Gordie Howe – Mr. Hockey – is celebrating his 85th birthday with the Vancouver Giants on Friday, March 1, 2013. The Giants will take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes wearing Howe tribute jerseys while the crowd is treated to special guest appearances, giveaways, and plenty of activities.
Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Giants
Gordie Howe is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five different decades (1940s through 1980s). A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, he won six Hart Trophies as the league’s most valuable player and six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer. He was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He is also part owner of the Vancouver Giants.
VIP guests include legendary NHL brother act Bobby and Dennis Hull who will join Marcel Dionne, Orland Kurtenbach, and Johnny Bower onfor a special pre-game ceremony to celebrate Gordie Howe’s birthday. 500 randomly selected fans will also get to meet Gordie Howe and the legends during the game.
I’ve partnered with the Vancouver Giants a few times this season and we’re very excited for this particularly awesome giveaway. I have a pair of tickets up for grabs as well as a guaranteed meet & greet with the birthday boy himself, Gordie Howe! Here’s how you can enter to win this fantastic opportunity:
- Leave a quick comment here about why you want to meet Gordie Howe (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
This contest will end quickly as the event is fast-approaching. I’ll draw one winner at random from all entries at 2:00pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013. Follow the Vancouver Giants on Facebook and Twitter for more giveaways, events, team information, schedules, scores, and more from our local WHL team.
Update The winner is Greg!
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has partnered with JJ Bean Coffee Roasters for an informative workshop focusing on the Marine Building, one of Vancouver’s most well-loved structures. As one of the building’s most recent tenants, JJ Bean will host Sunday Morning at the Marine and shine a spotlight on this art deco gem.
Construction began March 13, 1929 with a ceremony attended by Mayor W.H. Malkin who blew a golden whistle to start the excavators in motion. The building formally opened October 7, 1930 with 21 floors at a height of 321 feet – it defined Vancouver’s skyline.
Where: JJ Bean at the Marine Building (355 Burrard)
When: Sunday, March 10, 2013 from 10:00am to 12:00pm
Tickets: Available online for $25 or call (604) 246-9642.
Sunday Morning at the Marine includes JJ Bean specialty coffee and baked goods, a coffee tasting with John Neate founder and owner of JJ Bean, a talk from Joost Bakker, Dialog, the Architect behind the renovation, and a guided tour of the historic Marine Building lobby.
Follow the Vancouver Heritage Foundation on Facebook or Twitter for more information about this event, workshops, tours, and Places That Matter plaque presentations.
On Thursday afternoon I was flying between 1,000 and 1,300 feet above the Lower Mainland with News1130 Radio‘s Kim Seale as she put in her afternoon shift from her “office in the sky”. Kim takes off twice a day, for about three hours each time, during the morning and afternoon rush hours. She spots stalls, accidents, and delivers traffic updates from the best vantage point possible.
I had initially reached out to News1130 to see if I could do a ride-along with Kim after seeing some of her aerial photos pop up on their Twitter account. Things worked out and soon I found myself driving down a quiet Delta road by the sea with eagles circling overhead. I arrived at the airport, Kim loaded me up with gravol (as previous passengers have been unable to keep from turning green in the air) and I received a security briefing of the station’s Cessna before we took off from Boundary Bay.
It wasn’t the best day for flying with strong winds, low clouds, and hail in some parts (which we avoided) but our pilot Parker navigated the airspace above Metro Vancouver with ease. I managed to snap a few hundred aerial photos with two different cameras and have picked out some of my favourite shots:
South Fraser Perimeter Road
Massey Tunnel
Alex Fraser Bridge
Burnaby Lake
Downtown Vancouver
Granville Island
We circled the major routes and bridges, and when Kim got a report of traffic activity we were on the scene (well, above it) within minutes.
Surrey
After doing this for the last 10 years, Kim Seale knows her landmarks, intersections, and can spot everything from Grey Whales off Point Roberts to the names of ferries docked in Tsawwassen. She takes photos and video with her iPad and beams it down to the newsroom so that they can get up-to-the-minute information out to their listeners and web readers. When a new map book comes out, she studies it. When a downed bird gets stuck on the windy runways at Boundary Bay, she rescues it.
Golden Ears & Pitt River Bridges
Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
View my full set of photos on Flickr and follow me on Instagram for some mobile shots as well.
A big thanks to News1130 for making my ride-along possible and to Kim and Parker for letting me experience a small part of their workday.
Tonight is the News1130 Tweetup at The Sandbar on Granville Island so if you’re into food, prizes, and meeting other radio listeners then post an update on Twitter including #1130TU and follow @News1130Radio to win your way in.
