Community Events

No need to leave the Valley this weekend!

Be sure to get all your chores before Friday this week, because you won’t want to miss a minute of the goings-on in Lynn Valley this weekend. We’re confident the weather will cooperate, so get your calendar out and make note of the following!

If you’re one of the lucky ones who scored a ticket to the Lynn Valley Day Gala Dinner, you already know what you’ll be doing Friday night – dining and dancing under the tent and putting in some bids on auction items to help support the North Shore Rescue team.

If you left your ticket buying too late, don’t despair – cap off your week by taking in the never-fail laughs provided by members of the professional theatre sports troupe AddLibretto, performing at 7:30 at the weekly Friday Night Live event at Lynn Valley United. Special guest this week is violinist Andrea Siradze of the North Shore Sinfonia orchestra.

Saturday starts bright and early with the Lynn Valley Day Pancake Breakfast at 7:30 (or earlier if you decide to lend a hand to the stalwart volunteers showing up at 6 a.m.!) Spend the rest of the day enjoying the 10 a.m. parade, exhibits, rides, performances, and games at the 100th Lynn Valley Day extravaganza; all details are here.

Rest up Saturday night (you’ll sleep even better if you help put away the tents and tables in Lynn Valley Park!) and then head to Lynn Headwaters Park on Sunday for their Wilderness at Your Doorstep event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join archeologists and experts on natural history and local trails in the BC Mills House, and take a walk fuelled by some coffee from the Tim Hortons Community Mobile.

That afternoon, enjoy the fruits of other people’s labours with a visit to the two Lynn Valley gardens taking part in the annual Art in the Garden event.

From noon to 5 p.m., pay just $1 to tour gardens that showcase not just their owners’ green thumbs, but the work of local artists and musicians.

The Lynn Valley gardens are located at 1731 Torquay Ave. and 1531 Kilmer Pl. See the North Vancouver Community Arts Council website for details on musicians’ set times and other North Shore gardens participating in the tour.

After a weekend like that, you might just be glad to head into the office Monday for a rest! Enjoy it – and our thanks to all event organizers for putting on a weekend to remember!

P.S. If we’re wrong and the weather DOESN’T improve, don’t fret – just head on over to the Library Book Sale, on from Friday to Sunday!

 

May 23, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Getting Involved, Lynn Valley Day

Take a walk on the wild side at Lynn Headwaters event

The 100th Lynn Valley Day shindig may be over as of Saturday evening, but the celebration of local heritage will continue on Sunday with an event at Lynn Headwaters Park.

Wilderness At Your Doorstep gives people the chance to learn more about the mountain folds and forests that have shaped the history of this neighbourhood, and the pioneers who were there when it happened.Lynn Valley Headwaters, North Vancouver

Archeology students and experts on park trails, bear behaviour, and history will be on hand to introduce people to the natural history of the park. Artifacts that bring to life the logging and mining activities that took place in the area are on display at the BC Mills House at the park entrance.

The small museum is an example of the early pre-fab homes that were sold by the B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company of Vancouver. It was originally assembled at 147 East 1st Street in 1908, by Captain Henry Pybus, who commanded the CPR Express of China and the Empress of Japan. In 1994, the Sixth Field Engineering Squadron of North Van dismantled the house and reassembled it in its current location in Lynn Headwaters, where its refurbishing was financed with B.C. Heritage Trust funds that were granted to Metro Vancouver Parks. (For some interesting background on the history of the BC Mills homes, visit this article from Heritage Vancouver.)

Wilderness at Your Doorstep runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 27th, and refreshments will be provided by Tim Hortons.

Thanks to parks volunteers, BC Mills House is also open to the public from May to September from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays and public holidays. For a three-minute video tour through the park and the BC Mills museum, click here.

 

May 21, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors

“Book” some time for library sale

Another Library Book Sale is coming up on Lynn Valley Day weekend, which gives us a swell excuse to show you this great video from the last sale, filmed by local videographer John Durrant. We know it will make you want to come out to the library on May 25 to 27 to see what literary gems you can find!

