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Valley to Shore, farm to table

Bringing the goodness of the Fraser Valley directly to Lynn Valley has an Upper Lynn entrepreneur evolving her business that brings food from farms to local doorsteps. Dana Dykema has a knack for finding partners to fill her Valley to Shore Harvest Boxes and to offer other unique local products.

Farm direct

Healthy living and eating have always been a priority for Dana Dykema. When possible she buys local or grows her own food.

“It’s been a journey of years for me to change how I think about food,” she said. “We don’t go on extravagant holidays because I have to feed our eating habit of buying farmer direct.”

Back in 2021, that desire to care for her family through healthy food led Dykema to seek out a farm partner and launch a small business. This began a three-year passion project with farmer Dan Oostenbrink’s market garden farm  Local Harvest. 

“I was going out to the [Fraser] Valley a lot to pick up what was seasonally available, to pick cherries, ” she said. “I have been frustrated with the lack of Fraser Valley produce on the North Shore. It’s so good and it’s right there. Why isn’t it in our stores?”

As she got to know Oostenbrink, and his family, and to experience the quality foods he grows, Dykema felt compelled to offer it to other families who might not have the time to source high-quality food. 

“I was going out to the [Fraser] Valley a lot to pick up what was seasonally available, to pick cherries, ” she said. “I have been frustrated with the lack of Fraser Valley produce on the 

Since its humble beginning (the first harvest box was a fundraiser for Upper Lynn Elementary) Valley to Shore has grown to offer more than just weekly produce deliveries. There are eggs, meat, self-care products – like make-up – and garden products. All of them were produced between here and Hope. 

“It’s more than just delivering a product to the North Shore,” she said. “There is no mystery to where the money goes. The whole dollar goes back into the local economy.”

One challenge local suppliers and small businesses, like hers, face is potential clients being intimidated by price. Food produced in Canada, especially by small producers can have a slightly higher price point.

“It may feel like you’re paying more but the value is there. When it has a longer growing season and is ready for the table – and not for shipping – it tastes better.

“We need to support local producers or they won’t survive,” said Dykema. “We are not going to be getting some of the usual products this year like Okanagan fruit. We need to buy what they can offer so we can carry them through.”

Referring to the devastating cold snap late last winter that affected both the Fraser Valley and Okanagan after the previous drought and fire summer, Dykema is passionate about trying to offer local farmers a fair price. The Fraser Valley floods cutting off the Lower Mainland from the rest of Canada also highlighted the need to support the local food producers.

“Not all small farms will make it, I have been able to diversify so I am not relying on one,” she said. “Knowing that my money is supporting local families makes it a no-brainer to ride it out with them.”

In season

Local eating can be an exercise in patience and indulgence, said Dykema. She has made connections to offer more products like honey and foraged products like morels and sea asparagus. 

“Waiting for seasonality is worth it. I am really excited for blueberries and haskap berries – we only get them for about two weeks. They are special flashes in a pan.”

The last few decades of grocery store offerings have shifted away from nutrition and seasonal foods to the shelf stability of global offerings and convenience foods. 

“Simple, good ingredients taste better and people feel so proud cooking what’s delicious,” said Dykema. “It takes a bit of work but there is more enjoyment too.” 

She tries to make seasonal cooking less intimidating by offering recipes and writing posts related to each week’s offerings. 

“Some of the ingredients are new to people so it’s a culinary adventure.”

To dip your toe into seasonal eating and get a taste of Valley to Shore, Dykema recommends testing out a taster box which has veggies, meat, eggs and bread (and variations available to accommodate different diets) to get an idea of the quality and variety of items available in the Fraser Valley. Orders can be placed on recurring subscriptions or weekly by Sunday evening for pick-up in Lynn Valley the following Tuesday. All the details and offerings are available on ValleytoShore.com.

 

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

July 1, 2024 in Blog, Notable Neighbours Comments (0)

Planting for protection

Maple Leaf Garden Centres and the District of North Vancouver Fire Rescue Service have partnered with British Columbia FireSmart British Columbia to offer advice on best practices to keep yards looking good and reduce the wildfire threat to homes.

Where the forest meets the city

Lynn Valley, like a handful of communities in the Lower Mainland, is a borderland between the forest and the city. All across the North Shore fire services have been embracing the knowledge and programming offered by FireSmart BC to help homeowners protect themselves and wildland interface communities, like Lynn Valley, from fire risks. The DNVFRS points residents to the website and will assess homes for specific risks if requested. 

Asst. Chief Jeremy Calder

This year FireSmart is offering more options to help homeowners landscape their yards with options more suitable for communities like ours. West Vancouver’s Asst. Chief of Fire Prevention Jeremy Calder brought the program to Maple Leaf Garden Centres.

“What you plant and where you plant it matters when it comes to protecting your home from a wildfire,” said Calder. “There are no fireproof plants, but there are FireSmart ones that are less prone to burning than others but it’s hard to figure out exactly what those are and what’s right for our neighbourhood. The FireSmart Plant Program BC has already gone through and identified what plants are good for what zones and which are fire smart.”

In turn, grants have provided funding for that information to be given directly to gardeners via plant and shelf tags at Maple Leaf Garden Centres. While Lynn Valley doesn’t have the same risk factors as the Okanagan, the weather and seasonal changes of recent years should have residents thinking, said Calder.

