Today was Marissa's last day with us ... Tuesday, she returns to her home on Manitoulin Island, Ontario ... Lorna had another commitment and Brian slept late, so Marissa was joined by Linda, Flora, my friend Aideen, and me ... we caught the #20 bus to Main & Hastings, walked north to Cordova to see the Firehall Mural ... on the way, we saw a man doing artwork on a t-shirt in a tiny shop at 229 Main Street ... his name is Tom Pottie and he paints faces and abstract designs on cotton t-shirts ... he hasn't decided yet where to market them and we suggested skateboard shops ...
Retracing our steps we spotted a long line-up in front of the Main Street Police Station ... in front was a white van with the words "FCS Food on the Corner" painted on the side ... I met the benefactor, Herman Glockl, Founder, who is from Delta BC ... his business card quotes John 21:17 (Jesus said "Feed my Sheep") and he's been that doing since 1983 ... with private donations and volunteer support he serves hot meals and drinks to street people on a weekly basis ...
On to Abbott and Pender where the old building containing a long lane mural was gone ... in it's place was a block-long new brick building, not yet occupied ... at Pender and Cambie, we were approached by a young Iranian man asking if he could help us with anything ... when we told him we were looking for wall murals, he suggested a few locations which happened to be on our route ... as we were about to leave, he said, with folded hands, "Excuse me, ladies, I'm not asking for money, but could one of you please buy me a box of cereal and some milk? I'm hungry." So, we went to the little market across the street and bought him the cereal and milk. When I asked if he wanted anything else, he said yes, doughnuts, and grabbed two off the shelf, shoving them in his mouth before they were paid for ... he was obviously very hungry, and very gracious and grateful, and we were happy to help him out ... Marissa does not see this sort of human situation in her home town and she was very taken with this young man's plight and was proud that she was able to contribute ...
We missed our mural at Homer and Pender so continued south on Cambie to Pacific Blvd., stopping at Tinseltown marketplace to use the facilities, then at Costco to return an item and pick up another ... from there we walked in the afternoon sun past Roundhouse Community Centre ... along the boulevard, no less than three people asked if they could help us find what we were looking for ... we must have looked like a bunch of tourists with our map and guidebook ... Linda left to catch a bus home and the rest of us stopped at Waves for a fresh hot cup of java ... from there it was four short blocks to the off ramp of Granville Bridge at Seymour where we located three separate walls of murals ...
This was the last of our walk searching for murals ... we caught the 98 B-Line from Richmond to Burrard Station, then the Skytrain back to Broadway Station where we went our separate ways ...
Any suggestions for continued walks are welcome ...
Contributor Virginia
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