Both the city of Port Coquitlam and resident Norman Gill are celebrating 100th birthdays with family get-togethers this week. The only difference is Norman would rather not have any fuss to celebrate his milestone while the city is pulling out all the stops to have a super fun weekend at the height of the summer season.
For Port Coquitlam, celebrating is all about bringing families together for free concerts, train rides and even a car show. This weekend (Aug. 16-18), the city is host to numerous events guaranteed to put a smile on the face of everyone from toddlers to seniors.
Norman meanwhile, has already started a week of celebration, with a birthday party Sunday at his Welcher Street apartment and on Tuesday, Aug. 13, his actual birthday, celebrated again with his family at the PoCo home of his son, Don. A barbecue at his apartment is also planned along with a get-together at the PoCo Legion, where he is a member.
"I've avoided them [birthday parties] most of my life. Now I'm stuck with them and I don't think I can run fast enough to get away," Norman jokes.
Norman moved to Port Coquitlam about 10 years ago to be closer to his son's family. Married many years ago, Norman raised a son, Don, and a daughter, Bette, and now has four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He's a retired social worker who trained at UBC and also spent more than two decades with the Canadian army and the air force. Today, he remains steadfastly independent, cooking and cleaning for himself in an apartment he owns, and getting around on his own two feet, although he sometimes has to use a walker, after a pedestrian accident a few years ago knocked him flat.
"The lights weren't reading properly," he said about the incident when he crossed the street just as a truck was making a left hand turn. "We both met in the middle; naturally, I got the worst of it."
Even when his family provided some house cleaners, Norman says he didn't have a lot for them to do. "They were quite busy, they did make a difference but I had no idea what to ask them to do," he recalls.
Born in Winnipeg to a pioneering family on Aug. 13, 1913, Norman was the eldest of four children and the only one still living. He recalls the Spanish flu epidemic that wiped out millions worldwide, including many of his neighbours, and joined the army even before the Second World War so he's outlived most of his pals at the Legion.
"I go once and awhile now; I don't spend nearly as much time or money as I once did There are fewer people I know, and the younger ones are dying off, too," acknowledged Norman, who enjoys a beer now and then and says he has no explanation other than blind luck as to why he's lived so long.
"It's nothing I did or didn't do," he said, adding that there are others in the city more worthy of notice than he.
PoCo, which has been celebrating its 100 birthday for most of the year, is nice enough, Norman says, and like all cities, it has its pros and cons.
But even at the grand age of 100, Norman says he isn't particularly fussy. "Any place suits me. I can live under a tree somewhere."
POCO PARTY SCHEDULE
Friday, Aug. 16
Free swimming, 7 to 10 p.m. at Hyde Creek rec centre
Saturday, Aug. 17
Outdoor concert: noon to 10:15 p.m. at the PoCo rec complex featuring HitZone (noon), Atlantic Crossing (1:30 p.m.), Whiskey Jane (3:30 p.m.), Arrival (5 p.m.), U4 (7 p.m.) and Trooper (8:45 p.m.).
Family Festival: 1 to 4 p.m. at Leigh Square, featuring Bobs and LoLo (1 and 3 p.m.), Second Storey Theatre improv storytelling (1:30 p.m) and art demos, crafts, roving entertainers and face painting (2 p.m.).
CP Rail Vintage Train Rides: 90-minute rides PoCo and Port Moody but tickets are sold out.
Bowling for $1: Bowling takes place between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Port Coquitlam Bowl, with all proceeds going to Share Family and Community Services Society.
Sunday, Aug. 18
Downtown Car Show: More than 500 collectible cars, live entertainment, children's activities and vendors will converge on downtown PoCo between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Watch out for road closures for the downtown area.
For more information, visit www.portcoquitlam.ca
