Local News – Front Porch Blog

Our Neighbourhood News: From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife

Hi there neighbours, and a very warm welcome to our blog, From the Front Porch of LynnValleyLife.

Why do we call it ‘From the Front Porch’? Because that’s where the real news of a community is shared – on front porches and sidewalks, and in coffee shops and playgrounds. So sit down and stay awhile…. and check back regularly, so we can keep you in the Lynn Valley loop.

Visit here for musings on local life from our neighbourhood observer, Lynn O’Malley, and stories from our editor Peggy Trendell-Jensen. Publisher Jim Lanctot weighs in with news from the world of Lynn Valley real estate, and we look forward to bringing you a range of guest voices from your valley neighbours.

If you have any tidbits of interest, please send them along to our neighbourhood news-gatherer, Robin, at [email protected].  We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to post them all, but we’ll do our best to spread the word on this blog page or on our Facebook site!

LV-TV brings tea to our desktops!

You've probably seen the sign up every year - "Heritage Tea at Mollie Nye House this weekend, 2 pm". How many of you have gone and checked it out? We know, life is busy; kids need driving and groceries need buying. But events like the tea are respite from the ...
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How's your thyroid these days?

How’s your thyroid these days?

You may already have met our local naturopathic physician, Dr. Sacha Elliot of Canopy Health, in our Merchant Profile section. Dr. Elliot has kindly sent us an article she's written for LynnValleyLife readers who may have questions about their thyroid, and what it does, and why you may want to ...
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Argyle Cabaret Night turns 30

Argyle Cabaret Night turns 30

April 19 UPDATE from the organizers: Don't delay in getting your tickets for the 30th Annual Argyle Cabaret, 30 and Counting!  This exciting event, happening on Friday, May 11th from 7 pm to midnight, is a major fundraiser for the Argyle Music Association.    Tickets are available this Saturday, April 21st in ...
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Farmers Market, Lynn Valley

Doctor gives Lynn Valley clean bill of health

BY ANDREA WINTERBOTTOM, Contributing Writer: A recent talk by Dr. O’Connor, Medical Health Officer for the North Shore, helped a group of Lynn Valley residents gauge the health of their neighbourhood. The talk and slide show (depicting the transformation from Esso Station to Community Square with library, coffee shops and ...
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Play poker for points, not cash, at LV Legion

Play poker for points, not cash, at LV Legion

Are you interested in playing poker, but not so keen on losing your shirt? The Texas Hold-Em Poker League is a free club that organizes games in which people (age 21 and over) play for points, not money. They meet in Lynn Valley on Tuesday nights at the Lynn Valley ...
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LV church hosts World Day of Prayer event

LV church hosts World Day of Prayer event

For 125 years, people from all faith backgrounds have gathered on the first Saturday in March to pray together in unity for the world and its people. This year, Lynn Valley United Church will play host to members from any of 60 faith communities from across the North Shore. They ...
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Lynn Valley merchants amongst cream of the crop

Lynn Valley merchants amongst cream of the crop

The North Shore News recently published the results of its annual Readers’ Choice survey, and once again Lynn Valley merchants were well-represented. It’s been great to see the congratulations showing up on our Facebook wall, as local people give each other a virtual pat on the back. We’ve been looking ...
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House sold - and it wasn't for sale!

House sold – and it wasn’t for sale!

It’s always good news when someone buys a home they’ll love. It’s even more exciting when the house wasn’t on the market to start with! Jim and Kelly had clients who couldn’t find anything in Lynn Valley that seemed just right for their growing family. So these realtors rolled up ...
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Bring your treasures for appraisal

Bring your treasures for appraisal

Here's a heads-up for those of you starting to do your spring-cleaning: take a closer look at some of those family hand-me-downs that belonged to your mother or grandfather. Later this spring you'll have the chance to see if those items you've taken for granted might have value beyond the ...
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Win tickets to see LV actress in soccer mom saga

Win tickets to see LV actress in soccer mom saga

Jenny Mitchell is a Lynn Valley mom like many others – she loves heading out on the trails, hitting the library, and socializing at Browns. Her kids, Dylan and Evan, go to Lynn Valley Elementary and play baseball and soccer. Not many local moms, however, get to play a maternal ...
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Thirteen Lynn Valley home sales in January

Thirteen Lynn Valley home sales in January

These are the latest figures on the Lynn Valley housing market. If you’d like monthly market updates and neighbourhood highlights sent directly to your inbox, please sign up to become a member of the LynnValleyLife Network to enjoy these and other benefits. Single Family Homes: There were 9 detached homes sold in January ...
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LV locals make recovery in VGH Burn Unit a little easier

LV locals make recovery in VGH Burn Unit a little easier

COMING TO YOU FROM LYNN O’MALLEY: Greetings, neighbours! I was really looking forward to telling you the story of how a generous donation from the Lee family (owners of the Mountain Market corner store at Mountain Highway and Frederick) resulted in a domino effect that benefitted people not just in Lynn Valley, ...
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Bob McCormack spends his life making shade for others

Bob McCormack spends his life making shade for others

FROM THE EDITOR: The Greeks said it best: "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." They must have been thinking ahead to people like Bob McCormack, who – now 70 years old – has spent most of his life ...
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You love Lynn Valley! (And so do we.)

You love Lynn Valley! (And so do we.)

