Stories from Tri-City News headlines of decades past is a recurring feature as the publication marks its 40th anniversary in 2024.
Connecting to the internet from a coffee shop might be an expected convenience today.
But 30 years ago, it was a novel concept Gary and Catherine Baldwinson hoped would set their independent Pelican Rouge café in Port Moody apart from two corporate competitors nearby.
While open mic nights on Thursdays was already creating a unique community at the java joint on St. Johns Street, the Certified Data 486 computer with a 14.4 dial-up modem set up on a counter allowed customers to connect around the world.
The Baldwinsons said they borrowed the idea from another coffee house in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighbourhood, and after two weeks demand for time on the terminal was already maxing out.
“I wish I had two computers for when it gets busy,” Gary Baldwinson said, adding the internet feature was creating the kind of buzz his competition couldn’t match.
“What it does is generate talk about my coffee place.”
The Tri-City News has covered civic affairs, local crime, festivals, events, personalities, sports and arts in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody since 1983. Bound back issues of the paper are available at the Coquitlam Archives, while digital versions of several past years can be found at issuu.com.
