Remembrance Day observances planned

Each year, more and more Canadians are marking Remembrance Day at ceremonies and other events across the country.

North Vancouver hosts the largest cenotaph gathering in Western Canada, an annual tradition at Victoria Park. People should be in place on Sunday before 10:30 a.m. (allow time to walk a few blocks), and thereafter will follow a traditional service, fly-past, parade, music, the presentation of wreaths of remembrance, and of course a moment of silence. For information on the marching parade before and after the ceremony, visit this North Van RCMP press release.

In Lynn Valley, a small ceremony is held at Pioneer Park at the junction of Lynn Valley Road and Mountain Hwy, especially to accommodate seniors and veterans for whom the crowds at Victoria Park are prohibiting. Those who wish to attend are asked to be at the cairn by 10:15 a.m., and to ensure the chairs available go to those who need them the most. Legion president Diana Saboe also notes that everyone is invited to the Lynn Valley Legion Open House following the ceremony; please leave the jeans at home and arrive in proper dress.

Many people also enjoy attending the Remembrance Day assembly at Argyle Secondary, which features thoughtful presentations and musical performances put on by the students. This year’s assembly will take place in the school gym on Friday, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m.

And Lynn Valley United Church will be foregoing its usual Sunday service on Nov. 11 to offer a special performance by Antony Holland, award-winning actor and playwright. Holland will be presenting One Man in His Time, his play that tells of his experiences in Northern Africa during World War II. There, he worked as a code breaker for the British Armed Services and in his spare time mounted theatrical productions wherever he was able.

Admission is by donation at the door, with contributions of $25 or more eligible for a tax receipt. Contact the church office for more information, or look on the church website.

 

Giants hockey tickets support good cause

Lynn Valley’s Bob Rasmus is known to many of us for his ongoing community work with the Lions Club and for co-organizing the ever bigger-and-better annual Lynn Valley Day events. (Click here for a profile we wrote about Bob this spring!)

Currently Bob is zone chairman for all the North Shore Lions Clubs, so we’re happy to help him promote his causes – especially when it comes to a deal on hockey tickets!

If you order tickets to the Giants’ Jan. 30 game against the Prince Albert Raiders, you will not only save five bucks a ticket, you will be supporting the Lions Society’s Easter Seals House. The Vancouver Easter Seals House, located on Oak Street, provides low-cost accommodation for families who are in town for a child’s medical treatment. The house is professionally staffed, includes play facilities and other child-centred features, and is designed to give parents the support they need in order that they can focus on their children’s wellbeing.

To download a hockey tickets order form, click here. Remember, the tix make great Christmas presents – especially in this lock-out year!

Did you know the Lynn Valley Lions Club helps support about fifty local non-profit organizations through its fundraising? Have a look at their website to see how splendidly your Cook Shack hamburger dollars are put to work in the community!

Entertainers sought for Lynn Valley Christmas

It may be Halloween outside, but for Lynn Valley Community Association organizers, Christmas is just a hop, skip and jump away.

An enthusiastic working group is behind “A Lynn Valley Christmas,” a greatly expanded version of last year’s Christmas Tree Walk in Lynn Valley Village.

Sixty trees – twice last year’s number – will be adopted and decorated by local organizations and businesses, and festive entertainment will be provided from Dec. 12 to 23.

If you know of musical groups, children’s entertainers, or other performers who would like to be part of the fun, please contact Dave Bruynesteryn at 604-315-3283 or [email protected] as soon as possible – a schedule is being compiled right now.

There are just a few trees left, too, so if you’d like to sponsor one, please give Dave a call before it’s too late. Fifty dollars of the $200 sponsorship fee goes towards the Lions Christmas Hamper program.

 

Toy sale supports Lynn Valley community

We’ve all seen posters for Lynn Valley’s Kids’ Toy & Clothing Sale, but did you know that the event is of benefit to everyone in the community, not just families with young children? Read on as organizer Tim Green gives us a behind-the-scenes explanation of this semi-annual event! UPDATE: The 2013 fall sale is on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 2:30-4:30, and Sunday, Nov. 3 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The Kids’ Toy & Clothing Sale has been going on since sometime in the 1990s. It was originally started by the North Vancouver Recreation Commission, and the Lynn Valley Community Association (LVCA) took it over about eight years ago.

Currently we run the sales out of the Lynn Valley Recreation Centre (Cardinal Hall) twice a year in May and November. Well, I guess you could say that it is four times a year – there is a Saturday event and a Sunday event in May, and a Saturday event and a Sunday event in November.