“Our ecology is changing and so who knows what it’s going to look like in five to 12 years from now,” said Calder. “We need to do what we can now to prevent wildfires that not only come from the wildland into the community but from the community in the wildland.

It’s probably more likely that our communities are going to start a wildfire that’s going to run up into the mountains as opposed to a wildfire coming over the mountains into our community. But the best protection that we can do is protect our homes. The FireSmart principle is kind of from the roof down and working on your properties.”

Get FireSmart

Calder has a practical approach. He is aware that homeowners have finite resources and time. He encourages gaining a bit of knowledge and making the best choices possible. 

“These might be long-term projects for people. We are not saying re-roof your house today but if re-roofing, I want people to consider fire-resistant materials. And then, of course, the landscaping. This is something that everyone can do. We all have landscaping around our homes and FireSmart is trying to get the right information and to make it as easy as possible for everyone.”

One of the easiest ways to get people thinking about FireSmart landscapes is the place they are making plant decisions: local garden centres.

“This is a new program for us,” said Robert Talbot, nursery supervisor for Maple Leaf Garden Centre’s Lynn Valley store. “I think it’s another good layer of education we can offer.”

He also suggests gardeners turn to the FireSmart Landscaping Hub website to understand the FIresmart principles of planting. 

“Sometimes it might be about making plant choices but it also might be about where you are going to plant that plant,” he said. “When I talk about avoiding resinous plants you may think of large trees like firs or cedars – those aren’t likely close to your home. But will you think of lavender? Rosemary? Or eucalyptus? They are more flammable so keep them out of the immediate zone [0 to 1.5m from your home].

Tidy up tinder

There have been reports across the North Shore that it was a brutal winter for cedar and juniper hedges. Many have died and are presently sitting tinder dry in local yards. 

“Even normally those green cedar hedges, if you put your hand inside they’re going to be dry. Everything is fuel,” said Calder. “If we can keep it green, that’s great. If we’ve got dead materials and we have the ability to remove them, I would say remove any dead materials so that they do not pile up near buildings.”

Small actions can make a big difference. Past summers have seen North Shore firefighters deployed to forest fire zones to help with structure protection. Those experiences have taught valuable lessons to local crews to better protect communities.  

“We have sprinkler protection like we do throughout BC. We can go in and we can create humidity zone bubbles around a home to fight those embers that are showering in by extinguishing them by the humidity. But we have to triage a community. If we go to a house and we want to do the sprinkler protection, but we see that the eaves are filled with pine needles and that there’s a bunch of combustible materials on a deck and a mass of cedar hedges all around the house, we’re probably not going to be able to do anything. So we’ve got a triage review saying, let’s move on to the next home because they haven’t done anything to make themselves more resilient.”

Re-landscaping likely isn’t in the cards for most people right off the bat but affordable impactful acts are to remove debris and clean up yards. 

“Keeping our lawns neat [under 10 cm] and green if possible,” said Calder. “Clean out your eaves of leaves and pine needles. Remove vegetation that allows a fire to climb up the landscape like into a tree and into your home. These large trees, like the large cedar trees in Lynn Valley, aren’t really a problem. I know I have cedar trees on my property and I try to keep the ladder fuel trimmed. So if you prune your lower branches to two meters above the ground that’s going to prevent fire transfer.”

When it comes to planting the options are varied with native species playing a large role in the FireSmart choices. Many of those options may be available from the Coast Salish Plant Nursery in the Maplewood Flats Conservation Area, while Maple Leaf Garden Centres have some FireSmart planting information on hand. 

“We’re heading into a hot summer it’s something we should be thinking about,” said Talbot.

“It’s information for you to make yourselves more resilient and we need to respect our changing environment,” said Calder. “Everyone has bills to pay and families to raise and food to cook and jobs to go to. We don’t have all the time in the world, so we do what we can.”

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

July 1, 2024 in Blog, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors Comments (0)

Staying safe on local waterways

We are pleased to partner with Argyle Secondary School’s journalism class for some student articles. First up: Oscar Robindell! 

As the weather heats up, students enjoy their summer break, and tourists flock to Vancouver, Lynn Creek and other rivers and lakes become popular spots to cool down. However, the shimmering cool water hides great danger, and a fun day with friends can quickly turn into tragedy.

From rivers to the sea

Paul DeGrace

First responders continue to attend many calls each year from swimmers and boaters in distress, and Lynn Creek alone has claimed three lives since 2016, two of them youth. Being prepared and knowledgeable will avoid an adventure that could end in injury or even death. “Despite these examples, this is not to say that swimming anywhere in the North Shore is unsafe. Residents of Lynn Valley are lucky to be surrounded by beautiful lakes, rivers, and ocean, and while it is key to be aware of danger, swimming and boating can be safe activities with proper precautions.

Both rivers and the ocean present their own sets of risks. Paul DeGrace of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue says that people don’t appreciate how big of a factor the winds, currents and tides are. 

“Even in an area that’s right in front of North Van on the beaches there, the currents can be very strong and so can the wind.” he said. “So we get a lot of people who are out on a paddle board, and they just think, oh, ‘I’m just going to go out a hundred meters from shore, I’m right there and can see everyone.’ And all of a sudden, the wind has picked up or the tide is flooding and it’s pushing them toward the bridge.” 

He said that not being apathetic about the danger of being out from shore is key, and that the shipping lanes and under the bridges are very dangerous for a paddleboard or kayak.

