Visit the tallest living Christmas trees in the world during Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park this season! Enjoy hundreds of thousands of lights throughout the park including an illuminated Treetops Adventure, Cliffwalk, rainforest and canyon which will be transformed into a world of festive lights and visual enchantment.
Image courtesy of Capilano Suspension Bridge
Canyon Lights
- Where: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
(3735 Capilano Road, North Vancouver)
- When: November 22, 2018 to January 27, 2019 (closed Christmas Day)
11:00am to 9:00pm
- Admission: Purchase online in advance or at the park. Canyon Lights tickets are valid all day with holiday activities beginning at 4:00pm. Capilano operates a free shuttle to and from Canada Place.
Image courtesy of Capilano Suspension Bridge
Once again the 30-ton Douglas firs of Treetops Adventure will receive star treatment. Treetops Adventure is a series of seven suspension bridges attached to eight 250 years old Douglas-firs with viewing platforms, reaching up to 110 feet above the forest floor. These magnificent Douglas firs will be lit above and below the collars, making these trees the eight tallest Christmas trees in the world!
Back by popular demand, go on a Snowy Owl Prowl, decorate gingerbread cookies (by donation) and sing-along carols with the holiday band.
Pro Tip: If it’s open, grab a hot chocolate or pumpkin spice latte (with locally roasted Moja Coffee) in the Bridge House and purchase your tickets right there too. It’s on the same side of the road as the parking lot. Then when you’re ready, head over to the entrance to the park.
Canyon Lights Giveaway
Canyon Lights is now in its 13th year and for the 10th year, I have an awesome prize package up for grabs — this time valued at over $180!
The prize includes 4 adult passes to Canyon Lights, 4 vouchers for hot chocolate, 4 vouchers for fudge at the Trading Post Gift Shop, a coveted Canyon Lights mug, a Candy Stick, a shortbread cookie package of two, and an ornament.
Here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a @CapSuspBridge #CanyonLights prize pack (value over $180) http://ow.ly/OtPR30mGIYI” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at 12:00pm on Monday, November 26, 2018.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is located at 3735 Capilano Road, North Vancouver. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for more information about Canyon Lights and year-round activities.
Update The winner is Kathryn!
This post has been written and contributed by Kathleen Stormont, Fundraising & Communications Specialist with the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”)
Stanley Park’s Small Wonders
One of the joys of working in Stanley Park is having the gift of time to really explore and observe the wildlife and organisms of a Pacific Northwest rainforest. Seasoned Park workers still delight in coming upon a raccoon family foraging in a pond or a glimpse of a barred owl roosting in an old growth maple tree. But some of the best gifts of the Park come in very small packages, and it’s worth the time it takes to find them.
Barred owl in Stanley Park. Photo by: Milva DeSiena
Michael Schmidt, a long time volunteer photographer for SPES, has spent hundreds of hours combing the ecosystems of Stanley Park, capturing in pixels not only the Park’s iconic animals – its great blue herons, eagles, coyotes, birds, and river otters – but also its very small inhabitants, many of which are not yet listed in SPES’s inventory of the Park.
Released by SPES in 2010, the ‘State of the Park Report for the Ecological Integrity of Stanley Park’ (SOPEI) is a comprehensive review of all living organisms in Stanley Park, but there is still room for additions to SPES’s 2019 SOPEI update due out in the spring. The tiniest organisms are, of course, the most elusive and difficult to catalogue.
Bird’s Nest Fungus in Stanley Park. Photo by: Michael Schmidt.
Michael’s discovery last month of the miniscule Bird’s Nest Fungus is testament to that. This intriguing fungus, like all fungi, works its way through the wood of fallen trees consuming cellulose or lignin, growing and producing spores in the mushrooms that are visible to us, and releasing base nutrients that the surrounding forest needs to grow. The tiny discs within the center or ‘nest’ of the mushroom are this fungi’s ‘eggs’ called peridioles – flung out and distributed when rain droplets splash into the cup. SPES will be working with mycologists in the near future to compile the Park’s first comprehensive list of fungi for SOPEI.
Coral slime in Stanley Park. Photo by: Michael Schmidt.
Equally intriguing are a host of bizarre species in the Park that were formerly classified as part of the fungi kingdom. These bright patches of slime, or slime moulds, normally exist as single-celled organisms – except when food is in short supply, whereupon many of the single cells will congregate and start moving as a unified body to detect food sources.
It is in this massing state that Michael recently discovered the aptly named Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa). You can learn more about these slimy forest dwellers on SPES’s website here »
Unidentified slime mould in
Stanley Park. Photo by K. Stormont.