It is all possible due to the generosity of the North Vancouver Recreation Commission. We have use of the Cardinal Hall facility at no charge to the LVCA, and the Recreation Commission takes care of the table bookings through their phone registration system. They collect the table fees for us, too.

We are able to fit 20 tables onto the gymnasium floor at Cardinal Hall. (If we had a larger building, we would have no problem selling more tables!)
We never have any problems selling the 40 tables for a weekend – the 20 tables for the Saturday and the 20 tables for the Sunday are always sold out well in advance, and there is always a long waiting list. (A table costs $27 plus tax.) So we have 20 people selling their goods (gently used kids’ toys and clothing) on a Saturday in May or November, and then another 20 sellers on the following day (the Sunday). There are different sellers each day.

The sale runs for two hours each day. The sellers are given an hour or two before the start of the sales to get set up.

When we open the doors to the buying public there is always a long line-up of people waiting to get in right away to find the best items for sale! People are charged a very small fee at the door; we charge $2 per person (or $2 per family). This is how the LVCA raises money so that it can operate its other functions and activities throughout the year.

On any given weekend there are between 300 and 500 people (or families) coming through to buy the used toys and clothing.

Here are some tips for sellers:

  •        Book a table 2 or 3 months in advance through the Recreation Commission
  •        Bring lots of change (quarters, loonies and toonies)
  •        Bring lots of plastic bags to put the sold items into
  •        Don’t mark your items up too high!
  •        Be prepared to bargain

And some for buyers:

  •         Come early to get the best items
  •        But don’t be afraid to come later in the day too – there is always plenty still for sale, and the vendors may be willing to drop the prices more as the end of the sale nears
  •        Bring lots of change (quarters, loonies and toonies)
  •        Be prepared to bargain

Typically we see plenty of children’s clothing for sale, and a fair selection of younger kids’ toys, too. Usually there is a lack of toys and games for older kids for sale, so vendors should perhaps consider that market when deciding to buy a table.

At the end of the day, we accept donations of any unsold clothing which we then arrange to have picked up by Big Brothers.

Hope to see you there this year!

Live Love Dance gala will support North Van mother

Many of you by now will have heard about the plight of Chelsea Steyns, a North Vancouver mother who grew up in Lynn Valley and has in the last few years borne not one, but two sets of twins.

Having two twin births isn’t the only amazing thing Argyle Secondary grad Chelsea has done – she is also well known as a highly accomplished dancer and, since 2008, the greatly respected creative director of the North Shore Academy of Dance.

But tragedy entered Chelsea’s life just three months after giving birth to her youngest children, Cash and Maxine, early this year. At that point doctors discovered she was suffering from an extremely rare, inoperable brain cancer.

Since then, the North Van dance community, along with Chelsea’s other friends and family, have rallied in force to raise the money needed to fund costly treatment in Texas. The therapy she is undertaking has shown great promise in its ability to battle her particular type of cancer, but as it is still in the trial stages, it is not insured.

The next big fundraising effort will be an incredible, star-studded evening of dance and delicacies at the Kay Meek Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Kay Meek Centre. Along with performances from about ten professional dance companies and individuals, audience members will enjoy valet parking and complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres during a silent auction reception. Tickets are $100; details and more information about Chelsea and the evening’s performers can be found at the Live Love Dance 2012 website.

 

Lynn Valley Christmas Tree Walk in the works

No, it is NOT too early to start thinking about Christmas – not if you’ve got some tree-trimming talent or carol-singing skills!

Last year’s launch of a Christmas Tree Walk in Lynn Valley Village was so successful, it is returning this year in even more festive form, with sixty trees up for adoption and 12 days of pre-Christmas entertainment on the menu.

There are a number of trees still up for adoption, so if your business or organization would like to take part in the fun, call Dave at the number below soon – over 65 per cent of them have already been spoken for!

And if you’re a part of a group that would like to perform sometime during the Dec. 12 to 23 period, Lynn Valley Village events coordinator Stephanie Perrins would love to hear from you. Interested musicians and performers can email [email protected] for more information.

Help spread the word so that everyone can pull together to make Lynn Valley a Winter Wonderland this Christmas. Here’s a downloadable version of the poster below, so print and post!

Argyle Pipers football team re-christens home field

Update, October 13, 2012: Congratulations, Pipers! News just in that this game ended in a  victory for the Pipers, with a score of 36-0 over Eric Hamber. 

For the first time in 31 years, Lynn Valley football fans will have the chance to watch a home game on the Argyle School field, at a 1:30 p.m. kick-off against Eric Hamber School.

