In Vancouver, nine independent book stores are celebrating Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on April 24th with some special offerings. Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (“CIBD”) is the annual day when readers, writers, and publishers celebrate beloved local bookstores from across the country.
Independent Book Stores in Vancouver
This is also an opportunity for Canadians to champion indie bookstores. By shopping local on April 24th, you are advocating for independent businesses, supporting a flourishing bookselling community, and investing in Canadian culture. Here’s how you can support independent book stores in Vancouver on April 24th and all throughout the year:
Massy Books Location: 229 E Georgia St, Vancouver About: From rare, off-beat and out-of-print books to familiar titles and current-day best sellers, they scour the internet and places near and far knowing that the books they source have a perfect match in a reader or collector who is as passionate about books as they are. Massy Books is 100% Indigenous owned and operated and a member of the Stó:lō Business Association. For CIBD, all in store and online purchases (on April 24) will be entered to win a prize pack worth over $350.
Iron Dog Books Location: 2671 E Hastings St, Vancouver About: Indigenous owned and operated, with roots as Vancouver’s first modern-day mobile bookshop. Owned and operated by Cliff and Hilary Atleo, and rooted in the core belief that books should be affordable and accessible, Iron Dog Books sells new, used and remaindered books. For CIBD, all in store and online purchases (on April 24) will be entered to win a prize pack worth over $350.
Kidsbooks Location: 2557 W Broadway, Vancouver About: Over thirty-five years ago, Kidsbooks started as a small idea and has grown over the past decades to be a thriving, exciting environment for children and adults who love reading and great books.
The Paper Hound Location: 344 W Pender, Vancouver About: The Paper Hound is a new, used and rare book store Downtown Vancouver. They don’t specialize in one particular kind of book, but they favour the classic, curious, odd, beautiful, visually arresting, scholarly, bizarre, and whimsical.
Hager Books Location: 2176 West 41st Ave, Vancouver About: Hager Books was established in 1974 and is located in the west side Vancouver neighbourhood of Kerrisdale. They carry a wide selection of fiction, memoir, biography, travel, psychology, history, cookbooks, and gardening. We also stock an excellent range of art and decorating books, from renaissance to 21st century, Michelangelo to Picasso, as well as recent architecture, cinema, and photography. Shop in store on CIBD April 24th and you’ll be entered to win a prize package.
Book Warehouse Location: 4118 Main St and 632 W Broadway, Vancouver About: Since 1963 Black Bond Books has grown as a proud independent Canadian bookseller. They welcomed Book Warehouse under their umbrella in 2021. For CIBD, each Book Warehouse store will be participating in their own way with door prizes, swag, and more.
Banyen Books Location: 3608 W 4th Avenue, Vancouver About: Since 1970, Banyen Books & Sound has grown to become an abundant oasis – one of the most comprehensive selections in North America focusing on Spiritual Traditions, Healing Arts, and Earth Wisdom. Orders on April 24th will be entered to win a prize pack worth over $350 in gift cards, book store swag, and gift items.
Upstart & Crow Location: 1387 Railspur Alley, Granville Island, Vancouver About: Located on Granville Island, one of our city’s cultural hubs, they sell books, hand-picked literary gift packages and artworks. They host writer residencies, live events and storytelling workshops.
You can enter the mega CIBD contest online here, submitting proof of purchase from any indie book store April 24, 2021.
Miss604 is the proud Blog Sponsor of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation through the Miss604 Health Check Series. The following has been contributed by their team.
In this month’s guest post, Dr. Kendall Ho provides advice so you can get the most out of virtual health:
How to Make the Most of Virtual Health
Smartphone apps are able to deliver all manner of vital information between a health care provider and their patient. VGH is already using various apps and secure messaging services to help with emergency department safety during COVID-19, as well as helping patients track their personal health in and out of hospital to further personalize care.
Getting comfortable using these apps and secure messaging will help keep you informed of important information such as wait times, directions to care and health tracking information you can pull up any time.
Booking Video Check-Ups
Video call technology is growing leaps and bounds with improved image, sound and connection quality allowing for meaningful check-ups from the comfort of your home. Improving access, especially for those who have challenges leaving home, can have a profoundly positive impact on a patient’s quality of life, as it allows for them to be able to receive vital health care without stepping outside. Booking these meetings can often be done online or with a simple phone call, just ask your doctor or health care provider about these options.
Use At-Home Services
In certain cases, patients are able to use monitoring devices at home that share vital information back to their health care provider including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, blood sugars and more. This data is shared during check-ups, and allows patients to provide fulsome data to help improve their care.
Provide Feedback
Patient input is key in developing these technologies and helping to ensure that these tools are both useful and easily understood. So feel free to be honest and offer your feedback with your health care provider — it only gets better when you do!
