AMSSA is hosting the 10th Annual Vancouver Diversity Health Fair at the Croatian Cultural Centre on Saturday, March 1, 2014.
Where Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive
When Saturday, March 1, 2014 from 10:00am to 3:00pm
Tickets Not required, it’s FREE!
The Diversity Health Fair is one of the most dynamic multicultural events in the Lower Mainland celebrates a decade of promoting health and wellness to Vancouver’s diverse community. The theme of this milestone event is Promoting Family Health.
Yesterday I spoke with Lynn Moran, Executive Director of AMSSA to find out more about the history and evolution of the fair as well. Here’s everything else you need to know about this free family-friendly event:
Vancouver Diversity Health Fair Schedule
Opening Ceremonies 9:30am to 10:00am
The opening ceremonies will take place in the Interactive Hall and will include the following:
- First Nation Blessing by Phil L’Hirondelle
- Welcoming Remarks by Alisa Choi Darcy, AMSSA Vice-President
- Introduction of Honoured Guests
- National Anthem by Vancouver Childrens Choir
- Ribbon Cutting with Honoured Guests
- International Chinese Lion Dance Procession to Exhibitor Hall by Shao Lin Hung Gar Lion Dance Team
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The 2014 Scotiabank Bowl for Big Brothers Classic returns this spring as the largest fundraising event of its kind in North America.
Over 2,500 participants will take to their local bowling alleys as 250 team raise pledges in support of Big Brothers mentoring programs throughout the Lower Mainland. This is an opportunity to have a great time with friends, family, and colleagues while bowling, eating, drinking, all while giving back to a great cause.
Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver helps boys aged 7 – 14 who have limited to no contact with their fathers and are, as a result, considered at-risk to not reach their full potential. Matching them with positive adult male role models, the charity sees compelling impacts on boys who develop more confidence, perform better academically and are less likely to succumb to peer pressure. One in four local children is raised without an active father. There are currently 64 children on a waiting to be matched with a Big Brother.
2014 Scotiabank Bowl for Big Brothers Classic
When March through April 2014
Theme This year it’s “REWIND”, bringing back 35 years of classics.
Where Bowling centres throughout the Lower Mainland including REVS, The Zone Richmond, The Zone Coquitlam, Commodore.
Browse the schedule of special events, sign up to be an event volunteer, register to bowl, reserve your lanes, and check out some pledge-raising tips. You can also make a donation anytime.
Bowl for Big Brothers Vancouver Prize Pack
To promote registration, and all the fun that you will have with your Bowl for Big Brothers team this year, Big Brothers has put together an awesome Vancouver prize pack for one lucky Miss604 reader that includes:
This is a Twitter-only contest so you can only enter to win by sharing this message on Twitter. If you don’t have a Twitter account be sure to ask a friend to post this on your behalf and enjoy the prize together if they win!
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all Twitter entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, February 26, 2014. Be sure to follow Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
Update The winner is @mmmelia!!
City Opera Vancouver presents the world premiere of PAULINE, a chamber opera about Canadian writer-actress Pauline Johnson, with libretto by acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood and music by Tobin Stokes. Tickets are on sale today for this highly-anticipated production that is sure to sell out.
I can hardly contain my excitement about this opera as it brings together two of the most influential Canadian female writers I have ever had the pleasure of studying. Not only is Pauline Johnson one of the main reasons I began documenting local history over 10 years ago on my blog, but now her story will be told thanks to the words of writer Margaret Atwood, a Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of over 55 awards in Canada and around the world. I have been a fan of local opera productions since I saw Eugene Onegin back in 2008 and I can’t wait to see how this will come to life.
Pauline Johnson Opera by Margaret Atwood
The opera will star Rose-Ellen Nichols, as Pauline Johnson, Sarah Vardy, as Eva Johnson and Ken Lavigne as the tenor. PAULINE also features John Minágro, Edward Moran, Diane Speirs, Eleonora Higginson, and Cathleen Gingrich.
Pauline Johnson (1861-1913) traveled through North America and Great Britain giving readings of her own work during a time when such independence for women was rare and remarkable. The child of a Mohawk chief and a Quaker Englishwoman, Pauline was driven toward paradoxical goals of loyalty to both of her cultures and to her own ambition.
PAULINE is set at Vancouver in March 1913. Pauline is dying of breast cancer, and views her life through the fog of morphine. Torn by dual identity as both Mohawk and white, she confronts her past as her doctor tries to control her pain and her sister tries to control the story that will be told.
Opening Night Gala tickets are $100, which includes a $60 ticket to PAULINE and an invitation to a reception with special guests Ms. Atwood and Mr. Stokes, and the stars of PAULINE. Performance-only tickets are $60, $40, and $22 for those holding student IDs. Tickets are only available through The Cultch online, by phone (604) 251-1363, or in person at the box office located at 1895 Venables at Victoria Drive.
