History. The very word conjures up images of long-past battles, voyages of discovery, pioneers setting out to cross a mountain pass for the first time.
Or, depending on your personal interest, a boring, stuffy, dull textbook filled with dates and names and places that don't mean very much.
In truth, history is really neither of those things.
It is, perhaps, five per cent great historic feats of exploration or tales of invading hordes - and maybe two per cent occasionally boring and dry, probably because those amazing highlights seem foreign and beyond our imagining.
The other 93 per cent (and yes, my math is really only symbolic at this point) is neither flashy nor dreary, but a fascinating point somewhere between the two: the everyday average activities of a time that has past, which sheds light on the world we live in today.
That's where history gets really interesting - sure, reading about Henry VIII is cool, but learning about the person who used to live in your house, who attended the same school you do, who originally opened up that little restaurant on the corner, who helped pave the first roads in your neighbourhood, whose family name now represents an entire area, those are the stories that tell us a little bit more about our own lives and make us realize that we, too, are part of history.
Too often we look at the entire concept of history as something in the past, something that is over and finished - and yet, each day, we continue to "make history" in deeds both great and small.
In the last few months, the NOW has run a special series of stories exploring small pieces of Burnaby's past by exploring both the "then" and the "now."
These stories covered everything from local schools to longtime residents and founding pioneers to early city businesses, with photos from both past and present and details about the changes over the years.
Some of the people and places were recognizable to readers - like Kask Bros. or Capitol Hill Elementary - and others were not.
All of them, in small ways or large, are part of the fabric of this city. In truth, these little snapshots of the city's past make up but a small portion of the many threads that weave together here.
Our series is, for the time being, over (though we are always happy to hear ideas or tips about "Then & NOW" stories from your own families and lives).
But history itself is alive and well in this city, and I encourage anyone who enjoyed our little glimpses into the past to continue to explore on your own.
Check out the Burnaby city archives (www.heritageburnaby.ca) for an incredibly in-depth repository of old photographs, textual collections, mapping information and even voice recordings.
These folks figured out a long time ago what I only just recently learned - that the best history to be found is that which still exists in someone's memory.
The site has mounds of information collected from Burnaby residents who were here when the roads were still dirt and Still Creek was the place that kids spent the summer swimming in; when people were being sent off to war and building the first schools; when the tram lines were running and the first vehicles began navigating the city.
The reason we have all this is because of the people in this city who, through their work (like Jim Wolf, Arilea Sill, Lisa Codd and others at the city and the village museum) or through their volunteering and personal love for history, have managed to collect, protect and preserve so much for future generations.
Without them - not to mention the individuals who shared their childhood memories, the school staff who dug through historical files, and the people who offered up old family photos - we would not have been able to share these glimpses into city history.
For me, nothing brings Burnaby's history alive quite like seeing the change in a person or place - like the views of Hastings Street and Canada Way that show dirt roads and early pioneers standing in front of stump-filled lots on page 11 today.
I hope our readers enjoyed these stories as much as I enjoyed compiling them - and that it encourages them to dig out a little history in their own lives. Live in an old house? Find out a bit more about it. Have an elderly neighbour? Ask them about their lives - when they came to Burnaby and why? Explore your neighbourhood and get involved - become a part of history itself.
I bet you'll find it more exciting than ancient battles and medieval kings - and not stuffy or dry in the least.
Christina Myers is a reporter with the Burnaby NOW. To read today's Then & NOW, see page 11; past instalments are available at www.burnabynow.com.