 “If you are on the water, it is having a life jacket, although most people on paddle board and kayaks don’t tend to have life jackets, even though they’re supposed to.”

Close calls

Rivers like Lynn Creek are equally dangerous, and with the rise of social media, Lynn Valley has gained attention internationally as a cliff-jumping spot. Cliff jumping is not safe, and many have died on the North Shore as a result of it, yet it remains a popular activity for teens and young adults.

 “August last year, I was cliff jumping at Lynn Canyon,” said Lucas Fleet, a recent graduate of Argyle Secondary. “There was a jump by 90-foot pool, even before where the big jumps start. I had done the jump 10 or 15 times before, with a wall run then a front flip, but that time I got sloppy and unlucky because I had done it so many times I forgot there was danger. I did the front flip but I landed in a very shallow part with rocks so I hit my kneecap on the rock.”

Luckily, he was able to walk out and make it to the rangers, but ended up with a broken kneecap that put him in crutches for three weeks. Fleet says to be careful and that many of the pools have hidden logs brought in from the winter, and may be very shallow. 

“Cliff jumping alone is probably one of the most dangerous things that you can do,” said Fleet, who is thankful he had friends there to help him.

Local knowledge

Before you go out on the water, please ensure you have a good understanding of the area you’ll be in, says DeGrace. 

“If you know your landmarks and know where you are and can give good local knowledge landmarks, that’s very helpful to us because we are search and rescue and we can’t rescue you if we can’t find you,” said DeGrace.

His last piece of advice is very important:  if you find yourself in a dire situation on the water, please phone 911 immediately and avoid a worse situation.

 “Call when you’re first in trouble and don’t wait,” said DeGrace. “It can be embarrassing but who cares if you’re healthy and uninjured.” 

It’s better to be embarrassed than embalmed.

For those between 16 and 18 interested in learning more about and training with marine search and rescue, check out North Vancouver Marine Search and Rescue’s junior program! Go to rcmsar2.com, or email [email protected] for more information.

Written by Oscar Robindell, Argyle Secondary student

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

June 29, 2024 in Blog, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors, Neighbourhood News Comments (0)

Summer songs and weekly fun

Live and Local events are returning in full swing to Lynn Valley Village with a full slate of performers and family fun throughout the summer presented by the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission. A downloadable calendar can be found here.

Live and Local

Each week new, emerging and accomplished performers will take to Lynn Valley Plaza for an array of entertainment to delight the young and old. Bring your chairs and settle in for some community fun from 6 – 8 pm.

Kicking off the season is Vancouver’s Pat Chessell. He has become known as one of the most exciting roots artists in Western Canada. Chessell’s rootsy vocal style, charismatic stage presence and expert musicianship (guitar) are winning over fans. While his mostly original music falls solidly under the broad umbrella of “Celtic,” Chessell’s range is prodigious and eclectic. It’s been variously described as straight-ahead “folk,” “upbeat Celtic influenced Canadian folk/pop,” and “moving mid-and-up-tempo contemporary Celtic” among other labels. His tunes have also, on occasion, tinged with Americana influences.

  • Friday, July 5 – Pat Chessell

    Pat Chessell

  • Friday, July 19 – Matthew Presidente
  • Friday, August 2 – Terminal Station
  • Friday, August 16 – Serengeti
  • Friday, August 30 – R&B Conspiracy

Artist Sessions

Take a mid-day break and chill with local artists at Lynn Valley Village with smaller concerts each week throughout the summer from 12 – 1 pm.

The season will start with Sabrielle –  a versatile singer and burgeoning songwriter with a diverse musical background and “New York City voice.” Born into a family of musicians, Sabrielle was singing before she could talk and harmonizing before she could walk. Whether it’s pop, gospel, jazz or R&B, Sabrielle’s soulful voice and intuitive storytelling breathe new life into every song she performs. As a songwriter, Sabrielle is inspired by pop icons like Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Alicia Keys and Lana Del Ray, layered with hints of the gospel, jazz and RnB that she grew up with. Her songs are an honest and emotional exploration of her own experiences of love, loss, dating,  divorce, feminism, mental health and what it means to be a queer, neurodivergent woman navigating life in the modern day.

  • Tuesday, July 9 – Sabrielle

    Sabrielle

  • Tuesday, July 16 – Norine Braun
  • Tuesday, July 23 – Lawerence Mayer
  • Tuesday, July 30 – Michael Deacon
  • Tuesday, August 6 – Pool and Craib
  • Tuesday, August 13 – Jana Seale
  • Tuesday, August 20 – Colin Sankey
  • Tuesday, August 27 – Alex Ritchie

Plaza fun and games

The family favourite big games and activities return twice a week – weather dependent – on Mondays and Thursdays from 10 am – 4 pm. Bring your family and play giant Jenga, Twister, scoop ball, charades, or even giant tic-tac-toe!

  • Thursday, July 4
  • Monday, July 8
  • Thursday, July 11
  • Monday, July 15
  • Thursday, July 18
  • Monday, July 22
  • Thursday, July 25
  • Monday, July 29
  • Thursday, August 1
  • Thursday, August 8
  • Monday, August 12
  • Thursday, August 15
  • Monday, August 19
  • Thursday, August 22
  • Monday, August 26
  • Thursday, August 29

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

June 27, 2024 in Blog, Community Events Comments (0)

Family fun at the local fair

Lynn Valley Days is back with new energy and a return to a classic fair experience. The biggest community event of the year returns June 22 with a few changes and a delicious new addition.

