The Stride Studios was a commercial photographic studio located in New Westminster, B.C. operated by photographer Charles Stride (1890-1972). The studio was located at 657 Columbia Street, New Westminster.

Charlie Stride decided to become a photographer in 1920. In 1925 he opened Stride Studios, which became one of the best equipped commercial studios in the province. Stride Studios eventually had a staff of ten people and occupied the entire upper floor of 657 Columbia Street in New Westminster. The Studio was the official photographer for the provincial police department as well as departments in neighbouring municipalities, the Harbour Commission, the New Westminster Board of Trade, and the Royal Columbian Hospital, among others. in 1968, a fire in an adjacent building threatened the studio. When fire crews arrived, they doused the flames with water that destroyed the extensive collection of negatives. Charlie Stride died a few years later, in 1972.

The Tri-Cities Now (originally the Coquitlam Now and at some points referred to simply as The Now) was first published in 1984. During the first years of its publication, it was published by Bob Moody under the company Now Newspapers Ltd and during the early years it is referred to as an independent community newspaper. By 2001, Now Newspapers Ltd. was listed as a division of the Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., a CanWest Company. In 2006, the publisher changed to Coquitlam Now, a division of CanWest Media Works Publications Inc. The newspaper was purchased by Glacier Media Group in 2007 along with several other local newspapers in British Columbia. In 2014, Glacier Media Group purchased the Tri-City News from Black Press and in September, 2015 announced that the Tri-Cities Now would print its final edition on October 1st, 2015.

Sharon Tokar is a founding member of Coquitlam Search and Rescue, and was one of the first women to be involved in search and rescue activities in the province. Growing up in Coquitlam, she attended Brookmere Elementary, Como Lake Middle School, Mongomery Junior Secondary, and Centennial Secondary School. As well, she worked as a nurse at Riverview Hospital and Woodwards in New Westminster. She was a trained archeologist and taught at Langara College. Sharon passed away in March 2024.

James Leonard (Jim) Tonn served as Councillor in 1971 and was elected Mayor in 1972, a position he held until he resigned in July, 1983. He was a former professional football player who played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the B.C. Lions between 1957 and 1959. He served as Alderman for one year before being elected Mayor. He served as President of the Union of B.C. Municipalities and was Deputy Chairman of the GVRD Board of Directors. He served on nearly all GVRD committees and was Chairman of several including Planning and Parks. After resigning he became the Municipal Manager.

Lillian Frances Touzeau was born to Ernest and Christine (Vaudin) Touzeau on June 22, 1920. They lived in the independent municipality of South Vancouver near 41st between Victoria Drive and Knight Road. Her parents and oldest brother had arrived in Canada from Guernsey, Channel Islands in 1911. Both her brothers attended UBC and one of Lillian’s dreams was to also study on the Point Grey campus to become a pharmacist.

Touzeau graduated from John Oliver High School in South Vancouver, after which she enrolled as student nurse at the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale in 1941. Lillian chose this profession as she had experience with mental health concerns; a neighbour and classmate suffered from depression and when the mother of this girl was unable to deal with her child she would ask Lillian to visit and ease the situation.

To Lillian, living with the other nursing students at the Nurses’ Residence was much like having sisters. The seventeen women in the Class of 1944 remained in close contact over many years. Lillian was an excellent student and was awarded the Deputy Minister’s medal for General Proficiency in 1944. From September 1943 – May 1944 she was president of the Student Nurses’ Association. In her report for the 1944 PMH Annual she wrote: “We have taken our difficulties to the training school and by talking over our problems we hope that the desires and ambitions of the students have been more clearly understood.”

Lillian required a leave of absence to provide hospice care for her mother in 1945. In 1946 she met Andrew Manzer, who had returned from the Second World War overseas and was employed at the Provincial Mental Hospital. They married in 1947 and lived near Campbell River until 1958 where they raised a family of 3 daughters. They moved to New Westminster and Lillian returned to work at the Woodlands School. She retired from there in 1980 at age 60.

Andrew died suddenly in 1989. Lillian remained active in the community as a volunteer for the Arthritis Association and in the kitchen at Century House Association. She practiced Taoist Tai Chi, was an avid reader of all kinds of literature. She died at Queen’s Park Care Centre in New Westminster, BC on the 26th of October in 2008.

Anna (Brass) Tremere is the President of the Riverview Hospital Historical Society. She attended the School of Psychiatric Nursing and graduated in 1967. She worked at Riverview as a student nurse and as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse from 1965 to 2001.

