Getting Involved

Caring clown classes commence

Like to laugh? Meet people? Put more fun in your life? Put fun in others’ lives? Maybe try some vol-FUN-teering? Then a new course starting at Mollie Nye House may just be what you’re looking for.

Unlike most classes, this program not only allows, but encourages, students to clown around.  Instructor Amanda O’Leary combines magic, performance, humour, skits, balloon twisting and painting to teach participants how to be a Caring Clown – then she sends them out into the community to put their new skills to good use.

“Everyone has talents to offer to their society,” says Amanda, who is the Caring Clown Director of the World Clowning Association. “Yet most people don’t know they have them, or have the opportunity to practise them. But imagine spreading joy, creating smiles, or sharing a moment with a person you don’t know – that is the joy of being a Caring Clown.”

Amanda explains that clowning doesn’t have to be “loud and in your face.” Especially when you are visiting people in hospitals, seniors’ homes and preschools, you need to learn how to do “the clowning small, with lots of love and fun.”

 “Being loud and obnoxious isn’t an art form; creating a connection is,” says Amanda. “People think clowning is loud costumes and make-up and a big nose and shoes. I believe that you don’t need all of that. The clown needs to be in your heart, looking for the fun, connecting with people and letting them shine.”

The three-part course has never been taught in the Lower Mainland. Beginning with Basic Clowning, which begins Oct. 19 and runs to Nov. 23, it helps people find a way to unlock the fun inside of you. “Just like at Halloween, people find it easier to assume a persona when they have a costume and outside trappings,” Amanda says.

The second part, beginning in January, teaches the subtler aspects of being a Caring Clowning, and the final component in the spring offers you the chance to practice your new skills out in the community.

Amanda is an experienced teacher, and brings to the table an extensive acting background along with years of clowning and performing magic for crowds of all sizes and ages.

To meet Amanda and learn more about the Caring Clown program, come out to a free information session at Mollie Nye House on Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. Please call Mollie Nye House at 604-987-5820 to reserve a spot.

September 21, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved

Fall program guides at your fingertips

We’ve been spreading the word about new fall programs as they’ve crossed our desk, but now we think it would be useful for our LynnValleyLife readers to have them all in one spot.

So here are the community program offerings from three major Lynn Valley organizations – let us know if you’d like to see your event or workshop added to the list!

Lynn Valley Services Society: This newly formed non-profit organization operates Mollie Nye House, which houses a variety of community programming and is home to the Lynn Valley Community Association and the Lynn Valley Seniors Association. Here’s the LVSS guide of programs running from September through December, 2012.

Lynn Valley Community Room programs: Have a look at these programs offered by the North Vancouver Recreation Commission right in Lynn Valley Village. For all the North Van Rec programs on offer at the various local facilities, visit their website.

Lynn Valley United Church: The church is offering a broad range of community programs this fall. Some are physical, some are artistic, some are spiritual, and some are pure entertainment value! Have a look at their guide to see where you might fit in (and note that they are forming two community choirs in September; including one for young adults who might be missing their high school or university musical experiences!)

 

 

 

 

September 3, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Getting Involved

LV church offers new programs for all ages and interests

Lynn Valley United Church is continuing its community programming this fall with an even wider range of offerings for people of all ages, regardless of any church affiliation.

From youth groups to theatre sports to professionally led yoga classes to new community choirs, there is a lot happening at the church – more, in fact, that we can even list! So we’ve loaded up their fall programming guide here and invite you to take a look.

At LynnValleyLife we’ve long been a fan of both the yoga classes and Friday Night Live events, and we’re looking forward to seeing how these new ventures take flight. If you’ve ever hankered to make sandwiches for the hungry, learn healing touch, or take part in creative writing workshops, this may be a close-to-home opportunity!

August 17, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Current News, Getting Involved

Ass’t Fire Chief seeks seniors for home safety project

When North Van District Assistant Fire Chief Curtis Bremner set out to research preventable deaths in North Vancouver, he was surprised at some of the facts he discovered.

First, a report from the BC Coroner Office revealed that the average age of people who are victims of an “accidental” death in North Vancouver District is 60 years old. “I thought that was a bit high,” he says, and kept teasing out the numbers. It turns out that one factor pushing that number up is the fact that the average age of people who die in a fire in North Vancouver is 70 – fifteen years older that the average in the rest of Metro Vancouver.

That was just the kind of information Bremner was looking for. The assistant chief, in charge of professional development and training, is in his second year of the National Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, and was searching for a research topic that would address some aspect of community risk reduction.

More information emerged from another source. During an energy audit program designed to assess the energy efficiency of residential homes in Blueridge, the Fire Department used the opportunity to assess the level of fire safety awareness in the typical residential home in North Vancouver.

