Into the Toybox 1980 to 1999

1980 to 1999

The period of 1980 to 1989 was a time of celebration here in Pitt Meadows! We celebrated our 75th anniversary in 1989 with much fanfare and celebration. Our tiny friends would have many fun memories of all the activities and events that happened.

What did Pitt Meadows Look like during this time?

The population of Pitt Meadows was around 14,500 by 1999. In the 1980s, we amalgamated with the Greater Vancouver Regional District. The city opened the new fire hall on 122A Avenue in 1983, replacing the dated building on Harris Road (which would subsequently be replaced in 2023)! We also opened a new library in 1988 in the space that is now the City Hall Annex (as the library would move in 2012 to a new building where it is currently housed). History lovers will be happy to note that it was in this decade that we saw the General Store be designated as a heritage structure!

In the 1990s it was more growth and development. In 1995, we amalgamated Pitt Polder into the Municipality. That same year we also see the West Coast Express start servicing our community, allowing commuters to connect to Vancouver easily. In September 1997, we had counter-flow lanes on the Pitt River Bridge. For our Municipality, 1997 is the year we introduced our Heron Logo (and the bird still lives on our logo!). In 1998, the YPK airport was finally under local control. Of course, our favourite memory of the 1990s was in 1997 when the Municipality purchased the Old General Store, and we have been here ever since!

Entertainment

Toys that were created during this time: Transformers (1984),My Little Pony (1981),Nintendo 64 (1996),Nintendo Gameboy (1989),Super Soaker (1989),Furby (1998),Beanie Babies (1993),Tamagotchi (1996),Polly Pockets (1983),Bop It (1996),Betty Spaghetty (1998)

Kids had a lot of choices during this time. Malls were opening that kids could go and wander in. There were bowling alleys around, local movie theatres, swimming pools (although with ours being an outdoor one, it was only available in the summer),parks and playgrounds, there were plenty of options for kids to spend their time. During this time, children were also seeing more of a slow rise in technology, this would be the last generation that would remember a life before it was taken over by electronics. This was also a time when most kids weren’t helping their parents tend to large farms (although yes, some still would have),so they did have more free time to fill. Kids could also attend Expo 86, a large event held in Vancouver to celebrate its centenary.

As for toys, plastic is the name of the game now. Most toys during this period were created out of some form of plastic, long gone are the days of hand-made or crafted toys. Most toys that are mass-produced are made from colourful plastic. This is also the time where we see a lot more toys have an electrical or computerized element to them that we hadn’t seen as much. Toys like Furbys, Tamagotchi, bop-it, and Gameboys all had electrical, motorized, and mechanical elements, some of which were more complicated than others. The number of batteries used for kids' toys at this time was probably astronomical! (That being said, it was the biggest disappointment as a child to receive a present and realize that it didn’t come with batteries so you couldn’t fully enjoy it).

Education

British Columbia

After being scrapped in 1973, provincial exams for Grade 12s were re-introduced in 1984. Parent Advisory Councils were recognized at every school in 1989, taking up some of the responsibilities of the former PTAs. Due to a recession in the early 1980s, the Bennett government announced a new program known as Restraint which was opposed by the British Columbia Teachers Federation among others (it was an attempt to curtail government spending).

In 1993, the Ministry of Education was rebranded Ministry of Education, Skills and Training. It is now responsible for all provincial education programmes for kindergartens through Grade 12 students. In 1996, the Public School Act and Independent School Act were consolidated. The goal and purpose of the British Columbia school system is to create individuals who are given an education that enables them to become personally fulfilled and useful allowing them to contribute to society while still enabling them to develop their potential and to acquire what they need to contribute to society. In 1998, the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training was de-established and two ministries were created from it – The Ministry of Education (responsible for K through 12 students) and the Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology (responsible for post-secondary education).

Pitt Meadows

We still have many children in our area, and the number grows high enough that we open one new school each decade during this time. Highland Park Elementary opened in the 1980s. Edith McDermott Elementary School opened in c.1998.

*****

This was an iconic time to grow up. Think about how many of us have ‘80s and '90s-themed parties because we still want to connect with a time that was magical and oh-so colourful! Millennials wear this period as a badge of honour, and it's truly not a mystery why they would!

Back to the Toybox.

Toy tractor

Whirligig toy

Toy Helicopter