Meghan Radomske of the Friends of the Library – the group of library supporters who organize this twice-yearly event – said that last autumn’s sale raised $4312.90!

That money is earmarked for a new and improved reading lounge in the Lynn Valley Library. “[It] will include a fantastic new curved display case featuring new books, movies, upcoming events at the library, and information about the Friends of the Library,” Meghan told us. “More comfy chairs and cushions and more accessible computer stations will also be featured, particularly ones that can be lowered to accommodate people with disabilities.

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:

  • advocate for library services and fundraise for library projects and resources.
  • organize book-sales and other fundraisers.
  • help at library events such as author talks and District Library Art Receptions.

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.

 

May 11, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News

Can you take a ticket, run a ride, or tote a table?

We know you’ve been meaning to give Shirin a call and just haven’t gotten around to it…. so now’s your chance! Shirin is the busy soul in charge of matching volunteers to various Lynn Valley Day tasks. Events are often a lot funner (yes, we’ve decided that’s a word) when you’re actively involved, and, as an added bonus, new legislation has ruled that any mini doughnuts consumed by volunteers contain no calories. So what are you waiting for? Please see the poster below for specific volunteer requests, and help Shirin fill those last slots!


May 11, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Getting Involved, Lynn Valley Day

Help plan LV’s future – your health depends on it!

FROM THE EDITOR: Do you consider yourself an opinionated person? If so, this is the week for you!

I can’t remember being asked for my opinion quite so often. Between the North Van District Open Houses presenting the new Lynn Valley Town Centre proposal, to tonight’s Healthy Communities Conversation Cafe, to a Cultural Plan Open House in the Village on Thursday, there is enough proposing, pondering, possibility-seeking and planning going on to satisfy the most ardent citizen activist.

Thing is, it’s not just the typical ‘citizen activists’ who should becoming out to these events. Lynn Valley is fortunate to be home to a great corps of dedicated people who pay attention to community planning, who take the time to think about the issues, and who give their feedback and follow the process through to its conclusion.

But the decisions being made now don’t affect just them. They affect busy, double-income families and single seniors. They affect our lower-income residents and our mortgage-free homeowners. And they affect our children, most of whom will have to leave this community to search out affordable accommodation elsewhere – unless, of course, things change.

At tonight’s Conversation Cafe, hosted by Vancouver Coastal Health, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and North Van District, North Shore Health Officer Dr. Brian O’Connor told us that as far as our health is concerned, district planners are far more important than doctors.

“The decisions they make shape the context of your everyday life,” he said. “Your health doesn’t depend on the advice of your physician; it depends on where you live.”

As just one example, he pointed to study that found a typical, 35-year-old male who lives in a walkable neighbourhood weighs 10 pounds less and has better physical and mental health than his ‘twin’ who lives in a lower-density, less-walkable community.

It’s also been discovered that children who live in higher-density, mixed-income neighbourhoods score better on ‘school readiness’ assessments than children who live in uniformly wealthy neighbourhoods, as they have easy access to a wider range of community services.

Finally, seniors who are able to stay in their home community have more social connections and lower mortality rates than those who have to leave their familiar neighbourhood.

Clearly, community planning affects every age group, income level, and interest group. Unfortunately, most of us are too weighed down with the busy-ness involved in the present to pay enough attention to the future.

Which is why it’s so great the District is doing all it can to make engagement easy, interesting, and – yes – even enjoyable! Take tonight as an example. Attendees were given a lovely, heart-healthy dinner and entertained by a live jazz combo; they heard interesting presentations, had the pleasure of having their views actively solicited, and even witnessed the evening unfold visually as artist Taraneh Erfan King used her felt pens and fine doodling to bring people’s thoughts to life.

So, please accept district planners’ invitation to get involved. Help ensure that our neighbourhood can be a vibrant community that is home to people at all ages and stages of their life. Over the next 20 years, it is projected that 5,000 people may move into this community – this is not a small project!

If you can’t make an in-person event, be sure to make time to review and comment on the proposals online.

