When 80,000 people flood the Steveston Salmon Festival on July 1, they would probably find it hard to believe that during the festival’s inception in 1945, Nobby Sakiyama, this year’s honorary parade marshal, was interned in B.C.’s abandoned mining town of Sandon and Lemon Creek.
From internment to parade marshal, Sakiyama has come a long way, culminating in a year where different strands of his life, tied to Canada’s history, are coming together.
“It’s an honour because remember, it’s the 150th birthday of Canada and if the weather is good, it’s going to be a big parade and there will be a lot of people,” says Sakiyama.
Not to mention he’s turning 80 in the fall and it’s also the 75th anniversary of the Japanese-Canadian internment.
The Steveston native, whose grandfather settled in the village in 1893, was born at Richmond’s first hospital, established by the Japanese fishing community.
At four-years-old, his family of 12 was “shipped out” to the B.C. Interior until the war ended in 1946.
From there, the clan moved to Taber, Alberta to work in a sugar beet farm known for its treacherous working conditions and where he lost his mother and sister to disease.
When his family chose to resettle back in Steveston three years later, his adolescence revolved around the cannery and fishing with his father, helping to rebuild their lives. He then went on to become a high school math and physics teacher.
He applied the same dedication to the Salmon Festival as he did for the community — when he began volunteering with his wife Elizabeth Sakiyama in 1996 — having been part of the set up crew, running the golf tournament and finally inheriting the horticulture show.
Back when the horticulture show was a much smaller event, Sakiyama would enter as a contestant to boost the number of entries. He’d use the vegetables growing in his garden, like rhubarb, snow peas, currants and roses into a display for the professionally judged exhibit, pointing to the countless numbers of first place to fourth place ribbons.
After he retired from volunteering from the festival two years ago, he’s been considered for the honorary parade marshal position.
It’s a kind of “hall of fame” explains Janice Froese, administrative coordinator of Steveston Salmon Festival, “it was his turn to be put into the class.”
“He seems to have that little extra special something when it comes to gardening,” says Froese. “He’s very passionate about growing. Although I personally have never seen his garden, I’ve heard stories that he has a very beautiful garden.”
Having organized the festival for 12 years, Froese recalls Sakiyama as a “humble” and “generous” man.
“Everybody is very fond of him. He’s the kind of volunteer that you’d like to have around. He quietly does his thing, he works hard and he puts on a beautiful event.”