Understanding what lives in Stanley Park, from the big to the small, will ensure the ecological integrity of Vancouver’s largest green space for generations to come. The ‘Stanley Park Ecological Action Plan’, created by SPES and Park Commissioners, is informed by SOPEI’s accurate inventory of wildlife and plants in the Park.
You can help us with that inventory: we invite you to share your Stanley Park discoveries with SPES, especially the small ones! Who knows, you might even uncover an undocumented species.
Follow the Stanley Park Ecology Society on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more information.
Heading into the holidays it seems like there’s hardly enough time in the day to get everything done. Between school and work, special events and pageants, hosting dinners and planning trips to visit family and friends. Take something off your to-do list and sign up for – or gift the gift of – Fresh Prep.
It can help busy people like you create world-class dinners in minutes with prepared recipe ingredients delivered weekly to your door.
In a cooler box, you’ll receive just the right amount of every ingredient along with simple instructions to cook a meal you’ll love in under 30 minutes. Prepared ingredients mean zero prep required and fewer dishes to clean up.
Designed by chefs and nutritionists, enjoy delicious new meals every week using high quality, fresh ingredients–local and organic as much as possible. All meat is raised without unnecessary antibiotics and hormones. Certified by Ocean Wise, all seafood is wild caught or sustainably sourced.
Five Spice Shiitake Glazed Steelhead with Sticky Rice and Shanghai Bok Choy.
It also makes a great gift! Give someone else the gift of an easy-to-prepare home-cooked meal, without the grocery shopping, that they can serve their family.
Win a Fresh Prep Gift Card
I have a $100 Fresh Prep gift card to give away to one lucky Miss604 reader. Give it away as a gift this season, or keep it for yourself, here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a $100 #FreshPrep gift card http://ow.ly/XblU30mEOM9″ quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, November 23, 2018. Follow Fresh Prep on Instagram and Facebook for more info.
Update The winner is Lael!
Last year I launched a Vancouver gift guide that featured items and experiences that give back to local causes. Since September of this year, I’ve been receiving emails about things to include so I knew I had to write the post up again for 2018.
These gifts keep on giving, through being an awesome item or experience, from which proceeds also support non-profit organizations in the Greater Vancouver area, and beyond. If you know of any more, please leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list, thanks!
Vancouver Gift Guide for a Cause
Photo award winners Buffie and Mark Irvine – Hope in Shadows 2019
Organization: Megaphone Magazine
Gift: Hope in Shadows calendar. More than 150 vendors sell Megaphone magazine and the Hope in Shadows calendar each year on the streets of Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria. Hope in Shadows is a community project based around a photo contest and calendar for people experiencing poverty in Vancouver and Victoria. The Hope in Shadows calendar is launched each October and sold through Megaphone’s vendor program, which creates seasonal employment for people impacted by poverty.
Organization: One Girl Can
Gift: A portion of every bottle of AG Hair products sold supports One Girl Can, a registered charity that provides educational opportunities to impoverished girls living in marginalized areas of sub-Saharan Africa. AG’s cult-favourite Firewall argan shine & flat iron spray is being introduced with limited edition packaging for the holidays and will give back 50 cents from every bottle sold. Holiday greeting cards are also available, raging from $25-$50 and are perfect as a gift to friends and family in lieu of traditional presents. The cards feature photography from One Girl Can’s most recent trip to Africa with LA-based photographer Adam Amengual, who volunteered his time to document the trip.
Organization: Tradeworks
Gift: Tradeworks ornaments. Tradeworks employs individuals with various barriers to employment after their completion of a carpentry and manufacturing employment program run by our partner organization, Open Door Group.
Organization: Me to We
Gift: Shop extraordinary gifts made with love in Kenya and Ecuador. From stocking stuffers to beautiful, one-of-a-kind accessories, we have something for everyone on your list. Each gift gives education, water, health, food or opportunity to a family, a woman or a community.
Organization: Cause We Care
Gift: Blue Ruby Jewellery and Cause We Care have teamed up once again to offer a beautiful bracelet for purchase with proceeds supporting a local cause. 100% of the proceeds from these bracelets go towards Cause We Care Foundation’s programs and initiatives in support of single mother-led families and children in need in the Vancouver area. Bracelets from the Blue Ruby x Cause We Care collection retail from $20 to $125 and are available for purchase at all Blue Ruby locations, in addition to Hill’s of Kerrisdale, Hills Dry Goods Kitsilano and the newly opened Hill’s Dry Goods South Granville.
Organization: Science World
Gift: Tickets to the Science of Cocktails on February 7, 2019. All proceeds from the event support the Class Field Trip Bursary Program, allowing over 8,000 kids from underserved schools to visit the geodesic dome in the next school year by covering their entry and school bus fee.