Fair favourites

2024 marks a new phase for Lynn Valley Days. It will be a return to a community fair of years gone by with more entertainment, longer hours and new sweet treats. For Eric Miura, president of the Lynn Valley Lions, it is a way to make the annual event more accessible to the community and more successful for the volunteers who put it together. 

Eric Miura

“We are returning to tradition,” said Miura. “We are extending the parade and we are working the stage with entertainment into the evening – depending on the weather.  We know the concession is so popular and the lines can be long so we want to offer more so we are bringing in mini donuts. We aren’t doing the gala.”

The focus on neighbourhood connections is drawing in more small businesses and community groups with a goal to see 50-60 booths filling Lynn Valley Park, said Miura. The stage area will have both a family zone and a beer garden. 

“We are also going to slow down the parade,” he said. “The municipality has acknowledged it takes so much work to do it properly and in the past, we have had a very tight timeline due to infrastructure projects and a need to reduce traffic impacts. There are so few parades these days, so we want to enhance the experience – slow it down so everyone can enjoy it.”

Giving back

An event like Lynn Valley Day is a classic non-profit scenario: a few hands doing a lot of work. This led to some reflection and the decision to move away from the gala. Volunteers were typically up until one or two in the morning and back preparing the cookshack at 6:30 am, said Miura.  

“We had volunteers working through the night and it was very taxing,” he said. “We have 40 members, and with multiple shifts of volunteers, it’s over 100 volunteers and if you add in the high school program it’s closer to 200 volunteers. We don’t want to burn anyone out.”

The Lion Valley Lions have a long-standing relationship with Sutherland and Argyle Secondary Schools. They partner with athletic teams who volunteer their time throughout the year with the Lions, and in exchange, the Lions direct some donations to the schools. It’s a relationship that is leading to growth within the Lions.

“We are seeing younger members give the Lions some new vim and vigour which is having a huge impact on our older members,” said Miura. 

There has been a trend of young people who volunteered as part of the high school program returning after post-secondary education to become full members of the Lions, he said.

“Lynn Valley has a huge spirit of volunteering. We have members from eight years old to 80 plus, which we are very proud of. It takes a lot to make it happen. We have members of the community who show up every year, they know their job and get it done. It’s how they celebrate their community – helping with traffic or in the cook department. It’s great to see that tradition continue.”

Schedule

8:00 am – Pancake Breakfast

9:00 am – Road closures begin (Institute Road closed all day)

9:14 am – Parade begins

10: 00 am – Fair opens

The latest details and updates can be found at the Lynn Valley Days web page. Volunteers are always welcome and can connect via the same website.

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

June 6, 2024 in Blog, Lynn Valley Day Comments (0)

Eyes on summer

With summer around the corner a North Shore optometrist and local mom, Terri Hines, has some tips and insight into new treatments for kids.

Innovation

Research and innovation are impacting several aspects of View Optometry’s Teri Hines’ practice. Two particular aspects are on the top of her mind: sun protection and early nearsightedness intervention for children.

Optometrists Jessica Cullis and Teri Hines

“I’ve been doing a lot more of something called myopia management, which is like a kid-focused thing,” she said. “It’s essentially preventing kids from becoming highly near-sighted, which means stopping prescriptions from getting really high.

“It’s a new field within optometry. There are different types of specialty contact lenses and specialty lenses and pharmaceuticals that can help with it. It’s still kind of in the research phase, but for the most part, we know what works and it’s especially for those parents that themselves are highly myopic and then we can prevent their kids from becoming that way.”

The early interventions are estimated to reduce myopia by up to 50% which can be the difference between standard corrective lenses and specialty lenses, said Tines.  

Sunsafe

Summer brings an abundance of adventures and sport opportunities and just like we take preventative care for our skin, feet and other body parts, Hines encourages thinking about our eyes. 

“I compare it to shoes a lot. You have different types of shoes for different activities. You’re not going to wear one pair of shoes. It is the same for glasses,” said Hines. “Choosing the right glasses will feel better, stay on a little bit better.”

When selecting sunglasses she recommends something that is 100% UV protectant or has the UV400 sticker and ideally has polarized lenses.

“It cuts glare so you can see into the water,” she explained. ‘It can be a comfort thing to stop glare bouncing off the road when you are driving.”

She also likes products like Maui Jim that enhance colours and contrast which improve comfort in bright environments and enhance vision. 

For children, she recommends making sunglasses a part of a child’s life early. 

“Start young,” said Hines. “They kind of get used to it. Just like if you’re putting a hat on them, right? At first, they’re probably taking it off constantly, but then if you’re persistent it becomes part of their routine.”

There are plenty of different options to help young children keep their sunglasses on. Today’s new models have soft flexible arms or straps which make them less likely to break and more comfortable. Hats can also be an option to reduce sun exposure but they do not stop any of the light bouncing off surfaces and water. 

When it comes to the most affordable options, especially for kids, Hines warns dollar store options may be tempting but you can’t ensure the quality of sun protection. 

“You never really know what you are getting,” said Hines. “You do need to make sure that it’s 100% UV protected, which sometimes I find those dollar store ones don’t have that. We have a machine at the office that would test it. So if you ever want to know, we can put it in our machine during your appointment and test.” 

