Lost history remembered Disastrous ship sinking commemorated after 100 years BY ROXANNE EGAN-ELLIOTT or a century, the story of the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia has been largely unknown to the public, but a local music group is bringing the story to life through song. The Little Chamber Music Se- ries That Could created a concert to commemorate the 100th anniver- sary of the tragedy, which remains the deadliest maritime disaster on the west coast of North America. “T thought it was very interesting that I had never heard of it, and J think a lot of people haven't heard of it,” said concert co-creator Molly MacKinnon, who discovered the untold story of the Princess Sophia while digging into local history of Mountain View Cemetery, where 74 of the dead are buried. “It’s kind of the Titanic of the Pacific North- west,” she said. “Tt's kind of the Titanic of the Pacific Northwest.” — MOLLY MACKINNON, THE LITTLE CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES THAT COULD ‘The Canadian steamship was travelling south from Skagway, Alaska, when it ran into Vander- bilt Reef in Lynn Canal. The Prin- cess Sophia remained stranded on the reef for 40 hours while rescue boats waited nearby for dangerous weather conditions to abate so a rescue effort could be mounted. Instead, in the afternoon of Oct. 25, 1918, the ship slipped off the reef and sank, killing everyone on board. Estimates place the death toll between 364 and 368 people. Timepieces recovered from the Don Prittie holds a commemorative coin depicting the SS Princess Sophia produced this year by the Canadian Mint. Prittie is chair of the Maritime Museum of B.C.s board of directors. RoxANNE EGAN-ELLIOTT PHOTO wreck read 5:50 p.m. The boat that recovered many of the bodies returned to Burrard In- 1918 is when many of the bodies returned to the Burrard Inlet, the day the First World War ended. The time on the watches recovered from the wreck. let on Nov. 11, 1918, “to the sounds of vehicle honking and people cel- ebrating,” said David Leverton, hours is how long the ship remained on the reef before sinking. of the dead are buried at Mountain View Cemetery. executive director of the Maritime Museum of B.C. “The First World War had just ended.” For Leverton, who has been trying to bring the story into the public consciousness since he first heard it 40 years ago, the concert and commemorative events of the past year have brought closure. “Tm really appreciative now that a lot more people know about it. It’s too important a story not to re- member and not to appreciate,” he said. “We've really done all we can do to get this story out there.” Joan Dublanko, who watched the concert Friday, had never heard of the Princess Sophia before she at- tended the event. It was a sentiment echoed by many in the audience. “The music really put you there. It was very transporting,” she said of the performance. Students join past and present Archival photos were combined with present day snaps By AGAZY MENGESHA A Langara photography proj- ect aimed at comparing Vancouver's past and pres- ent is currently on display at the Vancouver Archives. ‘The exhibit, Merging Time, blends archival photos with present day shots of their geographical loca- tions, showing changes that oc- curred over the decades. “Photo classes from Langara had used the archives quite frequently,” said Heather Gordon, a city ar- chivist. “Even before [this project] they would come and look at the photographic holdings that we have and it would often be part of their regular photo class,” she said. Gordon said the annual exhibit started over seven years ago, when Darren Bernaerdt, the department chair of the professional photogra- phy program at Langara, approached \ A digital composite from the exhibit. The original photograph was taken in 1910 in St. P in Downtown Vancouver. KESSA MCGOWAN PHOTO the archives when he had the idea of students in his Photoshop class using historical photos with present day ones. “From there he suggested that it'd be an interesting exercise to actually have the students show their work in the gallery,” Gordon said. Eric Stewart, an instructor in the program, said the purpose of the ex- hibit is to use images that might get forgotten otherwise. “T think it's an interesting way for people to engage with the Vancou- ver archives and those old images, most of those images just sit, no one ever looks at them,” he said. Stewart took a photo of the Sec- ond Narrows Bridge for the exhibit, hoping to merge it with a archived shot of a boat striking the bridge. But upon trying to merge the pho- tos, he found out that the original bridge had been torn down and re- constructed. “The city's done a bunch of rebuild- ing and tried to keep some of that old heritage which I think is inter- aul's Church on Jervis Street esting,” he said. Kessa McGowan was one of the students who took part in the proj- ect. Her photo is of the inside of 5t. Paul’s Anglican Church located at 1130 Jervis St, which was initially built in 1889 to serve railway work- ers moving into Yaletown. “Things have been around for a lot longer than we think,” McGowan said. “And just being in downtown Vancouver, you don't really think about it until you come across plac- es like this.” 7 The cost of green business Owners of South Vancouver Lupli Cafe promote sustainability on their own dime By KELSEA FRANZKE hile everyone says they support sustainability, it’s not necessarily fol- lowed up with financial support, according to a co-owner of Lupii Cafe. Lupii Cafe is a community space in South Vancouver that focuses on sustainability, vegan food and zero- waste catering. Owners Daniel and Lisa Papania host events to educate people on what living and eating sustainably means through free community dinners and produce programs “It’s important that we focus on being very environmentally respon- sible. That way we can confidently say that we are trying to encourage and create a space where people can not only build strong communities, but to build a strong environment for the community to live in,” Dan- iel Papania said. Community members praise Lu- pii for being an environmentally positive and welcoming community space, but the owners Daniel and Lisa say they lack support from the community when it comes to main- taining the business financially. “We don't receive funding from anyone, so basically it's all our own money.” — DANIEL PAPANIA, LUPII CAFE “It costs us so much money to run this program. We buy all the produce, we pay the staff in store, we pay the rent and electricity - we have so many expenses and it costs a fortune for us to run it. We dont receive funding from anyone, so ba- sically it’s all our own money,” said Daniel Papania. Richard Rigby, a regular at Lupii, says that people should take sus- tainable businesses and community spaces seriously. “It would be such a loss to me personally, and to the community, if Lupii ceased to exist. | wish people would be more proactive and con- tribute financially. They're such phi- lanthropists and have helped add to my community in the larger sense of the word, not just in the neigh- bourhood,” said Rigby. Janice Sorenson, a nutrition and food service management instruc- tor at Langara, said it’s important to support businesses like Lupii in the community because food is more than nutrition — it’s political and ethical. “I think they help resonate the importance of food sustainability, food security and accessibility to nutritious and affordable food,” said Sorenson. “Having certain busi- nesses that are in line with these ideological beliefs and ethical prac- tices can help move political move- ments to have policy around these issues, and help unify community.”