Tremere's mother Olive Brass was also a psychiatric nurse at Essondale Hospital, and Tremere grew up to know the hospital well. Tremere later became head nurse and a case manager for the transitional housing program at Connelly, Cottonwood and Cypress lodges.

In 1993, Tremere established and assumed the role of President of the Riverview Hospital Historical Society. In 1998 the Society under Anna’s leadership established a museum on the hospital site and welcomed the public to access Riverview’s history. Thanks to Anna’s work, the museum preserved and presented the history of the hospital and preserved an incredible collection of records and artifacts relevant to daily life of the patients and staff at Riverview. When Riverview Hospital was closed in 2012, Anna worked with government partners to transfer the collections to the City of Coquitlam and to the BC Provincial Archives.

Anna continues to pass on her knowledge and inspire others by participating in several projects, organizations and committees including the Suitcase Project with Heidi Currie, the Riverview Lands Advisory Committee, the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society, and by serving on the Coquitlam Heritage board of directors. Tremere won the British Columbia Historical Federation's Award of Merit in 2018.

The Tri-City News is a community newspaper that serves Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, and Belcarra. It was founded in 1984 and was owned by Trinity (a UK company) before it was sold to Black Press in 1997. The newspaper was sold again in 2015 to Glacier Media Group.

Trinity was a UK newspaper company founded in 1832. It merged with the Mirror to become Trinity Mirror PLC in 1999. In 2015, the company purchased Local World and became the United Kingdom's largest newspaper company. Trinity Mirror purchased the publishing assets of Northern & Shell in 2018 and changed its name to Reach plc.

Over the decades, the company owned many large regional and national newspapers in the United Kingdom and eventually expanded into the North American market. Trinity ran a collection of Canadian community newspapers under its North American subsidiary, Trinity (NA) Holdings, until 1997 when it sold 33 Canadian newspapers to Black Press.

The Sun, Vancouver's largest daily newspaper, first appeared as The Vancouver Sun, 12 February 1912, "to consistently advocate the principles of Liberalism." Under publisher Robert Cromie and his sons, the Sun tended to support the Liberals but was often critical of them. The Sun expanded by buying out other newspapers.

With its 1917 purchase of the Daily News-Advertiser (est. 1886), it claimed to be the city's oldest newspaper; with its 1924 acquisition of The Evening World (est 1888), it became undisputedly the city's second most important newspaper. Not until its chief rival, The Vancouver Daily Province, suffered a prolonged labour dispute (1946-49) did the Sun emerge as the leading journal of the province. The majority of Cromie family holdings in Sun Publishing Co were sold to FP Publications Ltd in 1963, and in 1980 Southam Inc. bought the newspaper. In 1992, the Sun was taken over by Hollinger Inc. In 2010, it became part of the Postmedia Network group of newspapers, after the collapse of previous owner CanWest Global, which had purchased the newspaper as part of the sale of Hollinger, Inc assets in 2000.

Paul vanPeenen worked as a photojournalist at the Coquitlam NOW from August, 1991 to February, 2012. He was born in the Netherlands on April 10th, 1964 and immigrated to Winnipeg with his family in 1980. The family relocated to Calgary in 1981 and it was there that he began to discover his passion for photography. He enrolled in the Journalism Program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1985. During this time he worked at the Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune as a reporter/photographer. After graduation, he was offered a full-time position as the paper's staff photographer. In 1987, he completed an internship with the Edmonton Journal before taking a job with the Medicine Hat News. After four years he was hired by the Coquitlam NOW and spent the next 21 years as the staff photographer, documenting life in the Tri-Cities area. While working for the NOW, he completed a Masters of Liberal Arts at Simon Fraser University. He retired from the NOW in February, 2012 to pursue his love of travel and photography.

Eleanor Martine (Larson) Ward was born in Fosston, Saskatchewan. She was an active and dedicated community volunteer who gave many years of service to a variety of organizations including the Girl Guides of Canada, the Red Cross, SHARE Society, the Justice Institute, and the GVRD Minnekhada Regional Park Association. She was a long-serving executive member of the Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers' Association, and served as the President from 1983 to 1985 and then again from 1990 to 2000. The Eleanor Ward Bridge that spans the Coquitlam River and connects Coquitlam Town Centre with Burke Mountain, is named in her honour. She passed away on December 25, 2003.

