Recreation & Leisure Consultant (Retired), BC Provincial Government, Victoria, BC. Born: Trinidad & Tobago.
Clyde Griffith is a pioneer in the field of recreation in British Columbia’s public sector. Clyde was the first Recreation Director for the cities of Delta in 1961; Surrey in 1963, where he prepared design plans and site locations for the Surrey Fine Arts Theatre Complex; Port Coquitlam in 1968, where he prepared design and site location plans for the Port Coquitlam Recreation Centre, the first multi-purpose ice arena and recreation centre in the province; he also prepared the first 5-year plan for Parks and Rec.
From 1973-95 Clyde was a Recreation Consultant for BC’s Provincial Government in the Recreation Branch of the Ministry of Housing, Recreation and Consumer Services. In this capacity, he was also involved with many special projects including: Mission Staff Member of the BC Summer Games, the Canada Summer and Winter Games (3 terms each); BC Representative on National Committee for Skills Management Development; BC Representative on National Olympic Committee, Youth Division; Government Liaison with Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (1987); Team Attaché for Trinidad & Tobago, Commonwealth Games (1994).
Community: President of the Vancouver Division of the Municipal Pensioners Retirees Association; Vice President of The Royal Commonwealth Society, Vancouver Lower Mainland Branch; President, BC Black History Awareness Society (1997-99); 25-year executive member of BC/Yukon Red Cross Water Safety Branch; Chair, Education Committee responsible for authoring The Black History Resource Guide, portraying the contributions of Black Pioneers to BC (1996), which was distributed to schools throughout the province.
Honours: Including an award from the Caribbean and African Association of UBC for his “Invaluable Support As An Honorary Member,” University of British Columbia; recognition for outstanding service on the International House Advisory Board fro 25-year Volunteer Services Award; inclusion in Who’s Who in Black Canada (1st & 2nd editions; 2002, 2006); Canadian Red Cross (1999); nominee, Order of BC (1994); Service Recognition, Government Recreation Branch (1993); International Student of the Year (1962).
Reviewed in: Millennium Minds (2000); “Recognition Profile,” UBC Alumni (2000); Provincial Ministry Profile (1993).
Education: Dipl., University of Oregon (1974); MA, Community Development, University of Nebraska (1967); BPE & Recreation Management, University of British Columbia (1964).
Favourite book? My favourite book is Go Do Something Great by Crawford Kilian. I found this book when I was doing research for the Black History Resource Guide. It is a book about British Columbia’s black pioneers.
Favourite quote? My favourite quote is: “Never Say Never.”
Given the chance, what would you love to do that you haven’t done yet? Write my biography.
What inspires you? The seed that was planted by mother and the plant continues to flourish.
Why do you do what you do? The driving desire to give something back to my community.