The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame is celebrating the Pacific National Exhibition's 100th Anniversary with a look back at the big sports moments that have taken place in and around Hastings Park.

The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame Zone at the PNE will feature interactive activities and promises "must-see artifacts."

Some of the highlights of the Fame Zone, free with admission, include Olympic torches from 2010, 2006, 2002, 1988 and 1976, a 2010 artifact collection, the stopwatch used to time the famous Miracle Mile, the soccer ball used during the 1979 Vancouver Whitecaps NASL victory, the football used during the 1964 B.C. Lions Grey Cup Championship game and a chance to make your own sports card.

The Miracle Mile is the name given to the moment in sports history when on May 6, 1954 British medical student Roger Bannister became the first person to break the coveted four-minute mile.

Later that same year, Bannister defended his title during the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.

MY BLUE HERON

The Stanley Park Ecology Society is offering its annual "Adopt-a-Nest" program, with proceeds going to help protect the great blue herons that live in Stanley Park.

Great blue herons have nested in unprecedented numbers in Stanley Park in recent years and in 2006, the heronry grew to include more than 173 nests in 25 trees. The society's staff and volunteers monitor these threatened birds to track their success in raising chicks and to provide information about them to city officials, local residents and visitors.

The Adopt-a-Nest packages include a certificate of adoption, printed information about Stanley Park's great blue herons and an adopted nest location, regular email updates on the nest site, an annual heronry report and a tour of the heronry during one of the two Eco-Walks offered each spring. During those interpretive tours, a trained heron monitor will provide information and insight into the lives of the herons. As well, participants will receive a sketch of a heron on a nest, courtesy of Steven D'Amato.

Nest adoption fees are $40 annually and can be arranged by filling out the registration form and emailing it to nests@stanleyparkecology.ca or by calling the society at 604-681-9453.

SIDEWALKED OVER

Last week I wrote about the city putting sidewalks in more than two dozen parks.

COPE park board commissioner Loretta Woodcock told me the city is working on dozens of projects because of federal infrastructure stimulus funds that must be spent by March 2011, which Woodcock guesses is the reason no one told the park board about the sidewalks. When I mentioned the sidewalks here, it was largely for information's sake, but since then I've heard from many readers upset with what they believe is either unnecessary spending or the decimation of green space. One woman asked who she should contact at the city to stop the sidewalk at Hadden Park from being installed.

I appreciate the fact Courier readers care enough about their parks to write not only me, but also the city with their concerns, so thanks for the calls and emails.

sthomas@vancourier.com