The Argyle Pipers football teams – dormant since the early 1980s – made a long sought-after comeback last year, thanks to the persistent efforts of gym teacher Milan Boljuncic (now co-head coach, along with Dave Heskin), private donors, and passionate parents such as Shane Sheehan, a Piper MVP in the ’70s (his son, Grady, is a Grade 12 player on this year’s team).

It’s not easy getting a team rebuilt, virtually from scratch. The boys had to be kitted out, and the helmets alone were $300 each. Necessary items were purchased with the help of generous donors and fundraising efforts by the players and coaches. (LynnValleyLife is proud to join the team as a new sponsor, and is looking forward to cheering on the players this Sunday!)  Another stumbling block was that the grass field needed upgrading to be able to accommodate a football game, which is why no home games were possible last year.

And while the old Piper magic has come back strong, to judge by the enthusiasm of its players and fan base, the scoreboard has yet to reflect the football team’s rebirth. So far, the seniors have yet to score in any of the four games played this season.

But the team’s spirit remains strong and everyone realizes that Rome wasn’t built in a day. This year will provide an extra challenge for the players,  in that the Pipers have now been moved up a division, into AA, after just one year spent at a lower tier. As many players on the team are rookies, there will be a lot of “learning by doing”.

To judge by the eagerness on the faces of both the players and their supporters, though, they are more than equal to the challenge. You can help them make the play by coming out on Saturday to cheer them on – and coming back to the field the next day to test drive a Ford vehicle. For every driver who comes out for a  buzz around the block, they’ll donate $20 to Argyle School! All details are here.

In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for some crisp fall weather for Saturday’s game, and come enjoy some good family fun! Kick off is 1:30 p.m., but fans are encouraged to come at 1 to start some spirit-building!

Grade 9 and 10 students are on the Junior Varsity team, and play on Wednesdays. The Grade 11 and 12 Varsity team plays on Fridays and Saturdays. Season schedules for both can be found here (search under AA Varsity).

Lynn Valley students carry Terry’s torch

If you see students running from their schools en masse this week, don’t worry, it isn’t a fire – they’re just taking part in the annual Terry Fox School Run.

Janet Dunkin, French teacher and organizer of Argyle’s run on Thursday, Sept. 27th, says the high school has been participating in the event for at least 25 years. The whole school will run in the blocks around Argyle at about 12:40 that day, with traffic-directing support from the RCMP and Parent Advisory Council, and the senior PE classes acting as race marshalls.

Ms. Dunkin is a driving force behind the school’s involvement, due in part, she says, to her own family’s experiences with the merciless disease. Both of her daughters, Colleen and Katharine, had malignant brain tumours as infants. While they both survived that harsh beginning, Katharine passed away in 2003 when she was a 16-year-old Argyle student, from a cancer that was linked to her earlier treatment.

Many of us know people both within and without the school community who are currently battling the illness; there are no shortage of reasons to show your support this week. Argyle is hoping to raise $3,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation, and students will be collecting pledges until early October. If you don’t know a local elementary or secondary student who can collect your donation, please consider pledging to one of our local schools’ campaigns via the Terry Fox Foundation School Run website.

And if you’re out driving on Thursday, watch out for kids running where and when you least expect them!

 

Black Bear Pub hosts weekly trivia nights

From the pen of Jeffry Huyghebaert, Assistant Manager, Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub

Every Monday night at the Black Bear we run a trivia game for our guests, with questions running the gamut of general knowledge and obscure facts.  There is no cost to play, and teams are encouraged; best to bring a few people with different interests and knowledge than yourself! The only real rule is that Google cannot be one of your teammates.

The game starts at 7:30 p.m., and usually runs until around 9:30 p.m. There are two rounds of fifteen questions per round, and the team with the highest score at the end of two rounds claims the victory, and has a choice between a plate of 24 hot wings or a pitcher of Molson Canadian to celebrate their win.

Besides general knowledge and obscure facts, we occasionally choose to run with a certain theme, which is usually based around a certain event; on Canada Day the theme was Canadiana, during the Olympics the questions were all about Olympic events and history, and around the time of the Oscars we did a night of Movie Quotes.

Next week will mark the 20th week of Black Bear Trivia, which means that our guests will have answered 800 questions since we started playing. The questions themselves come from the staff and managers of the Black Bear, rather than simply being pulled down from a website or lifted from Trivial Pursuit. It’s been a lot of research, a lot of fun, and a lot of being impressed by just how much our guests actually know about really, really random things.