Starting tonight, the top ten finalists in this year’s Shore Song Search contest will take to the stage at The Biltmore for the first of two showcase events.
Doors will open at 8:00pm and admission is a minimum $5 donation, with proceeds going to the Canadian Music Therapy Trust.
Listeners, fans, and audience members are encouraged to vote for their favourites after hearing them live (or on Shore 104.3) by way of an online vote starting July 15, 2011.
I interviewed Patrick Zulinov, Music and Programming Director at The Shore, for my TV Week Online column when this year’s contest first began in May.
“There’s a huge amount of talent in this city that deserves to be heard,” he said. “I saw an opportunity to show off a lot of talent that I’ve experienced in this city and I wanted to get it on the radio.”
All of the artists needed to submit an original song, with lyrics, a melody, and arrangement, for the Song Search. The Grand Prize winner announcement will take place on Saturday, August 6th at SHOREfest at the Celebration of Light fireworks.
Miss604.com is a proud sponsor of the Shore Song Search 2011.
Throughout the week The Buzzer Blog will feature essays, stories, and submitted photos that all feature SkyTrain, buses, SeaBus and West Coast Express from the riders’ perspective. Transit enthusiasts can also attend a meetup July 14th between 6:00 to 9:00pm at Bamboo Café, across from Joyce Collingwood SkyTrain station [Google Map]
I have two of the following prize packages to give away in honor of I Love Transit Week:
A three zone FareCard
A limited edition I Love Transit 2011 t-shirt with illustration by Chris von Szombathy
One prize pack will be given out to a commenter, and the other will be given to someone on Twitter.
For comment entry, leave a note about why you love transit (anything from that SkyTrain voice to the electric whir of a trolley bus) in 400 words or less.
For Twitter entry, use 140 characters or less to tell us why you love transit. Be sure to include #ILoveTransit @translink & @miss604 so we’ll see your entry.
You can submit as many comment or Twitter entries as you like until July 17th at 12:00pm. Winning entries will be featured in the August edition of The Buzzer news found on buses, SkyTrains and West Coast Express.
The kids are out of school, the city’s outdoor pools are open, sprinkling regulations are set, and the mercury is bouncing past 30C (well, most days at least). It’s officially summer and that means free outdoor movies, fireworks, and much more happening in Metro Vancouver.
Over the last few weeks Five Hole For Food, a street hockey tournament that raises money for local food banks, has been touring across Canada. Spearheaded by Richard Loat, and in its second year, they’ve stuck to a rigorous game schedule and have already visited St John’s, Halifax, Charlottetown, Saint John, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. The team is now in the home stretch as they make their way to Victoria for tomorrow, and will be welcomed back home to Vancouver on Saturday with a game on Granville street.
I caught up with Richard as the team was driving through the Rockies this morning heading into their home stretch. He and his team of Jonathan Buyco, Victor Lo, and Lesley Chang have already traveled over 8,000kms and they’re not done just yet.
“It’s been tremendous,” said Richard from the car. “We set out to raise 20,000lbs of food and to surpass that goal by the time we hit Regina was just an indicator about how much this country loves hockey and loves giving back. The fact that we’re able to combine the two so successfully speaks for itself.” The campaign has in fact raised over 30,000lbs of food… and there are still two cities left.
After being on the road since June 23rd, they have plenty of stories to tell and I have a feeling they all go something like this. “On the morning of our Ottawa game we got into town a little early so we decided to throw up the nets and put out some sticks,” Richard told me. “I was canvassing one of the guys walking by and I said ‘Hey do you want to come play hockey?’. He just said, “Do you even have to ask? It’s Canada! Can I borrow a stick?”
You can support Five Hole For Food in Victoria tomorrow at the Saanich Plaza starting at 12:00pm. You just need to bring your hockey stick and a donation for Mustard Seed, either non-perishable food items or cash. Online donations are also available anytime through the Five Hole For Food website.
Richard said the team was able to show the rest of the country a positive side of Vancouver hockey enthusiasm and wants to tell locals: “Hey Vancouver, we did you proud, now let’s finish this off.”
Returning to friends and loved ones, they are hoping to get the same kind of support from the hometown crowd. Head to the 800 block of Granville for 12:00pm on Saturday, July 9th for the last street hockey tournament, supporting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. You can also purchase tickets for an exclusive Tweetup.
Follow Five Hole For Food on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube to view their coverage, pour through their photos, and see what this amazing team did just by playing hockey across Canada and giving back.
Surrey’s Redwood Park came up in conversation when I recently spoke with Jack Christie, author of 52 Best Day Trips From Vancouver. My father took us there when we were young and now my sister takes her kids out there to enjoy the playground, trails, and most of all the wide selection of trees. I thought it would make a great candidate for the latest post in my Metro Vancouver Park Series.
How to get there
The park is located between 20th and 16th avenue and 180th street in Surrey. You can come in on Highway 15 (176th street), turn onto 20th, then turn and head South on 180th, follow signs for the parking lot. [Google Map].
History
The name “Redwood Park” comes from the giant Sequoias (Coast Redwoods) that you can find within its boundaries. “It was once part of the homestead of early pioneer, David Brown. When his twin sons, David and Peter, were 21 he gave them each 40 acres on the hilltop which had been logged. They immediately began to replant it with exotic species of trees from around the world.” [source] The boys planted 32 species of trees native to North America, Europe, and Asia.
The twins lived on their land until 1958 and the treehouse is a replica of their home. I found out from Jack that it can be even rented out from the City of Surrey for functions.
Features
Grassy meadow, treehouse, arboretum, over 5kms on nature trails, accessible playground, covered picnic areas, washrooms. The round-trip on the trail will take about an hour. Dogs are allowed but I don’t know the official word on leashes (I think many just go off-leash anyway).
