My year in review was going to consist of several posts that would each feature images and descriptions of all that I have seen, accomplished and valued in 2009. However, I have decided to fit everything into a single entry instead. That’s not to say I didn’t do a lot this year, quite the contrary actually.

Events that made my year…. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Once again I’ll be ringing in the New Year in Iowa with family that we haven’t seen since we rung in 2009 with a splash of champagne and more than enough margaritas.

Photo credit: optical_illusion on Flickr

Back in Vancouver there are plenty of events around town for the entire family as well as the club crowd to help you celebrate the dawn of 2010.

I also put the call out on Twitter and here are some suggestions from my followers:

If you have an event you would like to add, please feel free to leave a note in the comments of this post.

Reminder: Head to English Bay by 12:30pm on New Years Day to register and take part in the 90th annual Polar Bear Swim.

We may not have had a White Christmas in Vancouver but we sure did have a lot of fog. With the sun shining down on the peaks of mountains, here at sea level a thick blanket crawled across the city and back each morning like a tide.

Here are some photos that have been posted to Flickr featuring Vancouver’s fog over the holidays.

Photo credit: bigsnit on Flickr

Photo credit: Stephen Rees on Flickr

Photo credit: Miss Barabanov on Flickr

Photo credit: thelastminute on Flickr – Duncan Rawlinson

Photo credit: Glacier Tim on Flickr

Photo credit: uxud on Flickr

Should you have any photos of the fog that you would like to contribute to this post, please feel free to add them to the Miss604.com Flickr Group.

It was the site of the Miracle Mile and where the Beatles took the stage in Vancouver, now after being demolished in 1993 Empire Stadium will once again be filled with cheering fans.

Life.com – August 1954, Photographer: Ralph Morse

Here are some historic events that took place in the old Empire Stadium, located on Hastings right near Hwy 1 in East Vancouver:

• 1954 – The Games – The stadium opened for the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, hence its name — Empire Stadium. 24 nations sent 662 competitors to compete in Vancouver for the Games. It was Canada’s largest stadium.
• 1954 The Miracle Mile – Roger Bannister was the first man to break the “four-minute mile” and his win is immortalized in a statue at the entrance to the PNE on Hastings and Renfrew. John Landy, the man looking over his shoulder in the statue, also ran it in under four minutes but Bannister beat him across the line. The CBC has a great video archive clip of this.
• 1957 Elvis Presley – A young Red Robinson from CKWX radio was there to emcee Elvis’ show at Empire. Elvis got one song in before the show had to stop because the crowd was too loud and excited, he later returned to the stag to play a few more songs. Robinson said afterward that it was the first time a performer stood in front of a crowd of 26,000 people in a rented stadium. No one had done it before, not even Sinatra. He also commented that as a result of Elvis’ appearance, “Vancouver was firmly established as a major destination for every Rock ‘N Roll act that followed.” [source]
• 1958 Stadium Ski Jump – A 165-foot high ski jump hill was erected for the three-day Centennial Ski Jump Tournament at Empire Stadium. Though over 20,000 people attended the event, it’s said that 60,000 more watched from outside the fence for free. [source]. Hat tip to Dave Olson for this info as well.

Stadium Ski Jumps

• 1964 The Beatles – Due to the screams of the wild a fanatic crowd, the Beatles show only lasted about 20 minutes before they had to stop playing – no one could hear them and people were rushing the gates.
• The Whitecaps – In 1978 The Whitecaps were drawing crowds of close to 30,000 at Empire Stadium. [source]
• Empire Stadium was also the first to have artificial grass in Canada, and towards the end of its run it seated 32,375. It also hosted the Grey Cup seven times between 1958 and 1974.

Photo credit: striderv on Flickr

While BC Place is otherwise engaged in 2010 with the Olympics and major renovations, the BC Lions will play their games at a new structure built on the site of Empire Stadium. Adjacent to the PNE (just East of the Coaster) it’s a great location with a fantastic North Shore view. The Vancouver Whitecaps will also play a few games at Empire once again during their inaugural MLS season in 2011. Here’s what the 27,500-seat temporary stadium will look like:

Via News1130.com

I’m looking forward to its return, in whatever form the incarnation may take. As my husband said last night, imagine a warm summer evening up in the stands with the aromas of the PNE’s candy floss and fresh popcorn wafting over the crowd as you take in a football game with a mountain backdrop. Sounds like a great Vancouver outing to me.

Update June 17, 2010 John had a sneak peek at the field this week. I posted his photos here.

You still have time to donate to the Food Security program through the Christmas at Canada Place website. By donating through Canada Place before January 10th, 2010 you’ll be entered to win an all-inclusive trip for 2 to Jamaica.

This season I have partnered with Canada Place’s Christmas campaigns and as such, I have learned a great deal about their support of the Strathcona Community Centre.

I had the chance to speak to Recreation Programmer Ron Suzuki about Strathcona’s many programs and how they have built up such a strong bond in what is even referred to on Wikipedia as “Canada’s poorest postal code”. Working with the odds against them, they have cultivated an amazing support system in the Downtown Eastside, with the community centre at the heart of it all.

Photo credit: mag3737 on Flickr

The Strathcona Community Centre has been around since 1972 and they operated 7 days a week, year-round. They have fitness facilities, basketball camps, floor hockey and piano recitals like most other community centres although they also host several specific programs to not only entertain, but help the entire neighbourhood, especially the children, learn invaluable life skills for themselves and their families.

The Downtown Eastside neighbourhood in which the Strathcona Community Centre lies consists of a “working poor” population where 78% are ESL (English as a Second Language) and 60% are single parents. This means they work to make ends meet and as such are just above certain income levels in order to get social assistance (although many would refuse this aid in any case). This also means that parents are working so much and so hard that they cannot be there to greet their children when they get home from school, and this is where the community centre comes in.

Photo credit: mag3737 on Flickr

Fed by three public schools in the area the community centre is a place for children to hang out but also continue their real-world education. “The public looks to the Community Centre as the ‘safe place’ in the community,” said Suzuki who introduced me to several of their programs: Continue reading this post ⟩⟩