Fun and games

North Vancouver presents its own challenges for eye health. The active lifestyle brings plenty of injuries into Hines’ practice, mountain biking in particular. 

The resurgence of racquet sports brings in ball, racquet and elbow-to-eye injuries. These along with any contact that results in a black eye should be checked.

“The most common one that I’ve seen is just a branch hitting the eye, which hurts a lot,” she said. “There are so many nerve endings in our corneas and it’s extremely painful if that happens. Now, if you were to come in, we’d give you a bandage contact lens and some medications so the cornea heals very quickly in about three days.

“The sooner the better, especially with optometry,” said Hines. “It’s actually, generally speaking, easy to get into – much quicker than a GP or an ER. Plus we have all the proper equipment to look and see what is actually going on as opposed to just throwing some drops at it.”

When she is not hanging with her two young children at home in Lynn Valley, Hines practices at View Optometry in Lower Lonsdale.

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

June 6, 2024 in Blog, Notable Neighbours Comments (0)

Batting for Britain

Two Argyle Secondary students are taking to the field with Team Great Britain this summer. Henry Cheyne and Cayden Allen have been invited to join the U18 baseball team at the European Baseball Championship and a little support would help them along the way.

Playing in the park

All the swings and misses and running in circles of Lynn Valley Little League T-Ball games did two things for Cheyne and Allen: it helped them discover a passion for baseball and solidified a friendship that has now taken them halfway around the world. 

Cayden Allen

“It’s North Vancouver, I play ice hockey, everybody plays soccer but we have played baseball since kindergarten and I think we just fell in love with the game,” said Allen. “We just want to keep playing at a high level.”

Cheyne echoes the early interest in the sport. 

“It’s just really fun for me. It’s not like soccer – doing just running and kicking – there are so many aspects of the game.”

 Recent advancements to the the BC Premier Baseball League have finally separated Allen (playing for the North Shore Twins) and Cheyne (Coquitlam Reds) but for the previous nine seasons – back to T-ball – they were part of the same team.

“We have so many memories of playing together and with the same group all the way until grade nine,” said Cheyne. 

They credit great coaches – like Allen’s dad Chris – and the thoughtful progression followed by LVLL that kept the game fun while building important skills for success and the chance to play internationally.  

“There are so many opportunities at LVLL. They do Fall Ball and Summer Ball. They selected for AllStar teams that give more opportunities for training and travel,” said Allen. “It helps with so much with development. I got so much help.” 

Bigger leagues

The two players have a lot in common: both love baseball, both are in grade 11 at Argyle Secondary and coincidentally both have dual citizenship with the United Kingdom. That little piece of joint family history came into play last year when they were watching the World Baseball Classic. They noticed Great Britain had a team – which led to some digging and discovering GB also fields a team at youth events. 

Henry Cheyne

“Baseball is a growing sport in England. They don’t have the same participation as in North America but it’s growing fast MLB (American Major League Baseball) is hosting games this year in London,” said Cheyne.

The limited popularity of the sport in the UK presented an opportunity for Cheyne and Allen. They contacted the coach – something that would not have been as easy to do for Team Canada.

“That initial contact was definitely easier for Team GB but we needed to prove ourselves. They have players from all over the world so we needed to earn our spots,” said Allen.

Those conversations last summer led to an invitation to join GB for a tournament in Spain this past winter. An invitation the teens could not turn down. 

Cheyne and Allen in Spain.

“We went to go play baseball and have fun. It was so cool to hear different languages and accents all playing together. We played against Italy so they were yelling in Italian – it was about baseball but somehow cooler,” chuckled Allen. 

Their brief time with the U18 team for GB paid off: both Allen Cheyne received invitations to join the team this summer, which has sparked dreams of more play for GB – the way to the Olympics in 2028.

Out of the park

As the school year draws to a close the two athletes will be boarding a plane to train in England before the GB national team heads to Germany in early July. 

“It can be tricky sometimes,” said Allen. “There is training, practices, gym sessions. We make sure to get our school work done but there isn’t a lot of time for other things. Sometimes it’s waking up at 5 am to get a project done.”

They estimate training can take 18-20 hours some weeks with games added on top. It’s all worth it with dreams to one day play in the Major Leagues. Between now and then they hope for more international play, and to follow a plan to balance education and playing opportunities through US junior colleges followed by universities. 

“I am grateful to my parents and family for the time this takes,” said Allen. “They drive us all over – I think the furthest tournament was Arizona. It’s definitely a sacrifice they have made”

Cheyne sees the support too. 

“It’s an expensive sport and if you advance you go to lots of places, which cost a lot of money and all the time and effort to try it out everywhere. I play in Coquitlam now so that’s a lot . . . “ 

Like many amateur athletes – even those at an international level – families are primarily responsible for costs. The teens are trying to fundraise $10,000 through a GoFundMe to help them seize the opportunity to play internationally this July. 

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

June 6, 2024 in Blog, Notable Neighbours Comments (0)

Growing food forests

A North Shore gardener hopes to inspire a food forest in local neighbourhoods in her new book. Author Chris Chung takes food out of rigid backyard beds and into our residential yards in The Layered Edible Garden.

Rethinking traditional

Sitting on a shelf in Lynn Valley’s Maple Leaf Garden Centre there is a new resource available for gardeners looking to have a more natural and fruitful garden. Local gardening expert and writer Chris Chung has put much of the knowledge she generously shares on local gardening Facebook groups and on YouTube into her book The Layered Edible Garden and you might even find her nearby to answer some questions. While working as an instructor at the UBC Botanical Gardens a chance conversation led to inspiration and a passion to rethink home gardens. 