The 9th annual Diversity Health Fair is coming up on the weekend with over 50 health and wellness exhibitors and resources provided in at least half a dozen languages. It is the largest event of its kind in Canada and has evolved into one of the most exciting and dynamic multicultural events in the Lower Mainland.
Where Croatian Cultural Centre (3250 Commercial Drive, Vancouver)
When Saturday, March 9, 2013 from 10:00am to 3:00pm
The Fair aims to provide newcomers, immigrants and ethno-cultural communities with access to a wide range of health and wellness resources, presented in a number of languages including Cantonese, French, Korean, Mandarin, Persian/Farsi, Punjabi, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Last year over 3,500 people attended this free and family-friendly event. The theme of this year’s Fair is “Chronic Disease Prevention” and there will be interactive culinary demonstrations, health screenings and onsite tests, multicultural entertainment and children’s activities. View the full event program online.
Guests on the Healthy Cooking Stage include Chef Victor Bongo (Super Chefs of the Universe), Chef Gerry Kasten (Vancouver Coastal Health), Chef Vikram Baja (Ace Curries To Go), and Chef Chantale Roy (UBC Culinary Arts Instructor & Rawsta Flora Organics). You can a live stream of the stage during the show and download a Healthy CooKing Recipe Guide online in advance. New this year is a Food Truck Cafe that includes an assortment of local vendors offering up an array of tasty ethnic eats.
The first 1,000 visitors will get tote bags and other prizes and getaway giveaways will be handed out at the event. As a proud media sponsor again this year, I am giving away lunch for two at the Salvadorian food truck Guanaco Truck, which will be on-site. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Monday, March 4, 2013. The winner is to claim their prize at the Diversity Health Fair on Saturday, March 9th. Follow the Diversity Health Fair on Twitter and Facebook for more event information.
The Diversity Health Fair is presented by AAMSA (Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Services Agencies of BC): AMSSA facilitates collaborative leadership, knowledge exchange and stakeholder engagement to support member agencies that serve immigrants and build culturally inclusive communities
Update The winner is Jacqueline!
Hollow Tree in Stanley Park has been the main focus of tourist photo ops for the last century. Images of cyclists, couples, and even cars (inside the tree) come up often in my search of the Vancouver Public Library and Vancouver City Archives. However, when I search for recent photos, like in the Miss604 Flickr Pool, there are far fewer results. Perhaps it’s no longer considered an anomaly or it’s just in a part of the park (along Stanley Park Drive) that locals don’t reach often. Whatever the case, I still wanted to profile our Hollow Tree as a Vancouver Icon:
The Hollow Tree has existed on the west side of what is now Stanley Park for approximately 1,000 years. When the city of Vancouver was created in 1886 from the tiny logging village of Granville, the first elected city council made a motion to create Stanley Park at the first city council meeting. Shortly after, a road was constructed around the perimeter of the new park and it ran directly to the Hollow Tree and was curved around it. The Hollow Tree soon became a ‘must see’ attraction for visitors and new arrivals to the city, who invariably were urged to take the trip around Stanley Park. [Heritage Vancouver, 2009]
By 2008 the tree, which was as crooked as ever having withstood the elements (including a few fires) for centuries, was in shambles. There was a great debate about its future — and who would foot the bill to keep it around.
A slow degradation of the structural support of the soils at the base of the tree was exacerbated by the strain from the extreme wind storms of 2006 which devastated Stanley Park, and currently the tree lists at an 11-degree angle. The Vancouver Park Board, who manage Stanley Park, determined that the Tree presented a falling hazard to park visitors in its 2007 condition, and in April 2008, the removal of the tree was approved by the Board.
The Stanley Park Hollow Tree Conservation Society developed a conceptual design and performed much of the preliminary work to right the Hollow Tree and to brace it in perpetuity for future generations of Vancouver residents and visitors alike to enjoy with the same sense of wonderment, awe, and humbling perspective that 120 years of previous visitors have drawn from the Hollow Tree. After a great effort, as of December 31, 2009, the stabilization was completed. [Save The Hollow Tree]
Although merely a shell of what it once was, the Hollow Tree was propped up in 2011 and it stands tall today.
After a two-year campaign to raise the $215,000 privately to save the tree, hydraulic jacks were brought in to straighten it and place it on its new foundation. [CTV BC]
For more information about the Hollow Tree’s history and how it still stands today, watch a full length documentary online thanks to the Knowledge Network.
Other Vancouver Icons posts include: Hotel Europe, Lions Gate Bridge Lions, LightShed, Granville Bridge, 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.
