The West End Community Centre once again presents Art in the City, April 30th until May 2nd.
This is the 5th annual showcase of local drawings, paintings, and photography. Admission is free and pieces from over 50 artists will be on sale.
You can also enter to win this year’s featured work, “Cardero” by Tom Antil as seen on the promotional poster for the event and in this post.
Things kick off on the 30th with a private gala party and then public are invited to check out the exhibition May 1st from 10:00am until 6:00pm and May 2nd from 10:00am until 2:00pm.
The 10km walk or 5km run takes place along the shores of the Burrard Inlet starting and ending at The Village at Park Royal South.
Participants will receive a runner’s breakfast at the finish line, an original t-shirt, swag from Running Room and Canuck Place as well as opportunities to win some great prizes. This is also an officially sanctioned run certified by BC Athletics so times will be kept and distances have been measured.
The entrance fee is $37 per adult and $25 for youth (18 & under) with proceeds going straight to Canuck Place. You can register onlinepledge form online and get support from family, friends and colleagues – creating your own unique campaign.
Follow the SeaWalk Run on Facebook for updates and news leading up to the event.
Being a seaside town, Vancouver has always had several lighthouses standing guard atop rocky perches. This morning I put the call out on Twitter for history post suggestions and the theme of lighthouses came from Tyler Ingram. Three lighthouses in particular came to mind so I have decided to profile them in a “Then and Now” format.
Brockton Point and Prospect Point Lighthouses
The original tower for the Brockton Point Lighthouse was built in the 1890s and the current structure as we know it was constructed in 1914. In 1926 both the Prospect Point and Brockton Point Lighthouses were de-staffed and converted to automatic control1.
1931 – Royal Canadian Air Force Photograph – Archives Item #Van Sc P14
However, during the time that the Lions Gate Bridge was being constructed (1923 – 1939) the Prospect Point Lighthouse would pass and receive signals from the Signal Station at the top of the hill, where the lookout sits today. Some look back on this as being one of the most important structures in Vancouver’s history.
Point Atkinson Lighthouse
The original lighthouse was installed by the Dominion in 1875 as was replaced in November of 1912. “Lighthouse Park was originally set aside as a timber preserve to provide fuel for the lighthouse and its steam fog alarm, so the Park has never been logged and retains many of its original native trees and plants.” 2
In 1974 diesel-powered airchimes would sound the horn every 53 seconds in foggy weather and could carry 5-10 miles. Locals came to call this noisy neighbour “Old Wahoo” until 1996 when it was replaced by a solar-powered electronic signal, which could reach about 2 miles3. Nowadays it makes for a great hiking destination via Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.
Should you have any suggestions for next week’s history post — if there’s anything about Vancouver’s past that you’d like to know — please feel free to contact me.
May 8th marks World Red Cross Day, which is celebrated internationally every year since 1948. This year, we commemorate World Red Cross Day by highlighting the local Red Cross Disaster Management Program and how it responds to community needs during times of crisis through direct services such as providing support, hygiene kits and blankets; family reunification service; critical information dissemination to the public through the TELUS Red Cross Call Centre; and coordination with all levels of government, local authorities, communities and other relief organizations to address outstanding client needs.
The Red Carpet Soiree is a festive evening of great food (prepared by Executive Chef Frank Pabst and Raw Bar Chef Yoshihiro Tabo), wine , silent auction prizes, and special exhibits in the wine room. Keira and I attended last year and had a ball.
Tickets for the event are available online for $100 and usually sell out each year. It just so happens that I have a pair to give away so if you would like to attend the Red Cross Red Carpet Soiree, please leave a comment on this post or publish the following on Twitter:
I entered to win 2 tickets to the @RedCarpetSoiree from @Miss604 http://ow.ly/1BpLs
Flight Centre Canada is hosting a search to find someone for what they call the Best Travel Job Ever.
Ever since Tourism Queensland in Australia hosted its popular search to find someone to fulfill their “Best Job Ever” as caretaker of an Island Reef it’s become a trend to host contests of this nature. The most luxurious, tantalizing, and globetrotting opportunities for some of the world’s major brands have presented themselves and they have all used social media to find and promote applicants.
In Vancouver we had several people make the final cut for the Island Reef job including Anny Chih. She didn’t end up winning but it looks like things have worked out for the best as she’s kept up a travel blog and continued to explore each continent on her own.
Working out the glitches that came with past contests of this nature the model has been fine-tuned over the years. It’s no longer about taking a year off to work for a tourism board. It’s more about getting a free trip and being armed with a video camera so that you can share your experience.
For the Best Travel Job Ever will be a Grand Prize Winner as well as a Fan Favourite winner who will each receive a trip to a secret exotic destination from Intrepid Travel & Air Canada, $2,000 cash from Flight Centre, an HD Flip video camera from Henry’s, a $500 shopping spree from Roots. Each of the six finalists also get prizes that include the video cameras, vacations in Europe or Asia, and also $500 to shop at Roots.
Videos with the most votes so far that have been produced by locals include: Fiona and SammyMac (see below).
I also enjoyed ChaseVlog’s entry since it’s a much-needed introduction to Mission, BC. I first learned about this contest when Flight Centre sponsored Vancouver Twestival but I have to give a hat tip to Eddy Vint who emailed me about his campaign.
Looking at the leaderboard there are about 3,000 votes for each of the top candidates so far and you have just over two weeks to throw your hat in the ring if you think you can muster a couple thousand votes. Otherwise, explore the site a bit and give your favourites a boost by voting for them.
The top 25 finalists as voted by the public will be announced May 3, 2010 and the selection process will continue until the grand prize winner is announced in August, 2010.
This is the 5th annual showcase of local drawings, paintings, and photography. Admission is free and pieces from over 50 artists will be on sale. 
The 10km walk or 5km run takes place along the shores of the Burrard Inlet starting and ending at The Village at Park Royal South. 
