Notable Neighbours

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 ‘planting trees’ of one kind or another for his native Lynn Valley community.

“I won’t see the fruits of most of these [long-term] projects,” Bob acknowledged recently over coffee at Delany’s, one of his favourite places to meet with fellow citizens working on issues around the town-centre development and future transportation systems. But he doesn’t show any signs of slowing his pace.

“There’s something inside me that always makes we want to say ‘yes’,” he chuckles, as he recounts just some of the roles he’s played over the past few decades. They include everything from coaching football to sitting on the rec commission to years spent serving on the boards (often as chair or vice-chair) of groups such as the Lynn Valley Community Association, the North Shore Disability Resource Centre, Greater Vancouver Neighbourhood Houses, Silver Harbour Centre, the arts council, and the Mollie Nye House standing committee.

In fact, most people are so familiar with Bob’s many volunteering hats, they may well have forgotten that he had a long professional life as well, starting in the White Spot commissary – he knew “Uncle Nat” Bailey well – and ending with his retirement in 2003, from a position as purchaser for the Vancouver Coastal Health District, responsible for food services and capital buying.

Given all the achievements Bob has played a role in over the years, I was curious to know what he’s most proud of.

“I was really happy when the district started listening to the needs of physically challenged people,” he said, pointing to improvements in sidewalks and street corner buttons that have helped a much wider range of people be independently mobile. And he’s proud to say that the recreation commission, too, has greatly expanded its offerings to encompass people of all abilities.

Personally, though, one of his definite highlights was getting a last-minute call to step in and be a torchbearer when the Olympic flame was run through Lynn Valley on Feb. 10, 2010.

From having his photo taken with the torch on the suspension bridge – an image that appeared worldwide via Reuters – to having his picture taken with hundreds of local revellers at the Valleyfest celebrations in Lynn Valley Village (which, of course, he’d spent hundreds of hours helping to plan), Bob says “it was amazing and I loved it all.”

One of the things he remembers well is the Quebecois ‘handlers’ who were travelling with the torch telling the driver of the pace vehicle in Lynn Canyon Park to “go slow – this is the most beautiful place we’ve seen on the route so far.”

Bob’s community pride is evident in most of his comments, and he talks about all the wonderful people he’s crossed paths with over the years.

“A community is only as good as its volunteers,” he emphasizes. “The community isn’t its mayor and council. The community is what you put into it … and Lynn Valley is a prime example.”

Bob’s roots grow deeply in this neighbourhood, starting with grandparents who were involved with the Lynn Canyon concession stand in the 1940s and a dad who was a local firefighter.

Many of his growing-up years were spent living at 555 Fromme Rd. He could look across the gravel road to the site of what is now Argyle school, but was then a large acreage with only one house situated near the current James Buchanan Theatre. During the summer, 15 to 20 horses grazed the property, which stretched almost all the way down to Mountain Highway.

The Brier Block circa 1971

He’s a living repository of all sorts of other memories, too; he recalls the grocery store that used to be in the Waves coffee shop locale, and the Brier Block that was situated where the Petro-Can now stands, kitty-corner to the still-existing Fromme Block. He even remembers his grandfather telling him about a proposal that was being touted in the mid-20^th century for a floating dance hall in Lynn Canyon. The idea was shot down; at that time, the various churches held sway in the valley and there was nary a drink to be had anywhere.

Fortunately, Bob and his wife Judy have 21 nieces and nephews, and 27 great-nieces and –nephews, who will take at least some of his memories of times past with them into the future.

Looking back now, Bob credits his volunteering spirit in large part to an accident – one that happened when he was 17 years old. He was a passenger in a car exiting out of a laneway near the site of the Black Bear Pub and driving onto Lynn Valley Road. The next thing Bob knew, he was waking up in a ditch – having been smashed by an oncoming vehicle – and was whisked to hospital, where he had to deal with the amputation of his leg.

He says that his immediate response – uncharacteristic, he says, for the free-spirited youth he’d been up until the accident – was to say, “Well, there’s no use in crying over spilt milk.”

He says the community was wonderful in the way it stepped up to support him and his family at that time, and he’s been joyfully paying back ever since.

“If I hadn’t lost my leg, I wouldn’t be sitting here now,” he says emphatically. “It changed my life. You just don’t know yourself until something happens.”

Well, Bob knows himself now, and so do hundreds of other Lynn Valley residents whose community has been enriched by his ongoing efforts. Thanks from all of us, Bob, for planting those many trees.

– Peggy Trendell-Jensen

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 and real estate partnership.

Left to Right: Jim Lanctot, Conner & Dalan Cruickshank, Kelly Gardiner, Jason Pascoe.

We asked the Lynn Valley North Shore News carriers to distribute the two Sunday door-hangers that were delivered to your home last month. The notices announced that local residents could receive a coupon – one at Delany’s, or one at Lynn Valley Meats – for signing up for our free LynnValleyLife Network.

