.
“In 1925, the mayors of Kobe and Yokohama presented the Vancouver Park Board with five hundred trees of the Ojochin variety for planting at the cenotaph in Stanley Park, in honour of Japanese Canadian veterans of WWI.” (Source: vcbf.ca)
Closeup of Akebono Cherry blossoms on Austrey Ave in
2011. Photo by Loretta Houben
Austrey Avenue, located behind St. Mary’s Church at Joyce and Euclid, has two rows of magnificent cherry trees in the 3300 block. This is one of the most stunning sights to see in Vancouver in spring! I’d always wondered when these trees were planted, and what variety they were. According to a Holmes report-planting record, which I acquired a few years ago, the year was 1969. The information is on page 25 and gives the name of the gorgeous trees, Akebono Cherry. The report lists trees planted on boulevards in Vancouver from 1926 to 1927 and gives a summary of all types of trees; birch, chestnut, elm, etcetera for a total of 1,710 trees.
The next section in the report is from 1969 onwards. The report is typed in pdf format. There were eighteen Akebono Cherry trees on Austrey Avenue in total. As of 2025, eighteen trees remain but one has been replaced recently. Also in 1969, twenty-two Cherry Whitcombie trees were planted in the 3300 block of Clive Avenue, just one block to the North from Austrey, but they are all gone as of 2025. Make sure you get out and enjoy the beauty of the pink trees, which Vancouver has enjoyed for 100 years! (Source: vcbf.ca)
Julie Cheng enjoys a Friday evening dinner and dance with family and friends at the Italian Cultural Centre. She’s looking forward to spending time in her garden and raising mason bees.
It’s truly time for me to step away for good from the RCC News. I left my post as editor in October 2023 and am no longer its online editor as of September 1, 2024.
It’s been an amazing journey in this neighbourhood where my family has grown up, and Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the Renfrew-Collingwood Community News has been an important part of this journey for some 30 years.
Before kids, I started volunteering on CNH’s communications committee. While my kids were growing up, CNH hired me to work on several community projects, including developing a local literacy plan, bringing local talent into community organizations during Multiculturalism Week and coordinating a community-wide arts and culture project, which created the Multicultural Gateway in front of CNH, the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, the Indigenous youth-led Canoe Club and, with Paul Reid’s vision, the RCC News. We were guided by the principle, “everyone has a gift to share.”
Looking back, I’m most proud to have worked with residents to bring people together and to uplift one another. In doing this work, I made so many friends and found a sense of belonging in this neighbourhood.
Favourite memories
During Multiculturalism Week in 1999, an acupuncturist agreed to do a presentation at a seniors drop-in. There was silence when he asked for a volunteer. Finally, the maintenance guy who happened to pass by put up his hand. He pulled off his shirt, showing off the tattoos on his arms and chest, to whoops from the audience. He didn’t flinch as the needles went in.
Also during Multiculturalism Week, a resident showed us her Mayan backstrap loom technique to local elementary school students. I still remember her skill and the wonder in the students’ eyes.
As part of Building Community through Cultural Expression, we asked a group of Chinese seniors what they wanted to see in the community. They were kind and welcoming as they listened to my broken Cantonese. The only thing they asked for was a covered area at Slocan Park to exercise under during winter. A few years later, several seniors met with a city planner. They didn’t speak English but the smiles on their weathered faces were beautiful as they offered her tea and a cocktail bun. “Oh my,” she said, completely charmed. The seniors got their covered area.
Replacing invasive Himalayan blackberry with native plants in the Renfrew Ravine. Photo by Julie Cheng
All the community building encouraged me to gather my own neighbours together to replace invasive plants in the Renfrew Ravine with native plants and beautify our boulevard. A pile of compost became gold, drawing out the neighbours, some who lived on the same street for years and were learning each other’s name for the first time.
RCC News founder Paul Reid with family, enjoying the first Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, 2002. Photo courtesy of Julie Cheng
You’ll still find me out and about in the community. That may be me weeding the forest, playing tennis, parading at the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, enjoying a meal at a local restaurant or tending to mason bees. Stop and say hi. I’d love to hear your story.
In the meantime, keep sending your stories to Paul Reid at rccnews-editorial@cnh.bc.ca. I’ll be watching for them.
