The City of Vancouver has taken many steps to become green; from bike lanes and rain barrels to composting and recycling initiatives. Throughout the month of May the “Keep Vancouver Spectacular” campaign will bring neighbours together through community litter pick-up campaigns.
According to the City of Vancouver: Last year, 16,000 volunteers in 150 groups came together to fill more than 6,600 bags with litter. You can sign up to be a block captain and organize a neighbourhood cleanup, or find one where you can participate.
Frequently-discarded coffee cups, wrappers, and cigarette butts (among other things) cause for a lot of litter on our streets and in our parks. With the sun shining there are more opportunities to get out and about in local parks, on beaches, and in neighbourhoods so please remember to put your trash and recycling in appropriate bins.
The BC Travel Tuesday series is gaining momentum with over 1,200 entries over the last few weeks through comments and Twitter. I hope that this means locals love to travel locally, and if you’re like me – there’s so much more of BC yet to discover and experience. In case you’re just finding out about the campaign, I have partnered with backyardbc.com for a series of giveaways for properties and destinations around BC over the next 10 weeks.
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 3 Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort” is Holly Johnston (and she has been contacted by email). This week’s featured property is back in our province’s capital, on the outermost point of the harbour that leads into the historic city.
Inn at Laurel Point
Website, Twitter, Facebook, backyardbc listing
Location: 680 Montreal Street, Victoria, BC
About: Decks give way to gardens. Glass walls invite natural light. Museum-quality art graces hallways, and wide open space gives you room to breathe. Book an in-room spa or dine al fresco on their oceanfront patio, or yours.
Prize: 2 nights in an Erickson Wing Studio Suite.
Value: $688
To enter to win, leave a comment on this post and/or post the following on Twitter:
Winners will be announced every Tuesday on the latest BC Travel Tuesday contest post until the 10 weeks are up. 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.
Update The winner is Kristine (@KristineSostar)!
View all posts in the series by following or subscribing to my BCTravelTuesday tag. Open to residents of BC.
Having previously featured photographer Leonard Frank I wanted to profile the photography of another Vancouverite who helped document our city during a specific era. Scanning the Vancouver Archives, I found a collection from someone I’ve featured many times before in some of my history posts or “Then and Now” photo collections: Don Coltman.
1940 – Skier on top of Mount Seymour. Archives item# CVA 586-127.
1940 – Captain Vancouver statue at City Hall. Archives item# CVA 586-164.
1942 – CNR employee shoveling coal. Archives item# CVA 586-888.
From the Vancouver Archives: “Don Coltman worked as a commercial photographer from 1940 to 1954. In 1944 he purchased the Steffens-Colmer Studio. He operated his company under the names of Steffens-Colmer Studios Ltd. and Don Coltman Photography Co. Don Coltman was recognized internationally for his documentation of leading western industries – lumbering, agriculture, fishing, mining, pulp and paper plants, oil well drilling, foundries, canneries, retail businesses, sawmills, shipping, shipbuilding and tourism. During the war years, 1940-1945, he documented civil defense activities throughout the province as well as fund-raising activities of the National War Finance campaign.”
1942 – Salmon cans on tracks after the Interurban collided with a truck. Archives item# CVA 586-910.
1944 – #3 Davie route streetcar. Archives item# CVA 586-1872.
1944 – Canadian Pacific Airlines. Archives item# CVA 586-2284.
1946 – Vancouver hockey team. Archives item# CVA 586-4280.
You can find more Don Coltman photos by using the Vancouver Archives’ online directory, searching his name or Steffens-Colmer.
Did you know the Vancouver Archives have a blog? Check out AuthentiCity for more photos, stories, researchers, and information about the Vancouver Archives.
Tonight is Game 3 of the Vancouver Canucks vs Nashville Predators second round Stanley Cup playoff series. Throughout the playoffs the Canucks organization has been running the This is What We Live For campaign, where fans can submit their photos to be a part of the “bigger picture” or in this case, a virtual mosaic.
The Canucks have asked me to be a part of the mosaic and have also offered up a hockey stick, signed by the team, for me to give away.
To enter to win the stick, head to This is What We Live For and try to find me. Click on the small tiles to reveal larger versions and on the tile for Miss604, you’ll see a contest code. Hint a) it’s a faded blue tile b) it’s the same photo as my Twitter profile right now. Come right back here and enter it in the contest box below:
Contest Closed
I didn’t put a value on the hockey stick on the contest form because after the season they’ve had, it’s pretty much priceless to any fan. A winner will be drawn tonight at midnight (from all correct code entries) and they will walk away with a great souvenir from this Canucks season. Good luck!
Update The winner is “gcheng”. A notification email has been sent your way, congratulations!
If you are looking for Elections Canada information on October 19, 2015, please see the Elections Canada website and enter your postal code to find your polling station.
Today is election day in Canada and if you haven’t already cast your vote in advanced polls, you have from 7:00am until 7:00pm (Pacific Time) to do so. If you’re in Vancouver Centre like me, here are your candidates:
Adriane Carr Green F / T
Jennifer Clarke Conservative T
Hedy Fry Liberal F / T
Karen Shillington NDP F / T
John Clarke Libertarian
Michael Hill Marxist-Leninist
Michael Huenefeld Progressive Canadian
Travis McCrea Pirate Party
To find the polling station in your area, go to Vote.ca and enter your postal code (or follow the prompts and enter your full address). Vote.ca will tell you where to vote, pinpointing the station on a Google Map, and list candidates in your electoral district along with their websites and social networks.
If you have not received your voter information card, head to Elections.ca and again, type in your postal code or address for more information. Find out your riding, and where there polling stations are located. You can look up what forms of identification you will need to bring with you, either if you have or haven’t received your voter card in the mail.
Results will begin to be broadcast at 10:00pm Eastern Time, once polls close in our time zone.
You can check the CBC “Canada Votes” live map for results.
