29 Nov. Walk

Today Linda, Flora, and her friend Brian, walked to Broadway Station and rode the Skytrain to Patterson Station ... across the street is Central Park where they walked almost 8 kilometers along one of the many pathways ... apparently, this park has trails totalling 30-40 kilometres and contains two lakes, a forest of large Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Poplar trees, and hundreds of ducks ... more than a dozen grey and black squirrels surrounded them as Linda tossed biscotti chunks and Flora fed them granola bars ... one bold squirrel ran up Brian's leg and was promptly told to beat it ... on their walk, they noticed large holes in the ground but saw no signs of any furry critters coming or going ... could the holes have led to the lair of foxes or the den of badgers? Who knows? At one point, they came across a tree covered with chickadees, small black and grey birds that are common here during the Autumn and Winter months ...

Central Park includes a play area with a plaque that reads "Variety Park Playground dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales 1961-1997, in commemoration of her love of children" with a relief design of a bouquet of flowers ... Brian's inner child erupted when he found a miniature mechanical digging machine to play with ...

At the perimeter of Central Park is Swangard Stadium, the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team as well as other sporting events including Olympic and World Cup qualifying matches ... a baseball diamond, lawn bowling green, pitch-and-putt golf course, outdoor swimming pool, horseshoe pitch, fitness circuit, and picnic sites are also located in this grand park ... one hardy group of people were having lunch at a picnic table over which they had mounted a canopy to keep out the rain ... the park was named in honour of the wife of Vancouver's second Mayor, David Oppenheimer ... apparently, she was from New York City's Central Park area ...

At the Skytrain Station, as they reached the top of the escalator, they spotted no less than six Skytrain Police and several Skytrain Attendants who were checking for tickets ... passengers coming off the train were being checked as well as the people boarding ... Flora suddenly realized she didn't have her bus pass which she normally carries ... she had changed coats this morning and forgot to transfer the pass ... she stepped off the up escalator and, as the police approached her, Brian deftly stepped in to show his ticket which gave Flora a chance to about-face onto the down escalator where she purchased a ticket from the dispensing machine at ground-level ... when she rejoined Linda and Brian, they had a good laugh at her close call ... the thing is, Flora usually brings extra tickets for anyone in the group who doesn't have bus fare ...

So ended an interesting adventure ... Brian enjoyed himself so much, he said he'd be back for more walks ...

Contributor Virginia

January '09 Walking Club Info

We recommend you register for the walk & come in to meet with others prior to our walk if possible. Registration is free. These walks are open to 55+ like minded people, male or female.

Our walks are moderate & at an average pace.

Each walk will be arranged by either Laurette or Virginia. At times we will have maps with us if needed.

They will be departing from either the Library or the AL Mattison lounge depending on the day at 1030AM!

All participants must have proper change or bus tickets as we will be venturing to different locations in the city. Visiting different neighborhoods, art walks, Coal Harbour, West end etc…… We want to shake it up & not be bored. In other words exercise with a bit of fun. Mid week walk will stay within 1 zone bus fare while Saturdays will be more zones at same fare.

We strongly suggest that you wear proper walking shoes & take along bottled water. We do intend on taking breaks & you may want to pack light snacks. If possible stop for coffee break in a neighborhood café. We are trying to make this affordable but at the same time fun & social.

If any participants have any suggestions or ideas for walks let us know .
“It will be a change of scenery and adds variety to our walking”

Walking update for 22 Nov walk

This was the weekend of the East Cultural Crawl, an annual event that showcases over 300 local artists and artisans who open their studios to the public for viewing and to market their craft ...

The walking group, consisting of Linda, Flora, Aideen and Virginia stayed close to The Drive ... we visited five studios during the course of the afternoon, the largest one being "Murgatroid" at Napier and Vernon ... this is a three-storey building with a maze of hallways and cross-hallways on all levels ... the studios contained paintings, pottery, jewellery, metal sculptures, art cards, clothing and textiles ...

The most striking art form on display were perfect replicas of the human head and body, complete in every detail including skin pores, skin pigment, moles, creases, eyelashes, fingernails, finger prints and body hair, created by a young man and woman who had extensive training and experience in special effects for movies and television ... every pore was hand imprinted ... every mark and coloration of the skin was put on using a fine hair paint brush ... every brow hair and eyelash was implanted by hand ... the materials used were various: one partial head was done in bronze powder mixed with a bonding agent; another was done in fine fibreglass; a third was rubber surface with fibreglass mesh backing ... the mold for these heads was taken from the artist himself ... the models of heads sold for tens of thousands of dollars and took months to complete ...

