From the garden of Lynn O’Malley, voice of the valley:
For the past two months, the LynnValleyLife team has been planning and promoting its scheme to blanket Lynn Valley in summertime sunflowers. We’ve talked sunflowers, mailed sunflowers, photo’d sunflowers and dreamt sunflowers. It occurred to me that amidst all the fuss, I might forget to actually plant the darn things!
There’s always something new to look forward to at Lynn Valley Days, and 2013 will be no exception!
For starters, we want to give a big community thank-you to William F. White International, which is sponsoring all of Lynn Valley Days’ cable and power needs. (And thank you to Lynn Valley’s Garin Josey, the William F. White VP who is making this happen for us!) Amongst other things, what this will mean is no more distressing generator failures, and a much better-balanced sound system at the sold-out Gala Dinner Dance. And if the weather cooperates, it will also mean some amazing light-up-the-sky special effects on Friday night!
It’s thanks to business sponsorships of all shapes and sizes that Lynn Valley Day has become the great event that it has. Please have a look at some of the other sponsors who stepped forward to support the community festival this year (list is not complete, we know more names are yet to be added!). But it’s not just businesses that make it happen – Lynn Valley Day is the result of months of hard work by host organizations Lynn Valley Lions and Lynn Valley Community Association, and many individual volunteers.
Shirin Ismail of the LVCA is once again coordinating volunteers, and would love people to step forward to offer just a couple of hours here or there. Whether you lean towards traffic control during parade time, staffing a ride on the midway or site clean-up, there is definitely a place for you to earn your karma points. The times and tasks, along with Shirin’s contact info, are listed here.
We’re definitely looking forward to watching people’s faces as they take in the new Euro-Bungee ride. Thrill-seekers will be strapped into this new attraction, then bounce on a trampoline that will shoot them 40 feet into the air – so hang onto your dentures!
People looking for more old-fashioned fun will once again be glad of the free games and races that the LynnValleyLife team will be organizing in its corner of the field. Egg-and-spoon, gunny sacks, three-legged races, ballon toss, the ever popular Hyak Rafting Super Soaker…. what more could you want for some good old family fun? (Well, if there IS something more, please tell us – it’s not too late to incorporate some other favourite races! Just email [email protected].)
Also new in our neck of the woods will be the chance to have your photo taken with our custom-painted Project Sunflower photo board (thank you, Julie Jay!) If you haven’t already picked up your free packet of seeds for Project Sunflower, please stop by and do so – we’re hoping to see hundreds of sunflowers blooming in the valley this summer!
Rain or shine, there will be something old and something new, something borrowed and …. oh, right, that’s weddings. But it holds true for Lynn Valley Days as well, and we know you’re not going to want to miss the Lions Cook Shack 7:30am Pancake Breakfast, the 10 a.m. parade, and all-day fun at the park. Keep our special Lynn Valley Days section handy so you’ll have access to all the entertainment schedules and other details as they are finalized!
This is the week that many of our LynnValleyLife Network members are receiving their Project Sunflower seed packets in the mail or on their doorstep (let’s hope those late-season snow flurries won’t be visiting the Upper Lynn area any more!)
Readers of all stripes will find something to look forward to at the 2013 North Shore Writers Festival, which is being hosted this year at Lynn Valley Library on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20.
Included in the line-up of visiting authors are Helen Humphreys, award-winning Canadian author of novels such as The Reinvention of Love and Coventry, humourist Terry Fallis, Toronto writer Tanis Rideout, and local poet Evelyn Lau. At other times in weekend, a panel of writers will discuss the publishing process, while another will explore the delectable world of food writing.
New this year is a Friday evening Literary Trivia Night, hosted by author and CBC radio personality Grant Lawrence. Register your own team of six, or come prepared to join an impromptu team on the spot, and engage in a friendly battle with other lit lovers.
Click here for the festival website, and be sure to take advantage of having these interesting events happening right on our doorstep! All activities will take place in the Community Room adjacent to Lynn Valley Library.
Happy Spring, everyone! Snowdrops and crocuses are currently doing their annual warm-up act for the daffs and tulips that will soon be putting on a show.
But they aren’t the only ones busy doing their thing. The organizers of the annual Lynn Valley Days community celebration have already been at work getting the stage set for this popular event, so here’s a heads up of what you need to know!
Last fall, those of us at LynnValleyLife HQ had a great time reading the nominations for our first-annual Good Neighbour Award, which wrapped up at the end of December. In fact, we had such a good time, we realized we’d need another fun community initiative to keep us busy until the contest kicks off again in November!
So we put our heads together to plan a new neighbourhood undertaking – and we’re calling it Project Sunflower! We’re asking people to jump on board and plant one, two or a whole patch of sunflowers in their front gardens this spring. Wouldn’t it be great to drive (or walk, or bike) through the neighbourhood, and see hundreds of sunflowers brightening our yards and streets as summer progresses?
Don’t let the rain and cold get you down – that’s perfect weather for book-browsing!
The Friends of the Library are having their semi-annual book sale this weekend, from Feb. 22 to 24 (see our Events Calendar for times).
Each sale nets thousands of dollars of funds for library purchases and improvements; the last go-round resulting in the new digital display and furniture in the Lynn Valley Library lobby lounge.
New books are put out each day, and on Sunday everything is half-price – or you can fill a bag for $3! Please remember to bring your own bag(s!)
Books not sold at the library events are donated to a non-profit organization called Reading Tree, which provides books to disadvantaged families, schools, and libraries.
