Getting Involved

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

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

Kids clean up at Earth Day event

FROM EVENT ORGANIZER JODY LABRIOLA: A BIG thank you to all who came out on Saturday and helped with our community garbage pick-up event. It was a success!

We cleaned both fields for Argyle Secondary (and all around the school), Fredrick Road (between Mountain Highway and Fromme), Croft Road (including DNV laneways), Baird (between Fredrick and Wellington) and Wellington. It was so nice to see so many young teens and children. Our next event will take place Saturday, November 3, 2012 – so mark your calendars!

Another BIG thank you to Sugar & Co for donating the prizes for the top three (under 12) garbage collectors and to Lonsdale Creek Daycare Society for donating the snacks that were enjoyed after the event.

We define our landscapes as much as they define us – let’s keep Lynn Valley clean!

**If any Lynn Valley businesses would like to donate prizes, refreshments or snacks for the November event please contact me at [email protected].

April 23, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved, Guest Voices

Bob Rasmus takes pride in the Lions

FROM THE EDITOR: If you’ve attended a Lynn Valley community event any time in the past two decades, chances are you’ve crossed paths with a Lion – a certain Lynn Valley Lion, that is.

Bob Rasmus is known to many as the former owner of RJR Contruction Management, a company he and his wife Peggy ran for many years before his retirement in 2010. But he’s probably met even more people through his role in the Lynn Valley Lions, the community service club he joined in 1990.

It all started when he built a house for a client over in Vancouver. When Bob presented his bill, the client told him “I’ll pay it as long as you join the Lions Club.” Bob took up the challenge, and – having moved to Lynn Valley in 1976 – joined the club in our neighbourhood.

Payment of invoices aside, Bob says “One of the reasons I joined is because I was making my living from the community, and I wanted to give back to the community. I think a lot of people feel that way.”

Many people may feel that way, but we suspect Bob may have given back more than most. Currently the secretary of the 31-member club, and zone chairman for the larger community of local Lions Clubs, Bob has been president of the Lynn Valley Lions three times, most recently last year. As of writing, he is working 10-hour days organizing the 100th Lynn Valley Days celebration on May 25/26 – but that didn’t stop him or his fellow Lions from setting up their infamous Cook Shack for Lynn Valley Village’s Easter weekend festivities. (For more about the Lynn Valley Lions and their role in the community, click here!)

Bob’s history of volunteering pre-dates his Lynn Valley Lions days; father of two, he was a baseball coach and Scoutmaster, and a participant in the YMCA’s “Indian Princess” program for fathers and daughters.

It was a circuitous path that brought Bob to our neighbourhood; born in Portage La Prairie, he left there for Mission when he was two, then moved to Vancouver in 1966 and to Lynn Valley a decade later, where he lives on Alderlynn Road.

Since arriving, Bob and his fellow club members have done a great deal to improve our community. We can only imagine he’d love to issue the same challenge to our male readers as he received all those years ago – “Join the Lions Club!” Even without the motivation of an outstanding invoice (!), we hope you consider taking him up on it.

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen

April 9, 2012 in Blog, Getting Involved, Notable Neighbours

New programs starting in LV Community Room

Spring has sprung, along with a new round of rec commission programs in the Lynn Valley Community Room in Lynn Valley Village.

Whether it’s walking, dancing, martial arts, skipping or talks on street sense and nutrition, there’s something for all interest groups.

First classes in some programs start April 11, so register soon! Check out details, here.

 

 

April 2, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved

New yoga and arts program for families

Families wanting to experience movement, creativity, music and yoga with their children will have the opportunity to try a new class offered in the program room adjacent to the kids’ section in Lynn Valley Library.

Megan Johnson of One Soul Yoga is offering a six-week Yoga and Arts programs for parents and tots and/or older children. Classes begin on Saturday, March 31 and run until May 5. Details are as follows:

10:15-10:45 a.m.: Parent and Tot yoga and arts, ages 2-4 (five years permitted especially if you have two children i.e. 3 and 5).

11 a.m.- noon: Family Yoga, ages (5)6-12.

1-2 p.m.: Family Yoga and Arts, ages (5) 6-12.

Pre-registration suggested to ensure a spot.
Cost is $75 for parent and tot, $100 for parent and older child. Drop-in tots are $15; a drop-in family is $20. $5 extra per class for each additional child.

For questions or to register, contact [email protected].

March 22, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved

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 Legion. Registration is from 6:15 to 6:45, and games start at 7 p.m. There is no charge for the games, and players may join in any Tuesday night they wish. For information, please contact [email protected].

 

March 1, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved

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, but from Metro Vancouver and beyond.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t improve upon the following account, written by a Lynn Valley Elementary School dad, who relates how the Lees’ donation of hundreds of prime DVDs snowballed into something his family could never have imagined. So I’ll let him tell the tale (he remains anonymous by request), and when he’s finished I’ll let you know how you can play a part in creating this happy ending.

It all started with a group of very passionate nurses who banded together and created a Facebook page “Donate your DVD’s to VGH please!” to help replace the Burn Unit’s DVD collection that was stolen! Yes, that’s right…stolen!

Just think: other than the entertainment value that movies provide for most people, for some of the patients on this unit, it’s ALL the entertainment they get.

 Well, it just so happened that I knew of two boxes of DVDs that were looking for a home.  The two boxes were left over after Lynn Valley Elementary School’s thrift shop fundraiser, whereby all of the families donate “lightly used” goods so that the students can purchase items at thrift shop prices.  

The presents are then wrapped, on site, in order for them to give something to their parents or siblings during the holiday season.

 The Lynn Valley PAC uses the proceeds to help with the ever-increasing amount of wonderful programs and initiatives they undertake throughout the school year. The kids love it, and there are many volunteers and donors that make it a success.

The biggest donor of the DVDs was the Lee family, of the “Mountain Market”, who are parents in the school.  Their thoughtfulness and community spirit led to money being raised, programs being run, gifts being given, items being replaced, smiles on many faces and the realization that it only takes a little selflessness to make a huge difference.”

 We all love good news stories (in movies, yes, but especially in real life!), and we all love the chance to play a role in them. So if you would like to contribute to making life just a little more entertaining in the Burn Unit, please have a look in your collection to see if you have DVDs that could use a new home.

The fine folk at Mollie Nye House (940 Lynn Valley Rd.) have agreed to act as a drop-off point for the DVDs, and will be accepting your donations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays until the end of March. Our anonymous dad, above, will be delighted to take them to VGH for us.

PLEASE make sure that your contribution is in perfect playing condition – nothing worse that having your viewing interrupted by scratches and glitches!

Thanks to everyone at Lynn Valley Elementary who got this ball rolling, and thanks to all you Lynn Valleyites in advance who will keep it going strong!

February 22, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Getting Involved, Notable Neighbours