Last Sunday, our shop work-party had a noticeable spring in their step. The reason? Our Langley facility finally had heat! For the past two months or so, we and our neighbours have been without it – the natural gas heating units had failed. We still had heat in our office, but the shop had to rely on electric heaters our landlord supplied. Mindful of the expense their operation would incur, we used them sparingly to keep the space at 6 deg. C.
Last week, Parkinson’s Heating completed installation of our four units, and those of our neighbours. Being ceiling mounted, we had to move our buses to allow access. Lawrence Walker and Bryan Larrabee organized the operation. We even helped out with our fork-lift, expertly operated by Lawrence, who also supervised the moving of our buses.
Preserving History in Langley
In February, President Bryan Larrabee and myself (Michael Taylor-Noonan, Vice-President) attended a roundtable discussion hosted by Langley MP John Aldag. It was held at Langley City Hall. The subject was the state of heritage in the Langley & the Lower Mainland. MP Aldag wanted to hear of the experiences and challenges of heritage societies and museums in preserving our history. It’s a topic he is most interested in, especially in relation to the role of the federal government. For us, and our fellow attendees, it was a chance to meet and get to know the work of our neighbouring organizations: the BC Farm Museum, Langley Centennial Museum, Langley Heritage Society, Fraser Valley Heritage Railway, Fort Langley, the Museum of Flight and BC Vintage Truck Museum.
(John Aldag, MP is centre 5th from left, with Bryan 2nd from right, Michael extreme left. Photo: Megan Waddington)
Striking is the fact that all the organisations, including ourselves, are facing hurdles to their continued operation. Some of these are significant: loss of facilities, loss of funding, and aging of members. Thankfully, in the past few years, TMS has attracted many younger members which bodes well for our future. Possible redevelopment of museum properties is a challenge for the Museum of Flight and the Truck Museum. Even where this is not a prospect, as in the case of the Farm Museum, delays in receiving planning permission can impact fundraising for new facilities. MP Aldag told of federal belt-tightening which may affect funding of sites such as Fort Langley. Federal assistance may be contingent on having some paid staff — most of the organizations are entirely volunteer.
Participants agreed that the Province and municipal governments tend to under-estimate the value of our organizations to their communities, in both educational and economic value. The Musuem of Flight, for example, welcomed many international visitors since the pandemic. Perhaps this under-estimation is partly of our own making; even though there are many heritage museums and societies in the Langley area, there is very little co-operation and co-ordination between them. It was agreed that this fragmentation is a barrier to us “selling” Langley as a tourist heritage destination. We hope to correct this, and work closer, to promote “circle tours” for instance. Fort Langley expressed interest in working with us to give tours in the townsite and the city of Langley will welcome our attendance at its summer festival.
And, finally, as food for thought on our own future: The Museum of Flight told of an unintended consequence of the Federal government’s “de-carbonization” programs: the presence of Ethanol in avaition fuel is leading to increased wear within airplane engines. Could Canada’s push to a green future endanger our ability to run diesel and gasoline powered buses?
While waiting for Bryan in the lobby, I noticed two paintings, both of a familiar scene, depicted in our DVD, Then & Now. It is of an interurban arriving in Langley. Both paintings were by noted artist Brian Croft who has a passion for transit history.