Dennis Eugene Welcher was born in the United States and emigrated to Canada in 1885. He served as Reeve of the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam from 1909-1910.

Operated by Paul Seligman (1913-1914); H. Charlton and H. Rathbun (1915-1920); and C.B. Wand (1921-1922).

The Westwood Plateau Community Association was formed in 1999 when the Westwood Plateau development was completed by Wesbild. A group of residents wanted to maintain a high quality of life on the Plateau and wished to see it be a safe and environmentally friendly place. A Mission Statement and Constitution were created and on April 17, 1999 elections were held for the first Directors of the newly created Westwood Plateau Community Association (WPCA).

Since its inception, the WPCA has sponsored a number of community events including garage sales, golf tournaments, public meetings, picnics, community dinners, and have prepared a community newsletter. The Association also involves itself in advocacy efforts for issues relating to Plateau residents. A major project of the association was the erection of a Reader Board at the corner of Johnston and David Avenue. The board enables the Association to keep residents informed of events.

Helena Regehr was born to Peter Regehr and Anna Reimer Regehr on May 16, 1910 in the small Mennonite village of Marjanowka No. 5 in the Terek settlement. It was situated in what is currently known as the Russian republic of Dagestan near the west coast of the Caspian Sea. She was born in the school house where the Regehrs had set up quarters and where her father was teacher. She was raised, with her seven siblings, in a German-speaking and faith-centered home with strong community ties.

As the Communists gained power throughout Russia, the peaceful life in Mennonite villages was threatened. With the assistance of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada, families began to plan for emigration. Helen was 15 years old when her family left Russia and boarded a ship to cross the Atlantic. They arrived in St. John’s, New Brunswick on January 24, 1926. A journey by train across Canada took them to Rosthern, Saskatchewan, where they lived for a year. In response to news about opportunities for work, they moved to Coaldale, Alberta in February of 1927.

As the Regehrs settled in Coaldale, Alberta, the first imperatives were to re-establish domestic life and to repay the CPR travel debt. The older children were unable to continue their schooling and contributed to the family labour and income. Helen, the oldest of the eight Regehr children, followed many of her peers to Vancouver where they worked as maids in wealthy British homes.

A new opportunity presented itself when the outbreak of the Second World War created an urgent need for nurses. Despite never having completed high school, Helen successfully enrolled in the School for Nurses of Essondale Mental Hospital in Essondale BC. She attended from 1944 to 1946, thriving under the demands of her studies and achieving the award for highest marks all three years.

Helen’s career as a psychiatric nurse took her to Ontario. She worked in a Toronto hospital and later in Bethesda Home for the Mentally Handicapped in Vineland where she met an orderly named John Wiebe, also a Mennonite immigrant from Russia. They were married on July 25, 1948.

John and Helen settled in Leamington, Ontario where she devoted herself to her home and her two children.

When her husband John passed away in 1971, Helen moved back to Coaldale, Alberta to help care for her aging parents. Later she moved again to Abbotsford, BC to be near her son and daughter-in-law and her two granddaughters. She lived there until her passing on May 7, 1989.

Daisy Elizabeth Wiltshire was born in Surrey, British Columbia on January 4, 1889 to Ernest and Elizabeth Wiltshire. She married Roderick C MacDonald on June 30, 1915. She died on December 31, 1976

Alexander Windram was born on February 21, 1881 in Eyemouth, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1910 with his wife, Mary and young son, John, and began working as a steamfitter at Fraser Mills. While building their lives in the growing mill town, the family welcomed another son, Andrew, and a daughter, Elsie. The family had not long settled when the First World War broke out.

Windram enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on February 22, 1916. According to his Attestation Papers, Windram was five foot seven and a half inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair and with tattoos on both forearms. He arrived in Liverpool on November 11, 1916 and was taken on strength into the 7th Battalion in January, 1917.

He fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and was killed on the first day of the Battle, April 9, 1917.

Barb Wood was born in Halifax in 1953. She studied architecture and fine arts at the University of Waterloo from 1972 to 1976, graduating with an honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After graduation she moved to Vancouver with her husband: the architect Don Hazelden.

In 1980, she set up Barb Wood Graphics Ltd. Corporate clients included the Bank of Nova Scotia, BMO, RBC, BC Sugar, Dairyland, Neptune Terminals, BC Ferries, and several municipalities including the City of Coquitlam. She also became a partner in the successful printmaking co-op and gallery Six of One on Granville Island.