Hanging our notices on each and every doorknob in town definitely took some extra effort by the carriers, and we wanted to thank those kids who took the time to do a good job.

So the North Shore News distribution department performed a telephone survey to find out which routes had had their door hangers delivered properly, and entered those carriers in a random draw for prizes supplied by LynnValleyLife.

We were delighted to give the awards (giftcards to Lynn Valley’s Browns Social House and Romance Jewellers) to brothers Conner and Dalan Cruickshank – who share the Laura Lynn townhouse route – and Jason Pascoe, whose beat includes 80-odd homes on Dempsey, Hoskins, Evelyn and Underwood.

We complimented all the boys on going the extra mile to make sure the notices were hung on the doors as requested – not stuffed in the paper, or left on the step – but they shrugged off the praise. “Just part of the job” was the common refrain.

But jobs can be done well, or they can be done poorly, and we were proud of these guys for choosing to do theirs well. And grateful – because a community website isn’t much use unless the community knows about it!

We’ll be counting on carriers like Jason, Dalan and Conner to deliver a third coupon that’s coming to your door in late January. Thanks to the first two doorhanger campaigns, we were able to meet with hundreds of new LynnValleyLife Network members when Kelly and Jim dropped off their coupons.

If you missed out on the chance to get your coupon, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help you out if quantities allow. And if you know a person, young or old, who would bring the same high standards to a newspaper route, the North Shore News invites you to fill out this application!

FROM THE DESK OF LYNN O’MALLEY:

Here at LynnValleyLife, we are grateful to the North Shore News for running our editor’s story about the amazing mission of Lynn Valley resident Sally Livingstone.

When you meet someone like Sally, you tend to want to do everything you can to spread the word about the work done by Spectrum, a charity she founded to match up struggling moms with caregivers and volunteer mentors.

As you can see in the story, the support the moms receive (whether it is a ride to a doctor’s appointment, a listening ear, or hands-on childcare help) has in many cases made the difference between the mom being able to successfully care for her child herself, or having to surrender her infant to foster care. In fact, two of Spectrum’s former clients are now mentors themselves!

Sally may already be familiar to some of you as she was the founding manager of the Lynn Valley Medical Clinic and worked there for ten years before becoming a full-time instructor at Capilano University.

Donations of time, money, and hampers at Christmas are always needed to help further Spectrum’s fine work amongst mothers who have few other resources. For more information, visit Spectrum Mothers Support Society.

So what’s it like running for municipal council for the very first time? To find out, I cornered Lynn Valley’s John Gilmour in Delany’s and convinced him to take a break from pressing the flesh and handing out election brochures.

We found a corner table and he told me what his life’s been like ever since he stepped down as president of the Lynn Valley Community Association and threw his hat into the ring for North Van District council.

In some ways, this is nothing new for John – he grew up at the knee of mother Sheila Gilmour, a widely accomplished community volunteer in her own right, and John has spent many of his recent years helping usher events such as ValleyFest 2010, Lynn Valley Days, and community-planning workshops into our neighbourhood.

But North Vancouver District is a big place, and during his campaign John has learned the importance of having a team. “I have to really rely on them,” he said over ginger peppermint green tea (he’s currently abstaining from sugar and caffeine in a bid to keep his immune system strong in the lead-up to the election), “I just can’t be everywhere myself.”

Which is too bad, because John clearly enjoys meeting new people. He spends a lot of time in Delany’s North Vancouver locations, talking to people about their thoughts on civic issues, and is never happier than when he’s out knocking on doors. He’s been pleasantly surprised by the almost universally positive reception he’s received from strangers.

John thinks running for municipal office is actually quite welcoming to newcomers like him. There is no fee to run, and you need only two people to nominate you to get yourself on the ballot.

The big hurdle, of course, is unseating an incumbent. In municipal politics especially, voters often cast a ballot based solely on name recognition, despite not knowing a thing about that councillor’s views or track record. (Remember, you don’t HAVE to tick off six names on the ballot … if there are only one or two people you are familiar with and want to support, you are able to mark off their names only and leave the rest blank.)

But John does have a leg up in another area. Thanks to a random draw, his name will be at the top of the ballot, an advantage that is said to boost one’s tally by as much as five per cent.

But here at LynnValleyLife, we’re hoping citizens won’t be voting by name recognition or ballot position, but a good understanding of the candidates and their views on local issues.

Information about all-candidates’ meetings and advance polls can be found on the municipal website here: http://www.dnv.org/article.asp?c=764, and John will be holding a casual meet-and-greet at the Lynn Valley Delany’s Tuesday night (the 15^th) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. You can learn more about his views on helping residents live, work, play and retire all within their North Vancouver town centres, and check out his website www.vote4John.net for more information.

Running a campaign, whether for the first time or the fourteenth, takes a big investment of time and resources. Hats off to all the candidates, especially the new kids on the block.