I never made my mother any macaroni art but I was a champion at adorning construction paper cards with stickers, and felt pen drawings that would bleed through the front cover and speckle the inside page. The delivery of said card was usually followed by coffee and toast in bed, and possibly a flower arrangement pieced together with blossoms from our front garden. Mother’s Day in our house was always about time spent, not items bought — unless you count cake, we always had cake. If you are looking to spend some quality time with the mom in your life this Sunday, here are a few special events and activities happening around Vancouver:
Mother’s Day at the Bloedel Conservatory
Sunday, May 10, 2015 from 10:00am to 4:00pm
This exotic attraction at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park is offering up a Mother’s Day Package for $28 that includes one adult admission to the conservatory, an exclusive silver Umay pendant ($20 value) and special treats from Truffles Fine Foods, Daniel Chocolate, Barefoot Venus, and Evian. Advanced purchase only, purchase online here. Regular conservatory admission rates apply for additional guests.
Mother’s Day at The Glades Garden in Surrey
Sunday, May 10, 2015 from 10:00am to 4:00pm
Celebrate Mother’s Day in a stunning woodland garden with live music from the Armadillo String Quartet among masses of rhododendrons in full bloom. Gourmet coffees, teas and hot chocolate available for purchase, as well as a spring plant sale. Cash sales only. Advance tickets $5 per person, $7 at the gate with kids 12 and under free. Rain or shine, no pets. Call 604-501-5100 or register online (course #4404222).
Mother’s Day Brunch at Dockside
Sunday, May 10, 2015 seatings at 10:00am and 1:00pm
Dockside Restaurant at the Granville Island Hotel celebrates Mother’s Day with the Marketplace Brunch Buffet, a spectacular Granville Island Public Market-themed feast. Reservations are required, call 604-685-7070 to book.
Mother’s Day Brunch at Hycroft
Sunday, May 10, 2015 from 11:30am to 1:30pm
Enjoy brunch in Vancouver’s most famous and elegant manor with a no-host cash bar featuring mimosas at 11:00am. Indulge in a sweet and savoury selection of gourmet menu items like smoked BC salmon, poached free range eggs with spinach and béchamel sauce, baked black forest ham and mushroom crêpes, and other delightful treats made by our very own Chef Walter Messiah. Registration deadline is Wednesday, May 6th.
Mother’s Day High Tea at Secret Garden
Saturday, May 9th and Sunday, May 10th, 2015 at 12:00pm, 2:15pm and 4:30pm
A special Mother’s Day High Tea menu includes Secret Garden egg pinwheels, prawn cake sliders, roast beef tenderloin and rosemary pesto on petit pretzel buns, chai latte mini cake with malted white chocolate ganache, scone with raspberry jam and devonshire cream, tangy mini lemon tart, rhubarb and raspberry chevre cheesecake, milk chocolate-gianduja mousse teapot, and a special take-home treat. Vegetarian and gluten free options available. Space is limited, call 604-261-3070 to reserve.
Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea at Urban Tea Merchant
Friday, May 8th; Saturday, May 9th; Sunday, May 10th, 2015
Mother’s Day Brunch Service features a three-tier platter filled with savouries such as scrambled egg with Northern Divine Caviar and creme fraiche and sweets such as “Lemon Bush Tea” Panna Cotta. Sitting times are 9:30am and, 11:30am. Mother’s Day Tea Service features a selection of handcrafted tea-infused tea sandwiches, petite savories, and delightful sweets. Sitting Times: 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm. Reservations are required, call 604-692-0071.
Hard Rock Casino: Mother’s Day Brunch
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Mother’s Day Brunch seatings at 10:30am, 11:00am, and 1:00pm featuring a buffet lunch with live action stations, non-alcoholic beverages, $5 mimosas, and live entertainment from the legendary Dal Richards and his orchestra. All ages welcome, kids 5 and under free. For reservations call 604-516-7147.
Township 7 Winery: Mother’s Day Lunch & Spring Release Celebration
Sunday, May 10, 2015 from 11:30am to 4:00pm
Indulge in an epicurean afternoon with a scrumptious French inspired brunch in the vineyard. Township 7 is celebrating at their south
Langley winery with a delicious three course alfresco meal (a fresh salad,design your own crêpe station, and a homemade dessert) by Chef John Walls of the Culinary House of Magic, paired with a glass of your choice of wine. Be entertained with the acoustic tunes of Paul Tobin and moms get a free gift. Purchase tickets online in advance.
