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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Sponsored by Kal Tire Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
With warmer weather and the potential for reduced COVID-19 restrictions on the horizon, many Canadian drivers will be looking to hit the open road and safely explore their regions. For many, that means getting back into a vehicle that’s been sitting idle save for short trips for essentials. I spent the afternoon sharing an Instagram Live with my followers, getting some super helpful vehicle maintenance tips for summer from Kal Tire.
Barrie checking tire depth at Kal Tire in New West
Vehicle Maintenance Tips for Summer
“Now that drivers are likely going to be heading out on road trips again, we want to help ensure their vehicles are safe and highway ready,” says Mike Butcher, regional director for urban retail stores, Kal Tire. “When vehicles go long periods of not being driven or missing some of those seasonal inspection points—especially after winter—there’s a risk that critical components haven’t had the attention they need.”
A handful of simple preventative maintenance steps help improve the performance, lifespan and safety of a vehicle’s most important parts. To help drivers keep their tires and vehicle performing at their best, Kal Tire is sharing some spring maintenance steps and ‘How to’ resources:
The second fully virtual Doors Open Richmond is happening online in June, presented by the Richmond Museum. This year’s edition will feature more than 30 sites representing the city’s cultural diversity and heritage, such as places of worship, civic centres, museums, and local businesses. There are seven new sites this year, including Anar Persian Cuisine, the Richmond Chinese Community Society, and the Steveston Harbour Authority.
Left: Richmond Mosque BC Muslim Association. Photo by Julian Rozental.
Top Right: Connections Community Services, Indigenous Led Outreach & Support. Photo courtesy of the site.
Bottom Right: Lingyen Mountain Temple (Canada). Photo by Tharaka Mapalagama.
Virtual Doors Open Richmond 2021
When: June 5–12, 2021 Where: Online Admission: Free! View content through the hashtag #DoorsOpenRichmond on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Doors Open Richmond is a free annual event that raises civic awareness and showcases the diverse, multicultural places and communities of the city. Residents and visitors are provided an opportunity to discover and reconnect with a variety of local programs, services, and businesses.
“We’re thrilled to be able to bring together members of our community virtually through Doors Open once more,” says Greg Walker, chair of the Richmond Museum Society. “As we continue to weather the storm of COVID-19 together, community has become central to all of our mental wellbeing. Doors Open has always been about sharing the stories of the people who make up our city. By going digital, we’re able to offer even more points of connection to local residents while also safely allowing others in Metro Vancouver to explore a new neighbourhood.”
Following on the success of last year’s virtual event, this year’s edition will feature new videos that provide a glimpse behind the curtain of participating sites. The videos will be shared throughout the week-long event on Richmond Museum’s social media channels, and available the following day on the museum website’s new interactive map. Doors Open sites will also share original content on their social media platforms, from virtual tours to fun facts about their organization or business.
Britannia Shipyard, John Bollwitt photo
Some highlights include: a tour of the Richmond Mosque, the first and largest mosque in BC; an inside look at the broadcast station of Fairchild Television and Talentvision; a look at the interesting process of street name selection by the City of Richmond’s Property Records Clerk; and much more.
Behind the Façade, a collection of award-winning shorts by diverse directors, airs on Knowledge Network June 3, 2021. Produced by Lantern Films, the series includes the work of acclaimed directors Banchi Hanuse, Baljit Sangra, Joella Cabalu, Lyana Patrick, Dave Rodden-Shortt, and Rosemary Georgeson.
Behind the Façade
Celebrate the strong, diverse communities that make up British Columbia’s history.
From a whirlwind day at a radio station that is empowering Nuxalk language and nationhood, to a secret gathering space for gay men in 1950s Vancouver, and the oldest Sikh Temple in North America, these films offer a nuanced look at BC’s history and the structures that persist.
Films in the series include Nuxalk Radio (Dir. Banchi Hanuse, Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, VIFF 2020 Sea to Sky Award Winner), The Train Station (Dir. Lyana Patrick, Hot Docs, Telefilm Clermont-Ferrand, Short Film Market, VIFF), Happytime Social Club (Dir. Dave Rodden-Shortt, VIFF), Ode to a Seafaring People (Dir. Joella Cabalu, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, DisORIENT Asian American Film Festival), and Have You Forgotten Me? (Dir. Baljit Sangra, DOXA, SAAFF).
Ten Award Winning Short Films
The Golden Sheaf nominated Behind the Façade series gets to the heart of historic buildings and neighbourhood touchstones, to share stories of resiliency from diverse communities.
In the emotionally compelling Have You Forgotten Me? (Dir. Baljit Sangra), Nash and Rajinder Gill shine light on the Gur Sikh Temple, North American’s oldest running gurdwara, and the struggle that it represents.
In the beautifully animated The Train Station, director Lyana Patrick narrates her family’s powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School.