“Not everyone wants to convert a garden into a food garden because not everyone loves the aesthetic of traditional food gardens where everything is in rows and boxes,” she said. “I started looking at the idea of food forests. Why are we not incorporating some of these practices into traditional landscape horticulture? There are plants that are non-traditional yet practical, beautiful, functional and many of them are actually suited to the climate here.”

With that seed of inspiration, Chung began to tackle her own front garden 

“I thought, well, why don’t I just try this out myself? I mean, selling this idea is great, but until I try it and have a feel for it, is it doable? Does it actually look good? And so for the past few years, I have been practicing, mixing and matching plants in the garden.”

Mind shift

Residential gardening is having a bit of a change of identity, said Chung. As we become more environmentally conscious, more gardeners are interested in working with the ecology and weather we have, rather than creating a “picture perfect” garden from some other place. For some, this change may bring relief, and for others discomfort. 

“At the end of the day, you just want plants to be happy. When a plant that is not healthy and dislikes the conditions, as gardeners, we interpret that as, oh, we’re not good gardeners or it was my fault. But you know, sometimes it could just be a fussy plant. 

“But I think mixing and matching is a lot of fun. Food especially doesn’t need to just live in a food bed or a food section of the garden. That’s kind of like the big picture rethinking that I am trying to share with people.”

Chung hopes we can use the garden spaces we have more efficiently. Incorporating foods into the decorative portions. She thinks this is a better use of our time and resources. 

“The less we need to fight with our garden, the better. You can enjoy it. You can focus your energy, money and resources like water to growing things that are purposeful and may improve the impact on local creatures. It’s just so exciting because there are so many areas that we can all explore. I find every season I’m learning something new because I never thought about that but the garden grows and it does something wild and it presents neat stuff.”

Planting purposefully

For a diverse productive garden, Chung suggests we think beyond typical apple trees and rows of carrots as well as straying a bit further from the typical manicured garden aesthetic. 

“If you’re a homeowner, you may feel the need to match the look of your or might have limitations to the time you have to maintain it.  I think just being honest and realistic with yourself like you know what can I work on this. I am encouraging people to mix and match. There are no rules once you understand the conditions of your garden and what is going to thrive and work well.”

There are realities of North Vancouver that can present some challenges. The yards with cedars tend to be shaded and have acidic soil. The amount of sunlight varies greatly. There are many yards in Lynn Valley and Deep Cove where growing tomatoes can be very difficult, said Chung. 

“We have to be realistic and it may not be even apples. They need the sun, Certain berries want more sun. Most of the fruiting things want the sun. But I think that kind of forces us in a good way to explore what could grow here. And it may not be the big trees with lots of fruit that you can harvest in the summer. It could be smaller fruit that are adapted to part shade.”

Chung looks to cooler-temperature veggies and shrubs. 

“In this area, I always like talking about currants and black currants. They’re great and they do fruit well with partial sun. A lot of the Asian leafy veggies like the weather that we’re getting right now where it’s kind of cool and wet and damp. They grow beautifully.”

The resulting garden is a bit wilder and less formal. Her own garden reflects that. 

“It breaks some rules when it comes to how planting should look. I’ve got something tall here, something small there. I’m honestly just experimenting.  I learned something. Let’s not repeat it. What could be a better option? And if nothing is the better option then maybe I can just put some rock there, or put a planter there, where I can remove the plant and tuck it into the shade if it’s like a super hot, scorchy spot.”

Tips

The best resource to influence your garden is local knowledge, said Chung. Besides options like her new book, there are gardening groups in person and online that offer a wealth of relevant information. Gardeners tend to be proud of their work and sometimes chatting on the street offers the best practical guidance. That can also be an affordable way to try a new plant. 

“Some people are just pruning anyway and they’re happy to give cuttings away. So that’s a way you can get around a really expensive plant and buying from nurseries – look for plant swaps. A lot of people are pruning their figs and elderberries. I usually prune my goji plants in late winter and I give cuttings away. They root so easily but if you go to any nursery they are $29 or more for one gallon.”

Another consideration when looking at food gardens for Lynn Valley is wildlife. 

“It’s a real thing, wildlife. As much as we want to romanticize growing an orchard, we have bears walking into our carport from the wooded area. We have to think about wildlife, not just bears coming down and eating fruit, it’s also our maintenance practices. What smells good for us, smells good for the raccoons, bears, and whatever else. If anything is not harvested, it’s going to bring more of those black bears into the property, which, as we all know, is a not good thing for the bears.”

The weather up here, in Lynn Valley, can be very different from the flatter, drier land near Park and Tilford. 

“If you’re deeper into the valley or further up, you’re going to get cooler, moist pockets, which are maybe great for certain plants, like, cool season veggies, but may not be the best for Medaterrian plants like rosemary or bay laurel.”

As the growing season creeps ever closer Chung encourages residents to bide their time.

“It’s so tempting to put out warm season crops, like tomatoes,” she said. “For the past two years, I haven’t planted before June. Just because the weather is so unpredictable, we could be getting a long, cold, wet spring, which is not good for those heat-loving plants. In a nutshell, the tip is to be patient and wait until we get consistently warm soil. A good investment is to get a soil thermometer and test once a day. And if the temperature is consistently at or above 10 Celsius, that’s a good sign.”