Dr. Kendall Ho is a VGH physician and the Research Lead for the Digital Emergency Medicine department at UBC. His work allowed our hospitals and health care centres to continue safely and securely offering world-class care in the midst of a global pandemic. The accelerated use of telehealth, utilizing donor-supported tools, will only continue to grow and help provide care that is more accessible than ever to patients across BC.
Follow the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation on Facebook for more info and updates.
More than 500 years after he lived, Metro Vancouverites will have the exclusive opportunity to walk through the life and studio of a true genius with The Da Vinci Experience. This immersive attraction opens in June, as a visual and sensory celebration of the life and work of the renowned artist, inventor, engineer, and innovator.
The Da Vinci Experience
When: June to August, 2021 Where: Tsawwassen Mills (5000 Canoe Pass Way, Delta) Tickets: Pre-sale on now
This is a multi sensory 360º immersive journey, with more than 10 replicas of his incredible machines as well as visual experiences in virtual reality.
Curated by the director of the Leonardian Museum in Vinci, Dr. Roberta Barsanti, The Da Vinci Experience offers viewers a video-mapping narrative, focused on the life and the works of Leonardo. Hosted by Sensea Immersive, and produced by Crossmedia Group of Florence, it has been previously staged internationally, but this is the first time it will be accessible in Canada or the US.
The Da Vinci Experience is much more than a visual walk-through – it is a sensory journey, complete with replicas of the unique inventions and machines he created, reproduced based on the artist’s original drawings. The 4,000 sq. ft Immersive Experience room will have 360 degree projections that show the incredible detail and expertise of Da Vinci’s original works, and a Virtual Reality experience inside his studio.
On Tuesday, it was announced that a new major all-season mountain resort — Bridal Veil Mountain Resort — has been proposed for Chilliwack through an Expression of Interest filed recently with the Mountain Resorts Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development. Today, Cheam First Nation Response has issued a response:
Cheam First Nation Response to BVMR
“Cheam First Nation is deeply concerned about and surprised by the recent announcement from Bridal Veil Mountain Resort Project (“BVMR”) proponents contemplating a large industrial ski resort located on our traditional territory. This project was formerly known as Resorts West and in a very similar fashion was originally proposed back in 2003. Cheam First Nation firmly rejected this proposal for a myriad of reasons. The proposal was also soundly rejected by the wider community and the City of Chilliwack. Cheam First Nation has only recently been made aware of the revival of this project proposal, and we have yet had a chance to be included in their process, despite their plans and its potential impacts on our traditional territory and land. As it stands, Cheam First Nation continues to decisively reject this proposal.
For the last five years, Cheam First Nation has been developing our own non-motorized eco-tourism/cultural tourism project, the Cascade Skyline Gondola Project.”
Cascade Skyline Gondola Project – Photos via the Cheam First Nation
Cascade Skyline Gondola Project
“The Cascade Skyline Gondola Project is an eco-cultural tourism amenity similar to the very successful Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. It is fundamentally a “celebration of nature and natural spaces” with non-motorized activities for a range of abilities and interests. It will provide accessible transportation above the Fraser Valley in the Cascade Mountains in our traditional territory.
At the summit, guests will be able to enjoy a variety of low-impact, nature-based activities including sight-seeing, hiking, cultural tours, paragliding in summer and snowshoeing, sledding, cross-country and backcountry skiing in winter. The project has been through years of studies, extensive community and First Nation stakeholder consultation and engagement which has resulted in overwhelming community support throughout the region.
We have been following due process with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (“FLNRORD”) for almost four years now under the Adventure Tourism process. We are invested partners in this project and have widespread support from the City of Chilliwack, Tourism Chilliwack, Tourism Industry Association of B.C., Chilliwack Economic Partnership Co., Mayor and Council of the District of Kent, and many other business leaders and community leaders. We are shocked that this competing proposal, on our traditional territory and lands, would be considered by any jurisdiction given the past record of failures and controversies of its proponents, and their lack of respect for our own project on our own lands.
The Cascade Skyline Gondola Project has been a collaborative project since the beginning. As equity owners and partners in this project, we are committed to preserving the cultural and environmental interest of our community and membership, and continuing to work in consultation with other First Nations. We believe this project will bring long-term and sustainable benefits not only to Cheam, but also to the surrounding communities. It will help create a sustainable local tourism-based economy that aligns with the values we hold as Cheam First Nation. Along with economic benefits, it will also create additional management and protection of our cultural and traditional resources. Our project reflects the values and long-term goals of Cheam First Nation and its development will create a positive impact to the surrounding communities.”
This weekend, while temperatures climb and the cherry blossoms beckon, there is a hearty lineup of arts programming, festivals, music, and entertainment happening online. Register for the final Virtual Spring Trivia Night in Support of BC Alberta Guide Dogs happening Friday, and check out more things to do in Vancouver this weekend below:
