Showing 107 results

Authority record

Albert Clifford

  • 0165
  • Person
  • 1916-2008

Born in Atchelitz, BC, Albert (Bert) Clifford (1916-2008) married in 1939 and after the war studied photography before moving to Mission in 1947 to start a business with his wife Madge. Within a year of establishing The Clifford Studio, the devastating flood waters of the Fraser River in 1948 seriously impacted the business. Being one of the few photographers in the community, however, Bert set out equipped with his camera to document the historic event, capturing the catastrophic destruction in Mission and adjacent communities. A number of his images were published in Nature’s Fury: The inside Story of the Disastrous BC Floods.

In the ensuing years, he was able to rebuild his business and in 1953 opened a new studio claimed to be the largest one in British Columbia at the time. Due to the post-war baby boom, photographing babies became a primary focus of the business along with bridal photography. Bert supplemented his income with press photography providing the majority of the images for the Fraser Valley Record newspaper between the 1947 and 1959 which documented day to day life in the community and events such as celebrations, funerals and weddings. After Clifford Studios closed down in 1966, Bert embarked on a new career in real estate, retiring in 1984.

Mission City Women's Institute

  • 0164
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-1995

The Mission Women's Institute was established in 1910. Its first activity was sending blankets and parcels to soldiers serving overseas in World War I. As the chief organizer of the civilian war effort in Mission, MWI also made thousands of jars of jam, knitted garments and packed tobacco for men overseas. The MWI sold patriotic buttons and organized concerts and a play to raise money for the overseas aircraft fund and hospitals. It formed the first public lending library in Mission and brought the first public health nurse to Mission to start the first baby clinic. It organized the first tag day to start the building of Pleasant View Home. It participated in numerous fundraising efforts and community movements to establish and maintain the Mission Memorial Hospital. In 1925, it donated a new bandstand to the Mission City Community Brass Band. In 1945, it made five quilts for Russian relief. It regularly made donations to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. It held baby contests and an annual flower show for at least fifteen years, the fifteenth show being in June 1931. In 1918, it donated fruit and vegetables to the Rescue Home in Vancouver. In 1921, it offered night classes in sewing, dressmaking, millinery and bookkeeping. In 1949, it made donations to the Queen Alexandra Solarium Junior League, Conquer Cancer, and the Mission Film Council. Affiliated with the Agricultural Board, it often used the Agricultural Hall for meetings and other gatherings. It was funded by a small annual government group. The purpose of members was to serve "home and country". After 85 years of existence, members voted on October 23, 1995 to go into abeyance. MWI funds were donated to Mission Transition House children's program

Mission Fine Arts Five

  • 0143
  • Corporate body
  • 1993-2000

The Fine Arts Five was an “eclectic groups of award winning artists” that resided and exhibited their work in Mission, British Columbia. The five primary members were Doris J. Patterson, Dorothy St. Hilaire, June Pender, Malonie Kasian, and Ruth Adams Booth. Each specialized in a different art medium and they joined together to form the Fine Arts Five in 1992.

Ruth Pender was born in England and is a graduate of the London Art School. Her preferred medium is oils and her area of focus is the B.C. landscape, particularly the coastal areas and the Gulf Islands. Ruth Adams Booth received her artistic education at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Her technique is the colagraph to create images in texture and color. Dorothy St. Hilaire was born and raised in B.C.. She started painting as a watercolorist, but also paints mixed media paintings specializing in the landscape of the province. Malonie Kasian studied at the University College of the Fraser Valley and at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Her preferred media is watercolor. Doris J. Patterson was born and raised in England and trained in Canada. Her chosen media is acrylic and collage as well as oil on canvas.

The artists held eight annual exhibitions of their work from 1993-2000 and invited local guest artists to participate in the exhibitions. As a result of the group's efforts many Mission artists received exposure and recognition for their work. The group disbanded in 2000 due to new interests and influences in the lives of the artists, taking them in a new direction.

Mission and District Garden Club

  • 0130
  • Corporate body

The Mission and District Garden Club was established in 1965 to provide education in horticulture and to exhibit garden produce.

Klenk, Carl William

  • 0116
  • Person
  • 1929-2020

Carl Klenk was born and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. In 1946, at the age of 17, he moved to Mission with his family and lived on the south side of Main Street at the foot of Stave Lake Road. At this time he developed his life-long interest in collecting postcards.

After working for various logging companies in the area he started his own business in 1954. Shortly after that he married (1955) Iris Boyd and they moved to the Caribou where he continued to operate his business and start a family. Following several other moves, they came back to Mission in 1964 and Carl retired six years later.

In 1979, Carl and his wife moved to Seattle where he lived for the next 15 years. While there, he began to earnestly collect old postcards and photographs. He joined the Seattle Postcard Club and the Vancouver Postcard Club where he both purchased and sold postcards. He also acquired postcards at old antique stores, photographic club shows and swap meets.

In 1995, Carl moved back to Mission where he continued to add to his collection over the next twenty years and in 2006, met with the Archivist to discuss arrangements to preserve them. In 2016, he received a Special Heritage Award from the Mission Community Heritage Commission in recognition for his substantial contribution to Mission’s heritage by collecting and preserving his postcards in the Mission Community Archives to ensure their accessibility for present and future generations. He died on January 29, 2020.

Bryant, Mary

  • 0064
  • Person
  • 1959-

Mary Bryant (1959- ), a native of Mission, was raised on a dairy farm in Hatzic. The second of three children, she became actively involved in 4-H at age 6 and raised Ayrshire dairy cows. At age 15, Mary was introduced to the idea of flying during Career Days at school and with the support of her family, she started her training. In 1977, prior to graduating from high school, she obtained a private pilot license and the following year, a commercial one. Mary joined the military in 1981 and became one of the ten women selected over a 3-year period for a new program to train pilots. Earning her wings in 1983, she became the second woman in Canada to fly helicopters. Over the next 9 years, her assignments included search and rescue operations in Ontario and British Columbia and a peacekeeping tour in the Sinai Desert, Egypt. She retired from the military in 1991 and flew the air ambulance in southern Alberta. In 1993 Mary moved back to B.C., returning to her roots and family farm, and began flying for Interfor helilogging. She retired from flying permanently in 1995 and pursued a career as a business manager and consultant until 1997 when her two daughters were born.

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