September 2012: Here are the 2012 listings.
It was almost a decade ago that I heard the term “Maize Maze” and since that time, I’ve had the chance to explore one for myself at the Bose Family Farm. Little did I know that we actually have three corn mazes all within a manageable distance of Vancouver.
Bose Corn Maze
Website
Open: August 2 – October 11, 2010
Update Open: August 13, 2011 – October 16, 2011
Location: 64th Ave and 156th Street in Surrey, BC
Admission: Adults $6.75, kids & seniors $5.50 and children 5 and under are free.
Activities: The corn maze, marshmallow roasting, slide, hayjump, pumpkin patch, and farm fresh veggies for sale.
Meadows Maze
Website
Open: July 31 – September 6 then September 7 – October 11, 2010
Update Open: August 13 – September 6, 2011 then September 7 – October 10, 2011
Location: Hopcott Farms, 13672 Reichenbach Rd. Pitt Meadows, BC
Admission: General admission is $11.00 while children 4-12 are $8.00. They also have a special rate for dusk.
Activities: Two corn mazes, a petting zoo, Meadows Mountain, Corny’s Hay Pile, bee observatory, picnic area, wagon rides and a maze train.
Chilliwack Corn Maze
Website
Open: August 20 – October 31, 2010
Update Open: August 19, 2011 – October 31, 2011
Location: 41905 Yale Road West Chilliwack, BC
Admission: Adults are $9.00 $10.00, kids $7.00 $8.00 and children 2 and under are free (cash only).
Activities: 10 acre corn maze, hay rides, pumpkin patch, corn sand box, indoor hay bale maze, corn train rides, petting zoo.
These mazes all have unique designs that usually change up each year. It’s a great chance to check out some local family farms and even pick out that pumpkin come October.
Aspen Clean is a 100% natural, ECOCERT certified and vegan friendly sustainable cleaning product company based in Vancouver and tomorrow they’re hosting a product swap campaign.
Stop by either of the locations listed below to exchange your harmful, chemical household cleaning products for a bottle of Aspen Clean.
When:
August 25, 2010 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Location 1:
Park Royal Whole Foods Market
Location 2:
Capers on Robson Street
The goal is to exchange 2,010 bottles of harmful cleaning product in Vancouver within the year 2010. There’s no fee, just a straight up swap, and all chemicals collected will be recycled responsibly.
All of their products are manufactured locally, in BC and their bottles are made of at minimum 25% post consumer materials. They are also custom made locally in Vancouver (so the shipping is minimal) and are recyclable and re-usable.
You can read up on Aspen Clean (and their cleaning services) online and they also disclose every ingredient that goes into their cleaning solutions.
If you can’t make it down to Whole Foods or Capers I have an Aspen Clean Whole House Cleaning Kit to give away which is valued at $49.95. Here’s how to enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner Thursday, August 26th before I travel home from Toronto.
Update The winner is Katherine. Thanks everyone and I hope you made it down to the swap.
This Saturday The Gathering Place on Helmcken will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with its annual block party.
Where: 609 Helmcken Street
When: August 28, 2010 from 12:00pm until 4:00pm
Info: The Gathering Place is a City facility operating under a partnership with the Vancouver School Board and the Province of BC catering to the disadvantaged residents of Downtown South. It hosts a health centre, education centre, reading room, cafeteria, and community programs.
The block party will have live music, a marching band, a silent auction for Olympic street banners, a used book sale, pottery sale, food, games and more. This is a free event for all and there will be street closures so consider biking, walking or taking transit.
Since the PNE is in full swing this week, today’s archives photo is one of the fair’s lost buildings (and one of the most unique I’ve seen).
The “Women’s Building” at the Vancouver Exhibition (now the PNE). Located on the Hastings fair grounds, this was originally called the Industrial Building in 1910.
Year: 1918
Photographer: Stuart Thomson
Vancouver Archives item#: CVA 99-645
I am currently in Toronto for GoMedia. This will have me spending time with tourism bodies and resort properties tomorrow and Wednesday in the hopes of sorting out local travel stories and great Canadian adventures.
As a part of the conference, media have been invited on an assortment of tours around Toronto. This morning’s selections were everything from Green Toronto, Insider’s Shopping, Art & Design, Streetcar, On Set, and the one that I chose — History.
Our guide was Bruce Bell, a very active local historian that not only leads tours but keeps the city on its toes when it comes to recognizing the historic significance of its communities and buildings.
Our tour began at the Fairmont Royal York and looped around to the Harbourfront, St. Lawrence (Old Town), and the Financial District.
After laying vacant and closed to the public for years, Toronto revitalized its roundhouse and celebrated a grand opening in the summer of 2009. It’s strikingly similar to Vancouver’s roundhouse in Yaletown however instead of housing a community centre, the John Street Roundhouse is home to a museum, furniture store, and Steam Whistle Brewing.
From the Roundhouse we walked over to the waterfront and looked over at Toronto Island. Bruce called it “Toronto’s Central Park” as it’s their own urban oasis complete with beaches, forest, an amusement park, and even a regional airport.
We continued our 3-hour tour through the financial district and learned quite a bit about the city’s modern and classic architecture. Over the years colonial and second empire-style buildings have been replaced with towering cement, stone, and glass behemoths across the skyline. In some instances you can catch restored facades or renovations that mix old York with new Toronto.
Bruce told us that Toronto is based on the Mohawk “Tkaronto” that means “where there are trees standing in the water”. Under dominion rule, the area was called York however after the rebellion against the British and conflicts with our neighbours to the South (who had a place called New York) the name Toronto was restored.
As a side note, I spotted this giant cookie in Union Station. At first I only took the photo because it was a giant cookie in a train station however upon closer inspection I realized that it would be rather fitting on CakeWrecks.
Another stop was St James Cathedral. This particular building was built in the 1850s but the site has been home to five St James Cathedrals over the centuries.
We looped back around, bordering the Distillery District, which I have been told is a great village to explore.
Old and new blend in the city as stone and concrete are being replaced with shimmering glass. We only explored a small slice of Toronto today but around every corner we learned about a little bit more the region’s (and Canada’s) past.
You can browse the rest of my photos from the walk on Flickr.
