You can now Invite the World to Vancouver through a new digital postcard platform. Simply visit the site, select a series of photos or upload your own, and they’ll send a real post card to the recipient. They’ll cover the postage, print the card, and have it delivered.
I for one, love receiving actual tangible mail so this idea sounds really fun. Your recipient can even see what one of your personal photographs look like as a printed up post card, should you select that option. When you send a postcard from the Invite the World website you are also entered into a draw to have 4 friends or family come and visit you in Vancouver with flights, accommodation, and some spending money included.
To promote this new initiative, the local partners of Invite the World have offered up $100 for Mink Chocolates to give away to one of my readers. Mink is located at the foot of Hornby Street and serves up some of the most original hand-crafted chocolate creations around.
Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post listing what landmark, place, or scene that you would put on a post card (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries next week at 12:00pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011. The Invite the World site and contest for participants over there is open until December 31, 2011.
Update The winner is Elaine Davies!
October has almost come to an end and that means Craft Beer Month in BC is also wrapping up. I’m a bit late to the party on this post but there are still some great craft beer events happening around town that you might want to check out.
October 28, 2011 – See Full Listings
Driftwood Tasting at Firefly
When: 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Where: Firefly Fine Wines and Ales, 21755 Lougheed Hwy, Maple Ridge
and
When: 4:00pm
Where: Firefly Fine Wines and Ales 2857 Cambie, Vancouver
What: Driftwood won “Best Beer” at the Canadian Beer awards for Fat Tug. Enjoy samples from this Victoria-based brewery.
October 29, 2011 – See Full Listings
Halloween Party & Cask Night at Central City
When: 8:00pm
Where: Central City Brewing, 13450 102 Ave, Surrey
What: The annual Central City Brewing Halloween party with prizes for costumes and a cask at the bar. Reserve now.
October 30, 2011 – See Full Listings
Real Ale Sundays
When: 4:00pm
Where: The Whip, 209 East 6th at Main Street, Vancouver
What: This week’s cask is Central City ESB.
October 31, 2011 – See Full Listings
St Augustine’s Manichean Mondays
When: 6:00pm
Where: St Augustine’s, 2360 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
What: Cask night – check out their live beer menu.
If you’re into Brewmaster’s Dinners (several course meals planned out with beer pairings) check out Central Bistro on Denman. They just had one for this month but these events are regular occurrences so they may have another listing up shortly.
Please enjoy responsibly and plan a safe ride from home these events. Follow @BCCraftBeerMont on Twitter for updates and events throughout the year.
The Peak Performance Project, for the development of new and emerging BC music artists, announced their Top 5 Artists for 2011 this afternoon. Narrowed down from a field of twenty finalists, the placement of the Top 3 will remain a mystery until the grand finale event in November.
Top 3 (in alphabetical order)
The Boom Booms, Current Swell, The Matinée
4th and 5th for 2011
4. Hilary Grist ($10,000 prize)
5. Acres of Lions ($5,000 prize)
The Top 20 artists received $5,000 in initial funding this year and they each contributed songs that celebrate our city that you can download for free.
Tickets for the finale on November 27, 2011 are $10.05 (plus service charges) and that is where the winner will be announced. Third place will receive $50,000, second will get $75,000 and first will win $100,500.
This is the third year of the five year commitment by the Peak Performance Project, an initiative of 100.5 The Peak and Music BC. Previous winners include We Are the City (2009) and Kyprios (2010).
A post on Twitter yesterday asked: “Interested in volunteering or adopting a family this Christmas?” If so, the Surrey Christmas Bureau wants to hear from you.
The Surrey Christmas Bureau assists hundreds of low-income families with children under the age of 16. Through the Hamper and Adopt-A-Family programs these families receive food certificates, toys, gifts, warm clothing and household items. In addition, the Bureau matches sponsors with nearly 250 families who have children with unique challenges and considerations.
Halloween hasn’t even passed but with less than two months until December 25th, but this is worth considering right now. You can help by being a volunteer or signing up for the Adopt-a-Family program. Sponsors are asked to provide a Christmas breakfast, lunch, and dinner for their adopted families as well as gifts. It’s also recommended that sponsors include a stocking with a small or medium sized gift inside as well.
If you participate as a family, your kids might find the most interest in making up a stocking for another child. If “giving” is your favourite part of Christmas or holiday traditions, this is a perfect activity for you, and it will make a difference.
All resources for becoming a sponsor are available online (by way of PDF downloads) or you can call (604) 585-9670. Follow @SurreyChristmas on Twitter for news and updates.
Checking in on my favourite website this morning I saw a small announcement at the top of the page: “The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver goes to press! Chuck Davis’s final gift to the people of Greater Vancouver, his History of Metropolitan Vancouver, has been completed and will appear in bookstores November 15, 2011.”
I’ve never been as excited to see a book go to press. Not even when my own book was being published did I have this feeling of anticipation and relief. Chuck Davis was and will always be a local hero of mine along with Major Matthews (who founded the Vancouver Archives), Author E. Pauline Johnson, and photographers like Leornard Frank.
Chuck put out city’s history online, year by year. He poured through newspaper archives, he wrote columns, and he published books like Vancouver Then & Now.
Our city lost Chuck Davis last November. I emailed back and forth with Chuck a few times over the last few years and our last exchange was about a month before his passing. I never got to meet him.
I also regret not having the funds to sponsor a chapter in his forthcoming book but I hope that over the years, through blogging about his research, I have helped out in some way. Chuck was always gracious enough to let me know he read my blog posts about him and his material. I wrote, and continue to write them, out of admiration and respect for the tremendous amount of work he has put into documenting our history.
In the weeks prior to his death, numerous newspaper and TV reporters phoned, hundreds of emails arrived, Chuck Davis Day was declared by Vancouver City Council, and he received the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award — with a plaque on the Vancouver Public Library plaza. Davis, the author of 11 books on Vancouver, was surprised by this public outpouring of affection, and said to his wife of his impending death: “I should have done this sooner!” It was typical Davis. He was a man without pretension. He hated the idea that anyone call him “Mr. Vancouver.” He told me then that he hopes, maybe, there’ll be a place in the Vancouver Archives for his enormous collection of historic material — scores of boxes and 16 file drawers — that he had gathered on the city. If he had his way, he said, it would be called: “The Chuck Davis Memorial Junk Heap. And he laughed.” – Daniel Wood for The Tyee
The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver will be the Vancouver history book of history books. This is the book to have on the coffee table, keep on your shelf, and reference in your library. I’ll flat out say it: Buy this book. Get two of them. Make it your Christmas and birthday present to everyone this year.
Look for it on store shelves November 15, 2011. Order it now online from Chapters Indigo, get it on Amazon, and go pick it up at Book Warehouse.