These home inspections revealed that all but one home had a smoke alarm. However, none of the smoke alarms were tested regularly and only a few residents actually changed the batteries annually. Many of the alarms were past their expiration date and 35 per cent of homes had inadequate coverage.  When he found that the unknowing home owners were often seniors, Bremner knew he’d found his project.

Now he will be investigating smoke alarm programs for seniors, and is looking for volunteers who are 65+ to help him out. Since Lynn Valley has the highest density of seniors in all of North Vancouver, he’s hoping LynnValleyLife readers will answer the call.

Whether you live in a single-family home, a garden apartment (ie a three-storey walk up), a highrise or a townhouse, Bremner and the District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services are offering to come out and do a home safety audit, check your existing smoke alarm or match you up with a better one if necessary, answer questions and give information on fire safety in your home and  how to respond correctly in the event of a fire.

It’s all part of his research, which will be turned into a stringently reviewed, published paper that will add to the body of knowledge shared by firefighters throughout North America. Once that’s done, he will be halfway through the demanding four-year program.

If you’d like to help Bremner with his project, and improve your own home safety, please contact him at [email protected]. He will be out of the office from Aug. 17 to Sept. 6, and hopes to begin the project Sept. 15, so the sooner you get in touch, the better. No doubt we’d all like to see those preventable death statistics drop dramatically in the future.

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen, editor

July 31, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved, Governance and Services

Visit Maplewood Farm online, or for real at Open House

As of this moment – July 25, at 21:16 precisely – I can tell you that the goats at Maplewood Farm are either tucked away fast asleep, or they’ve staged a coup and made their grand escape.

How do I know this? Because I am checking out the Maplewood Farm WEB CAM, the existence of which I did not know until scant moments ago. It turns out the web cam (which is currently showing a very empty-seeming goat pen) is just part of the farm’s very family-friendly website.

Just some of the things I learned from it are that (a) kids can now rent pedal tractors on which to tour the farm ($4 for 30 minutes), (b) you can request an ‘autograph’ from your favourite farm animal and have it emailed back to you, and that (c) Lynn Valley’s Argyle alumnus Derek Palmer (woo-hoo, Class of ’83) is still going strong in his farmer post, a job he says “never gets old” and always puts a smile on his face.

I also learned the farm is having an open house this Friday, July 27th, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to discuss plans for its future and seek feedback from its many visitors and supporters. This suburban farm has been a highlight for Lynn Valley families for years, so if you’d like to make sure your grandchildren and their children and their children can all have the Maplewood experience, please have a look at the information materials and give your comments.

The info and questionnaire will be posted on the farm website after July 30 if you can’t attend in person. (And while you’re on the site, check out that web cam and see if the goats have come back!)

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen, editor

July 25, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors, Getting Involved

Giving blood is now even easier

Looking for a good summertime tune? How about Buddy Holly’s 1958 hit “It’s So Easy to Fall in Love”?

Now, instead of the usual lyrics, “It’s so easy to fall in love,” let’s sub in a new chorus: “It’s so easy to give some blood; it’s so easy to give some blood…” ‘Cuz you know what? IT IS.

Regular readers will know that Lynn Valley mom Erica Harris has an ongoing need for blood transfusions while she and her family hope and pray that a suitable donor can be found for a bone marrow transplant. Erica has been through two rounds of chemotherapy since her early June diagnosis and has yet to find out if treatment has started to help reverse her situation.

In the meantime, Erica’s friends have mounted a gone-viral media campaign to encourage people to register with Canadian Blood Services’ OneMatch program and provide a cheek swab (via mail, or in person) to see if they could be the one-in-a-million match for Erica or someone else on the transplant list. Details to do so are in an earlier post, and we know the response all around has been great.

The Harris’s situation is a wake-up call to all of us that the need for donated blood and blood products is constant. There are thousands of “Ericas” out there, each with their own desperate need for our help. So, as Erica’s husband Harley has already reminded people, please don’t just sign up for the bone marrow list – please, please, please GIVE BLOOD, for the sake of many.

We’re pleased to tell you that the process is much more convenient than it used to be, as donors can now browse and book clinics and appointment slots online. It’s user-friendly, they’ll send you a reminder email or phone call, and you can cancel and re-book if need be.

We tried out the permanent downtown clinic in the Standard Life Building (at 888 Dunsmuir), and were in and out within an hour. It’s best to book ahead, but if you’re lucky they’ll be able to take you if you just walk in off the street (try to avoid lunch hour). Hours are 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, and the staff and cookies are both great.

Of course, travelling clinics come to the North Shore, so if you don’t get over the bridge often, visit Canadian Blood Services to find out when one will next be at North Lonsdale United Church.

It’s so easy to give some blood.