Roedde House Museum Second Sunday Concert Series
Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 3:00pm
Roedde House Museum present their Second Sunday Concert Series – Sounds of Spring on Mother’s Day in the parlour with Jeff Pelletier (flute), Julie Begg (clarinet), and Karen Lee-Morlang (piano). These three high energy players present a seasonal program featuring works by Honegger, Dorff, and Horovitz. A late Victorian home in the heart of Vancouver’s West End, Roedde House was built for Gustav and Mathilda Roedde in 1893. It’s worth a visit on its own and the spring concert series is an extra special treat. Purchase tickets online in advance.
Bloom Market, Fort Langley
Saturday, May 9th and Sunday, May 10th from 11:00am to 5:00pm
Browse the Bloom Market in the historic Fort Langley Community Hall. It offers home décor, hand crafted jewelry and paintings from over 30 artisans from across British Columbia. A perfect spot to grab that last minute Mother’s Day Gift or take your mom on a shopping spree. Admission is $2 and all the proceeds go to the Langley Food Bank.
Founded as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, New Westminster is rich in history and with many new developments, it has a very bright future. Located on the banks of the Mighty Fraser River, the Royal City is steeped in culture and industry. Most photos feature the SkyBridge, the historic downtown, and the riverfront but Queen’s Park, Sapperton, Uptown, and Queensborough are also worth exploring. New Westminster is today’s 604 Corners photo feature:
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity we are so excited,” says Emily Zurrer, Canadian Women’s National Team member who will play in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by Canada this summer.
Emily has enjoyed a stellar soccer career around the world and is once again representing Canada as a part of the 23 person national team roster.
This morning she was out with the Killarney Youth Soccer Association, one of the local community soccer clubs that has qualified for a donation of up to $5,000 as part of the Mondelez Pride and Joy campaign. I caught up with her on the phone afterwards.
“The sport is growing and women’s soccer is growing in general, and to be able to be a young player and to see your national team and your idols play is pivotal. I certainly remember being that age and looking up to the national team players when I was young so to be able to do it actually physically in Canada and to give them the opportunity to see us first hand I think is an amazing opportunity for soccer and for Canadian soccer especially.”
Youth soccer was important to Emily her development as a player and as a person. “We were all one of those players, we are those players at one point in our careers and being able to see that it’s possible to play for your country and to represent Canada on a world stage is incredible.” She adds that being able to interact with youth players first hand, as a national team member, shows the promising young athletes that they can also rise to that level in their soccer careers.
“We have been playing together for a very long time, some of us 10 years, some of us even longer than that. We’re pretty much like family now. We are family. I think that connection is one of our strongest assets heading into this tournament.”
Emily has played for teams in Sweden, Germany, and the USA, but she’s a born and raised BC girl at heart — her food truck Sweet Ride Froyo n’ Waffles even won “Best New Food Product” at the PNE last year. She and teammate/co-owner Selenia Iacchelli won’t be serving up cups of froyo this summer though, their eyes are on another type of cup, made of gold.
“Every year each of us will go and play for our respective professional team and clubs, then we meet back for camps and games throughout the year. But for major tournaments, before London we did this as well, we usually go into residency so we’ve been in Vancouver for the past 7 months just living together and training on a daily basis in Vancouver.”
While Emily and her teammates are the current stars of soccer in this country, there are many future players who will be inspired by this summer’s tournament.
Soccer is the #1 participatory sport in Canada and is considered the fastest growing sport in the country with 44% of Canadian youth participate in the sport of soccer. These numbers are from Canada Soccer in 2011 and after 2012, Emily says the numbers skyrocketed when she and the Women’s National Team won the bronze medal. “I think after this summer there will be the same increase. Just being able to see players like us on TV and playing in front of crowds, and representing the maple leaf I think will inspire a lot of young players to want to do the same one day.”
There are 850,000 registered soccer players in Canada (2011) and over 40% of them are female. From empowering youth and building an even higher profile for women in sport, the FIFA Women’s World Cup is set to inspire our entire nation, even more. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in a World Cup but to do it at home, not very many athletes get to do that so we could not be more exited to have it here and host in Canada.”
Pride and Joy App
Starting this month, Canadian soccer fans can download the Pride and Joy Cheer App and cheer on Canada’s Women’s National Team to help raise up-to $100,000 for select Canadian youth soccer clubs. Emily says: “It’s a really cool way to follow the team, cheer for us, and be interactive while supporting clubs across the country.”
Simply by shaking the Pride and Joy Cheer App when Canada’s Women’s National Team play, funds will be raised for selected clubs across Canada. The more you cheer, the more funds are raised, up-to $5,000 per club.
