Tonight, City Hall will glow orange in recognition of the Vancouver Punjabi Market‘s 50th anniversary. This was the first and largest South Asian Market in North America and although it had humble beginnings on Main Street (between 48th and 51st Avenues), the area transformed into a major cultural hub.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation Photo. The Vancouver Punjabi Market was home of the first Punjabi-language street signs outside of Asia.
May 31, 1970: Sucha Singh Claire opens Shaan Saari’s with a dream of building an ethnic enclave like the one he saw in Southhall, London.
1973: Kewal Pabla opens Himalaya Restaurant, a place where Vancouverites can sample “Pabla’s Exotic East Indian Food & Sweets.”
1979: The Vaisakhi festival was celebrated for the first time on the streets of Vancouver to celebrate the birth of Khalsa.
1980’s: The rest of Vancouver is awakened to the “Little Punjab” growing on a small stretch of South Main.
1993: Vancouver’s Punjabi Market becomes home to the world’s first Punjabi street signs outside of Asia.
2019: City Council voted to pass Motion B.4: “Punjabi Market at Fifty: Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future.”
The Vancouver Punjabi Market is also recognized as one of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s “Places That Matter to Vancouver“:
With the growth of the South Asian community in south Vancouver, Punjabi Market quickly became the heartbeat of the neighbourhood. More than just a market, the community of shops, restaurants and grocery stores provides a connection to homelands across South Asia and a place to learn more about these diasporas in Vancouver.Every year tens of thousands of people congregate in the Punjabi Market to celebrate the Vaisakhi Parade, one of Vancouver’s landmark events.
The #CHVCatchUp is a new monthly series featuring the latest updates and news from Covenant House Vancouver. Miss604 is proud to be the Official Blog Partner of CHV.
On Friday, July 10th Covenant House Vancouver will host its first virtual Sleep Out: Home Edition. As a virtual event, Covenant House is encouraging people to Sleep Out “together” in solidarity with homeless youth while remaining physically apart to raise funds and awareness for youth experiencing homelessness.
Covenant House Sleep Out: Home Edition
Registration:$20 per person and will remain open until July 10, 2020. Sleep Out: Home Edition is open to all ages.
Covenant House is challenging individuals, families, and businesses to spend one night on their living room floor, on their balcony or in their backyard, and raise crucial funds to support the Street Outreach Program.
This is a special opportunity to be a part of a positive movement that will bring the community together to help the most vulnerable youth. This event aims to raise $100,000 for the program.
Sleepers choose where and how they Sleep Out (somewhere safe and legal). This flexible event allows you to have an impact on youth experiencing homelessness while choosing what your event day/evening looks like. Many participants will Sleep Out in their own backyards, while others Sleep Out in their living rooms and on their kitchen floors.
Covenant House Vancouver will provide online programming the evening of the event and the morning after.
I participated in the Covenant House Sleep Out for four years. It was uncomfortable, unnerving, and a long and sleepless night — but that’s the point. It’s all for an amazing cause and very worthy of your participation. Read about my first experience in 2013 here, which kept me coming back to support the cause. Register as a team or individual today »
One of my Covenant House Sleep Out experiences
Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has been providing love and hope to youth experiencing homelessness. They are the premiere service provider of residential and outreach services for homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 in Vancouver.
You can change the life of a young person today. You can give love and hope to someone in need. Every gift, no matter how small, goes towards providing food and shelter, counselling, and mental health support for homeless and at-risk youth in our community. Donation matching on NOW until June 30, 2020 « Make a donation to Covenant House Vancouver Today »
We’ve had about a week of Phase 2 re-openings and British Columbians have been taking advantage of wide open spaces (and camping reservations). While we can’t meet in person for events like we used to, there is still a great lineup of virtual and online entertainment, along with options for fresh-air fun. Find these and more things to do in Vancouver this weekend listed below:
At the beginning of May, it was announced that stores would be closing permanently and now with merchandise that’s ready to move one last time, Army & Navy is hosting a liquidation sale.
Army & Navy is Hosting a Liquidation Sale
1942 Army and Navy Annex. Archives #CVA 1184-330
Army & Navy will be opening its doors one last time for a multimillion-dollar liquidation sale in New Westminster (Army & Navy – 502 Columbia Street) and Calgary, beginning Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 10:00am local time.
Founder Sam Cohen’s philosophy of “Buy cheap, sell cheap. Pass the deal onto the customer” will be on full display with the entire store inventory of fresh goods, in all departments, on sale. For ladies’ spring-summer apparel and shoes, that means 40% off, with all other inventory, including men’s apparel, workwear, fishing and outdoor supplies, plus groceries at a 25% discount.
The 80,000 square foot New Westminster store will host the sale, adhering to all government guidelines on safety and cleaning.
Discounts
In New Westminster, 4000+ pairs of women’s shoes, originally priced at $49.99 for the annual shoe sale will be an additional 40% off. Brand names include Nine West, Naturalizer, BCBG, Anne Klein, Sam Edelman, Hush Puppy and Bandolino.
