Vancouver Alpen Club

This building is one of the newer ones that I have featured - it dates back to 1950 - but the club itself is where the history lies.

When people immigrate to a new country many times they want to have a piece of home with them. And that is what happened here. In 1935 a group of immigrants from the Alpine area Germany and Austria got together to form the Vancouver Alpine Club.

Initially the group came together to practice Schuhplattlerf folk dancing and maintain the traditions and culture of the countries they had left behind. It was their way of  honouring  the rich and diverse backgrounds they had left behind.

In the beginning the club didn't have an official home but the members registered it as a non profit organization and joined the Canadian Folk Society. This turned out to be a very smart move because by doing this it enabled the Vancouver Alpen Club to be the only German club open in North America during World War II.

Since this building is located at 4875 Victoria Drive, in my neighbourhood, I may have shown you some photos of it before but I didn't know the story before now. As for the photos that have the blue tinge to them, I do not know why that happened. Hey, I'm a wordsmith not a photographer.

And just to let you know, on Wednesday January 18, 2012 I will be interviewed on an online radio show - Reader's Rockin' Radio. So listen in if you can and call if you want to ask me anything.

As usual I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver Alpen Club, Vancouver, Reader's Rockin' Radio, Schuhplattler folk dancing, Germany, Austria, British Columbia