WELCOME TO ALL WHO WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT BRITANNIA

& SURROUNDING AREA CAN OFFER TO OUR 55 plus.


Monday, September 28, 2009

Senior's thoughts


Senior citizens are constantly being criticized
for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world,
real or imaginary.
We know we take responsibility
for all we have done and do not blame others.

HOWEVER,
upon reflection,
we would like to point out
that it was NOT the senior citizens who took:

The melody out of music,

The pride out of appearance,

The courtesy out of driving,

The romance out of love,

The commitment out of marriage,

The responsibility out of parenthood,

The togetherness out of the family,

The learning out of education,

The service out of patriotism,

The Golden Rule from rulers,

The nativity scene out of cities,

The civility out of behavior,

The refinement out of language,

The dedication out of employment,

The prudence out of spending,

The ambition out of achievement,
or,God out of government and school.
And we certainly are NOT the ones
who eliminated
patience and tolerance
from personal relationships and interactions with others!!
And, we do understand the meaning
of patriotism,
and remember those who have fought and died
for our country.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Walking Grp Sat 26th Sep

Sep.26-2009-walking club.
We started with 5 persons Deborah, Flora, Susan, Marie & me. (Linda) We went to New Brighton park and walk to Powell St.to take no 4 bus. At the bus stop Deborah went back home. After the walk we went to Tina's for coffee as it was Isabella`s birthday. We celebrates with a birthday cake and glass wine. It was a nice walk and social day,
Ciao Linda


About the ParkAn unusual combination of outdoor recreation space, industrial facilities, and memorable views, New Brighton is a popular and exciting park. Captivating views of the North Shore, Burrard Inlet, and the grain elevators of Cascadia Terminals are available from the walking trails, outdoor pool, and beach areas.





Below sitted is Tina & hubby George.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Drift

This is from Therese Milis (55+ artist). She has displayed her work at Artful Sundays at Britannia.
Hi there,
The 5th Annual Drift - Art on Main Street Art Walk & Open Studio Tour is on October 3 & 4, 2009.
Over 100 artists, 35 Artists’ Working Studios & 80 Main Street Shops, Cafes & Galleries team up to host this free 2-day art party! Art will be showing in Main Street Shops and studios October 1-15.
Please note that is opening gala on Friday evening, Oct 2 is cancelled.

I will be showcasing my artwork at MAINSPACE 350 E 2nd Avenue #7 on the attached map.
This year I have been mainly working on Irish monuments, highlighting ancient Irish castles crosses and abbeys.
The Drift is a self-guided art tour. Pick up a Drift 2009 Tour Guide & Map and drift along Main Street in and out of the many small shops and cafes hosting an artist. Meet the artists who will be doing live demonstrations at many of the Drift retail partner locations.
Information:
Art Walk:
Saturday and Sunday, October 3 - 4th, 2009
Main Street, from Industrial to 33rd Avenue
Maps and program can be found at: www.thedrift.ca

Monday, September 21, 2009

Walking club 16Sept



6 people went on the walk , Marilyn, Linda, Ken, Judy, susan, Mariewe walked down the Drive to sky train and got the Millineum train toto New West station (quay).
Walk on Sept 19 2009, to New West Quay, we saw the Royal City stern wheel which was part of Casino now closed and the quay market is closed now.at the quay there are paddle wheel tours on the river and 32 foot soldier created by the royal western Regiment in new west at 6Th and queens Avenue. There is a children activity centre M.V. Expo tugger where they can interact sailing a tug this was created in l986.First market was in New West 1892-1898 bustling market on front street, then moved to Columbia l947-l986, when the quay was built.We saw lots of lovely flowers on the quay walk and 3 Lagoons in the residences on the quay with water fountains. Lulu Island on the river was named after Lulu sweet a debutante who was touring New West and Victoria.there is a park and washroom facilities with a cement submarine and Light House for the children to play as well as playground. In 1860 the first sawmill was built at Fraser mills.Across the river from quay there was a BC ferries dock possible being serviced.