The most amazing model was a scaled-down figure of a young man, about three feet tall, with a full head of hair, anatomically correct in every detail, ... at any second, he looked like he could take a breath and blink his eyes, he was so lifelike ... the artists use calipers to calculate the size of each model so the human figures are perfectly proportion whether scaled down or enlarged ... the largest piece was a 600-lb life-sized clay model of a Samurai in the crouched pose of a wrestler facing his opponent and was the foundation from which a final statue would be made ... this would take many months to complete, bringing a price of hundreds of thousands of dollars ...

Another studio contained costumes, drawings and photographs of police riot-squad uniforms, created by a designer trained in clothing design ... these costumes were commissioned by production companies for action movies, theatre and videos ...

By mid-afternoon, we were ready to call it a day and went our separate ways.

Contributor Virginia B

Tree Trimming 04 Dec update

There is a change of time for this function. Please contact Anne Jackson at the Al Mattison Lounge for information on time & activities..

Hollow Tree & Irene

Picture of Irene Fitzgerald at the Hollow Tree when she was 16 years old (she's on the right). Irene is the lady who runs the knitting group every thursday & teaches & helps new people.

http://savethehollowtree.com/

THE TOP TEN REASONS TO SAVE THE HOLLOW TREE
10. The Hollow Tree is an amazing and unique example of a giant red cedar almost 20 feet (6m) across and 1,000 years old.
9. Red cedar with its innumerable uses was the foundation, with salmon, of First Nations culture here for perhaps 10,000 years. It was revered as the "tree of life."
8. The First influx of immigrants to Vancouver came to cut down some of the biggest trees in Canada. We need at least one example remaining on display to testify to the interesting origins of Vancouver.
7. The Hollow Tree has been one of Vancouver's primary tourist attractions since the city of Vancouver was founded in the 1880s, and it is still an important tourist destination today.
6. The Hollow Tree is in relatively good condition, and it is a relatively simple task to unobtrusively return it to its original vertical position, safe and sound.

5. In a new book "Sammy Squirrel and Rodney Raccoon: A Stanley Park Tale," the Hollow Tree appears as "Old Hollow Hall," a community hall in Stanley Park for the animals in the story.

4. At the BC-Canada Pavilion at the 2008 Beijing Olympics a replica of the Hollow Tree made from a huge old cedar stump from Stanley Park was used to promote BC and Canada to the world.

3. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee is currently featuring the Hollow Tree in its promotional material for the Olympic mascots, including an animated video where two of the mascots are shown meeting for the first time at the Hollow Tree.

2. A team of top professionals in tree safety and heritage management is leading the movement to maintain the Hollow Tree as a national heritage landmark.
... and one final reason to save Stanley Park's world famous Hollow Tree:

1. Everyone who knows the Hollow Tree loves the Hollow Tree, and the Olympic tourists who come to Vancouver in 2010 should be able to find it and love it too!

Xmas Hamper!!!

Britannia Seniors are collecting

"non perishable goods"

at all December 'Special Events', Meetings, and Clubs to make up a "Hamper" for the Food Bank.

Al Mattison Lunches

This is the last month November) for Lunches

Will resume mid January ‘09

################
Mondays with Annie

(nutritionist)
Menu to be posted

Will Resume 12 Jan 09

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Thursdays with Laurette
Hearty Soup & Bread

Will resume 15 Jan 09

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Cost $3.50

Includes choice of tea or coffee

Walking club 15 Nov update

I arrived at the Centre at 10:45 ... while I waited for my fellow walkers, I made a fresh pot of coffee, cleaned the boiling kettle and the stove ... at 11:15 I called Linda and coaxed her out of her lazy pajamas to join Flora and I for a walk along Commercial Drive to check out the wall murals ...

As a volunteer at the Commercial Woodlands Policing Centre, I was given a book prepared by the City of Vancouver, which contained color photos of some of the wall murals painted by graffiti artists of "Restart", a program sponsored by the City, the Police Department and local business associations to encourage street artists to create scenic murals instead of tagging walls and vehicles ... since the inception of the program's "Spread the Paint" campaign in 2002, graffiti vandalism has dropped by 85 percent and, by 2005 (when the booklet was published), 150 wall murals had been painted ... the City will be publishing a second edition covering paintings done from 2006 to 2010...

