Lynn Valley neighbourhood clean up planned

Lynn Valley litter will be targeted once again after last year’s successful Neighbourhood Clean-Up around Argyle School.

The theme of the Nov. 3 grassroots gathering is “Our Community, Our Responsibility,” and it encourages families to get out with their children to put garbage in its place.

“When friends and neighbours get together and pick up litter it not only makes the streets cleaner, it demonstrates our commitment and responsibility to the environment,” says organizer Jody Labriola. Gloves, garbage bags and hand sanitizer will be provided, and there will be special rewards for the kids who come out to help.

Participants are invited to meet up at the Les Wilson Memorial Field (Argyle School’s gravel field) on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.; from there, teams will be dispatched to surrounding streets and green spaces. The event finishes up at 3 p.m.

All details are on this downloadable poster. Hope to see you there!

Lynn Valley Optometry launches anniversary contest

Lynn Valley Optometry is celebrating its 20th anniversary!  And as part of the celebration, the shop is holding a Facebook sweepstakes with some prizes you won’t want to miss.

Available to be won are an iPad and ten Lynn Valley Optometry gift cards. Five of those gift cards are worth $100 and five are worth $50; they can be used towards glasses, contacts, sunglasses and other products sold at Lynn Valley Optometry.

To enter click here, or head to their facebook page and click ‘enter contest’ under the cover image.

Lynn Valley Optometry opened its doors in 1992 on the northwest side of the 1200 block of Lynn Valley Road. At this time Lynn Valley Optometry had three employees in what could definitely be called a ‘cozy’ office. In 2007, the office moved across the street into Lynn Valley Village. Currently, the office has 14 staff members, including two doctors and two vision therapists, and was voted favourite optical store by North Shore News readers for the past two years. During that time it were also voted best optical store by the North Shore Outlook readers.

Lynn Valley Optometry is very excited to be able to share its 20th anniversary celebrations with the community.

For more information about Lynn Valley Optometry, check out its website.

Live Love Dance gala will support North Van mother

Many of you by now will have heard about the plight of Chelsea Steyns, a North Vancouver mother who grew up in Lynn Valley and has in the last few years borne not one, but two sets of twins.

Having two twin births isn’t the only amazing thing Argyle Secondary grad Chelsea has done – she is also well known as a highly accomplished dancer and, since 2008, the greatly respected creative director of the North Shore Academy of Dance.

But tragedy entered Chelsea’s life just three months after giving birth to her youngest children, Cash and Maxine, early this year. At that point doctors discovered she was suffering from an extremely rare, inoperable brain cancer.

Since then, the North Van dance community, along with Chelsea’s other friends and family, have rallied in force to raise the money needed to fund costly treatment in Texas. The therapy she is undertaking has shown great promise in its ability to battle her particular type of cancer, but as it is still in the trial stages, it is not insured.

The next big fundraising effort will be an incredible, star-studded evening of dance and delicacies at the Kay Meek Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Kay Meek Centre. Along with performances from about ten professional dance companies and individuals, audience members will enjoy valet parking and complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres during a silent auction reception. Tickets are $100; details and more information about Chelsea and the evening’s performers can be found at the Live Love Dance 2012 website.

 

Lynn Valley Christmas Tree Walk in the works

No, it is NOT too early to start thinking about Christmas – not if you’ve got some tree-trimming talent or carol-singing skills!

Last year’s launch of a Christmas Tree Walk in Lynn Valley Village was so successful, it is returning this year in even more festive form, with sixty trees up for adoption and 12 days of pre-Christmas entertainment on the menu.

There are a number of trees still up for adoption, so if your business or organization would like to take part in the fun, call Dave at the number below soon – over 65 per cent of them have already been spoken for!

And if you’re a part of a group that would like to perform sometime during the Dec. 12 to 23 period, Lynn Valley Village events coordinator Stephanie Perrins would love to hear from you. Interested musicians and performers can email [email protected] for more information.

Help spread the word so that everyone can pull together to make Lynn Valley a Winter Wonderland this Christmas. Here’s a downloadable version of the poster below, so print and post!

CBC Almanac broadcasts live from Argyle

Listen up, Lynn Valley! CBC Radio will be broadcasting live from Argyle tomorrow (Wednesday) from noon to 1 p.m. Tune in to AM 690 to hear the Almanac show’s forum on the topic “What don’t adults get about bullying?” Gloria Macarenko from CBC TV will also be there so you’ll potentially see excerpts later on the 6pm news.

People have plenty of questions about the tragic incidents of bullying that hit the headlines. Chief among them is usually “How could anyone be so cruel?” Perhaps this local forum will help adults understand the psychology of bullying from a teen’s perspective.

FM listeners can turn to 88.1 on their dial. For full details, visit CBC Almanac.

Argyle Piper football victory recounted

Three hundred fans came out on Saturday afternoon to support the Argyle Pipers Senior Football team at their first home game in 31 years. All this Piper pride paid off as the boys in green racked up their first victory in the season, with a score of 36-0 against Eric Hamber Secondary of Vancouver.Here is a post-game wrap-up from co-coach Dave Heskin. Thanks to parent Doug Yip for the photos!

Personally my favourite part of the game was meeting Dave Backie, Argyle’s coach from 1981, who was so happy to be a part of our event. [Ed. note: The Backies are long-time Hoskins Road residents.]

It was also really exciting to see our Grade 12 running back [Stuart Bourne] score our first points of the season in the AA football ranks.

The success of this event was a testament to the hard work by our parent volunteers, staff supporters (teachers and administrators), coaches and especially the players, who really deserved this win.  We have been challenging them to get better as players and as a team each week, and the hard work paid off.