At l:OO PM we sat looking out at the river and ate snack, then walked back to Skytrain , we toured the Samson V Museum which is free and open l2-5 Thurs to Sun and holidays, this stern wheeler sailed up and down the Fraser river and it is 1937 steam powered boat. add information at the end quay walk there is going to construction of underground reservoir with a 7.5 acre waterfront park on top.we walked back to Skytrain and homeward bound. written by Marilyn and Linda supplied Photographs

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Britanna Registration

Every season you are required to register for walks, cycling, knitting etc.. They are a free programs but they need to know who is going or interested in the activities. This is to help them continue the programs & get a idea of whether they are worth running and getting volunteers to help.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Bridge Players Wanted!!!

Bridge Players Wanted
Join us at the AML
Mondays 1-4pm
Al Mattison Lounge
contact
604-718-5837
Lisa Co-ordinator
Mon, Wed & Thursday
10-4
as well whist & cribbage available

Saturday, September 12, 2009

12 Sep Walking Club

The Walking group Sept 12,2009 walked to Commercial/Broadway station to catch the Millennium Line to Brentwood station and then we caught the No. 123 Canada way bus to Deer Lake.
http://www.greatervancouverparks.com/DeerLake01.html
Deer Lake is where the Burnaby Heritage Village is. http://www.findfamilyfun.com/burnabyvillage.htm There is admission fee and on Canada Day is free. There is the old Interurban that use to run from Vancouver to Chilliwack fully restored and lot of early history of greater Burnaby and Vancouver area.
There were 7 people on the walk today, Virginia, Marilyn, Ken , Linda, Emily, and 2 new people Marie and Robert who we welcomed to our walking group on Saturday. We walked through the Century Gardens which was completed in 1967 and Burnaby official flower is the Rhododendron. There is also a community Clay Sculpture Project between Century Gardens and Shad bolt Theatre where there are lots of theatre plays. In the Shadbolt theatre there is a small coffee shop and from there we enjoyed the flowers and a apple tree which Virginia and Robert sampled and said they were delicious.
We walked to the lake and saw lot of Birds and the beach at Deer lake, across the lake we could see priviate residences on the lake, and on the southwest corner there are lots residences on hill, where the Okalla prison and Burnaby made it into deer lake park extension. Robert and Emily decided to walk up to Kingsway up hill, and the rest of walk back to get the l23 and Sky train back to the centre.
Marilyn (walk leader for this walk)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Volunteers Required 19 Sep!!!

Special Event Assistant - Eastside Family Place 30th Birthday Celebration (Sept. 19)

If you like interacting with children and families, meeting new people, having fun and throwing parties, this is the position for you!
Volunteers are wanted to assist with event set-up, decorations, coordination, hosting activities/games, arts & crafts, information and and general event management. The Eastside Family Place is a support and resource centre for famlies with small children and is located by Britannia's Community Centre.
Volunteers must:
Be mature and reliable
Enjoy interacting with children and families
Be outgoing, and able to take directions
Be able to commit to at least one 4-hour shift on Sept 19 (shifts range throughout the day from 9am-5pm)
An orientation/training will be provided on the day of the event. Opportunities include pre-event decorations or on-site. Lunch, drinks, and snacks will be provided on the day of the event.

Charlene Wee Coordinator, Volunteer Program

Britannia Community Services Centre

1661 Napier St. Vancouver BC V5L 4X4

Tel: 604-718-5860

Fax: 604-718-5858

Email: charlene.wee@vancouver.ca

Walking Group 08 Sep

Today Virginia, Therese & me (Laurette) went on out walk. Therese decided to drive us to Science world instead of taking a bus/skytrain. This would suit her well when we finished our walk as she lives not far from the area & instead of coming back to the centre.
We decided to do the walk on the Vancouver community web site which has a list of walks. This one was one of the 2010 Olympic walks. Well I had the brochure & we followed it as best we could but came to a barricaded area due to a crane & work being done. So we detoured & came upon the dedication to Terry Fox near Gate A at BC Place.
After our walk we went for lunch on Main st at subway & then Therese went home. It was early so Virginia & I went to Metrotown & as well went to see the Dinosaurs. After walking all over, took a coffee break & we set off for home tired.
Scroll down for info & pictures.
False Creek
Take a walk around Vancouver’s Olympic venues. Become familiar with forthcoming Olympic sites and their surroundings. Share the beauty of our City with friends and relatives.Start at the southeast corner of False Creek. Walk west beside the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Village toward the Cambie Street Bridge. Take the stairs up to the bridge and go north to BC Place. Follow the walkway that leads to the northwest corner of BC Place. Walk around BC Place and take the south overpass to return to the False Creek Seawall. Continue east along the seawall until you return to the Village site

Above is Virginia & Therese at the Seawall bridge by the Olympic & Paralympic Village. As well below is a new piece of art they have put up. Nearly missed.

