The Curious Flea is returning to River Market this weekend.
Billed as a “unique kind of flea market,” the Curious Flea Market encourages people to explore, discover and shop. Collectors, pickers, junkers, antiques experts and upcyclers are among the folks who will be showing their wares at the event taking place on Saturday, Aug. 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event also features a Battle of the Curious, which invites people to bring in a “curious item” and try to win a prize. River Market is located at 810 Quayside Dr.
Time to build
While you’re at River Market, be sure to drop by its two-day LEGO building spectacular.
Market staff invite the community to come together and build 18 tiles, which will form together into a postcard-style mosaic commemorating summer. This event coincides with the Curious Flea on Aug. 30 and 31.
To help curate the LEGO challenge, the team at River Market brought in Joseph Cassidy, a local steampunk and LEGO master who goes by the moniker “who” to help them make the ultimate LEGO postcard. Who has been building complex LEGO structures and art pieces for decades and is a confirmed AFOL (adult fan of LEGO).
To participate in the LEGO event, you can email [email protected] and put “I want to be part of the great summer LEGO build” in the subject line.
Nun fondly remembered
New Westminster native Sister Mary Michael recently died at the age of 98.
The Sisters of Providence announced that Sister Mary Florence Hagarty (Sister Mary Michael) passed away on July 27 at the age of 98 at Providence Centre Infirmary in Edmonton. Born in New Westminster in 1915, Sister Mary Michael entered the Sisters of Providence in 1940 and served the people of western Canada as a nurse and hospital administrator.
Dr. John Blatherwick, a retired medical health officer, has fond memories of working with Sister Mary Michael at St. Mary’s Hospital in New Westminster.
“As the medical health officer for New Westminster from 1975 to 1984, I got to know her extremely well and the wonderful work that she did at the hospital,” he wrote in an email to The Record. “St. Mary’s Hospital had the lowest infection rate of all the hospitals in the Lower Mainland and one of the lowest in all of Canada.”
Two stories relating to Sister Mary Michael stick out for Blatherwick.
“Simon Fraser Health Unit’s hospital liaison nurse always wore a necklace on Monday that said, “Oh S..t”. When she would see Sister Mary Michael, she would turn it over so that it wouldn’t be easy to read,” he said. “I askedSister Mary Michael if she ever noticed it. Her reply was, ‘I go looking for her every Monday just to see how fast she can flip it over!’”
Blatherwick was on the receiving end of some of Sister Mary Michael’s kindness. When he was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital the night before having cataract surgery, as was the practice in those days.
“There was a Stanley Cup hockey game on and I was looking for a place to watch the game.
“Sister Mary Michael showed up just before the game and said, ‘Come with me.’ We then went up to her apartment and watched the game together,” he wrote. “A very special woman and a great citizen of New Westminster.”
