Halloween 2009 is creeping up way too quickly however there are plenty of ways to enjoy the season with many activities around town. I have a feeling that this list will grow over the next week or so but for now here are a few Halloween events to check out, starting today:
Oct 24, 2009 Halloween Howl (2-6 yrs) at the West End Community Centre from 10:00am – 12:00pm.
Oct 24, 2009 Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Autumn Fair at the Kitsilano Nieghbourhood House (7th and Vine) from 10:00am – 3:00pm.
Oct 23 – 31, 2009 Halloween at the Vancouver Aquarium.
Oct 25, 2009 Ghost Walks at Fort Langley National Historic Site.
Oct 24, 25 & 31st Haunted Tours of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Richmond.
Oct 28 – 30, 2009 Haunted Village at Burnaby Village Museum 6:00pm – 9:00pm.
Oct 29 – 31, 2009 Eerie Nights of Fright at Fort Langley National Historic Site.
Oct 30, 2009 All Souls at Mountain View Cemetery from 6:00pm – 10:00pm.
Oct 29 & 31, 2009 Halloween in the Forest at the Surrey Nature Centre.
Oct 31, 2009 Halloween Spooktacular (For children ages 3-10 yrs old) at Trout Lake Community Centre (3350 Victoria Drive) 1:00pm – 3:00pm.
Oct 31, 2009 Halloween Howl at the South Surrey Indoor Pool from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.
Oct 31, 2009 Halloween Happening (for Children 9 and under) Sunset Community Centre & Sunset Ice Rink 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
Oct 28 – 31, 2009 Various events around the City of Burnaby.
The Halloween Trains at Stanley Park and Bear Creek Park are also open over the next week or so along with the stage productions of Evil Dead. Should you have an event you would like listed, please feel free to contact me.
I’ve been lucky enough to experience two autumns in New England where trees donning technicolour leaves cover the hillside, like an old quilt on a lumpy bed. Here in Vancouver our fall season usually means early sunsets, misty mornings, and grey skies for days. We see the return of the rain while orange and yellow hues tumble from branches to collect in gutters and along the sides of canopied streets. It’s no New England, but it’s spectacular in its own way, as Vancouver generally is.
The following collection contains photos I found using a Creative Commons License search on Flickr.
Please feel free to click through and explore from each of these photographers. If you would like to share your photos with me for potentially posting on this site, you can add them to the Miss604 Flickr Pool.
ITEM #: SGN 113
Photographer: Bailey Bros.
I thought of continuing my weekly Then and Now photo series until I realized that most “then” images would not accurately depict the city’s fall hues in black and white.
However, as I glanced at one of my favourite local history resources this morning, I found the following and decided to continue the Vancouver History Tidbits series instead.
October 22, 1949 – 60 years ago today—the first “official†tree was planted at Queen Elizabeth Park. It was called Little Mountain Park back then, carved out of a rock quarry and chosen as the site of Canada’s first civic arboretum.
Courtesy of VancouverHistory.ca, here are a few more items of note in our city’s history that happened during this season and in particular, on this day.
October 22, 1938 – Mart Kenney and his Western Gentlemen instructed dancers at the Hotel Vancouver in a new dance craze, the Lambeth Walk.
October 22, 1965 – Alvo von Alvensleben, one of BC’s first millionaires and an important Vancouver realtor, died in Seattle, aged 86. It’s estimated he pumped $7 million into the provincial economy in the years before WWI.
October 22, 1968 – Scuba divers found the drive shaft of the SS Beaver, sunk off Stanley Park more than 70 years earlier.
October 22, 1986 – The Province’s Page One headline: SHA-ZALM! That announced the election of “millionaire gardener†Bill Vander Zalm as premier.
October 22, 2009 – The Olympic Torch Relay for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games begins in Greece.
And just for kicks, tomorrow in local history…
October 23, 1930 – Contact! The Vancouver branch of the Aviation League of Canada, an organization promoting the growth of the air industry, began formal proceedings today.
October 23, 1953 – The Burnaby Lake interurban tram line—the route of which roughly correlates with the Trans-Canada Highway today—closed after 42 years, replaced by a bus service.
October 23, 1983 – The Kuan Yin Buddhist Temple at 9160 Steveston Highway in Richmond was dedicated.
All this and more information will be in Chuck Davis’ book about Metropolitan Vancouver History. Companies can sponsor years and if I had enough, I’d buy 1980 for Miss604.com although it already looks like Polygon Homes beat me to it.
The Vancouver International Film Centre (aka the Vancity Theatre) is hosting a Cinema Salon screening of The Big Lebowski on Tuesday November 3rd.
Cinema Salon takes place once a month when “Melanie Friesen invites a distinguished guest to present his/her favourite film. After the screening, audiences and guests will have the opportunity to discuss the film over drinks and snacks in our spacious lounge.” The guest this month (and the person who selected the film) is Senator Larry Campbell.
Senator Larry Campbell established Vancouver’s first District Coroner’s Office in 1981 and was the Chief Coroner for British Columbia in 1996. He became the inspiration behind the popular CBC drama Da Vinci’s Inquest, as well as its spin-off, Da Vinci’s City Hall. In 2002 he was elected Mayor of Vancouver, spearheading the approval and establishment of North America’s first legal safe injection site and championed the Four Pillars Drug strategy. In addition to drug and crime prevention, he was also instrumental in the successful Vancouver bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. In August 2005, Campbell was summoned to the Senate of Canada. As a Senator, Campbell has continued his work on drug policy, mental health and aboriginal issues.
Tickets for the Cinema Salon screening of The Big Lebowski with Senator Larry Campbell are $10, which is a treat for this type of event in this venue.
If you’d like to meet Senator Campbell before that time, you can book your table this Saturday on Main Street as I’ll be serving Dim Sum alongside him to benefit the Asian Society for the Intervention of AIDS.
This Saturday is International Day of Climate Action and will see events and symposiums taking place across the globe. In Vancouver, we’ll have Bridge to a Cool Planet kicking off with a banner draping on the Cambie Street Bridge at noon.
This December, world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to agree on a treaty to stop global warming. The Canadian Government must be a strong leader at these talks. Here is an easy way to tell them that you want action:
Come to the Bridge! On October 24 we need to send a powerful message to Ottawa. Public pressure — large numbers of people in the streets, calling for action — is the most important way we can influence our government right now. We need to talk to each other about the kind of world we want. Let’s start working together to build a better future! The climate talks in Copenhagen this December are crucial.
The Cambie Bridge will actually be closed to traffic and open to the public at 11:00am and all are encouraged to come out and drape a banner along the side with their climate action calls. You can also dress up as your favourite endangered species or come as you are to this event that will then take over False Creek. A parade will march from the bridge down Pacific Boulevard, and then over to Science World where there will be a stage and exhibition booths. Booths will also be setup along Quebec Street and on the Cambie Bridge.
Science World will then be the main hub of activity after the banner drapings and there will be a Kid Zone complete with arts & crafts, performers, and story-telling from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. Other bands will perform on the stage including Mojave at 4:15pm.
The idea is to make a statement, make a stand, and support climate action initiatives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and the world on this day. You can read all about the key issues on the Bridge to a Cool Planet site and find out how to get more involved. You may also follow @B2CP on Twitter.