You can find Chung’s book The Layered Edible Garden at Maple Leaf Garden Centre or on Amazon. 

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

May 7, 2024 in Blog, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors Comments (0)

New art space in LV

Lynn Valley Centre is getting creative this month with the grand opening of Monika’s Art Boutique-Studio & Gallery. The new studio and retail space offer families options for art lessons and creative after-school care.

Dream come true

Building on her previous experience as a teacher and the success of her Lonsdale location, Monika Blichar, just days ago opened the doors to the latest branch of Monika’s Art BoutiqueStudio & Gallery  From its roots that began 15 years ago in Pemberton Heights the new space in Lynn Valley has Blichar excited for new opportunities grounded in her mission to foster creativity and peace of mind.

Monika Blichar

Monika Blichar

“The real goal is helping parents make sure that they’re supported and their needs are met to have somewhere safe for their kids,” said Blichar. “We’re always trying to push the boundaries so that it’s not just coming to make art in a daycare. It’s trying to teach them skills and give kids something that they can build on in the future.”

She hopes that by offering programs that engage and excite children it helps them stay connected to their creative roots.

“There’s so many factors that can get them derailed but at least if they have some interest in something creative, whether it’s that they keep drawing at home or they start doing their own comic books or they get into video game development or story writing. As they get older at least they have something that they’ve developed so they don’t go off and start doing things that aren’t productive or maybe dangerous as they get into their teenagers. We’ve had kids coming in that have just been so engaged in the art, that they come back and work here.”

The new space, which began offering programming in the first week of May, has allowed Blichar to expand her afterschool care from six schools to thirteen. The new Lynn Valley location will be offering care to Lynn Valley, Upper Lynn, Ross Road, Eastview and Boundary elementaries, plus another outside of Lynn Valley. 

“We’ve been looking for about two years for the space because we have a huge waitlist. There are so many families that just don’t have after-school care – it’s a huge need on the North Shore,” she said. “We explore all kinds of different artistic pursuits for kids, not just painting and drawing, but really teaching them the well-roundedness of living a creative, resourceful and abundant life that comes from learning how to do lots of different things. Some of the things that we do include traditional artistic forms, like painting, watercolour, acrylic, oil pastels, and charcoal but also other more practical arts like how to make your own soap.” 

Passion with purpose

The Lynn Valley studio and gallery will also feature opportunities for local makers to sell their wares. Blichar is enthusiastic about supporting artists and fostering entrepreneurship. 

“One of my passions is really helping business owners,” she said. “Part of the boutique that we have here as well in the new location is local arts and goods. We work with mostly all BC artists but I do import some stuff from Poland as well because that’s where my family’s from. We have candles and soaps and bath bombs and Mother’s Day gifts and small art pieces, jewelry, bookmarks, tea infusers…”

It’s an idea that allows Blichar to encourage older kids to think beyond the art process to have a purpose for creation as well. 

“We try to teach the kids at the same time too:  you can sell your stuff as well and learn what entrepreneurship is through making artwork. Art is not just something that you make and then throw it in the recycling after. We try to make meaningful projects and really connect them to life and skills. 

“Some of the kids we’ve had have gotten really good at what they love and realized they can put it up for sale. They get all excited about their own money.” 

MAB has other practical purposes. With adult programs, pro-day camps, birthday parties and even movie night options, said Blichar. She expects more than 500 kids to come through their summer camps this year. 

Where to find MAB

The original MAB location is on Lonsdale at West Kings Road. The new Lynn Valley studio and gallery is on the second floor of Lynn Valley Centre in the former Curves space. It can be accessed via the east entrance near Conifer St. 

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

May 7, 2024 in Artistic Endeavours, Blog Comments (0)

A second round with NSR on the small screen

After breaking Knowledge Network records, both North Shore Rescue and Silvapark Films are back with a new season of Search and Rescue: North Shore debuting May 28. The five-part docuseries takes place throughout the North Shore and Squamish highlighting the dedicated volunteers that are on duty 24/7/365.

Real impacts

Promising a look into the lives of Canada’s busiest search and rescue team, the second season of Search and Rescue: North Shore brings viewers along through the highs and lows facing local volunteers traversing through and over the mountains surrounding Lynn Valley. The first season released in 2020 was a massive success. It was an easy decision for all involved to invest the time and effort to offer a second season. 

Mike Danks

When Jenny Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin approached North Shore Rescue to document the local volunteer group they weren’t the first. With offers for longer format movies to lengthy reality TV, NSR Team Leader Mike Danks said it was clear the Silvapark Films team had something others didn’t: a respect for patient care priority and a comprehensive understanding of all the obstacles they would face. 

“Our biggest concern was that it would not affect our response in any way,” said Danks, a LynnValley local, who was also recently appointed chief of the District of North Vancouver Fire Rescue Services. “They came and trained with us and showed us they had the skills to come along and not impact us in any sense. I think it’s important for people to understand how incredible it is that they captured the footage they did. We didn’t wait for them at all. We were moving as quickly as we possibly could and they were able to stay with us or get a head to capture that footage.”

The unforgiving terrain and weather, difficult for NSR, pulls no punches at the small crew filming their work. 

