"$1.49 Day, Tuesday!"

The face of uptown New Westminster changed irrevocably when the old Woodward's department store was torn down to make way for something new and modern. Here's snapshot of what the building looked like about five minutes to noon someday in 1954, the year it opened:

Woodward's in New Westmisnter (1954), facing northwest at the corner of 6th Avenue and 6th Street

My memories of this building from the 1980's and the people that worked there are nothing but good, even if all I remember is snippets of things.

Right on the corner of 6th Avenue and 6th Street, there was no missing the building. It was a landmark for uptown New West. If you wanted to meet someone it was "Under the Woodward's clock."

Leading up to Christmas, the display area right on the corner was dominated by Santa's workshop, that included a dazzling array of robotic elves swaddled in cottony snow, carrying out never-ending motions of building toys and wrapping presents, amid blinking Christmas lights and various fake trees. Santa would hoist you up on his lap, chat with you for a bit and send you on your way with a candy cane and maybe a colouring book. The "helper elves" would snap a picture with an instant camera right on the spot. I was always amazed by that part. The way the picture reverse-faded into existence. Lines would grow more defined, the colour would fill in gradually. I used to wonder when the process would stop. Would the lines get bolder, the colour pop so much that the moment would come alive? (I swear J.K. Rowling stole this idea right from my 6-year old brain.)

The PAST! (Part 2: Even Further Back!)

From memory (sorry, I don't remember all the last names):
(Upper, left to right) Mr. Graham, Louis Ferris, Jason Podas, Paul Vorachek,  Jason Lange, Nathan Pasecreta, Greg Olson, Steve Domaas, Aaron Bradford, Me! (middle row, left to right) Jarred Trudell, Daniel Tryko, Robbie Simpson, Courtney Edwards, Trevor Anderson, Aaron Schiller,  Brian Purca (sitting, left-to-right) Nadia, Emily Campbell, Michelle Tansey, Melanie Green, Kelly, Tara Bruno, Tanner Ansley, Jessica Matheson, Debbie Van Sickle.

I'm very easy to spot in the class picture above. I'm the tall one on the end that isn't wearing a tie.

In that picture I'm 12-years old (and the original GameBoy was blowing my mind). And more than 20 years after that picture, I'm almost unrecognizable.

In 1989-90 I was definitely more angular, had more hair (though its length has remained consistent), and I smirked a lot. In comparison to my current state... well, now I look tired. There are some years on my face, which is definitely filled out, but it's the hockey bags under my eyes more than anything that show the distance between Then and Now.

My elementary school, Herbert Spencer, is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary on Saturday, June 9, 2012 and there was a call in the local paper for memories of the place and the people that have passed through its halls. (Get in touch with Principal Fulton -- tfulton@sd40.bc.ca -- to submit your own memories.)

So, I cracked open the "memory" binder that my Mom filled up over the years. It's a treasure trove of personal memories and a showcase of evolution between school in the '80s and the '10s. I'll start rolling some of these things out over the next while.

And if you attended Herbert Spencer Elementary in New Westminster, think about dropping by for the 100th Anniversary celebrations!