My Mother, the Captain

The family heritage of The Kitsilano Showboat.

2 minutes 10 seconds

By Barry Leinbach

Barry Leinbach grew up on the stage of The Kitsilano Showboat alongside his mother, Bea. Bea has been known as "The Captain" for almost all of the 40-some years she was the on-stage and behind-the-scenes forced behind this venue for community dancer, singers and musicians. On the stage modeled after the famous movie set, son Barry talks about growing up with The Captain.

Steel Cleats and Chaperones

Growing up with lessons of self-respect, pride and good parenting.

2 minutes 10 seconds

by Rose Point

Rose Point is Thompson and Stalo who grew up living mostly with her Aunt and Uncle, on Seabird Island Reserve. She attended St. Mary's Residential School near Agassiz as a day student. She raised her children on the Musqueam Reserve with her husband Cagney Point. She is an early-childhood educator, BCIT's Aboriginal Elder-Advisor and is the family archivist. 

Bouquet of Flowers

A romantic family story.

2 minutes 46 seconds

by Kathryn Murray

Kathryn Murray passes down one of her favourite stories told around the table at family gatherings. It explains why she has such a love of family history, seafarers and bouquets of flowers.

Strongmen of the Docks

Memories of working on the docks.

3 minutes 16 seconds

by Delbert Guerin

Delbert Guerin, a Musqueam elder, began his 40-year career on the Vancouver waterfront at a time of great change, when the throngs of men loading and unloading ships were about to be replaced by forklifts, cranes and trucks. He visits the huge gantry cranes on the docks that he operated in the last decade or so before he retired, and remembers a childhood memory that began his fascination with the waterfront.

The Stairs

A definitive moment in a school staircase.

2 minutes 09 seconds

by Paul Livingston

Paul lived in Kitsilano for the first 10 years of his life. He says this about growing up in Kits in the '60s: "Kits was a beautiful place to live until I was about five. Then, the hippies moved in. The neighborhood became very colourful and noisy. Mixed in with families like mine, were the free-spirted transients. These were exciting times for many. but for me—a conservatively-raised kid—they were turbulent, troublesome times. I went to Henry Hudson Elementary and I was having a rough time of it myself. "Shortly before he and his sister and their family moved to Burnaby, an incident happened that has stayed with him ever since. He visited his old school and brings us inside to re-live the moment with him.

Life is a Garden

The hijab as a conversation-starter.

2 minutes 22 seconds

by Zuzanita Zakaria
Zuzanita Zakaria is a Singapore-born documentary film producer and app developer.

She is a Muslim and wears the hijab as part of her faith. She loves how wearing the hijab can be a great instigator of conversations, especially in the West Side of Vancouver where she is a bit of a curiosity.

Enjoy Yourself!

"I love this place because the environment is very good."

1 minute 51 seconds

by Vasanti Maisuria


Vasanti came from Gujarat, India a year ago to be with her son and daughter-in-law and her grandchildren. She worked there in their family business repairing Honda scooters with her husband and sons. Here, she is enjoying her retirement traveling, being with friends at the Sunset and Moberly Community Centres and being surrounded by a loving family.

Lulu

A little bit of my wonderful life in Kits

2 minutes 35 seconds

by Linda Milburn

Linda has lived in a baby-blue heritage duplex in Kitsilano for almost 30 years. To her family and close friends, she's Lulu. To a few in the neighbourhood, she's "Two Dog Red."
Her front porch now faces into the alley but at one time, before Cornwall Street was developed, her porch looked out onto Kits Beach.

She takes us from her front porch, to her back garden and out for a walk by her favourite "haunts" with her two long-haired chihuahuas, Rudi and Lucy Mae.

SMILE

Playing for beauty and forgetting.

2 minutes 42 seconds

by David Rabinovich

David is a Russian-speaking Jewish emigré from Uzbekistan. The classically-trained violin soloist, concert meister and teacher from Tashkent came to Canada as a refugee with his family in 1992. Sometimes, he plays music in public places like Granville Island or in one of the skytrain stations to "bring the beauty of the violin to the people of Vancouver."