“We have rescues that last multiple days and they are trying to keep GoPros running and the batteries going in conditions where it was -20, -30°C. Our main focus is not to keep those cameras going. We are doing what we need to do and they are doing what they need to do to capture the footage.”

The first season proved that all that effort is well worth it. 

“We had an overwhelmingly positive response from everyone that saw it,” said Danks. “They really stressed the importance of lessons learned and seeing what happens behind the scenes and seeing the impact of these calls have on not only our mental wellbeing but the impact they have on our families as well. 

“When they talked about doing season two it was a no-brainer. We also had a large increase in community support and that also reflects on other teams in the province as well – which was huge.”

Apart from gratitude and surprise that the “professional-grade” service providers are volunteers, one of the most beneficial results has been an increase in donations. The program showcased many of the practical challenges for all of British Columbia volunteer search and rescue groups. The increase in donor funding inspired by the series had noticeable ripple effects throughout the province. 

“The impact it had on donations to – not just with us but groups around the province – we didn’t hesitate to jump into season two.”

For Baldwin – who also became a resource member for NSR after filming season one helping support rescues using drones – one of the most important impacts is showcasing the efforts of the group whose members each give an average of 600 hours a year to prepare and rescue those in need. It is a perspective the subjects (the people being rescued) are also supportive of and makes them willing to share the potentially worst day of their lives so publicly.

“It often surprises the subject that we are filming because they don’t realize they’re volunteers. A lot of people still don’t know that,” said Baldwin.

There are a lot of vulnerabilities and tragedies captured. In some cases the subjects have found great value in viewing the footage after the fact, said Baldwin. 

“They know they are lost or injured. They don’t understand what’s happening on the side of the rescue they don’t understand how the call comes to them. They don’t understand maybe why it took so long to get there or there are a lot of moving pieces and I think it’s helpful to see how it came together from the rescuers’ perspective.”

Season two

It was an interesting time to shadow NSR, said Baldwin. At the time of filming season two they were in the process of getting approvals for their night vision flying and coincidentally a wealth of photos and historical NSR records were found. 

“You’ll learn more about Mike Danks, who’s team leader, his dad and his role on the team. You’ll learn more about some of the tech stuff that’s coming out with the team and also what’s available to the public in terms of hiking technology,” said Baldwin. “There are some technical rescues involving base jumpers, paragliders, and some of them are pretty intense as well.”

It captures a very impactful period for Danks and his family. His father is fighting what will likely be a terminal diagnosis of cancer. 

“It captures a lot about my dad. He joined in the early 70s. He is the reason I joined the team,” said Danks. “Right now he is fighting a battle with cancer and will probably not survive much longer. He is in this and he has this legacy. It’s hard for me because I see his declining health as the series goes on.”

Baldwin and his team know much of the first season was shared with viewers of all ages. He advises pre-watching to make sure it’s suitable for everyone in your family. It was important to the film crew that they were accurate about the tragedy and personal risk volunteers face.

“There’s definitely some dramatic spectrum in this series, and it’s something you have to consider but we don’t shy away from that because we want to show what SAR goes through. We want to show how they deal with traumatic rescues as well. If we just dodged around that, then the conversation doesn’t happen about the mental health of the rescuers as well.”

Prioritizing health

The effects of such intense volunteer work have significant impacts on NSR members. The group has evolved over the years to understand and work to support each other.

“I think times have changed, in the 10-year period I have been I have been the team leader. There has been a shift in how first responders look out for each other –  to share it and not wear it,” said Danks. “NSR is exposed to a tremendous amount of trauma. I would almost argue that it is more than you see with police and fire because the calls we are going to are very, very significant. When you are in mountainous terrain the consequences are very high in those circumstances. 

“Now we recognize we need to be more strategic with our responses so we can reduce the number of people who are exposed to that [risk and that trauma]. Not many people are aware that through covid our call volume spiked and a lot of those calls we were going to were suicides. Those were people who were 16-30 years old. They were going up to the mountains and jumping off cliffs or jumping in rivers or they were finding an isolated spot and they were overdosing on drugs. Those are calls we are responding to and we have a whole diverse group of people who aren’t used to seeing that – like accountants. We take the time to talk about that in this series and telling that story helps us cope with that and hopefully it helps others talk about it.” 

When it comes to local viewers of the series who live, work and play in the mountains on the North Shore Danks hopes viewers gain an understanding of the wilderness that is accessible after a short hike from a downtown bus stop. 

“The goal is to increase everyone’s awareness of preparedness and to shed light on the North Shore mountains are not just what you see from the downtown core. When you get to the North side of those mountains they are more remote areas without cell coverage. The game changes very, very quickly and you need to know how to navigate mountain terrain and let someone know where you are going and when you will be back and be prepared for changing conditions. 

“You get to see little snippets of people going through those journeys and need help. It’s not to say that every rescue is preventable. That is not the case. No one goes out there planning to have a bad day,” said Danks. “It’s an opportunity to see the impact of some of the families that supported us that have lost a loved one. They have left a legacy that supports the North Shore community and you can see how that is paid back. 

“And to be honest. I am getting a bit older and my emotions run pretty high. You get to see something happen in this series that shows how someone’s life was lost and it was paid back to multiple younger adults who made some pretty big mistake but they were saved because of that legacy.”

Season two of Search and Rescue: North Shore debuts on Knowledge Network May 28th at 8 pm. It will also be available for online viewing.  

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

May 7, 2024 in Blog, Neighbourhood News Comments (0)