FROM LYNN O’MALLEY: “'Home' is a name, a word -  it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.” So spake Charles Dickens about the power of home, and we do not disagree with him (especially since we do not ...
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February contests on now

February contests on now

We currently have two contests running here at LynnValleyLife, so in case you missed hearing about them, here's what you need to know. In honour of Valentine's Day, we're asking people to share the love this week. Find our contest post on our Facebook wall, or email us at [email protected], ...
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Recycling depots close at hand

Recycling depots close at hand

Lynn Valley is an excellent place to live if you’re an environmentalist. Sure, we have lots of trees. But did you know we’re also particularly well-situated when it comes to recycling drop-off depots? We’re a hop, skip and a jump from North Van District’s recycling depot located across from the ...
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LynnValleyLife: your resource for 100th Lynn Valley Day!

LynnValleyLife: your resource for 100th Lynn Valley Day!

LIFE WITH LYNN O'MALLEY: Have I ever missed a Lynn Valley Day? Well, perhaps for a year or two in my turbulent twenties. Otherwise, I’ve been there every year – dancing the may pole, playing in the band, marching in the parade, or staffing an info booth (not usually all ...
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New minister seeks to engage the neighbourhood

New minister seeks to engage the neighbourhood

LIFE WITH LYNN O'MALLEY: If it seems like our website has been publishing a lot of news coming out of Lynn Valley United Church lately, there’s a good reason for it – there IS a lot of news coming out of Lynn Valley United Church lately! That’s thanks in large ...
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Ground-breaking art gallery seeks LV volunteers

Ground-breaking art gallery seeks LV volunteers

BY YOLANDE MARTINELLO, Principal of Fine Arts, School District 44: Many people in Lynn Valley will be celebrating the opening of the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art this fall, and we are hoping many of them will also volunteer to be part of its success. Currently under construction at ...
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District workers are up the creek

District workers are up the creek

FROM THE EDITOR: It’s always been easy to be impressed by Lynn Valley’s trees; after all, the world’s tallest fir – measuring 417 feet high and 77 feet around – was documented here in 1875. But for the next few months at least, it’s Lynn Valley’s streams that will be ...
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Here's what sold in LV in December, and for how much

Here’s what sold in LV in December, and for how much

These are the latest figures on the Lynn Valley housing market. If you'd like monthly market updates and neighbourhood highlights sent directly to your inbox, please sign up to become a member of the LynnValleyLife Network to enjoy these and other benefits. December Sales Update  Here is your monthly snapshot ...
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Theatre lives on in local memories

Theatre lives on in local memories

Musings from Lynn O’Malley: It’s always seemed to me that a little movie house would do well in Lynn Valley; something that would bring in the kind of interesting flicks you usually have to travel over to the 5th Avenue or Park Theatre to see. (OK, I can’t guarantee it ...
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Thank you, Lynn Valley, for 500 new friends

Thank you, Lynn Valley, for 500 new friends

Glad tidings from Lynn O'Malley: When Jim Lanctot first assembled some like-minded souls to talk about creating this community website, our goals were both grand and humble. Yes, we hoped to reach a lot of people and be of great help to local organizations, businesses and individuals wanting to spread ...
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Lynn Valley '70s counterculture recalled in colourful autobiography

Lynn Valley ’70s counterculture recalled in colourful autobiography

From Lynn O'Malley: Inspired by our Christmas post in which we published a list of Lynn Valley residents' wishes, publisher Jim Lanctot and I got talking about what we’d ask for if we could wave a wand and make something good come true for our community. He thought that more programs ...
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Church adds to yoga roster for new year

Church adds to yoga roster for new year

As reported earlier by LynnValleyLife, drop-in yoga is now being offered at Lynn Valley United Church, and 2012 brings with it yet another bendy option. Children, Youth and Families Minister Christina Kinch - who trained in India as a Hatha yoga instructor - has added an intermediate class to the ...
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Our List of One-Mile Resolutions

Our List of One-Mile Resolutions

Coming to You From Lynn O'Malley: Even those people who staunchly refuse to make New Year’s Resolutions must, like the rest of us, look forward to the new year and see all the potential it offers. Whether it is waistlines that need contracting or minds that need expanding, all seems ...
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Hastings Manor restoration unveiled

Hastings Manor restoration unveiled

From the desk of Jim Lanctot: I was out walking my kids to school one morning in mid-December when I stopped to look at the renovations just finishing up at Hastings Manor, across the street from Lynn Valley Elementary. Like many people in the neighbourhood, I had wondered what had ...
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A Christmas wish list for our community

A Christmas wish list for our community

CHRISTMAS TIDINGS FROM VALLEY FOLK: If you’re like many of us heading towards, or comfortably settled into, middle age, Christmas has ceased being a time at which we wonder anxiously what Santa will bring us. When it comes to more ‘stuff,’ most of us need nothing. Instead one’s thoughts turn ...
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North Shore News Winners

LVL thanks conscientious carriers

It takes a village to raise a child, they say, and we’ve found the very same philosophy applies to a new business. So we wanted to thank some of the young people in our village who have helped us spread the word about the launch of LynnValleyLife, our community website ...
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After-school art starts again in January

After-school art starts again in January

After-school art programs are once again coming to Lynn Valley schools in the new year! Have a look-see at this schedule and you’ll find everything from watercolours to digital storytelling. Then in January watch for our story about the new Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian art, and how some Lynn ...
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