Fishing gear that includes the industry’s top brands, among them, Shimano, Daiwa. Gibbs, Fenwick, Scotty and more will be offered at a 25% discount
Outdoor gear featuring Coleman, Kuma, Yanes, Coghlans and World Famous will also be discounted at 25%
Men’s work boots and workwear with names that include Dickies, Caterpillar, Reebok, and Viking will see an additional 25% savings
Bedding, bath & housewares, along with luggage and groceries — 25% off
From the sandy beaches and coastal forests of Tofino to the cascade at Takakkaw Falls, UNESCO World Heritage Sites to centuries-old fortifications and lighthouses, some Parks Canada Sites are set to re-open in June.
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park
Parks Canada Sites Re-Open June 1, 2020
Starting June 1, 2020, some operations will gradually resume at certain Parks Canada places. You will soon be able to enjoy some trails, day use areas, green spaces, and some access for recreational boating.
All camping facilities remain closed until at least June 21st, while Parks Canada assesses whether and how these services might resume.
Opening dates, visitor access and services will vary across the country depending on the measures in place in each province and territory.
In Metro Vancouver
Starting June 8, 2020, Fort Langley National Historic Site will offer limited visitor access and basic services. Visitors will be able to access the following services and facilities:
Grounds of Fort Langley National Historic Site including inside the palisade walls, the orchard, and riverfront trails;
Public toilets located behind the café;
Parking lot and picnic tables.
Until June 8, these facilities remain closed and they ask that visitors respect these closures in order to allow staff to do the necessary work to prepare for opening.
Visiting Fort Langley National Historic Site will be different than it has been in the past. All historic buildings will be closed. There will be no costumed interpreters, group activities, public events or oTENTik stays at this time.
The current of suspension of visitor services at Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site as well as the temporary closure of visitor facilities, will remain in place until further notice. Interpretive programming, group programs and events at Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site are suspended until at least June 30, 2020.
Check the following listings for updates on a National Park or National Historic Site in your region:
Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Site of Canada Traversed by Palliser expedition, 1857-60; adopted by Canadian Pacific Railway as their new route through the Rockies, 1881 Yoho National Park, British Columbia
The Britannia Mine Museum will once again be welcoming visitors to its historic educational tourist destination as it reopens to members and local Squamish residents on the weekend of May 30-31, and to the general public on Monday, June 1, 2020.
The Britannia Mine Museum Re-Opens
It’s one of my favourite local attractions because it is FULL of history (and there was a time when my whole family took a zodiac up Howe Sound to get there). The Britannia Mine Museum was established in 1974 as a non-profit organization to celebrate the contributions of mining and minerals to society, the history of the storied Britannia Beach community and the ideas and practices of environmental renewal and sustainability.
Boom!
Operating hours will be 9:00am to 5:00pm with limited guided tours and BOOM! showings in order to maintain proper physical distancing. There will be new COVID-19 safety measures and procedures in place, including enhanced staff training, opening with limited attendance and tour sizes, advanced ticketing and reservation required, accommodating appropriate physical distancing, and implementing site sanitation protocols.
The Museum is multi-award winning and highly regarded, consistently receiving 4.5 stars (out of a possible 5) on TripAdvisor. It provides visitors with a unique blend of experiences, serving as a tourist destination, an adventure attraction and an education venue that allows guests to leave with a better understanding of mining in BC: its past, present and future.
Visitors can enjoy fun, educational exhibits, attractions and crowd favourites, like:
BOOM! Mill Show: A live-action, multi-sensory special effects experience that brings the historic 20-storey Mill building back to life, transporting visitors back in time to the 1920s when the Mine was booming as the largest copper producer in the British Commonwealth.
Historic Mill Building: A National Historic Site and one of the last remaining gravity-fed concentrator mills in North America, the 20-storey Mill building has been the symbol of Britannia throughout the years. Restored in 2007, each of the 14,416 panes of glass was hand-puttied into the frames to maintain its heritage and the building can be seen from miles away on the Sea-to-Sky highway.
Underground Mine & Train Ride: A memorable underground train that takes visitors deep inside a mining tunnel where they will experience what life was like for miners in the 70 years Britannia existed as a mine.
Beaty-Lundin Visitor Centre: The central exhibit hall that houses several mining displays, a mineral gallery, theatre space, and gift shop.
Machine Shop – The 1908 Machine Shop is home to a number of historic machines and equipment donated by mining companies from across the country.
The Britannia Story Building – A fully restored heritage building that features the stories of the Britannia Beach community ranging from love letters and antiques to historic photos and videos of former Copper Queens, showcasing what life was like in the old mining town.
Gold Panning Area – A scenic boardwalk and cedar-post covered area where people can spend hours panning for gems and real gold.
Follow the Britannia Mine Museum on Facebook and Twitter for updates. The Museum is located right off the Sea to Sky Highway at 1 Forbes Way, Britannia Beach.
