Finnie’s Garden Beautification Day

BC Housing was delighted to host over 20 volunteers to Finnie’s Garden at the Riverview Lands on Saturday, September 14, 2019.  Welcoming members from the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society, Burke Mountain Naturalists, community leaders and residents, the day’s activities involved weeding, mulching and tidying the southern edges of the garden. Mother Nature was kind and kept the rain away during our fall cleaning.

It was wonderful to see community members come together to care for the garden, share a meal and enjoy some trivia fun, continuing both the legacy of Art Finnie in creating a gathering space on the Lands and the great stewardship of Finnie’s Garden by the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society. 

The Riverview Lands are the ancestral lands of the Kwikwetlem First Nation. Archaeologist Nicole Oakes of Brown & Oakes provided an overview of the cultural significance of the site as a place of community, ceremony and refuge for the Kwikwetlem First Nation peoples. Nicole shared with the volunteers that artifacts found on site associate with stylistic types that date over 3,000 years old, which provides evidence of the Kwikwetlem First Nation using these lands since at least 1,000 BC.

BC Housing was pleased to welcome several dignitaries including Minister Selina Robinson, Mayor Richard Stewart and Councillors Trish Mandewo, Teri Towner and Steve Kim. Everybody rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to tend the garden with gusto.

Thank you to everyone who came out and worked hard in the garden! 

Stay tuned for future events starting in Spring of next year. We will continue to weed and prune as well as prepare new plantings for the garden. We look forward to seeing you then!