Casa Mia: The Headlines (Dir. Dave Rodden-Shortt) uses newspaper headlines to reveal the historic connections between rum running and some of Vancouver’s most iconic landmarks.
The fine line between kitsch and caricature is examined in The Tomahawk (Dir. Lyana Patrick), where Skwxwú7mesh Elder and renowned carver Robert Yelton and restaurant owner Chuck Chamberlain share stories of the oldest family run restaurant in British Columbia.
Ode to a Seafaring People, directed by Joella Cabalu and featuring spoken word artist Sol Diana, poetically reveals the often-hidden world of Filipino seafarers, and in doing so celebrates the resiliency of the Filipino community.
Happytime Social Club (Dir. Dave Rodden-Shortt) provides us with a rare glimpse into life as a gay man in Vancouver in the 1950s.
A Place to Belong (Dir. Lyana Patrick and Rosemary Georgeson) celebrates Christmas at the very first Friendship Centre, located in East Vancouver, and reveals the story behind the Friendship Centre movement.
You can access Behind the Façade on the Knowledge Network starting June 3rd, through your local television provider, or online anytime through the website or Knowledge App.
Enjoy exclusive tours inside heritage spaces from the 1890s to the 1950s and hear about the engaging stories behind them. The Heritage House Tour is back this June – presented safely in a virtual format. The Vancouver Heritage Foundation (“VHF”) will offer two special online events that will highlight a variety of remarkable heritage homes across five different Vancouver neighbourhoods. The tour explores history and diverse architecture as well as how historic homes can be updated for modern living.
Heritage House Tour 2020 photo courtesy of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation
Vancouver Heritage House Tour
When: Thursday, June 3 & Tuesday, June 8, 2021 – 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Details of how to join each event will be provided to registered participants. If you are unable to attend at the time o the virtual events, you can still register and have access to recordings after the event.
The annual Heritage House Tour, presented since 2003, is always a highly-anticipated event and has regularly had over 1,000 participants. VHF invites guests to join virtually from the comfort of home for guided tours, presented in these two live events. Participants will tour each home through pre-recorded videos, hear from expert guides and have the opportunity to ask questions.
Across five different neighbourhoods, you can virtually visit a 1958 award-winning Mid-Century Modern home, an 1890s Strathcona home, a grand Shaughnessy estate home, a 1928 apartment, and more. Enjoy original interior features, craftsmanship, and unique design, and explore the history and heritage significance of each house. Become immersed in the compelling stories, past and present, of early architects, builders and residents as well as recent restorations and how these distinctive spaces have been adapted for modern living.
The Heritage House Tour is VHF’s largest event of the year, usually bringing people together to tour through private heritage homes and learn about local history. It is also an important fundraising event for VHF, helping to support educational programs and innovative projects throughout the year. While the tour will look different this year, VHF is pleased to be able to offer a safe and fun way to explore local history and heritage together
When someone says “BC Wine” the Okanagan is probably the first place you think of, but did you know that British Columbia’s Wine Regions span from the Pacific to the Rockies, and consist of nine diverse areas? Wine Growers British Columbia has just made it super easy to distinguish these areas with a series of high-resolution topographic maps developed with consulting soil scientist Scott Smith and Linda Decker of Geo Earth Mapping.
British Columbia’s Wine Regions
For the purposes of wine labelling, these regions are referred to as Geographical Indications (GIs) and divisions of these as sub-Geographical Indications (sub-GIs). These are formal designations of the place of origin of the fruit that goes into BC VQA Wine.
“The topographic cartography combines simple design incorporating the Wines of British Columbia new brand elements, with the GI and sub-GI boundaries as regulated by the British Columbia Wine Authority, to construct a detailed look at B.C.’s diverse winegrowing regions,” says Laura Kittmer, Communications Director, Wine Growers British Columbia.
“The maps depict the extent of the GIs which are largely based on watershed boundaries or portions of watersheds. The sub-GI boundaries are based on landforms which are enduring landscape features that do not change over time,” says Scott Smith, Eterrna Consulting, Penticton.
British Columbia’s wine regions are on the edge of the wine world, at the highest latitudes where grape growing is possible. Long hours of daylight, baking hot days, cool nights and deliberately moderate yields create intense, bright fruit flavours beautifully balanced against vibrant acidity.
“British Columbia is gifted with some of the most extreme and unique grape growing conditions on the planet, that are not easily defined. From the coast to the vast and rugged interior of the province, these maps were developed to be used by industry as an essential tool in telling our story. Whether you are in the wine business, interested in learning about wine, or visiting a region, these maps are an important way in understanding BC wines and the scope of our diverse terroir,” says Kittmer.
British Columbia continues to build its reputation for excellent winemaking and exceptional wines, further solidifying its place among the best in the world. The release of these maps will help educate the trade, media and consumers about the unique sites and growing regions that make BC such a special place for growing grapes and making wine.