When Linda arrived at noon, she told us she had just passed a lane way between Parker and Napier where a group of some twenty young people wearing gas masks were spray painting sections of an outlined wall mural of wildlife including cameos of a tiger, a lion and a panda on a background of mountains, rivers and valleys ... two city police were recording the event (video)... on the end wall was an iconic Haida water bear being painted by a young friend of Flora's ... Flora is First Nations, a court worker and advocate for aboriginal youth gone astray of the law ... she helps the young people with the legal process, referring them to appropriate social agencies as needed ... her picture was taken spray painting a patch of the icon ...

Our walk continued down the Drive where Linda, who is Italian, met several of her countrymen ... one of them, Carmello, a trim looking slight man with sleek hair and long tailored black coat was wearing large gold custom made rings on every finger ... he kindly agreed to have his photo taken with Linda in front of a mural at 4Th Avenue ... we ended up at JJBean cafe for a hot drink before continuing on our way down the Drive, across Broadway to East 11Th where I parted company and walked home ... Linda and Flora did some local shopping before going back to their respective residences ...

All in all, it was a very satisfying, relaxing day, more a stroll than an earnest walk ... but we enjoyed ourselves, got some fresh air, met some new people ... and that's all that matters.

Contributor Virginia

More pics from Thursday 13th!

Social Evening 13 Nov "Remembering"

Remembering
This evening we had our once a month social evening. We had a guest speaker who was from the Alzheimer Resource centre. She was a great speak, informative & had a good sense of humour, which helped. This being a subject that needs to be heard & have people aware of things, health for body & mind. www.alzheimerbc.org
The evening started out with dinner first & then the speaker. Afterwards we had draws for gifts & played bingo. What a bunch of gamblers we have lol. ;)
6pm to 9pm. Nice gathering of friends & get out of the house.

Pics from Monday 10th High School

Capt Trevor Greene

The Seniors at lunch prior to the show

2 goodlooking men that if we were younger would have given them a run for their money, LOL

Lest we Forget

Today in the high school auditorium there was a concert, speeches, special guest & videos. It was so beautiful done & well presented by the students.
There was a choir with great songs & 1 solo that was superb. The band was great group of young students & the youngest was the trumpet player under 13.
The video was a PowerPoint of pics of 98 fallen Canadians in Afghanistan while the choir sang A Hard Rains Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan). Another PowerPoint they did was the school teachers holding an enlarge pic of a member of their family who fought in past wars, whether the 1st, 2Nd or Korean war. It was touching.
Capt Trevor Greene gave a short speech, he is now a quadriplegic. (March 2006)http://www.missingpeople.net/trevor_greene.htm
Let me tell you this was an emotional ceremony.
Prior to this we were all taken to lunch in the staff room. This is a yearly event & my first time. Of course I am the youngest 55+.
I have a nephew over there not in the military but with a private company. Another nephew who is graduating this month will be gong over there soon.
Pics were taken & will be posted when I get them.

Best Foot Forward Walking Group news

Canoe Launch & Celebration Feast

At noon today, a gathering of First Nation tribes and interested palefaces met at Crab Park on Burrard Inlet at the north end of Main Street ...the occasion was the launching of a yellow cedar canoe carved by nine young people from Britannia Community under the direction of carver Mervyn Child of the Kwakiutl people ... the cedar was donated by Vancouver Parks Board following cleanup of Stanley Park from the devastating winter storms of 2006-07 ... the canoe took several months to complete and was stained a rust red with symbols painted on the seats ... oars were carved from the same cedar tree and painted with similar symbols in the style of the Coast Salish tribe ... two more cedar trees donated by the Parks Board will be rendered into a totem pole and a second canoe ... the completed pole will stand in Britannia Community Centre.

Among the crowd at the beach were two city policemen whom I approached for details about the gathering ... my request was overheard by Debra Martel, District Principal for Aboriginal Education ... she told me that the event was jointly sponsored by the Parks Board, Vancouver Police Department, Aboriginal Friendship House, Britannia Secondary School and Britannia Community Centre as part of The Community Carving Experience.

First came welcome speeches by the Chiefs of the Salish, Squamish, Musqueam and Kwakiutl people ... a young woman with raven hair spoke eloquently of the lost aboriginal women of the Downtown Eastside who had either disappeared or been murdered ... this young woman came from Fort St. James representing the Carrier Sekani tribe ... in their welcoming speeches, the Chiefs dedicated the canoe to the young people who created it and in memory of the young women who had disappeared ... next were short speeches by four chosen witnesses, including Mervyn Child (the carver) and Constable Rick Lavallee, Liaison Officer with the Diversity & Aboriginal Section of the Vancouver Police Department ...

