People who drive by Riverview Hospital on Lougheed Highway every day probably have no idea that the 240 acre site is more than a collection of buildings that make great film sets. In fact, Riverview still houses important mental health and community services and the trees they see from the road are the remnants of a botanical garden planted 100 years ago.
Riverview's historic arboretum is still a going concern and this weekend people can find out for themselves how valuable this property is from a therapeutic and an environmental perspective during the 18th annual Treefest.
Organized by the Riverview Horticultural Society, Arts Connect and others, Treefest is once again celebrating Riverview's value as a community asset with tours of significant heritage trees, building tours, displays, music, food and presentations.
The theme of this year's Treefest, is The Healing Power of Trees, and one of the presenters, Anmore artist Jay Peachy, has personal experience of how nature can heal. He credits his volunteering with Mossom Creek Hatchery with turning his life around.
Struggling with an undiagnosed illness, which turned out to be bipolar disorder, Peachy was encouraged to drop in to the beautiful hatchery up a winding road in Port Moody and fell he in love with the area, the work and the people who volunteer there. It's like his second home as well as his studio, and he feels at peace when he works at the hatchery and paints in the woods beside the bubbling waters of Mossom Creek.
"My art has been a large expression of my personal relationship with salmon," said Peachy, who also does comedy for Stand Up For Mental Health, has his own show, Sound Therapy Radio on CJSF 90.1 FM and on Shaw Channel 4 Vancouver, and is a mental health advocate.
He never stayed at Riverview but conducts art workshops with patients there and feels he is uniquely positioned to talk about the importance of trees to people with mental health concerns.
During his Treefest presentation, Peachy will talk about the psychological, spiritual and healing aspects of trees. "I can go to nature to escape and I can look at a tree that in the rings of life (I see that) it's gone through so many things."
Trees, like people, must weather some severe storms, and acknowledging that difficult times are "just another ring in the tree," can be a comfort. "Falling and renewing" is also common to both trees and humans, Peachy said. He will be accompanied in his presentation by singer-songwriter David Campbell.
Recreation therapist Katie Hughes will also be on hand at Treefest to talk about the therapeutic benefits of nature.
What's on:
18th Annual Treefest at Riverview Hospital, Saturday, Sept. 17 from 1-4 p.m.
Tree tours hourly on the hour, children's tree walk (12:30 p.m.), tour of heritage buildings with Don Luxton (noon), artist and mental health advocate Jay Peachy speaks on the healing power of trees (1:30-2:30 p.m.), recreation therapist Katie Hughes speaks on therapeutic benefits of nature (2:30 p.m.)
At Finnie's Garden: Blackberry Tea (blackberry scones and tea), live music, a mask, paintings and photography from 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Displays: Bear Aware, Naturescape, Colony Farm Park Association, Coquitlam Riverwatch, Minnekhada Park Association, Friends of DeBoville Slough, Coquitlam Public Library and Treefest event organizers including the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society, Burke Mountain Naturalists and Coquitlam Parks & Recreation. Crafts for the kids and free ice cream will be available.
A concession will also be available on site.
Fast facts
In 1911, John Davidson, the first provincial botanist, was directed to make a complete survey of B.C. flora and to establish a botanical garden and herbarium of native plants. According to the Riverview Project Context Report, published in April, 1996, Davidson was assigned a 0.8 hectare (2 acre site) at what was then called Essondale and began to establish what was then UBC's first botanical garden.
By 1913, there were over 700 species of native plants on the site, now Riverview Hospital, including 30 species of trees that were to form the nucleus of the permanent native arboretum. Although the botanical garden was moved to Point Grey in 1916, the trees were left behind because they were considered too difficult to move.
They are now valued at more than $50 million, according to the city of Coquitlam.
