If I can borrow a line from Pique’s own push email a while back—thank you, Liz McDonald, for your fun “groaner” of a dad joke (what did the iceberg say to the romaine?)—lettuce celebrate, indeed!
For here comes a bunch of “let us (not them) eat cake” moments. To start, BC Day is just around the corner on Aug. 4, giving us the first real long weekend of the summer. (How else can you catch a decent summer break if you don’t get holiday time?)
Here’s the trick: So we could all enjoy an August long weekend, the thoughtful MLAs who supported the initiative by then-Premier Dave Barrett’s NDP government back in 1974 not only created BC Day. They ensured it fell on the first Monday of every August, even though B.C. was officially founded on Aug. 2, 1858.
So it’s our 51st BC Day, and Beautiful British Columbia’s 167th birthday this year. And even though it’s not one of those big, blast-worthy 50th or 100th anniversary dates we Westerners love to mark (like Whistler’s is this year!), it’s still a good time to stop and reflect. After all, any of us lucky enough to live in this part of the world have so much to celebrate—anytime—we don’t even need a special day of the year.
And if you’re doubly lucky and get over to Victoria for BC Day, whatever birthday year, there are oodles of good local bakeries and tea rooms that can serve up a sweet slice of something. Get it to go and enjoy it out on the front lawn of the legislature, overlooking the magnificent old Empress Hotel and lovely inner harbour.
IF WE CAN’T HAVE CAKE, THEN WE’LL SING FOR OUR SUPPER
Meanwhile, Whistler has a mountain of fun planned to mark the RMOW’s big 5-0 soon after BC Day. And while I don’t see any cake in the line-up, at least not yet, no doubt it’s going to be a pah-ty.
The whole thing kicks off with a major multi-day celebration starting Aug. 21 to 24 with tons of free events for people of all ages: Kid zones, dog parties, yoga sessions. Illuminated installations to light up your life! Retro dance parties—you name it, including a mass sing-along led by Canada’s Choir! Choir! Choir! when you might even find yourself, if not singing for your supper, at least singing your heart out. Even better!
Add that’s just the start. More 50th birthday fun is planned throughout fall and winter to extend the celebrations. Get more of a taste what's planned so far, right here in Pique.
And maybe, just maybe, if anyone at muni hall is reading this right now (add winking emoji), there might even be cake, especially Sept. 6, the day in 1975 the resort municipality was officially incorporated. It was the first resort municipality in Canada, and the start of what are now 14 resort municipalities across B.C.—all kicked off by the same NDP government of the early ’70s that brought us BC Day.
If that isn’t enough, Whistler Blackcomb’s big 60th anniversary is also happening this year. What we now know as Whistler Blackcomb started in 1965 as Whistler Mountain—a full 10 years before the Resort Municipality of Whistler was born. So maybe they’ve got a 60-metre cake in the works!
Hey, that’s not such a stretch! The record for the world’s longest cake, according to Guinness, was a whopping 5,300 metres or 17,388 feet created by the Bakers Association in Kerala, India, by some 1,500 chefs and bakers.
Plus Whistler Mountain had a 12-metre cake everyone went nuts for at their 20th birthday party in 1985. Whistler Museum and Archives can happily inform you about lots more wild and crazy events for those 20th-year celebrations. Hugh Smythe, then head honcho at Blackcomb Mountain, donned a Garibaldi Whistler Mountain shirt for fun. Besides that very l-o-n-g birthday cake, there were more retro-themed bands (Whistler loves retro!), a Gondola Stuffing Contest (which saw 27 kids stuffed into one four-person gondola!), and even free VIP meals.
Trust Seppo Makinen, whose crews cut the first runs on Whistler Mountain, to note it was “the first time in 20 years the lift company was going to pay for a meal.” Good ol’ Seppo.
WE’RE HERE FOR A GOOD TIME
So I say, free or not, lettuce all celebrate—and eat cake—as much as we can, as often as we can. Life is short, and on that note, here’s living proof that it might not be too bad.
I think a lot of folks are getting disillusioned by government lately—and you know what I’m talkin’ about. But remember, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Before they were swept out of power in 1975 (yes, the creation of Whistler was one of their last official acts), that NDP government accomplished so many amazing things, it blows me, and a lot of other longtime British Columbians, away. Here’s a small sampling: A provincial ambulance and air-ambulance service. Initiatives for First Nations. B.C.’s first ministry of housing. Neighbourhood pubs! Pharmacare for seniors. Robson Square. The SeaBus. A provincial Status of Women office. The most extensive human rights code in Canada. And more!
They also created something we should all be eternally grateful for, and guard ferociously—our treasured Agricultural Land Reserve. Developers have groused about it for years, but the ALR still protects 4.6 million hectares of precious farmland across B.C., primarily for the production of food.
This was all the more amazing because that NDP government only held power for 39 months!
So you don’t need a long time, just a good time, to get good things done. Keep that in mind as you head to your next birthday party, especially if it’s your own.
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who’s always loved having her cake and eating it, too.
