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NORTH SHORE NEWS HOME, GARDEN

BLACKBERRIES

Tracking

Restaurateur’s weathervane : = — : the last

_ looking for a new home | | :
. Jan-Christian Sorensen 2 S$ 4 mM Wi e 'f
News Reporter forensen@nsmews.cont a

RUSSELL Reid talks of the weathervane as . : | Re berries

if it’s alive. .
By Barbara Black

The multi-layered steel weathervane which sits atop a ; ; nana
-shed in the backyard of Reid’s Burnaby home was creat- : Contributing Writer
_ ed in the image of the late West Vancouver restaurateur ; . ; : wo
who dreamt it up. . _ THE last biackberries
And when Reid about ihe izeable : ” NES of summer hang like
curio, he constantly refers to it as “Mr. Baker.” j — ee ‘ 7
Frank Baker owned and operated The Bad, . SS : 7” ornaments too-long on
_ Attic restaurant on the corner of Taylor Way , : a ne e stnas tree,
and Marine. Drive in West Vancouver “ : ; some already succumb-
from 1969 to 1983. For years the weath- ing to mould. I pick ©
ervane occupicd a spot on its roof. . oe : on : them before they drop
th An office complex currently occupies ( ; a oR . Te ; into the oblivion of
¢ former Attic location. We i . : oo, on mo
Baker, who passed away in 1989, was a . autumn. Just one more
ewo-term alderman for the City of Vancouver ; ; ae pie.
cand - quite an eccentric character, according tg ; ee I know from years of
Reid. -: Sy s ; observation and practice how
The weathervante, he said, is typical of thé restaura- ; to spot the ripe ones: they -
reur’s showstopper style. : yield to a gentle tug like a
#-“Ble was very flamboyant and he knew how to make iover falling into your arms. |
press. He traditionally.wore all white-and he frequently In less amorous terms, the -
made trumpet: playing entrances into the restaurant. trick is in the “drupelets,””
He’d wait until the restaurant was reasonably full and - those firtle purpley globules |.
they'd open the front door and he’d come in playing one .. that make up the berry itself.
of his favourite pieces, “When the Saints Go Marching : : : ‘ eas |: When thev turn a dullish |: -
In.” ‘ : ay |-°. purple and lose their lustre,
"Baker also displayed a large collection of Tiffany lamps . 3 ; a : they're perfect for picking. :
in The Attic, as well as a gigantic cauldron of soup in the : ae “Don’t pull on them,” my >
rear of the restaurant. — “ : ° father always advised in our:
“It was so big, it was a conversation piece,” said Reid, . pre-picking briefings: “They: x
who was ‘the business manager at the former Royal should come off right in your’
. .Pontiac/Buick dealership that stood across Marine Drive - f ; f ol. hand.” Then off we would ~-
‘until its demise in 1989. Ni ; “ogo, the whole family, Plastic .
“I was just attracted to this weathervane,” ‘said Reid. : i : oy" ‘Fags: or buckets in hand,-.°-:
“And so, in 1984, a year after the restaurant closed its. f -| “ready to brave the thorny
doors ona l4-year run on the North Shore, Reid bought — . thickets and get our hands
‘the weathervane and hauled the monstrosity back to his - ‘stained purple. Back then,
Burnaby home. : - our blackberry stakeout spo
“ Reid is asking $8,888 fur the item. Removal, crating “way just west of Lower
and shipping, it states on a Web site Reid has dedicated .- Lonsdale; where the rampant:
.to the weathervane, are the sole responsibility of the pur- “vines grew in vacant lots;
‘chaser. . _ snaked up suriny cement
tc Memo to said person: bring a truck. A big wuck. ‘ walls or sprouted near the
The top portion is a six-foot trumpet player crafted in _ railroad tracks, I still have’
the image of Baker hiniself, The trumpeter sits on a 12- three long scars on my leg to
foot long arrow thar sits on a bearing mounted shaft. . et SkViN " “attest to those excurstons
* The directional base is 40 inches with four five-foot a : "NEWS photo Mike Wake aig | -anto the brambles.

‘directional compass arrows protruding out frum the cen- Here in the lea of the
ae ; BURNABY'S Russell Reid and the weathervane that sat atop Frank’ Baker's Attic
See Weathervane page 12. Restaurant in West Vancouver until the eatery’s demise in 1984. ; .

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