![]() One more thing that no one’s been counting: the tents set up by international couples for daytime private visits during the pandemic. Nobody’s sure just how many nuptials have happened at the Peace Arch during the pandemic. This “humanity” means a lot of grandparents and grandkids meeting for the first time, a lot of weddings – which, for history’s sake, Winkler wants to create a registry of. “It just has been one of the most beautiful experiences,” said Winkler, for someone “who’s been volunteering at the park for the last 25 years to actually see the best of humanity happening right in front of you.” You would see people with different faith backgrounds, different colors, and everybody coming together, for one reason, and that’s family.” “If you were to walk on one of the weekends in the last two or three months, you basically would see every culture you could imagine. “I’ve met people from as far away from Florida who have flown in just to meet their family in the park,” Winkler said. With its unique configuration straddling the border, yet separate from customs or other official screenings, people from both countries who otherwise couldn’t get together can mix and meet up in the park, in spite of the border closure.įor Winkler – who lives and breathes all things Peace Arch – the meetings and family reunions that she’s witnessed over the past year or so have made a particular impact, and they’ve made her cry more times than she can count. Winkler points to countless stories from the past year about couples and families of all shapes and sizes from Canada and the United States – who are prevented by the border closure from visiting each other in their respective countries – meeting up in the park. “The pandemic itself has done such a great job in informing people about their park,” Winkler said. It has brought people to come to understand it, that just thought it was an extension of the border.” “And so this whole pandemic has just reacquainted people with their park. ![]() “It is, in all honesty, the most visible, most known and yet under-interpreted international historic site in North America,” Winkler told KIRO Radio. Winkler loves the Peace Arch, and she sees a silver lining for the park – and for thousands of people – in the pandemic border closure. She lives nearby, is president of the nonprofit International Peace Arch Association, and she works closely with officials on both sides of the still-closed border to help organize events and spread the word about the monument and the park. But, like so many best-laid plans since early 2020, the centennial commemoration has changed and evolved.Ĭhristina Winkler is the distinctive monument’s greatest champion. The Robeson concerts have come to be called the “Woodstock of the McCarthy Era.”īefore the pandemic hit, an entire season’s worth of special events had been planned for the year or so leading up to the Sept. side to thousands in both this country and Canada. Robeson was targeted by federal authorities during the Red Scare who revoked his passport Robeson performed on the U.S. The border-straddling park was also the site in the 1950s of a series of concerts by actor, singer, and labor activist Paul Robeson. With its picture-perfect setting and location on the border along the highway and a rail route, there have been a number of special events held at the monument and in the park over the years – including a big celebration in June 1946 marking the centennial of the Oregon Treaty, which, after decades of joint occupation, set the border at the 49th parallel. Blaine is also where the railroad between Canada and Washington first went through in February 1891, and where the main north-south highway connecting Canada and Washington was also dedicated in 1921. The monument was built at Blaine and Surrey because, of course, that’s where the border is.
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