Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church

It was one hundred years ago today on June 26, 1912 that the corner stone for the Fifth Avenue (Methodist) Church was laid in place.  You can see a picture of the stone below. It was actually a big year for church construction as both St. Patrick's and St. Barnabas were being erected in 1912 as well. 

Perched on the corner of 4th street and 5th avenue, the church overlooks much of downtown Medicine Hat.  The church was actually ravaged by fire and largely destroyed in July 1931, but was rebuilt almost immediately.  Today the Fifth Avenue Memorial Church looks much as it did in 1912, with the exception of the education centre added on to the rear of the church in 1957.

Fifth Avenue Church sometime around 1920.

Church construction in 1912.

5th Ave. United Church ca. 1930s

As the Search Continues

A few nights ago, digging through a photo box of road trip memorabilia, I began rewriting portions of my rough outline for Searching Salvation.  I don't think I've ever dwelled on a project this long before.  My personal documentary/video poem about the death of my friend Dave, and our memorable visit to Salvation Mountain needs to be just right.  I feel like it's my final word on Dave's death, and I think I'm striving for it to be a bookend of sorts.  

Since editing a memorial video for Dave just days after his death, I feel like Searching Salvation is more about the context of our friendship, the meaning behind it, and less about the shock or frustration that I felt after it happened.  It's a challenge striking the right balance, and I want to be truthful in why our experience at Salvation Mountain was meaningful to begin with, and not just aggrandize it because Dave is gone.  At this point in my life I feel like just thinking about this as much as I have has really helped me grow and appreciate specific moments.   

My goal now is to have the project complete by September 10, the anniversary of Dave's death.  I think the timeline is realistic, and as the memories are going to be coming back for a lot of us around that date, I think it'll be a meaningful tribute focused on moving forward.  If anything, this entire project has given me an outlet to do just that.

Cabazon Dinosaurs

My fascination with these landmarks along the interstate in southern California should come as no surprise.  I've written about my first visit there, I posted about eating at the Wheel Inn next door, and I shared a few pictures from inside the T-Rex.  Still, after all of that, I realized I still had a few images from around the dinosaur garden that I had never posted anywhere before.  These are the remainder of my snapshots from visiting the Cabazon Dinosaurs in 2009 and 2010. 

The video I shot and edited as part of my Indio Outio project (also posted below) ended up on the Cabazon Dinosaurs official facebook page back in April.  It's always a pleasant surprise to find my photos or videos shared by people who are closest to the subject matter.  I guess it's the best part of crazy attractions like this, they're quick to get attention and easy to build memories around.  We can all look at the same pictures and take away something from our own visits.