More Summer of Love poster art and nostalgia

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      This month, another piece of art from 1967. The poster that you see above was created by a group of local artists called the Hydrogen People. I believe that the artist was Frank Lewis.

      We both thought that the United Empire Loyalists were a great local group with loads of potential. I also managed the group, and to this day I am good friends with all of the band members. There are many stories of this group in my book (see bottom). This being the fiftieth anniversary of the “Summer of Love”, it seems appropriate to use this poster (especially as we are also celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday).

      Fifty years later, it seems strange to refer to Toronto and Montreal—where I actually spent that infamous Summer of Love—as “the East Coast”. I was 18 years old, and I believed I knew everything. Now, at 69, I am not sure I know anything.

      Time is a funny thing. It is forever, a moving journey, and I am never sure where it will take me. Fifty years ago, the journey was for the moment.
      I think about the fentanyl-overdose crisis, young and old dying every day, and it seems no one really knows what to do about it. I know that I do not have the answer, and I aso know that 50 years ago I would not have listened to anyone about the fact that the drugs I was consuming could kill me. I thank God that I survived that insane time.

      As I write this, I have just moved back to the Lower Mainland from Vancouver Island, where for 44 years Julie and I made our home, raised our children, and helped with three of our eight grandchildren. Both our mothers would move to the island to be close to their grandchildren, and both would pass away in Victoria.

      Who you are with on your journey will also help determine how you do in life Thank you, Julie, my soulmate.

      The summer of 1967 was a insane time and yet, somehow, I survived. Julie was sent to Italy for that summer in the hopes that this would separate us. It didn’t work. In September I returned from Montreal, and Julie would return from Italy. The summer of ’67 was over and life continued.

      At the recent fiftieth birthday party of the Georgia Straight, I met this young fellow, Travis Lupick. I asked him what he did, and he told me his current main interest was reporting and writing about the fentanyl crisis. It was very cool to hear a young person be so concerned about that issue; it was clear he really cared, and it was refreshing to meet him. We need caring youth. Hopefully, our new government will folllow through with the support they have promised for this crisis.

      My first event (selling my book and posters) after my return from Vancouver Island was the Khatsahlano Street Party on West Fourth Avenue. This was a well-organized 10-block music and arts event put together by the West 4th Avenue Business Improvement Association and Donnelly & Associates Event Marketing Inc. It truly was a well-oiled machine. I was proud that the Straight was a sponsor, and I was pleasantly surprised as to the amount of former patrons and friends that came to say hello and share their stories of the 1960s, especially the Summer of Love in 1967.

      The day quickly came to an end, finished for another year. It occurred to me that this event was free (along with all the other Vancouver street fairs), so maybe the first free “Be In” in Stanley Park 50 years ago during that Summer of Love did start something. (But even though you can put thousands of people together without charging them anything, you still need need sponsorship.)

      A few weeks ago, I set up at Aldergrove Fair Days—which has been going on for 105 years—and in honour of that famous summer 50 years ago, the theme this year was “Flower Power”. When I talked to its management, they said they wanted to recognize the Summer of Love (and it didn’t cost anything).
      Maybe there is still hope. We just have to focus on taking care of our environment and all the creatures that reside on this great ball called Earth.

      Concert promoter and entrepreneur Jerry Kruz is the author of The Afterthought: West Coast Rock Posters and Recollections From the ’60s (Rocky Mountain Books, 2014).

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