Personality Spotlight...Elvira Quarin
Retired, Media Services Coordinator for Tourism Vancouver
Elvira Quarin
by Gwen Cole
by Gwen Cole
It was the fall of 1980 when I heard the name, Elvira Quarin.
Phil and I had just completed our first cruise to Vancouver, exploring English Bay and Burrard Inlet. Then, under the able guidance of Janet Stamper, Director of the Jib Set, we had cruised False Creek and Howe Sound, poking the bow into all the nooks and niches. All of this was in preparation for a new chapter which would become part of the 1981 issue of Northwest Boat Travel.
Charts and notes in hand, our next step was to learn more about the city. To that end, I wrote to Tourism Vancouver.
"What an unusual name," I remember thinking as I read the letters, documents and brochures which were sent to me from Elvira Quarin. Also enclosed were slides and black and white photos. Just what we needed for background material and to illustrate the tourist attractions in Vancouver.
During the next several years, I began to know Elvira by her voice and handwriting. Each fall, as we began to work on the next edition, I eagerly awaited her packet of up-dates and new information. With her help, and our trips to the city, we were really getting to know Vancouver.
Then, late one winter evening, after attending a play at the Metro Theatre on West Marine Drive, Phil and I were standing out front, waiting for a taxi. It was cold, and we paced to keep warm. One other person was there, pacing, and waiting for her taxi. We talked about the play and the delights of the Metro. Her sparkling eyes intrigued me when she smiled.
About a month later, I received a call from Elvira Quarin. While describing our last visit to Vancouver, the subject of the Metro Theatre entered the conversation. We hadn't known it then, but she had been the woman on the corner with us. Indeed, it is a small world.
Now our relationship had taken a new turn. She was no longer a woman on the phone who proofed our writings for accuracy and helped us learn more about her city. She was real... a person who would be intriguing to visit.
Just as Elvira's job and department titles have evolved through the years, the Offices of Tourism Vancouver have changed often, as if they were moving farther down the street, closer and closer to the waterfront. Upon reaching the tall, modern expanse of glass and shining stone across from Canada Place, my first impression was one of wonder. Address: Waterfront Centre, 200 Burrard.
On the second floor, above the display area and counters where friendly greeters answer visitor's questions, are the administrative offices of Tourism Vancouver. From the minute you enter the complex, you notice an atmosphere of warmth and hospitality. The door to Elvira's office was open and she came out to greet me.
Inside, plaques and pictures decorated the walls. One plaque caught my special attention. Containing a dinner plate and a recipe on embossed paper, it had been presented to her in 1991 when she was given the Vancouver AM Wake-Up Award, the highest honor bestowed upon an individual in Vancouver in the Tourism Industry. As a gift from Hotel Vancouver, the chef had created a recipe to be featured on the Timber Club menu and had titled it Salmon Oyster Elvira.
Through the years she has also been recognized as a pioneer in promoting Vancouver to the travel and convention media of the world through some very tough times when budgets were virtually zero. It was only by recruiting volunteers and originating her own material that she was able to get the word out to others.
After 32 years of teaching others about the City of Vancouver, Elvira retired last year. A feature article quoted her as saying "People ask me why I haven't become bored having the same job for so long, but it's not the same. There's always something new to learn--about the attractions, hotels, or whatever. You have to keep learning to stay fresh."
It seems only natural that friends and colleagues who were present at her retirement party in the Waterfront Centre Hotel, celebrated her career by honoring her with a fireworks display which lit up the sky above the plaza with the words, Elvira Quarin.