There is beauty in the rain, and it’s a large part of why Vancouverites tolerate it for so long throughout the year. It washes away days of dirt, leaves, and debris, and it keeps our natural surroundings lush and green. It clears the air, fills our reservoirs and mountain streams, and gives us excellent excuses for purchasing the latest gumboots and Gore-Tex.

Photo credit: Clayton Perry on Flickr

I searched Vimeo for Vancouver rain videos and I found these great gems:

Vancouver Rain from Jordan Megahy on Vimeo.

And one for after the storm:

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The City of Vancouver Archives will present their fifth annual screening of “Vancouver – A Progressive City!” at the Vancity Theatre this November. This popular screening, complete with a wide range of newsreel footage, home movies, industrial and promotional films, will focus on Vancouver from the 1930s-1960s.

1946. Airline stewardess passing the “Vancouver, City of Destiny” film to a man at the airport. Archives# CVA 1184-2349. Photographer: Jack Lindsay

Local historian Michael Kluckner will provide historical commentary with emphasis on Vancouver’s workforce, celebrations, and the city’s commerce, heritage and culture.

Some of this year’s archival highlights will include the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge, early milk delivery service, the Grey Cup and Shriners parades, and television spots reporting on the community. The screening will also feature a special cameo appearance of Vancouver’s first city archivist, Major J.S. Matthews.

Another screening, “Vintage Vancouver“, will be hosted by Michael Kluckner on November 2nd. Kluckner will guide the audience on a moving image journey into Vancouver’s past with musical accompaniment by jazz pianist Wayne Stewart. Highlights include home movies, park board films, experimental films, and on-the-fly documentaries.

To accommodate the demand for these screenings, three showtimes are available:

Film: Vancouver – A Progressive City!
Screening Time: 2:30pm on November 2, 2014
Location: Vancity Theatre – 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver
Speaker: Michael Kluckner

Film: Vancouver – A Progressive City!
Screening Time: 2:30pm on November 30, 2014
Location: Vancity Theatre – 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver
Speaker: Michael Kluckner

Film: Vintage Vancouver
Screening Time: 7:30pm on November 2, 2014
Location: Vancity Theatre – 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver
Speaker: Michael Kluckner and Wayne Stewart on piano

Win Tickets

I have a pair of tickets to each of the three screenings available thanks to the City of Vancouver Archives. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming which screening you would be able to attend (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at random for each screening. Each winner will receive two tickets to that screening. The draw will take place on Friday, October 31, 2014 at 4:00pm. Follow the City of Vancouver Archives on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this event and many others.

Update The winners are: Don McQueen (Nov 2nd at 2:30pm); Verna Morse (Nov 2nd at 7:30pm)

It’s date night in the West End. You enjoy a lovely meal at a neighbourhood bistro, you hold hands walking down towards Lost Lagoon, the setting sun casts a beam of light across the water illuminating weeping willow trees, and then… the birds start to swarm. Seagulls, swans, ducks, Canadian Geese and an American Coot.

It will be tempting to take a photo to post to Instagram, and that’s just fine. But be sure to resist the urge to feed any creature you see in Stanley Park.

Ducks eat a mix of aquatic plants and insects to stay healthy and anything aside from that can be severely detrimental.

This summer the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”) launched #QuackSnacks, an event with the purpose of educating park visitors about this practice. SPES asserts: “Feeding ducks is so unhealthy that organizations including the US National Parks Service and the BC SPCA consider it indirect animal cruelty.”

The way I see it, we are a culture concerned with eating local, natural and organic so why do we impose the exact opposite on our feathered friends in the park? A commenter on the #QuackSnacks event added that as long as bread and seed mix is handed out, [ducks] will not move on to forage for their natural foods.

So be a good neighbour to the creatures in our city’s crown jewel. Visit, enjoy, play, photograph, and soak up its natural beauty. But please, don’t feed the ducks in Stanley Park.

A photo posted by Rebecca Bollwitt (@miss604) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:26pm PDT

For more information check out the Stanley Park Ecology Society online and read about the The Birds of Winter in Stanley Park.

On Saturday, October 25th, 55 awards were handed out in 21 categories for the BC Beer Awards. The fifth annual event included a consumer tasting event at the craft beer festival as well as the BC Beer Awards ceremony.

Photo credit: Ruth Hartnup on Flickr

BC Beer Awards

If you’re looking to drink local beer, the list of winners is a great place to start. Here are just a few of the breweries that were honoured this year:

All of the winners and runners up can be found online. October is Craft Beer Month in BC, with events through to October 31st.

Dress for Success will host the Success Luncheon on October 29th to celebrate and inspire business leaders in our community. Featured panelists include Nancy MacKay, Founder & CEO of MacKay CEO Forums; Jill Schnarr, VP, Community Investment & Engagement, TELUS; and Donna Wilson, SVP, People, LifeLabs. Dress for Success Vancouver client, Deepika Gupta will also share her story of personal and professional growth, adversity, and success.

Success Luncheon

What: Dress For Success Vancouver Success Luncheon
When: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 from 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Where: Pan Pacific Hotel (300-999 Canada Place, Vancouver)
Tickets: Purchase online for $100 with group/table option available
About: This signature event will be emceed by Fiona Forbes, Host & Producer, Shaw TV and Moderated by Laurie Schultz, CEO, ACL Services. All proceeds will go towards Dress for Success Vancouver’s programs committed to empowering women into the workforce.

About Dress for Success Vancouver

I first heard about Dress for Success over 5 years ago and I recently made it to their downtown Vancouver headquarters to learn more about their important work in the community. Volunteers streamed in and out of the space as Christina Florencio, Marketing and Sponsorship Manager, gave me a tour. Christina also filled me in our the three core services that Dress for Success provides.

I was aware of the dressing service that provides a professional attire for disadvantaged women returning to or entering the workforce but there are two other key components to Dress for Success.

There is the Career Centre that provides clients with career guidance, technology skills and support in their job searches. Career Center staff members work one-on-one with clients and the program also has the support of volunteers who come from varied professional backgrounds including job developers, career specialists and human resources executives.

The Professional Women’s Group program is then an 18 month program that provides education, mentoring and professional guidance.

How You Can Support Dress for Success

There are several ways to support Dress for Success on top of online donations:

• Planned giving: Support one women or specific programs for clients by sponsoring an interview suiting, job preparation, or the Professional Women’s Group. Use the gift tool to plan your contribution throughout the year.
• Item donations: The organization is currently in need of specific types of item donations (and wish list items) such as handbags (appropriate for work), plus size interview attire (18 and up), small size interview attire (size 00-2), outerwear, and new makeup.
• Special events: Attend events like the Success Luncheon on October 29th or Shop for a Cause November 14th and November 15th.

For more information about Dress for Success Vancouver, follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their blog.