To Julie:
“When I walked into my first communications committee meeting at Collingwood Neighbourhood House in the early 1990s at the Kingsway location, I wouldn’t have believed I’d still be friends with a fellow committee member, Julie. It’s also hard to imagine we were cutting and pasting the newsletter on paper back then. During her time with RCC News, Julie has covered so many aspects of the Renfrew-Collingwood area from restaurants to bees. Her connection to the neighbourhood has been long-lasting and invaluable.” – Jeff Mazo, high school teacher
“Julie has been a big-hearted longtime community builder. When I moved into the community Julie was already a part of the transformative Arts Pow Wow that helped build so many important arts and Indigenous programs in the community that are still thriving. When I started Still Moon Arts Society, Julie was part of creating our name, Still Moon, and she was our founding treasurer for several years. Julie has been tirelessly telling the stories of us to us for many decades, reminding us how important we all are to this community. Thank you, Julie, for supporting so much good work and for making my life here a richer experience.” – Carmen Rosen, artistic director of Still Moon Arts Society
“I have many fond memories of the contributions Julie has made in the Renfrew-Collingwood community. I still remember our first meeting (at our office on Kingsway). It was in my first year at Collingwood Neighbourhood House and we were discovering the assets and needs of the community. I remember, from the beginning, Julie’s interest in communications and reaching the community. She would often be in the office late at night, working the Gestetner, using ink rollers and stencils, to get our newsletter out to the people we knew in the community. She continued to build on this dream and was foundational in writing, editing and developing the Renfrew-Collingwood Community News to the amazing paper it is today. She has been skilled in finding local writers, encouraging youth to write and contribute, engaging our local institutions and businesses and helping to build capacity and pride in their work throughout the years.
“The RCC News was one of many ways Julie contributed to community development. Julie was a thoughtful and insightful CNH board member, coordinated the Arts Pow Wow that left many lasting legacies in the community, led education in asset-based community development and encouraged her husband, children and neighbours to volunteer and contribute their valuable skills. I still remember the Vancouver Foundation being blown away with the Arts Pow Wow report delivered in a handmade book by local residents – a refreshing approach where we walked the talk and explored different ways of doing things.
“Julie, I hope you feel pride in all that you have contributed and accomplished as you walk around the neighbourhood. It is visually more appealing with all the public art, is connected through cherished and long-lasting relationships, has welcomed so many newcomers with an open heart and has a lasting neighbourhood-based newspaper that brings forward stories of past, present and future.” – Paula Carr, former executive director of CNH
“Thank you for your years of dedication to the neighbourhood, including many years dedicated to the RCC News. Your work has helped to bring connection and kindness to our community.
“Thank you for all the things you taught me (like the importance of simple writing) and your friendship through the years of raising our children with no family nearby. I have so many fun memories of the kids playing together and all the inspiring conversations we had about how to build a better safer and more creative and connected neighbourhood while eating yummy food! Looking back, I can’t believe all the things we did together to build a community we wanted live and raise our children in.
“There are so many small moments about you that come to mind. Like the day I dropped by your house and you were so lovingly wiping your bee cocoons and putting them into their cubbies ahead of the spring pollen season. It spoke louder than words about your caring kindness for your community and environment.
“I remember drawing a giant chalk map of the park design and serving hot dogs to neighbours. I recall trying to connect with the tai chi seniors and you making an introduction and the way those relationships blossomed from there. I recently found the document Slocan Park, Our Park – how much energy it took to get to that park plan!
“One recent memory: walking though the ravine and finding you in the bushes pulling out invasives and planting some native plants. Somehow it was unexpected but not surprising to see you there with your shovel!
“I am ever so grateful for the day Paula introduced us and we embarked on our community-building journey together.” – January Wolodarsky, former director of community development at CNH
1910 postcard from Warren Taylor’s grandfather’s collection as posted on Facebook. Edited by Loretta Houben
Five years ago, I discovered an old postcard from 1910 labelled Joyce Road on the Nostalgic/Sentimental Vancouver (Pictures) Facebook group. Warren Taylor, who posted the image, said the postcard belonged to his grandfather.
Everyone in the Facebook group was mystified as to where this was on Joyce Road. I believe I have solved the mystery!
Joyce Road is in the distance, as you can see a faint outline of the mountains in the north, and you can see buildings and houses in the trees. I believe the horse and cart are at the corner of Kingsway and Stamford, and the old house is the Collingwood Inn, also known as the Pig and Whistle.
1960 photo of the Pig and Whistle from the Vancouver Archives.
I came to this conclusion because of the location of the buildings to the right and the white house in front of the horse. The building circled in the distance can also be seen on another old photo from the Vancouver Archives.
The Collingwood Inn once faced Kingsway, when it was Westminster Road, and at some point was turned around so it faced Stamford.
1913 photo of Joyce Road area looking north from Kingsway from Mrs. Walter S. Baird. Edited by Loretta Houben
Renfrew-Collingwood Community News 