SR-270 is an interview conducted by Warren Sommer of Bays (Joan) Blackhall.
270.1
Track 1 – Warren introduces interviewee, Bays gives her full name and elaborates on her nickname and how she got her name. Also tells about growing up on Vancouver Island.
Track 2 – Bays gives some family history, talks about Joseph Highmore, her English ancestor who was a contemporary of Mozart.
Track 3 – Bay talks about how her grandparents and parents met, and how they all ended up in the Lower Mainland. Briefly discusses her grandparents’ religious backgrounds.
Track 4 – Bays discusses her mother’s native ancestry and her attitudes towards it.
Track 5 – Bays discusses associating with her community, the First Nations community, and other schools in her home town.
Track 6 – Bays discusses going to Queen Margaret’s and why her and her sisters attended that school.
Track 7 – Bays discusses the means of her family growing up; briefly discusses her father’s job as an engineer and later as a principal.
Track 8 – Bays discusses having servants helping around her house and their different neighbours growing up. Bays also talks about how much she enjoyed attending Queen Margaret’s.
Track 9 – Bays discusses how attending Queen Margaret shaped her character and how she views life.
Track 10 – Bays discusses why she moved to the mainland, first Chilliwack and later West Vancouver. Bays also discusses attending the University of British Columbia.
Track 11 – Bays talks about women having good careers, and later on children and a career. Bays also talks about getting a job after graduation.
Track 12 – Bays talks about meeting her husband and their interests in camping and travelling.
Track 13 – Bays discusses her 2 children, John and Jan, and also the different houses they lived in.
Track 14 – Bays talks about how she got into volunteering through Queen Margaret during World War II. Continues talking about different volunteering she’s done over the years, specifically the Mary Pack Arthritis Clinic and Vancouver Aquarium.
Track 15 – Bays talks about volunteering in the Vancouver Aquarium with the different high school children.
Track 16 – Bays discusses why and how she moved out to Langley with her family.
Track 17 – Bays describes the house they moved into when they moved to Langley.
Track 18 – Bays tells about her three experiences driving a car.
Track 19 – Bays lists her neighbours and discusses their land.
Track 20 – Bays discusses the land in the area around her home and what its benefits are.
Track 21 – Bays talks about her interest in cycling. The conversation moves to her knowledge of the history of Fort Langley.
Track 22 – Bays discusses her knowledge of Fort Langley’s bad reputation in the 60s and 70s.
Track 23 – Bays begins discussing the community of the different municipalities. Recording cuts out and conversation picks up discussing politics in Langley.
Track 24 – Bays discusses George Preston’s time as mayor and the increasing urbanization and development in Langley.
270.2
Track 1 – Bays discusses the development of Walnut Grove. Conversation shifts to the topic of global warming and taking care of the earth.
Track 2 – Bays talks about the building design requirements within Fort Langley and how it contributes to the tourism in fort Langley.
Track 3 – Bays discusses her involvement with the Fort Langley Community Improvement Association (Society) and how and why she got involved with it, and who else was involved with it.
Track 4 – Bays discusses fixing and maintaining the Fort Langley Community Hall over the years. Bays also discusses why she’s been so involved within Fort Langley even though she does not live in Fort Langley.
Track 5 – Bays discusses her involvement in the equestrian community, specifically with the Pony Club.
Track 6 – Bays talks about her involvement with the Fraser Valley Hunt. Bays also discusses her daughter’s involvement in the equestrian community. (Conversation cuts off at the end.)
Track 7 – Warren introduces the interviewee and gives the date; conversation picks up where it left off, talking about Bays’ daughter’s involvement with the equestrian community.
Track 8 – Bays discusses the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s Sanitary Landfill Proposal and her involvement in that event.
Track 9 – Bays continues talking about landfill and the ethics involved in it. Bays also discusses how she came to be appointed to the Greater Vancouver Regional District Council.
Track 10 – Bays discusses the BC Hydro power line that was to be built through the Salmon River as well as the Pipeline coming through BC.
Track 11 – Bays discusses the impact the pipeline will have on the farmland it cuts through. Bays also gives her opinion on the coal BC ships over to China.
Track 12 – Bays talks about a project at a Japanese Canadian School house in Walnut Grove that she worked on, which fell through.
Track 13 – Bays continues talking about the Japanese Canadian School house, then the conversation shifts to discussing the preservation of the original Walnut Grove walnut trees.
Track 14 – Bays discusses the time when The Aryan Nations came into Fort Langley, and the impact that had in her life until the group was forced to move.
Track 15 – Bays discusses her involvement in the Langley Arts Council and creating the Fort Festival.
Track 16 – Bays further discusses the Fort Festival and some of the different venues used. Bays moves into talking about having Tea on the Terrace.
SR 270.3
Track 1 – Bays discusses the formation and members of the Purcell’s String Quartet in Fort Langley.
Track 2 – Bays talks about the lack of a cultural center in Langley, despite other cities having one.
Track 3 – Bays further discusses the lack of a cultural centre and gives suggestions as to why there still isn’t one in Langley.
Track 4 – Bays talks more on the subject of parks and recreation in Langley and the contribution of the Watchers of Langley Forests.
Track 5 – Bays discusses the Langley Heritage Society and the opening of the Station in Fort Langley. Bays also discusses the Lions Club interest in owning the station.
Track 6 – Bays discusses the beginnings of the Station and the work that went into creating it.
Track 7 – Bays discusses her and Bob’s involvement in the Fort Langley Economical Enhancement Committee.
Track 8 – Bays talks about how and why they created the Friends of the Fort. Bays also lists the original volunteers that were involved in the group, and what they accomplished for the Fort.
Track 9 – Bays discusses the boat that was used for the Fort and explains why they had to stop driving it down the river.
Track 10 – Bays discusses how the Friends of the Fort received funding, both when they began and later on in its life.
Track 11 – Bay discusses why the Friends of the Fort ended.
Track 12 – Bays talks about how the Huston Trail came into being and her contribution to its creation.
Track 13 – Bays talks about the Fort to Fort Trail and some of the obstacles in creating it.
Track 14 – Bays talks about why she was involved in the kiosk for the Trans Canada Trail and some of the obstacles with that project.
Track 15 – Bays talks about opening up her shop, Bellerophon, with her daughter.
Track 16 – Bays discusses her life with the store and some of her neighbouring tenants.
Track 17 – Bays talks about organizing the volunteers at the station and her enjoyment in doing so.
Track 18 – Bays talks about the Chamber of Commerce for Tourism and their different locations over the years.
Track 19 – Bays discusses the Bedford Landing development and the assets of it, as well as the strangeness in naming it after Bedford.
Track 20 – Bays talks about the Hudson’s Bay Company farm in Milner, and conversation turns into a discussion about the ALR.
Track 21 – Bays discusses what she sees as Langley’s strengths are and have been.