Team Canada in Vancouver
In the group round, the Canadian team starts off at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the home of the opening ceremonies. Round of 16 matches will be played at BC Place in Vancouver on June 21st and June 23rd, quarterfinals on June 27th, and the final will be at BC Place on July 5th.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Canadian Women’s National Team
9 F Josée Bélanger
3 D Kadeisha Buchanan
15 D Allysha Chapman
16 F Jonelle Filigno
17 M Jessie Fleming
5 D Robyn Gayle
18 M Selenia Iacchelli
6 M Kaylyn Kyle
21 GK Stephanie Labbé
22 M Ashley Lawrence
23 GK Karina LeBlanc
19 F Adriana Leon
8 M Diana Matheson
1 GK Erin McLeod
4 D Carmelina Moscato
20 D Marie-Eve Nault
13 M Sophie Schmidt
11 M Desiree Scot
10 D Lauren Sesselmann
12 F Christine Sinclair
14 F Melissa Tancredi
7 D Rhian Wilkinson
2 D Emily Zurrer
For the 15th year, Heritage Vancouver has release its annual list of the Top 10 Endangered Heritage Sites in Vancouver. From schools and churches to houses to hospitals, these sites are noted for the critical threats facing their existence and their significance to their communities.
St Paul’s Hospital 1923. Archives# Bu N251.
Top 10 Endangered Heritage Sites 2015
#1 Point Grey Secondary School (1929)
Point Grey Secondary School is an important and impressive historical landmark in the Kerrisdale community. Built in 1929, it is one of Vancouver’s oldest, prominent and significant high schools. It is currently threatened by the Vancouver School Board’s approach to the seismic mitigation program. Many other heritage schools in Vancouver have already been lost, and it is time to stem the tide.
#2 St. Paul’s Hospital – Burrard Building (1912-13, 1930)
On April 13, 2015 the Province of BC and Providence Health Care announced plans to move St. Paul’s Hospital from its historic Burrard Street location to a new health care campus on Station Street. The existing site would be sold for residential and commercial development in order to generate a major part of the $1 billion-plus budget for the new facilities. This jeopardizes the future of the historic Burrard Building.
#3 Oakridge United Church (1949)
This is the second year in a row that heritage churches are featured on our Top10 Watch List. At 305 West 41st Avenue, the distinctive Oakridge United Church is threatened with demolition. There is declining attendance at the two congregations that share the church and only the St. Giles Community Preschool, which occupies the lower level, is thriving. There is a proposal to build a 6-storey residential building as allowed under the new Cambie Corridor Plan. This would accommodate a small church facility, but would displace the Preschool.
#4 Marine Garden’s Townhouses: Mid-century Housing Innovation
Featured during the Habitat ’76 UN-sponsored convference, was the Marine Gardens townhouse complex at SW Marine Drive and Cambie Street. Designed in 1974 by architect Michael Katz and landscape maven Cornelia Oberlander, the complex was a utopian example of how to provide dense living (45 units/acre) while maintaining a caring community and generous tree-filled public spaces for families to play in. Since then, this model has demonstrated how livable this community is; 70 family-sized units available at an affordable price have provided space for many families to grow. This fragment of a more visionary time will soon be demolished in favour of two anonymous glass towers.
Carrall Street, looking north in 1907. Photo by Philip T. Timms. Archives# CVA 677-577.
#5 Gastown
In the late 1960s freeway construction threatened to demolish the historic heart of Vancouver: Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona. A committed group of citizens and local politicians were able to stop the destruction, and in 1971 Gastown and Chinatown were designated as “Historic Areas” by the Provincial Government.
Today this area is once more threatened by a number of development proposals unsympathetic to the height, profile and rhythm of the streetscape due to the suspension of a number of these critical incentive programs. Multiple proposals of this nature are now coming forward. Some are proposing demolition of designated heritage-designated buildings without even the retention of their historic facades.
#6 The Disappearing Design Legacy of C.B.K. Van Normans
With the demolition of Dunbar’s favorite “castle”, or French Norman storybook house, at 3815 West 39th Avenue, the pressure has increased for insensitive developers, realtors and architects to finally acknowledge that there is a higher value – other than just monetary – in the character of our historic the inherent value of neighbourhoods and their unique period houses. Of over two hundred houses designed by prominent local architect C.B.K. Van Norman, only about 25-29 remain, the rest fallen to development. Despite his facile use of any period style, he was known as “the father of modern architecture in Vancouver.”
#7 First block of East Hastings, South Side
In recent years, the Downtown Eastside has weathered ever-increasing pressures for both residential and commercial developments, with mixed results, both socially and architecturally. This pressure affects two of the first four buildings in this block, that together present an undisturbed heritage streetscape that merits preservation.
