Generations of Fader Street residents gathered for an afternoon of fun - and a bit of education, too.
Every summer, Fader Street residents hold a block party that includes food, entertainment and much more. Along with a live performance by the Great Canadian Rock Band and a visit from a New Westminster fire truck, this year’s bash included a visit from dogs from the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society, which trains dogs for assisting people with disabilities other than blindness.
Longtime Fader Street resident Barbara Zapf said the crowd was “mesmerized” by the PADS dog demonstration. While people often see the dogs out and about with their owners, she said they don’t often see them in action when they’re opening and closing doors, helping their owners dress and picking up items their owners have dropped.
“It was fabulous,” she told the Record about the annual event. “We had a wonderful time.”
One of the highlights of the event came when two-year-old Chase, the youngest resident on Fader Street, presented flowers to 99-year-old Margaret Purser, who lived on the block from the late 1930s until about nine years ago.
“There weren’t many houses here at that time,” Zapf said of Purser’s early days on the street. “There was no Hume Park. It was all forest.”
Although Purser sold her house when she was 90, she still calls Sapperton home. Eileen Sandford, who has lived nearby on Garrett Street ever since her husband had the house build in the early 1950s, also attended the party.
Many New Westminster businesses donated food and raffle prizes to the event.
“We always have a collection for the food bank. We ran out of collection bins,” Zapf said. “This neighbourhood comes together.”
