Every year, the Royal BC Museum has an interactive display that visiting tourists can have their picture taken with.  Last year it was for their Titanic display.  This is a great place for tourists.  It sits kitty corner to Victoria's Inner Harbour, and is on south side of The Empress Hotel, and the East side of the BC Legislature buildings.

This year, you can stand next to some of BC's most interesting people.  All of these figures are featured in the exhibit "The Party."  In this picture above are some of my cultural heroes including Rick Hansen, Chief Dan George, Emily Carr and my friend Joy Kogawa.  My girlfrend Deb Martin is standing right behind Joy (in red).  We first learned about "The Party" exhibit last summer, when Joy needed a full length picture of her to give to the Royal BC Museum.  We took this picture for Joy, and were glad she was happy.

It's part of the "Free Spirit" exhibition to celebrate the 150th birthday of British Columbia, founded as a colony in 1858, and joined Canada in 1871 for the promise of a coast to coast railway. 

Joy Kogawa in "The Party" - photo by Todd Wong

Deb and I first visited the exhibit on April 23rd, earlier this year. It was with great excitement that we went to the Royal BC Museum, and up the escalator, searching for the picture of our friend Joy Kogawa.  We visited with writer friend Gary Geddes and David Kogawa, Joy's good friend and ex-husband.  Read our account of our visit here: Todd's adventure in Victoria: Traveling to "The Party" at BC Royal Museum
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/4/25/3659001.html

But this time we had a different reason to visit.  This time, there was a life-size picture of me, Todd Wong aka "Toddish McWong."

At the exhibit, they had also asked visitors for nominations to fill the remaining spots.  I was voted in to "The Party" along with Trevor Linden, Dal Richards, Red Robinson, Ida Chong and Jennie Butchart.

Deb and I arrived in Victoria after a late start on the 2pm ferry sailing from Tsawwassen.  We checked into The Empress Hotel, because we were also attending an evening event there to celebrate "150 Years in Golden Mountain", an awards and dinner gala to celebrate 150 years of Chinese Canadian history and achievement in Canada, BC and Victoria.  See my account of the evening here: Victoria celebrates 150 years of Chinese Canadian History with a grand dinner and awards.

We walked over to the Royal BC Museum, enjoying the lovely sea breeze and the sunshine.  The Empress Hotel, now known as the "Fairmont Empress" was designed 100 years ago by BC architect Frances Rattenbury, who also designed the BC Legislature buildings.


- photo Deb Martin

This is the video display of the "Todd Wong bio." The original photograph was taken by my friend Richard Montagna.  Richard specializes in fine art, commercial,  portrait, action, and landscape photography.

It reads: 

Voted in by the visiting public, this person is seen as an important figure in BC history!

Todd Wong (1980- )
Passionate about intercultural adventures, "Toddish McWong" founded Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a Robert Burns / Chinese New Year event that has been celebrating with an annual dinner since 1997.

Corrections:
No - Todd wasn't born in 1980.  That would have made him only 13 years old when he first invited the phrase "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" while wearing his first kilt for a Robbie Burns celebration at Simon Fraser University.  Sometimes museums make typo mistakes too.

My girlfriend's favorite character in the display (besides me) is the Vancouver Island Marmot - photo Deb Martin