Provincial Fair - Day 1

Today marks the first day of our exciting adventure at the 2016 BC Procincial Heritage Fair. 

Unlike past years, the Richmond delegates didn't have to travel too far to reach the host for our week long history camp - the beautiful Point Grey Campus of the University of British Columbia. Greeted by chaperones and volunteers, we said our goodbyes and set off to get settled in our dorm rooms, don our snazzy new polo shirts and meet the rest of the groups who began arriving from the airport and ferry terminal.  

Our group has doubled in size as the Richmond delegation has been joined by 3 stellar students from the Fraser Valley - Tyler, Ashlyn and Helen. 

Graeme and Liam playing 'Evolution'.

After doing some pin trading while waiting for the final group to arrive and playing a quick ice-breaker game of 'Evolution' led by the Heritage Fair alumni, we boarded the bus and headed off to Mountain View Cemetery. Opened in 1886, Mountain View is Vancouver's only cemetery. Over 100 acres in size, it has become the final resting place for almost 150,000 people.

Mountain View Cemetery

We were greeted by our guide, Lorraine Irving and divided into two groups - one to start on a tour with Lorraine and the other to do an activity led by Jane, our Provincial Fair Coordinator. 

Near the Chinese Pavilion.

Lorraine sharing a story about one of the oldest graves in the cemetery.

Grave marker from the 1890s.

Entrance to the Jewish Cemetery.

Next up was our '2 and Two and II' activity with Jane. Everyone took a piece of paper and a crayon and had the opportunity to explore the cemetery, looking for 2 names, 2 symbols and 2 places that spoke to them. 

Max doing a rubbing of Chinese characters on a tombstone.

Liam finding a fascinating symbol on a grave marker.

We headed back to our dorms at UBC for a bit of a rest before meeting in the House Lounge for pizza and a fun studio activity with Michael Gurney. 

Playing a card game in our dorm room during free time.

Some of the highlights included Ashlyn helping Michael tell the story of the Gold Rush, Graeme's broken Heritage Fair project being reenacted and Liam interviewing Michael to help him figure out that he was Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. A few tips that we picked up from our evening of 'Improv and Heritage' included the 3 C's for great storytelling: characters, conflict and context. 

Ashlyn doing a historical A to Z' improv scene with Michael Gurney on the Gold Rush.

Acting out 'A Day in the Life' of Graeme and his project during his school Heritage Fair.

In this news conference improv scene, Michael was asked questions by the 3 reporters and had to figure out who his character was.

After a few quick emails and texts home to parents, we all headed to bed to get a good night's sleep before another fun-filled day tomorrow!