“Joining the Friends of the Library is a great way to support North Vancouver District Public Library and to volunteer in the community,” said Meghan. Amongst their other duties, Friends members:
Membership is $5 annually. Visit here to learn more about joining the Friends or pick up a Friends of the Library brochure at your local branch.
Lynn Valley resident Steven Threndyle is PR director for the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. He’d like to invite the community to come out to the festival, which runs from Feb. 8 to 17.
Steven, tell us about your role in the festival.
I’m the PR director and social media manager (Facebook, Twitter).
And now tell us about your life here in Lynn Valley!
Our family moved to North Vancouver to be close to the mountains. It really does make a world of difference compared to living across town in the city. (I don’t consider any parts of North Van to really be a ‘city’; even if the CNV might beg to differ!) It is really quite something to look up from just about any neighbourhood and see Grouse, Lynn Peak, and Seymour right up close. And the parks and trail system is really something else.
Are you a climber? What drew you to working with the festival?
Haha, no, I’m sort of afraid of heights or ‘exposure’ as climbers call it. Climbing is not a sport to be dabbled in lightly. I’m just really interested in aspects I believe that anyone can enjoy; the quality of light in late afternoon, the visual panorama from standing atop a peak, just… being out in nature, really. I think the festival balances the ‘action porn’ aspect and maybe the more documentary subject matter very well.
Is this your day job, or do you have other professional interests?
Well, right now I’m trying to put a lot of effort into it; but I’m just a very small part of it. I think the Festival has wide ranging appeal and, if anything, is underpublicized – it’s been around for 16 years and it could be more well known. I actually write about real estate to pay the bills – mostly for the Vancouver SUN and Vancouver Observer. And I’ve done some real estate PR as well. Storytelling through social media interests me greatly as well.
What do you think Lynn Valley residents would enjoy about the film fest?
Lynn Valley residents would really enjoy the trail running night since it features several North Shore ultra runners who push the level of endurance, but who are just everyday people who have regular jobs and that sort of thing. And they do one heck of a job exploring our back yard, too.
There are also some very good movies that are being screened at both Centennial Theatre and the Rio and Pacific Cinematheque theatres, and it all gets under way next Friday night. We’ve just reorganized our special events pages so that it’s easier to find what you’re interested in. The environment night would be worthwhile, too; Paul Colangelo is a fine photographer and we’ve just added two new movies. It’s topical, too, because it’s about the Great Bear Rainforest.
Any other thoughts you’d like to leave with our readers?
As John Muir said: “Go into the mountains and seek their glad tidings.” Or, as I like to say “Never waste a sunny day.” (Especially on the North Shore!)
Wow! Lynn Valley, you’ve got what it takes!
Last night’s grand finale of the 12 Days of Christmas in Lynn Valley Village was a labour of love by so many, most particularly the hard-working valley folk in the Lynn Valley Community Association, the Lynn Valley Lions and the fine musicians and actors of Lynn Valley United Church.
The two-hour production featured the young adult and adult community choirs of the church, the church’s Friday Night Live improv team, the singing of valley favourite Bobbi Smith, and a storyline that wove throughout the music to bring the message of Christmas home.
One definite highlight of the evening was an unscripted marriage proposal, ring and all, sung on stage with harmonic back-up from the FNL crew! Many congratulations to the happy couple, and thanks for sharing your Big Moment with all of us!
That was a tough act to follow, but Bobbi Smith managed it just fine, and after a few songs gave a tribute to Lynn Valley’s community values, giving LynnValleyLife the perfect opportunity to announce the winner of this year’s Good Neighbour Award.
Lynn Valley United Church parishioners in the crowd went wild when they heard that one of their own had won the honour, which was awarded to the person who won the draw of all our top Good Neighbour nominees.
photo courtesy Linda Mackie
We were delighted to give the Good Neighbour Award 2012 plaque and prize package to Rosemary Postlethwaite, a church elder who has spent a decade collecting bottles and cans to help fund the church’s program that makes sandwiches for the homeless. You can read more about Rosemary here, in the nomination that was submitted by Kelly Jenner (who won a gift certificate to the Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub for having nominated the award winner!)
The Good Neighbour Award, launched this year, gave us a very welcome opportunity to share stories about many of the people here in Lynn Valley who reach out to help others in quiet ways, large ways, public ways and private ways. We know there are a lot more fine folks out there, so we hope you keep our Good Neighbour Award in mind over the year to come, so you’ll have someoneto nominate when we launch the award again in November 2013.
In the meantime, we would like to take this year-end opportunity to thank all those community volunteers, especially those people in the groups mentioned above, for putting so much time and effort into the Christmas Tree Walk, the 12 Days of Christmas entertainment, and the first-ever Christmas tree at the corner of Mountain Highway and Lynn Valley Road.
We know it will be a busy year ahead with Lynn Valley Day and other community celebrations, so please consider becoming an active member of one of these organizations, or looking for different ways to support them. Check out their websites, above, and look here for information about joining the community choir that was featured last night.
Wouldn’t that make a great New Year’s resolution?
Merry Christmas, Lynn Valley!
photo courtesy Linda Mackie
The annual Winter Concert put on by our very own Lynn Valley community band takes place on Monday, Dec. 17, at Kay Meek theatre, and it is always a crowd-pleaser (they have good goodies, too!) Admission is by donation. Details here (and if getting out more will be part of your new year’s resolve, why not consider joining? Check them out on their website.