Saying goodbye to Chilliwack's first and only gay bar
Garry Peddle and Oscar Zhang were fed up with their cramped apartment in Vancouver's West End, so they moved to the heart of the Fraser Valley's so-called Bible Belt in search of a bigger and more affordable place to live.
Shortly after they settled into their new home in Chilliwack, the couple did something no one had ever tried before in the city.
They opened a gay bar.
"I thought it would be like a community hub," Peddle said.
"Once you get outside of Vancouver, there is nothing. There are no LGBTQ venues. It's vast and empty for that sort of thing."
Wilde Oscar's opened in April, 2016 and word travelled quickly that there was a new place in town for live music, drag shows and dances.
"It came on our radar as a new gay bar in town, so my fiance and I decided we're going to go down," said Daren Wait, who played several shows at Wilde Oscar's with his band, the Tee.
"We made pretty quick friends with Garry and Oscar."
Tough times
Before long, a tight-knit group started hanging out regularly at Wilde Oscar's but Peddle says it was difficult to break into Chilliwack's social scene.
"There's a lot of people who are in churches and they stick together and don't really want to venture out of those circles," he said.
Peddle says some of his patrons told him they overheard people using homophobic slurs as they walked by.
One customer said his mother gave him a hard time about hanging out with 'the guy who owned the gay bar.'
"I just felt so insulted," Peddle said.
To make matters worse, the crowds weren't as big as anticipated and the bills were piling up.
In late October, Peddle and Zhang pulled the plug and closed Wilde Oscar's for good.
"It is really a big loss for everybody," Wait said.
"Just having some pride out in Chilliwack because there hasn't been a hell of a lot of it out here."
What's next?
Peddle and Zhang have both found new jobs and have no immediate plans to start another business.
Peddle says he wouldn't try to open another gay bar in Chilliwack but he doesn't regret giving it a shot.
"There were a lot of fun times there and I enjoyed many aspects of it," he said.
One of his favourite nights happened during a snowstorm last winter.
All of downtown Chilliwack was quiet but there was a good sized crowd at Wilde Oscar's.
Peddle remembers smiling as everyone inside felt safe as they drank and chatted.
"That was a great night," he said.