The timing is great as the team now heads into the final third of the season, with two big games against cross-town rivals Windsor and Carson Graham (on the next two consecutive Fridays at their fields). Then they round out the season vs. the #1 provincially ranked John Barsby of Nanaimo on their home field.

Thanks again, Lynn Valley, for all your support!

– Coach Dave Heskin

Argyle Pipers football team re-christens home field

Update, October 13, 2012: Congratulations, Pipers! News just in that this game ended in a  victory for the Pipers, with a score of 36-0 over Eric Hamber. 

For the first time in 31 years, Lynn Valley football fans will have the chance to watch a home game on the Argyle School field, at a 1:30 p.m. kick-off against Eric Hamber School.

The Argyle Pipers football teams – dormant since the early 1980s – made a long sought-after comeback last year, thanks to the persistent efforts of gym teacher Milan Boljuncic (now co-head coach, along with Dave Heskin), private donors, and passionate parents such as Shane Sheehan, a Piper MVP in the ’70s (his son, Grady, is a Grade 12 player on this year’s team).

It’s not easy getting a team rebuilt, virtually from scratch. The boys had to be kitted out, and the helmets alone were $300 each. Necessary items were purchased with the help of generous donors and fundraising efforts by the players and coaches. (LynnValleyLife is proud to join the team as a new sponsor, and is looking forward to cheering on the players this Sunday!)  Another stumbling block was that the grass field needed upgrading to be able to accommodate a football game, which is why no home games were possible last year.

And while the old Piper magic has come back strong, to judge by the enthusiasm of its players and fan base, the scoreboard has yet to reflect the football team’s rebirth. So far, the seniors have yet to score in any of the four games played this season.

But the team’s spirit remains strong and everyone realizes that Rome wasn’t built in a day. This year will provide an extra challenge for the players,  in that the Pipers have now been moved up a division, into AA, after just one year spent at a lower tier. As many players on the team are rookies, there will be a lot of “learning by doing”.

To judge by the eagerness on the faces of both the players and their supporters, though, they are more than equal to the challenge. You can help them make the play by coming out on Saturday to cheer them on – and coming back to the field the next day to test drive a Ford vehicle. For every driver who comes out for a  buzz around the block, they’ll donate $20 to Argyle School! All details are here.

In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for some crisp fall weather for Saturday’s game, and come enjoy some good family fun! Kick off is 1:30 p.m., but fans are encouraged to come at 1 to start some spirit-building!

Grade 9 and 10 students are on the Junior Varsity team, and play on Wednesdays. The Grade 11 and 12 Varsity team plays on Fridays and Saturdays. Season schedules for both can be found here (search under AA Varsity).

Lynn Valley sewer system tested

What the heck is a vapour test? And why is there one coming to a sewer near you?

Click on this link from North Vancouver District, in which the municipality explains how and why Lynn Valley’s storm and sanitary sewers are being vapour tested this month to ensure rainwater is not entering the sanitary system.

You’ll get a knock on the door before your area is tested, but for now, read their handy heads-up!

 

Lynn Valley town centre plans taking shape

For more than five years, North Vancouver District planners have been trying to get into the heads of Lynn Valley residents. They’ve asked for our views, they’ve brought in speakers, they’ve created opportunities for online education and feedback, they’ve set up shop in the mall, they’ve gone to our youth, they’ve been at Lynn Valley Day, and they’ve hosted charrettes* (who even knew what those were, prior to that weekend in ’07?)

All this was to facilitate the collective creation of a vision for Lynn Valley that would take its place in the Official Community Plan. This plan was adopted by NVD Council in June, 2011, and since then community planners have been fleshing out implementation proposals. We were given a look at some of these last spring, in another round of displays and feedback sessions (please see this blog post from April).

Now, this big subject has once again moved to the front burner because Safeway and Bosa (owners of Lynn Valley Mall) have both submitted preliminary application letters to the District, outlining in some detail their proposed redevelopment plans (click links to read the letters).

Of course, everyone has questions as to the future of our neighbourhood. Many of us are conflicted – we don’t want our community to lose its ‘charm,’ but we have to admit some elements of the current mall are less than charming.

Maybe we’re excited about some of the new public amenities, green spaces and walkways that are proposed under the Town Centre plan, but find it hard to get behind some of the high-rise developments that would help bankroll such additions.

Or maybe we’re happy there will be lower-cost, higher-density housing alternatives for our young families and seniors, but are still concerned about how added multi-family complexes might impact the amount of vehicle traffic in the valley.

And some days, you might feel one way in the morning, and another way by dinnertime! That’s understandable. The revitalization and redevelopment of our neighbourhood is a huge project (most of these plans are expected to take place over 20 years, not all at once!) and it’s hard to weigh out all the pros and cons that each change might bring.

There is a helpful District Identity website that has a good background on the Lynn Valley Town Centre plan, and links to earlier presentations and publications, but we’d also like to help time-starved residents access information quickly and easily. We see it as our job to bring you the info you want, as you need it.

Over the next few months, we’ll be taking some of your top questions about the town centre plans and addressing them, one at a time. We know there will likely be a range of viewpoints (and perhaps no easy answers!) to give you on most of the topics, but we’ll endeavour to explain the basics as best we can, and point you in the right direction if you’d like more in-depth information or would like to share your own thoughts.

So, if you’d like us to focus on a certain aspect of the Lynn Valley Town Centre proposals, please contact us soon at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

* For those who still don’t know, a charrette is “a public meeting or workshop devoted to a concerted effort to solve a problem or plan the design of something.” There were many thoughts shared at the Lynn Valley charrettes in 2007!