Photo Credit: Dal Richards at Empire Stadium with his Lion’s Pro band during intermission at a B.C. Lion’s football game, 1960s.
NOSTALGIC VANCOUVER You had to be a promoter. I was out at Vancouver’s only horse racing track (Hastings Racecourse). It was in its day one of the swankiest establishments in town. It was run by Jack Diamond. Diamond began his racing stables in the mid-1930s. In 1965, with his guidance, the Jockey Club completed a new grandstand-clubhouse complex at Exhibition Park. I had a pass from Charlie Diamond, Jack’s son, to go everywhere. As I sauntered up to the clubhouse, I ran into Jack, “the godfather of Hastings.” Jack was the heart and soul of the track. It’s gone downhill since Jack passed on. Hastings was one of the few places to gamble in Vancouver. What really hurt racing were the lotteries. “George, what are you doing here?” “I just came out for business.” The B.C. Lions and the horse races were the only professional sports in Vancouver in those days. -excerpt from My Greek Barber’s Diary
The Best Little Movie House in Vancouver 