#8 Terminal Avenue
Industrial Buildings/Vancouver’s Disappearing Industrial Heritage
This handsome group of industrial buildings fronting Terminal and Western on False Creek Flats are some of the last original industrial heritage buildings remaining in the Eastern Core. The group facing Terminal Avenue was purpose-built for Massey Harris farm implements, the BC Valve Company, and Vancouver Neon Products, all in the early to mid 1920s. Other buildings located on Western Street between Northern, Central and Southern Streets were constructed for lighter industrial uses like canning, meatpacking, lumber services and machinist shops. Altogether this industrial group represents a wonderful microcosm of Vancouver’s industrial growth after eastern False Creek was filled, with a corresponding change in industry to reflect the times.
#9 East Hastings Street – Heatley to Campbell
In 1996, Vancouver City Council approved a policy to “let go” of the industrial frontages along East Hastings from Heatley Avenue to Victoria Drive. The draft Local Area Plan proposes the creation of a ‘high-street’ along East Hastings from Heatley to Clark as a part of the renewal of the area. Ill-considered development along this corridor could impact critical heritage and cultural landmarks at an accelerating rate. Unrecognized but important heritage assets remain unprotected and could be lost, or could alternatively be retained and rehabilitated to serve as a basis for a renewed local shopping area.
#10 Commercial Drive – Grandview’s main street
Commercial Drive has evolved over the years into a street that is an interesting mixture of textures, tastes, cultures and activities. It is outstanding not only for its significant heritage buildings but also for its sense of place, experience and uniqueness. As Vancouver continues to grow eastward, the pressures to develop this site to its allowable four-storey height limit could create a dreary blandness that would destroy what is important about ‘The Drive.’
1927: Commerical Drive at 2nd Ave. Archives #CVA 105-1.
Past lists have included the First Shaughnessy area (currently protected by a moratorium on demolition by the City of Vancouver), the Waldorf Hotel, Legg House, and numerous historic schools and war memorials.
Tour
On Saturday, May 9th, you can join Heritage Vancouver for a tour of these sites, departing the Museum of Vancouver at 1:00pm. Click here for more details. A Transit Museum Society (TRAMS) historic bus will be used for the tour and heritage expert, author, and consultant Donald Luxton will act as guide, sharing stories and historical facts about each of the sites. The bus will stop at two of the most intriguing sites for brief tours and a talk with a guest speaker representing the area.
Under colourful flags and strings of lanterns swaying in the warm summer air at twilight, fried fare, exotic delicacies, and cheap merchandise can be found at a number of local night markets. They’re as famous for their unique foods-on-sticks and entertainment as they are for their lively ambiance and people watching. Here is a list of Vancouver area night markets that you can look forward to this season:
Website | Facebook | Twitter Location: 12631 Vulcan Way, Richmond (behind Home Depot) Dates/Hours: May 8th to September 27th, 2015
Fridays and Saturdays 6:00pm to 11:00pm; Sundays 6:00pm to 10:00pm Admission & Details: Free admission, free Wi-Fi, free shuttle from Bridgeport Station.
Richmond Night Market
Website Location: 8351 River Road, Richmond Dates/Hours: May 15th to October 12th, 2015
Fridays and Saturdays 7:00pm to 12:00am; Sundays and Holidays 7:00pm to 11:00pm Admission & Details: $2.25, free for children 10 and under, free for seniors 60+. $20 Zoom Passes are available for 10 repeat visits plus 5 bonus visits. The theme is “Magical Candyland” and the market features food booths, vendors, and a candy shop.
Shipyards Night Market North Vancouver
Website | Facebook | Twitter Location: Shipbuilders’ Square, Wallace Mews Rd, North Vancouver Dates/Hours: May 1st to September 25th, 2015
Friday nights from 5:00pm to 10:00pm Admission & Details: Free admission. The Shipyards Night Market features with local products, showcasing BC’s artisans, bakers and farmers along with entertainment on the Shipbuilders’ Stage and a Beer Garden, with local beer, organic Betty’s Vodka Iced Tea, wines and ciders.
Surrey Night Market — CLOSED in SEPT
Website | Facebook | Twitter Location: Cloverdale Exhibition Grounds, 17726 62 Ave, Surrey Dates/Hours: May 29th to September 20th, 2015
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday from 6:00pm to 11:00pm Admission & Details: $2.00 for adults, free for families of all Canadian Forces personnel and Veterans living in BC, children less than 48″ in height when accompanied by their families, those in wheelchairs, and seniors over 75 years. Sample a wide variety of foods, services and goods, and enjoy performances by local entertainers, rides for kids, door prizes, free parking.
UPDATE: Closed in September due to the windstorm in late August
NEW! Vancouver Night Market
Website Location: Plaza of Nations, 750 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver Dates/Hours: June 20th to September 12th, 2015
Saturdays from 5:00pm to 10:00pm Admission & Details: Live music, food trucks, craft beer and more. No admission price listed.
All admission prices are as listed at time of publishing. All are subject to change.
