Family Day in Langley featured museum openings, pancakes and community events

Family Day in Langley included the first public exhibition at the new Place by the River museum and a range of community activities from a free Lions pancake breakfast to museum open houses and family programs.

Langley Township and City hosted a busy Family Day with activities across several local sites. The new Place by the River museum in Fort Langley presented its first public exhibition since the original museum closed in 2020. Community offerings included a free pancake breakfast, hands-on family programs and museum open houses. Several historic and restored displays were on view, and the Museum of Flight showed a freshly repainted jet. Event highlights: - Place by the River museum in Fort Langley opened its first public exhibition and featured a restored green Diamond T bus owned by Noel Booth, refurbished to resemble its 1940s appearance and equipped with an icebox inside. - The B.C. Farm Museum had volunteers in period clothing; a volunteer described wearing an apron, bonnet and long bloomers as part of the historical presentation and for warmth on a cold day. - The historic CN Rail Station offered crafts and seed giveaways, and station manager Helen Williams said the on-site passenger rail car will receive a new sleeper berth before the station opens for the full season on Victoria Day, with help from the Langley Men's Shed and a berth acquired from the Squamish museum. - Hundreds attended the Fort Langley Lions Club free pancake breakfast, which the club has been holding for about five years according to club secretary Wendy Canessa. - Timms community centre hosted large family crowds with face painting, inflatable castles, obstacle courses, arts and crafts, giant games and a parent-and-tot zone, as noted by recreation supervisor Tera Edeell. - The Museum of Flight at Langley airport held an open house to show a freshly repainted Lockheed CF-104D Starfighter; a museum director said the jet had been rented to a studio and returned with the new paint scheme, and that the studio and production remain undisclosed under the rental agreement. Summary: Family Day brought renewed public access to local museums and a wide range of family-focused activities that drew strong community participation. The CN Rail Station plans to add a sleeper berth to its passenger car ahead of the full season opening on Victoria Day; other exhibits and programs were presented as open houses or special events during the holiday.