Skip to content

Former Langley principal organizes a trip through history, in a Porsche

Gary Walker wanted to do a ‘little more than just driving’
28905897_web1_220425-LAT-DF-Porsche-rally-Walker_1
A former Langley school principal turned Porsche aficionado, Gary Walker, has organized a May 1 ride that retraces the historic Old Yale Trail through New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Rosedale, Cheam First Nation, Popkum, Flood and Hope. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

You can take the teacher out of the school, but you can’t take the school out of the teacher.

A former Langley school principal, Gary Walker, has organized an educational ride for the Porsche Club Of America – Canada West region.

It will retrace the historic Old Yale Trail gold rush route of the 1880’s through New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Rosedale, Cheam First Nation, Popkum, Flood and Hope before finishing at the Yale Historical Society.

“We’re even going to have a quiz at the end,” said Walker, a history and geography major who worked at Noel Booth, Coghlan, Glenwood, Murrayville and Lochiel schools in Langley before leaving to launch No. 1 collision, which specialises in high-end cars.

On Sunday, May 1, the 75-year-old Walker, who lives on the Langley-Cloverdale border, will join 39 other Porsche owners who will follow the former wagon trail as they best they can, including a run down Fraser Highway in Langley, passing by one of his former schools in Murrayville.

They will be driving the route in small groups of five or six cars.

Even their break at the Whatcom Road rest area will have a history angle; it happens to be at the northeast end of the former Sumas Lake which was drained for farmland in the 1920s.

Shortly after the trek was announced, it was sold out, with another 10 drivers on a waiting list.

Walker said his idea was to do something “a little more than just driving – let’s have a purpose here.”

He is already planning another history-themed ride.

READ ALSO: Luxury car dealers revving up to help battle cancer

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Driving from Langley to Whistler to help firefighters


Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
Read more