LITTLE-KNOW PARK A TRIBUTE TO A LOCAL FAMILY
This plaque is attached to a rock in the city’s lowest-profile park.
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It’s Nelson’s most obscure park: a bit of urban wilderness tucked in the divide between Uphill and Fairview, bounded by Selby and Mill streets.
You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s merely land no one has built on, but it really is a park, as a plaque bolted to a rock attests: “This property dedicated as Prince Philip Park in recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Elmore Calbick for their unselfish community spirit and generous gift of this land to the City of Nelson.”
Elmore Calbick came from a family with long Nelson roots. His mother Eleanor arrived here from England in 1898 and married Wesley Calbick. They had four children in addition to Elmore: Wesley Jr., Jennie, Nellie, and Chester. The family ran the Dominion dairy on Granite Road.
In 1927, while returning from medical treatment in San Diego, Mrs. Calbick fell overboard from the SS Nasookin south of Procter and drowned. She was believed to have suffered a dizzy spell. Making it doubly tragic, her condition had recently improved, and she “expressed an ardent eagerness to be back home” and see her children.
Son Chester was a brilliant student, who graduated from high school in Nelson at age 14 and went to university in the U.S. He worked for Bell laboratories, co-authored the first paper in English on the electron microscope, and held a number of patents.
Elmore went to work for CP Rail in 1930 and spent 41 years with the company in Grand Forks and Nelson. He married Cecilia Ionin, a native of Vegreville, Alta., in 1933, and they had four daughters.
In 1969, the couple had seats on the inaugural run of Canada’s first super train, the CNR Turbo, as they travelled from Toronto to Montreal. Cecilia died only a few months later, age 60. Elmore appears to have died in the early 1990s.
The Calbicks donated the two acres to the city in 1962, ensuring some recreational land would be saved as the neighbourhood began to be built up.
It’s not clear why it was named for Prince Philip, except that it fit the royal theme reflected in both Queen Elizabeth Park and nearby Regent, John, and William streets.
As for the park itself, a few trails are cut through the woods, but it’s otherwise undeveloped. It used to have a series of bike jumps, built by kids, but the city removed them in 2003.
Selby Street residents probably appreciate the fact the park separates them from the Mill Street electrical substation.
Yet it’s so little known that it doesn’t even appear in the parks section of the city’s website.
My GPS was bouncing around a bit . The GPS accuracy was 4-5 meters
There is an unactivated BC Geocoin for the FTF. Since I have been 3rdTF quite often , there is another unactivated Geocoin (3RD) for the 3rdTF.
Congratulations to the Woodsiel for the FTF . The cache is do-able .