The opera will take place at the York Theatre, 639 Commercial Drive at East Georgia) on Friday, May 23rd at 8:00pm (world premiere); Sunday, May 25th at 2:00pm; Tuesday May 27th at 8:00pm; Thursday May 29th at 8:00pm; and Saturday May 31st at 8:00pm. The first performance at the York Theatre on May 23, 2014 will be celebrated with a gala attended by Ms. Atwood and Mr. Stokes.
Follow City Opera Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
AMSSA is hosting the 10th Annual Vancouver Diversity Health Fair at the Croatian Cultural Centre on Saturday, March 1, 2014. This is one of the most dynamic multicultural events in the Lower Mainland and it celebrates a decade of promoting health and wellness to Vancouver’s diverse community. The theme of this milestone event is Promoting Family Health.
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2014 Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm Where: Croatian Cultural Centre 3250 Commercial Drive Tickets: Not required, it’s FREE!
Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (“AMSSA”) is an affiliation of over 80 member agencies providing immigrant settlement and multicultural services in over 25 communities throughout BC. They provide leadership in advocacy and education for anti-racism, human rights and social justice, supporting its members in serving immigrants, refugees and culturally diverse communities.
Over the past ten years the Diversity Health Fair has evolved into the largest event of its kind in Canada and I spoke to Lynn Moran, Executive Director of AMSSA to find out more about its success and how it has evolved over the years.
“One of the things that we were hearing through our multicultural health committee was that people that were counsellors to the immigrants — called settlement workers — were hearing from immigrants that they were having a really hard time accessing health services,” Moran says.
“There were a lot of barriers and those barriers could be everything from a language barrier (not understanding english) or the barrier could be just the Western style of medicine.”
Moran and AMSSA realized that there were two sides that needed to come together; immigrant families as well as health agencies and authorities who were also saying that they were having a hard time reaching out to the immigrant community to provide services that would support them. The first Diversity Health Fair in 2004 broke through these cultural barriers and they knew immediately that they had to host more events like this in the future.
Moran and her group developed a training manual for hosting health fairs and through their network of resources around the province there have been 49 Diversity Health Fairs in 8 communities over the last 10 years, reaching approximately 58,000 newcomers to BC.
Each year the Diversity Health Fair has a specific theme and AMSSA works closely with exhibitors to make sure they can provide the best resources, in the most practical way possible. They also offer a “Best Exhibitor Award” to encourage exhibitors to present translated materials, have interactive displays, and more.
“We look at trends and we see that for immigrants coming for a new country it’s very stressful, they’re looking for a place to live, finding a job, and so mental health is a key issue. If there’s not enough money coming into the household, the traditional breadwinner is no longer the traditional breadwinner, or it could be that in the family the kids speak english well but the parents don’t — the kids are taking on a role that traditionally they wouldn’t. All those things cause more stress so one of our health fairs we did on emotional well being because for many cultures they do not talk about mental health or mental health disease.”
This year’s focus is on family health, which Moran says it pretty wide open. Exhibitors will focus on safety, car safety, poison control, nutrition but also nutrition focused on children. The healthy family activity zone, which is at at the fair each year, will now host the Vancouver Farmers Markets kids program and ParticipACTION, gearing toward healthy living, getting kids involved in the kitchen, and being active.
Miss604.com is a proud sponsor of this event
Follow the Vancouver Diversity Health Fair on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Last week the logo was revealed for the 102nd Grey Cup Festival in Vancouver where the best of the CFL will face off for the season’s top prize on November 30, 2014. The logo — designed by the BC Lions’ own Keron Williams — features BC Place, the North Shore mountains, and this year’s slogan: “The Roar on the Shore”.
102nd Grey Cup Festival
Vancouver hosted the 99th Grey Cup Festival back in 2011 and it was great fun, leaving me very excited for the event in November. It felt great to welcome fans from across the nation and to take part in a variety of fan events. The Grey Cup Festival will run from November 26th until November 30th, 2014.
102nd Grey Cup Game Tickets
There are four ways to get your tickets for the big game in Vancouver:
- BC Lions Football Club: BC Lions season ticket holders can save more than 10% off the general public price on their Grey Cup seats plus an option to reserve additional seating prior to public sale. To purchase season tickets and guarantee your seats for the 102ND Grey Cup Championship, call the BC Lions at 604-589 ROAR (7627) today.
- BC Lions Football Club: BC Lions Flex and 3-Game Pack Holders can reserve seating for Grey Cup to be assigned prior to public sale. To purchase your Flex or 3-Game Package and reserve your seats for the 102nd Grey Cup Championship, call the BC Lions at 604-589 ROAR (7627) today.
- Public Sale Online: Starting at 10:00am PDT on June 13, 2014 you will be able to buy your tickets online.
- Public Sale Phone: Starting at 10:00am PDT on June 13, 2014 call 1-855-GREYCUP (1-855-473-9287) to purchase your tickets with a Ticketmaster representative.
You can also sign up now to be a volunteer for the festival. Follow @102GreyCupFest on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information in the months to come.
