This morning on Twitter I said, “Do I wear my #Canucks jersey all day today?” and promptly received dozens of replies about how that’s pretty much a no-brainer. Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and even since the season began) you could feel the Canucks pride in this city. Flags replicated like bunnies on the tops of cars and trucks and blue, green, and white facepaint is becoming the norm at Rogers Arena.
This town, well actually most of the province, is pumped up for this Canucks cup run. To show how much the “Canucks Nation” has taken over our region I scoured the internet (Flickr and Twitter mostly) for these creations by superfans.
If you have any more photos, consider adding them to the Miss604 group on Flickr or tweet them @Miss604 for possible feature. I’d love to see more shots from around BC.
Reminder: You can catch the Canucks versus Bruins on big outdoor screens around downtown Vancouver and out in Surrey. Go Canucks!
The YWCA’s Women of Distinction Awards take place tonight at the Westin Bayshore as executives, innovators, and industry leaders from around our province gather to be honoured. I am proud once again to be the Social Media Sponsor of the awards and with that comes a live blog of the ceremonies tonight (as I did last year).
The silent auction and reception will begin at 5:30pm followed by dinner and the awards starting at 6:30pm. I should be settled in at our table by 6:00pm and John will be supplying photos throughout the evening. You will be able to spot my updates throughout the night as they will be tagged Update. I will include information about the nominees and gather quotes when winners are announced. There are 10 categories plus the “Connecting the Community” award that was voted on by the public.
Update 6:30pm: Hundreds of guests, nominees, family members, friends, and delegates are arriving at the Westin Bayshore for the event tonight. Everyone is now making their way into the ballroom for dinner and I’ve setup my liveblogging station for the night. Following the meal, the winner in each category will be posted. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
A bit late on the BC Travel Tuesday entry today but it’s another great getaway, to a familiar location. In case you’re just tuning into the series, we’re now 8 weeks into the 12 week series that is showcasing some of BC’s best accommodations and destinations.
backyardbc is a new travel website designed specifically for residents of British Columbia. Essentially a “be a tourist in your own backyard” program, participating hotels & resorts offer residents of BC exclusive rates and specials, designed to motivate BCers to travel more within the Province. Each offer has its own unique reservation code, and all bookings are done directly with our hotel and resort partners. Visit backyardbc online, on Twitter, or Facebook and see more of BC!
The winner of BC Travel Tuesday: Week 7 Painter’s Lodge Campbell River is Renfrew (and they have been notified by email). This week’s property is also located on Vancouver Island as we head back to Victoria. John and I stayed there during our last trip over for WordCamp and the views couldn’t be beat.
Hotel Grand Pacific
Website, Twitter, backyardbc listing
Location: 463 Belleville Street, Victoria
About: “Built in 1989 and expanded in 2001, the hotel features luxurious accommodation, many fine amenities, and personalized service. Dining in the hotel is superb, with options from casual cuisine in the Courtyard Café to West Coast dining in The Pacific, or intimate fine dining in The Mark.”
Prize: 2 nights in a Pacific Room overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour, complimentary parking, access to high speed internet and contemporary West Coast Tea for 2.
Value: $600
To enter to win, leave a comment on this post and/or post the following on Twitter:
Gift certificates for hotel and resort stays will be sent directly to each weekly winner so they can arrange their visit personally with the property. Some restrictions apply, based on availability. Must be 19 years of age or older to enter and win.
View all posts in the series by following or subscribing to my BCTravelTuesday tag. Open to residents of BC.
Update The winner is Tamara!
Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Vancouver Canucks fans have gathered in living rooms, pubs, restaurants, and public spaces to view the action on the ice. While there was a bit of a push for City of Vancouver to open up Rogers Arena during away games (tickets for that will be available this week), I really like some of the outdoor options.
According to the Canadian Press, “The city has approved two open-air game-viewing locations, including a huge screen mounted on the back of a truck parked on Granville Street between Georgia and Robson streets Update the new site will be on Georgia at Homer to accomodate crowds, in the downtown core. As well, a second large screen will be added in the 700 block of Hamilton Street, where thousands of fans gathered under the giant screen mounted on the side of the CBC broadcast centre to watch Vancouver defeat San Jose to advance to the final.”
Canada Place will be showing all of the final games on their big screen just outside the sails, facing the plaza and street, and SFU will have all of the games as well.
Crowds gathering outside to collectively experience the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston will definitely bring back some of the excitement from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games.
Out in Surrey you can watch the final games at Central City Plaza (family-friendly) and Abbotsford’s arena will broadcast games once Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion moves out.
Update There will be a street closures and transit re-routes in particular for the big screen and and viewing areas downtown. The Buzzer, Translink’s blog, has more information about the routes that will be effected. “All buses will be detoured off of the Granville Mall on Canucks game-days from 2pm until end of service. During the Granville Mall closures, the buses will use their regular detour routes (Northbound on Seymour and Southbound on Howe).”
Update For game 7, road closures will begin at 12:00pm and liquor stores downtown (all of them, not just BC Liquor stores) will shut their doors at 4:00pm. Most traffic closures are spanning major arteries (Georgia, Robson) from Homer to Thurlow. Check in with @VancouverPD on Twitter for updates on crowds and closures. For aerial shots of the crowd, follow @CTVbc on Twitter as their Chopper 9 will be up above downtown snapping photos.
Want to know how Vancouver celebrated when they won the cup in 1915? Listen to an interview I did with the former owner of the Vancouver Millionaires.
Organized by Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) at Simon Fraser University, the Dream Auction supports Canuck Place Children’s Hospice by way of an entertaining and charitable evening, which has been coinciding with the playoffs since 1997.
This year guests can bid on signed Canucks merchandise such as a limited edition hockey stick autographed by the entire 2010-2011 Vancouver Canucks team. Other auction items include marine safaris, gift certificates for local restaurants, hotels, services, and more. Along with a three-course meal, guest can enjoy entertainment from two-time Georgia Straight Best of Vancouver comedian, David C. Jones.
The Dream Auction will be held at Law Courts Inn, Friday June 24, 2011 from 5:00pm until 11:30pm.
Tickets are $65 each or $55 when you book a table of eight. If you have any items you would like to donate to the auction, contact information is available online.
Canuck Place Children’s Hospice provides specialized pediatric palliative care for children living with a life-threatening illness and support for their families throughout British Columbia. Each year they support children from hundreds of families.
