When:

Wednesday, May 24th @ 6pm

Where:

The Store!

366 Bay St (South of Richmond)

It happened much like the 2010 Olympics did: an initial period of indifference and cynicism, and then a huge blockbuster party from a normally reserved nation—only this one was nation-wide. In the final weeks leading up to New Year’s Day, 1967, Canadians embraced the official plans for celebrating the centennial, and then began making plans of their own: epic canoe trips, dangerous dogsled races, bathtub races, and even installing a UFO landing pad. Hundreds of other centennial projects can still be found in almost every city and hamlet across Canada, and the climax of the party was Expo 67 held on man-made islands in the middle of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal.

As we approach Canada’s 150th anniversary, Tom Hawthorn offers Canadians a look back at the unlikely and inspiring story of the centennial of 1967, richly illustrated with period photos, ephemera, and his own personal stories in addition to a lot of research. As he says in the preface: “Trudeaumania; the state getting out of the bedrooms of the nation; women demanding an equal place in society; and massive changes to the population through immigration—was made possible during Centennial Year… The Canada of 2017 owes more to decisions made in the wake of 1967 than to the negotiations conducted in 1867.”

Tom Hawthorn is an award-winning (and, on occasion, award-losing) journalist whose byline has appeared in publications large (Reader’s Digest, Canadian Geographic) and small (South Bend Tribune in Indiana and the Sanger Herald in California). Tom has been a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail since 1984. He is also the author of Deadlines: Obits of Memorable British Columbians (Harbour Publishing, 2012). He lives in Victoria, BC.