Fridays this summer, we’ll publish a list of 10 Things to Do in Surrey — a chance to explore new places and events in the area. Email us your favourite things to do in Surrey, edit@surreynowleader.com.
1. SEE SURREY’S OLDEST CHURCH
At 16631 Old McLellan Road, the Gothic-style Christ Church was built by Surrey’s pioneers circa 1884. It was Surrey’s first church, of any denomination, according to a post on historicplaces.ca. “Such was the enthusiasm for religious observance and community spirit that the first settlers worshipped in private houses and in the first Town Hall. When the Reverend William Bell arrived in the parish in 1884, he immediately organized a building committee of prominent local pioneers. Abraham Huck, the area’s first pioneer, donated the land.”
2. TOSS AN AXE
Newton’s Bad Axe Throwing is the Surrey franchise of what’s billed as “the world’s biggest urban axe throwing club,” a place for walk-ins, leagues, private parties and team-building events. “Get a large 12ft x 20ft private lane all to yourself,” says the website, and book for as few as four people. Call 844-818-0999 for info.
3. PICK BERRIES
Surrey is fertile ground for berries of all kinds, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, currants, blackberries and more. Go ahead and “U-Pick” at Surrey Farms’ two locations (4981 King George Blvd., 5180 152nd St.), or try picking your own blackberries in late summer. For that, look for patches along the Serpentine Fen or Green Timbers Greenway.
4. WALK YOUR DOG
In Fleetwood, Freedom Dog Park lives up to its name, offering more than three acres of open space for dogs to run free, 15452 84th Ave. At Tynehead Regional Park, a six-acre dog off-leash area is accessible from the 168 Street parking lot, or a connecting pathway from the 96 Avenue (hatchery) parking lot. The Tynehead site offers a range of open space for open running and play, as well as a 750-metre off-leash pathway ideal for jogging with your dog.
5. RIDE THE RAILS
The miniature railway at Bear Creek Park offers train rides through the forest. Jassy Hans is the current operator of an attraction that has been rolling there since the mid-1990s. If COVID restrictions allow, the train operates seven days a week during summer. For added thrills, play the 18-hole mini golf course. Visit bctrains.com or call 604-501-1232.
6. SEE SURREY HISTORY
At the Museum of Surrey, summer exhibits this year include “Trailblazing Women in Canada since 1867” and a Community Treasures gallery look back at Fraser Valley Heritage Rail history. Visit surrey.ca/arts-culture/museum-of-surrey for more details, or call 604-592-6956. At 17710 56A Ave., in Cloverdale.
7. VISIT SAG
Summer 2021 exhibits at Surrey Art Gallery include Cindy Mochizuki: Autumn Strawberry, Henry Tsang: Hastings Park and ARTS 2021. With a thermal imaging camera, multimedia artist Tsang makes Hastings Park’s “invisible history visible again” concerning Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, while Mochizukui’s work explores life on local Japanese-Canadian farms of the pre-war era, with hand-painted and digital animation. Visit surrey.ca/artgallery or call 604-501-5566 for pre-booked exhibition visits and art courses at the gallery, at Bear Creek Park.
• READ MORE: ‘Invisible’ Japanese-Canadian histories visible at Surrey Art Gallery this summer
8. EAT UKRAINIAN ‘SOUL FOOD’
Monthly at Surrey’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre, grab hot-to-go and freezer-ready takeout orders of Ukrainian perogies, cabbage rolls, garlic sausage, borscht and more. The cash-only church fundraiser is held on the final Friday of every month at 13512 108th Ave., from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
9. HIT THREE-POINTERS
Basketball hoops are installed on a concrete pad at Holland Park, the “Central Park” of Surrey, on the northwest corner. This area of the park is typically where the main stage is positioned for the city’s annual Fusion Festival, a mid-July multicultural gathering of food and music that cancelled for 2021, due to the pandemic.
10. COOL DOWN
Also at Holland Park, cool down near “Were It Not For You,” art that decorates the park’s central fountain wall with nature-based images created by Glen Andersen in 2008. The three-panel “bas-relief” depicts earth, air, fire, water and space, with curling fern frond, a hummingbird, the sun, and a fish with overarching waves.
More things to do in Surrey: CLICK HERE to read the entire “101 Things to Do in Surrey” feature from our June 24 print edition.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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