The dedication ceremony, conducted on Coast Salish land, opened with drumming and singing while the carvers circled the canoe four times, brushing its surfaces with small cedar branches ... the canoe was blessed by the Salish Chief and named "Perfect Storm" ... it was then pushed into the bay by the carvers who climbed aboard with Mervyn Child and rowed out and back a hundred yards from shore ...

The ceremony continues this afternoon at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre on Hastings Street near Commercial Drive for dance, drums, songs and refreshments until 7:00 pm, followed by an evening of music, improv and slapstick comedy, gymnastics, martial arts, and performances such as hip hop, powwow, capoerira and break dancing, by an all-star lineup of musicians and singers.

Flora and I were joined by a Winnipeg visitor, Rosemary, who enjoyed the occasion ... her son is interested in First Nations culture and her daughter collects aboriginal art, so now she has something to share with them on her return to Winnipeg at the end of November.

In keeping with Remembrance Day, next Saturday's walk may focus on visiting a memorial site dedicated to the thousands of young men and women who served in the two great wars and the Korean war and to those who continue to serve in the Afghanistan war.

Contributor Virginia B.

Old Age Fear

"BEST FOOT FORWARD"

Today Linda called in sick ... I met Flora at Britannia Seniors Centre and we relaxed with a cup of coffee waiting for anyone else who might decide to join us ... as no-one showed up by noon, we left ...

We chose to walk down the Drive toward Broadway where Flora bought a bus pass at the drugstore ... we headed east to Victoria Drive and crossed over to North Grandview Highway which follows the Millennium Skytrain route ...

A brief stop at the Chinese Buddhist temple on Victoria and Broadway where we rang the gate button ... a lady came to say the temple was closed for lunch so we decided to return another time ... visitors must book an appointment to tour the temple ... behind the circular wrought iron gate and up three wide steps, the entrance to the temple is perfectly symmetrical ... a tall sculpture like an oversize incense burner stands in the centre, surrounded by two steeply curved stairways to an upper landing ... behind the sculpture are bonsai shrubs and flowers ... the atmosphere is serene and stately in spite of heavy traffic just 10 feet away.

The Grandview walkway (Central Valley Parkway, route for cyclists as well http://vancouver.ca/ENGSVCS/streets/greenways/city/central.htm) meanders along the north side of the skytrain canyon and is bordered by well groomed lawns, shrubs, maple, birch, fir, spruce and cedar trees ... ferns grace the gardens between the shrubs ... the leaves have disappeared from the wild rose bushes, but the bright red rose hip berries still cling to the branches.

In Vancouver, the Central Valley Greenway is being developed in several phases, with the first phase complete on Grandview Highway North between Commercial Drive and Slocan Street. This phase of the greenway opened in 2001 and includes several innovations and public amenities including: bike streets which are closed to vehicle traffic, improved lighting, native habitat restoration, recycled materials, drinking fountains, a butterfly garden, a bocce court, seating areas and public art.

At the intersections along Grandview are a variety of seating structures covered in bright multi-colored tiles: the Victoria Drive structure is a three-level stepping platform; at Lakewood is a large low circular bench; at Nanaimo Street, a park-type bench completely tiled from the back down to the feet ... just west of Nanaimo is a large rough-hewn stone seating area resembling an ancient druid circle within which lie long thick slabs stacked on top of and perpendicular to each other ... the top slabs are connected by steel plates with a three-inch opening between them ... in that narrow space, an inscription reads that this sculpture was a Translink Project 2000 and a SOFA CUNAIT Project 2002 involving several community groups ... two of the lower slabs have bowl-shaped hollows for catching rain (perhaps as drinking water for dogs) ... the designer of this very interesting piece was D.S. Fushtey and the granite slabs were brought from (-- can't remember the name --) Inlet up the BC coast.

Beyond Nanaimo Street, the gardens gave way to simple lawns as the area opened up near the Rona Centre at Renfrew Skytrain station ... we made a pit stop at Rona and munched on free popcorn as we admired the Christmas decorations.

As our feet were tired and our stomachs empty, we rode the skytrain back to Broadway Station ... the #20 bus pulled in at that moment and we climbed on board where we met a retired former coworker of Flora's who is interested in joining our Saturday morning walks ... after a light bag lunch at Britannia Centre, Flora joined other seniors for card games and I joined the computer to make this log entry.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE

Our walking group now has a name, selected at last Thursday's potluck luncheon ... we are now called

"BEST FOOT FORWARD, Britannia Seniors 55+ Walking Group" ... starting in January the group will meet every TUESDAY and SATURDAY at 10:30 am (please note new time) and we look forward to having more people join us for either or both of these days.

Contributor Virginia B