Organization: World Wildlife Fund
Gift: Symbolic wildlife adoptions. Give someone the symbolic gift of a dolphin, owl, cheetah, narwhal, arctic wolf or panda! This will help conserve wildlife and our planet for future generations. With more than 30 species to choose from, you are sure to find the perfect one.
Organization: PHS Community Services Society
Gift: East Van Roasters (319 Carrall St., Vancouver) has crafted a collection of artisanal chocolate, coffee, confections and baking, plus locally made gifts designed to nourish the heart and body this holiday season. East Van Roasters is a fully registered charity and social enterprise operated by the PHS Community Services Society, so shoppers can feel good knowing their purchases are providing meaningful employment to women living in the Downtown Eastside who are facing challenges and barriers in their lives.
Organization: Various (environmental conservation, animal welfare, human rights)
Gift: Lush’s Charity Pot. This rich and generous cream contains ingredients sourced from some of our Sustainable Lush Fund projects that support regenerative agriculture around the world. With every purchase of Charity Pot, they donate 100% of the price (minus the taxes) to small grassroots organizations working in the areas of environmental conservation, animal welfare and human rights.
Fund a Need
Organization: UNICEF Canada
Gift: UNICEF Canada Survival Gifts are a collection of over 65 charity gifts essential for child survival, protection and development – available both as online and offline catalogues. They are not only gifts that give back but real items that are distributed to children and their families in response to real need. You purchase the survival gift on behalf of a friend or loved one, they receive a personalized card, and a child receives the gift.
Organization: Canadian Cancer Society
Gift: Make a meaningful gift in someone’s name through the Canadian Cancer Society’s gift program. You can order daffodils, give the gift of sleep, help give camp supplies to a child with cancer, donate a wig, fund research or stock a lab. Place your gift order, send a personalized card to your loved one, and let them know what you have been able to fund in their name.
Organization: YWCA Metro Vancouver
Gift: Fund a need for local women and children, on behalf of a loved one this season through the YWCA Metro Vancouver’s Simplify the Season campaign. Give the gift of healthy lunches for a month, clothes for a family in need, groceries and more. Shop needs online, click to purchase, and the YWCA delivers while you let your friend know that you’ve made this gift on their behalf.
Organization: Canadian Red Cross
Gift: Build a Survival Kit from a selection of gifts online that will deliver hope and comfort this season. Now through December 25, 2017, all gifts are matched by Aviva Canada meaning your gift is doubled. You can add blankets and comfort, mother and baby health packs, or grocery packs to your cart and send these gifts on behalf of your friend or loved one, with an option to send them a personalized e-card to let them know.
If you know of any other initiatives, please feel free to leave information in the comments section. Happy shopping!
Have you ever walked into a store, had your eyes light up, and involuntarily you let out a little… “Woooow!”? That’s what it’s like to step into Potters Christmas Store in Surrey, the 28,000 square foot greenhouse which has become the largest Christmas store in Western Canada.
Potters Christmas Store
Where: 19158 48 Ave, Surrey
When: Nov 3 to Dec 24, Santa photos Dec 1-2 & 8-9
For nine weeks a year, Potters transforms this garden centre space into a holiday wonderland. Greenhouse benches are moved out and store fixtures are moved in, along with everything Christmas. Santa’s workshop is readied and the lights in Santa’s House are turned on. They shop the world for all things Christmas so that you can find everything you need in one place.
Their line of themed ornaments covers everything from fishing to skiing to baseball to equestrian and then some. They have an entire showroom dedicated to Christmas lighting and home décor — including a full-size leg lamp, just like in A Christmas Story. They also carry an extensive line of decorated garlands and wreaths, pet-themed ornaments and decorations, nutcrackers, personal care items and more. Not to mention games, gift items, a clothing and jewelry boutique, and over 200 stocking stuffers.
For the foodies, the Gourmet Food area has been expanded with fun new items, including SpiritDust (add just a pinch to your holiday drinks to add colour and glitter), flavoured popcorn in 10 flavours (including Cookies & Cream and Apple Pie), 30 flavours of hot chocolate, “Cookie Bits” hot chocolate topping, and much more.
Win a Gift Card
I have a $100 gift card to give away so that you can shop ’til you drop! Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post a photo of your favourite ornament or decoration on Instagram, and tag @Pottersdotca & @Miss604 (1 entry)
- Click below to get another entry by posting on Twitter:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a $100 gc for #PottersXmas Potters Christmas Store in Surrey http://ow.ly/92bf30mDxau” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries on Friday, November 23, 2018 at 12:00pm.
Follow Potters on Instagram and Facebook for more info.
Update The winner is Kim!