A Cultural Plan Open House is taking place in the LV Village Community Room on Thursday, May 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. Details, here. (Heads up, an arts facility for the Lynn Valley area is under discussion, so put your two cents in!) You can fill in the Arts Office online survey, here (until May 18).

For all the information about North Van District’s proposals for Lynn Valley Town Centre, see our earlier blog post. You have one more chance to see the displays this week, and that’s tomorrow (Wednesday, May 2), at Karen Magnussen Rec Centre from 1 to 8 p.m. Online options for reviewing the plans, though, are available and we’ve given you all the details.

We promise you’ll discover something interesting in your perusal of the plans. Personally, I love the proposed idea of a “Rain Street”! If we’ve got it, we might as well flaunt it!

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen

 

May 1, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Getting Involved, Governance and Services

Visions of the valley await your voices and views

There was quite a buzz around the boards set up near the Lynn Valley Mall centre court today, as district planners toured visitors around several graphic displays that gave glimpses into the future of Lynn Valley Town Centre.

Since the Official Community Plan was approved last June, planners have been hard at work developing implementation plans for different town centre sites around the district. For more information about the process, and the tools that will help you contribute your own views about the latest proposals, visit the purpose-built District website, here.

The Lynn Valley plan calls for a variety of housing, street-level storefront shopping plazas, community amenities (an arts facility of some sort is under discussion, for example), parkland features and pedestrian/cycle-friendly trail networks. It promises walkers protection from our infamous local rainfall – and even a ‘rain garden’! It’s quite a change from the current town centre layout, and gives residents plenty to ponder.

If you want to give an opinion, now’s the time – don’t leave it until the last minute. If you want to shape the future, you have to pay attention to the present! The Open House will continue at the mall tomorrow (Sunday, April 29), and in the LV Village Community Room on Tuesday afternoon (1 – 6 p.m.) and at Karen Magnussen Wednesday from 1 – 8:30 p.m.

To view the displays online, go here; to fill out a “report card” with your thoughts (which can be saved or printed), check in here.

 

April 28, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Development and Town Planning, Getting Involved, Governance and Services, Real Estate News

Eat for Education! (Come on, it’s for the kids….)

Everyone loves a good excuse to go out to dinner – well, here’s a GREAT excuse for you!

The second annual Eat for Education has now come to the North Shore – specifically, to Lynn Valley. That means that a portion of food sales purchased on Wednesday, May 2nd at participating restaurants will benefit our own Lynn Valley Elementary!

The food-loving fundraiser began last year, when nine restaurants donated a share of one day’s profits to Mount Pleasant Elementary – giving it enough to buy the SMART board on its wish list. This year, the event has expanded to include over 21 restaurants and will benefit four schools. Lynn Valley Elementary is the only North Shore school involved, so let’s give it our support!

Participating restaurants are the Black Bear Pub, Mountain Sushi, Browns Socialhouse and Aristos Greek Taverna on Ross Road. Contributions from the restaurants’ coffers will go straight to Lynn Valley Elementary.

“All of us at the Black Bear are delighted to be a part of the North Shore’s first Eat for Education,” said owner Ron Slinger. “Being able to help out our neighbourhood school, Lynn Valley Elementary, is most rewarding!”

So if you ‘accidentally’ forget to do the grocery shopping or to thaw some meat for supper next Wednesday, you know what to do – have a guilt-free neighbourhood nosh, and know you’re doing it for the kids!

For more information about the event, and its organizers Jackie and Allen Ingram, see their “BC Foodies” website.

 

April 25, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, School News

Start weekend with Easter breakfast

Planning your Easter weekend? It looks like we’ll have a mixed bag, weather-wise, but either way we’re encouraging you to get out and support some of our local events.

Start your Saturday with a pancake breakfast put on by the Lynn Valley Lions as part of the festivities being offered from 10 a.m. to 12:30 at Lynn Valley Village. The 10 a.m. feast promises to be delicious, and it has been scientifically proven that pancakes contain no calories when being consumed for a good cause.