Below is the the Terry Fox Monument Below are the Dinosaurs at the mall. Wow, they had a small baby one that you could push buttons & get it to interact a bit, cute.




Sunday, September 6, 2009

05 Sept Walking Club

When I arrived at Britannia Seniors Centre, Linda was waiting outside. Soon Paul came out to explain that the centre had been booked to an outside group for a sleepover so we wouldn't have the use of it for the weekend; he apologized for the inconvenience and offered the library for TV and computers.

Brian and Emily showed up soon after and, given the state of the weather - cloudy with occasional light showers - we decided to wait to see if anyone else might show. While we waited, we spoke with one of the Britannia High School students who was chaperoning the sleepover. He told us that a group of Grade 5-11 students from a small isolated community in the Stikine Valley [north of Pemberton] were here for the final weekend of the PNE.

Yesterday they were treated to rides at Playland on the PNE grounds and today the group would see the Super Dogs and other special events. Tonight, they will attend the hockey game between Canada and Sweden and have seats in the Luongo box for this event. What a wonderful experience these young people are having, something they will always remember with pleasure. Brit Seniors were happy to give up our space so these students could enjoy their first trip to the big city.

From the #20 Downtown bus, we transferred to the #19 Stanley Park. On the bus, we met a group of out-of-town students who just arrived to attend Simon Fraser University. One girl was from Ontario, one from Penticton and the other from Iran. This week is their orientation and they are being shown the city by a Vancouver student; today they were on their way to the aquarium.

At Stanley Park our walk took us into the woods; we followed the miniature railway thinking we were headed straight for the north seawall of Stanley Park, but we ended up back where we started. After a brief stop at a 25-foot Grecian Pillar commemorating WWII battlegrounds in which over 100,000 Canadians lost their lives, we followed a trail to Lumberman's Arch where Brian took a photo. Past the arch, we caught the Trolley Bus which took us around the park to the Teahouse at Third Beach where we stopped for fish and chips, cheesecake and coffee.

Our walk continued along the seawall to Second Beach and English Bay. At Denman and Davie Streets, we were met by a small group of people carrying signs that read, "Free Hugs", so we all hugged each other then boarded the #5 Robson bus to Pender Street. Brian left to catch the Sky Train, Emily went on to Chinatown and Linda and I returned to Commercial Drive.

All in all, it was a day full of surprises. Emily commented that one of the reasons she enjoys being with our group (this is her third outing) is that we find interesting people and events and make them part of our walking experience.
Contributor Virginia

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

White Rock/Buddhist Temple Bus Trip

Today we went on a local bus trip for an outing. We started out with 16 persons as we had 3 no shows. We went first to the largest Buddhist Monastery in Richmond as you will see on the video I have made. While there, one of the seniors tripped & was not well so she left the group with her hubby.
Afterwards we went to White rock. Once we got there we all broke up into different groups & went for lunch. Most of us walked the 2 1/2klm long promenade following the railway & out onto the 1,500 foot long pier. It was a mild day, overcast but no rain.
Originally we were suppose to go in July but the bus broke down & we rescheduled for this date. In a way it was a good thing as we were having a heat wave that week & the weather was unbearable. Blessing in disguise for us. But today was perfect.
The large, white rock figures prominently in narratives of the local Coast Salish native peoples. One legend holds that the Transformers, emissaries of the Sagalie Tyee, the Creator, once passed. Another legend holds that the white rock marks the landing spot of a stone that was hurled across the Strait of Georgia by a young Indian chief.[4] It was said that he and his bride would move from Vancouver Island to wherever the rock landed to make a home together. It was their descendants who became the Semiahmoo first nation. ('Semiahmoo' is the Coast Salish word for 'half-moon', describing the shape of the bay