 – Peggy Trendell-Jensen, editor

July 20, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved

New group welcomes ramblers and rovers

If you’re the type of person who instinctively prefers the term ‘rambling’ to ‘hiking,’ you might be interested to hear about a new informal walking group that meets twice a month.

Jane and Leo are friends who have made a habit of meandering Lynn Valley trails, learning about the flora and fauna they encounter, chatting along the way, and – in short – making the journey an end in itself.

Now they are inviting others to join them every second Sunday, beginning at 2 p.m. at the End of the Line store at the top of Lynn Valley Road. They pick a ‘theme’ for each walk (the next one, July 29th, will be trees, while the following one on August 12 will be logging lore) and spend an hour exploring the trails, and the theme, at a leisurely pace. (See our Events Calendar for upcoming walks.)

If you’d like to become a Lynn Valley rambler, contact Jane at [email protected] or see the notice posted at the End of the Line.

July 15, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors, Getting Involved

Share your favourite walks and hikes

There is much to be said for the walks and hikes in and around Lynn Valley. So why don’t you help us say it?

We already have a walks and hikes section that’s a good starting point for people who want to get out for some fresh air. You’ll find links to local trail maps and safety tips, and a selection of narrated walks that feature some of Lynn Valley’s classic family forays.

But summertime is the time for exploring, so we’d like locals to help each other with some new adventure ideas. A dog walk that’s old hat to you might be quite undiscovered by someone just a few blocks away! Lynn Valley has so many trails, we would guess that no one knows about all of them – but collectively, we can put together quite a guidebook for people of all ages and fitness levels!

Please have a look at our descriptive walks (like this one) and if you’d like to share the details of a hike you’re familiar with, please send them our way – photos, too, if you can! We’ll edit it into a format we can share with your on-site Lynn Valley neighbours.

If you’ve got a favourite run or bike ride, we’d love to hear about those, too. Thanks for your help, and happy hiking!

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen, editor

July 8, 2012 in Blog, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors, Getting Involved

Family needs your help to bring mom back to health

UPDATE! Come out to the Friday Night Concert in Lynn Valley Village on July 6 and register with Canadian Blood Services on the spot to see if you are a potential donor for Erica or another person in need. Read on to hear Erica’s story.

Now that the sun is shining, most parents and kids are thinking about beach days, play dates, and picnics in the park. Unfortunately, one Lynn Valley family’s summer dreams have been cut short in a manner as tragic as it was unexpected.

Erica Harris is a wife, a mom to two young sons, and a chiropractor who has spent time working at Canopy Health in Lynn Valley Village. She has owned her own clinic and built her career helping professional and amateur athletes reach their peak. But on June 6 she received word that her own health is facing a severe challenge. On that day she learned she has acute myelogenous leukemia, and was immediately admitted to hospital.

Two days later she started a week-long course of chemotherapy intended to wipe out the cancerous cells in her bone marrow. It was not successful. In fact, the percentage of leukemic cells in her blood was even higher than before.

Doctors now know that Erica is in a high-risk category that requires an even harsher round of chemo to wipe out all the cells in her marrow, good and bad alike (she is just finishing up these treatments in the next day or two). This sets the stage for a bone marrow transplant to follow, which will provide her with ‘seed’ cells to regrow the marrow she needs to produce healthy blood cells.

But there’s a problem. So far a suitable match has not been found for Erica, and her need is urgent and time-limited. That’s why her friends, family and colleagues are doing all they can to spread the word to encourage people to do the simple steps necessary to see if they are a potential match.

This involves a simple cheek swab (you can do it all by mail, or to save precious time, in person at a Canadian Blood Services centre). If a match is found, the vast majority of donations are made via a minimally invasive procedure involving blood collection; occasionally a more involved collection of marrow from the iliac crest is done under local or general anesthetic.

Of course, there are more people than Erica in need of these life-saving treatments, and her family hopes that others will benefit from the kindness of donors who may not be a direct match for Erica.

“Also, if you, and/or anyone you know, are able to donate blood or platelets – this is also very important,” says Erica’s husband Harley Harris. “Erica had a number of transfusions … in her first round of chemo, and we anticipate there will be many more transfusions during this next chemo treatment.   You never realize how important donating blood and platelets really is until you are receiving them.”

Harley’s great wish is to have Erica home again and tucking in their two boys at night. The two- and five-year-old lads are her biggest cheering squad, urging her ‘good’ cells on with chants of “Go, fighters, go!!”

But Erica’s ‘good’ cells need a helping hand, and that’s what neighbours are for. So please learn more about the donation process and how you can get involved. And please spread the word on your own Facebook pages and amongst your email lists.

We’ll be sure to update you with any other opportunities to give this Lynn Valley family a hand.  In the meantime, please continue to keep Erica, Harley and their boys in your thoughts.

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen, Editor

July 5, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved, Notable Neighbours

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