And what a cause! The LV Lions – numbering just over 30 members – fundraise all year ’round and give back about $70,000 each year to organizations and individuals within our community. Wow … the least we can do to help is bring the family down for a Cook Shack breakfast!

There will be all sorts of activities in the Village that day, including a bunny hunt, and over at the mall there will be a magic show at 11:30 a.m., and Easter Bunny visits throughout the day.

Get out and enjoy … and if you’re not convinced that the pancakes come without calories, you can always burn a few off at the Team Finn Family Cycle up at the Seymour Demo Forest, also on Saturday!

 

 

April 5, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Merchant Mentions

Finn’s friends have formed landmark charity

From Lynn O’Malley: There aren’t many of us who can claim our lives have had the same immediate impact as that of a little boy named Finn.

Finn Sullivan was a Lynn Valley lad – brother to Sarah and Baird, son of Patrick and Samantha – who was diagnosed with cancer at 21 months and succumbed to his illness when he was three years old. We can all imagine the hole he left behind.

But – holy smoke! – that sure wasn’t the end of his story. That was the beginning of “Team Finn’s” determination to honour his life by raising funds to help alleviate the suffering of other families experiencing pediatric cancers, and ultimately to help fund a cure.

Since his passing in October 2008, Team Finn has raised over $1,000,000 for the B.C. Cancer Foundation. Yes, you read those zeros right – that’s one million dollars, raised via ongoing charitable adventures such as the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer and the Children’s Hospital’s ChildRun.

Coming up are two great events for local supporters who might not be up to cycling across Western Canada (as Finn’s dad, Patrick, did last year!)

A Team Finn Wine Tasting Festival at Seymour’s Pub takes place on Wednesday, April 4 from 6 to 9 p.m., where you can enjoy 19 different wins, great appies and a super silent auction. The $35 tickets must be purchased in advance, and all details are on this poster.

On Saturday, April 7, Escape Adventures will host a Team Finn Family Day and take families for a cycle tour of the Seymour Demonstration Forest. The $25 fee covers a family of four for the 90-minute expedition. Registration details are here.

“We have been incredibly fortunate to have the support of our Lynn Valley community and think these events are a wonderful opportunity to continue to support Team Finn,” says his mom, Samantha Mason.

Well, we at LynnValleyLife think our community is pretty lucky to be home to special families like this one. We look forward to hearing more about the amazing achievements of Team Finn and its many supporters.

For more information, visit www.teamfinn.com.

 

 

March 30, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Notable Neighbours

Tuesdays with Morrie: live-theatre treat comes to Lynn Valley!

Lynn Valley United Church is thrilled to announce a special one-night performance of the critically acclaimed play by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, “Tuesdays with Morrie,”  on Tuesday, April 3, at 7 p.m.

Featuring the multi award-winning actor Antony Holland and local rising talent Joel Grinke, this story speaks of connection, loss and renewal, and is offered as part of the church’s “real stories of Easter” Holy Week experience.

Tickets are $20 ($5 discount for students), and are available at the church office or at the door on the night of the performance. Proceeds from the performance will go towards repaying the government resettlement fees of the refugee family the church has been helping to support over the past 11 months.

Tuesdays with Morrie is based on the true story about the relationship between a sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz (played by Antony Holland), and his student, Mitch Albom (played by Joel Grinke). The two bond through mentorship, with Mitch graduating and promising to keep in touch…a promise he forgets almost immediately.

Mitch abandons his creative passions and chooses a fast-paced career as a sports columnist that makes him extremely successful, but also a workoholic.  Morrie, on the other hand, has since been diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and forced to retire.  News of Morrie reaches busy Mitch, who hops on a plane in hopes of clearing his conscience.

With that one visit, and Morrie’s playful manipulation, sixteen years are erased and Mitch finds himself, once again, Morrie’s student; only this time, the lessons are far more important.

For information or to reserve tickets, call the church at 604-987-2114; their website is www.lynnvalleychurch.com.

 

March 20, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News