Whalley Little League is once again taking the Little League World Series by storm in Williamsport, and while they enjoy their time on the world stage, locals in North Surrey know how important this organization is to the community year-round. I grew up in the area and aside from having one of the best playgrounds around, the ballparks bring the neighbourhood – and the city – together to celebrate teamwork, sportsmanship, and family.
I recently came across an article about how the Whalley Athletic Park came to be, and it seems that it is its own Field of Dreams story. If you build it, they will come… and play, and win national championships.
The Field of Dreams in Whalley
Source: Opposite The City (quoted with permission from the author)
In the summer of 1950 Whalley volunteers were transforming a few acres of bush into an athletic park.
Inspired by the spirit of volunteerism fostered by flood relief work in 1948, local women had banded together, under the name of the Whalley Community Guild, to make a local playground for children, whilst men under the rubric of the Whalley Business Men’s Association, undertook to build a ball park.
The women had already demonstrated what they could do. They had created Tom Binnie Park. As for the men of Whalley, wrote Helen Carter in 1949: “They dreamed of a baseball diamond.”
The men founded the Whalley Athletic Association (WAA), donating funds – $500 each – and their own labor to build a ball park with a first class ball diamond.
It was definitely a community effort from the start, but when big city reporter Erwin Swangard was sent out by the Vancouver Province to cover this small town story, he chose to focus on one man. As Clarice Harkley was the prime mover in organizing the women, so Haddon Bolivar was the leader of the men.
Erwin Swangard was a veteran journalist who had seen much. In 1936 he reported from the spectacle at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Yet Swangard marvelled at the initiative and zeal of the local Whalley corps, and watched in admiration of the direction given by their leader, a local chicken rancher.
“All you have to do is drive down King George Highway to the centre of Whalley, turn to the right and there you will discover Haddon Bolivar, vigorously working on his own memorial, the most ambitious sports centre ever undertaken by a community of Whalley’s modest size.”
The goal was to transform 8 acres of “rough bush” into a multi-purpose athletic complex that would include a swimming pool, softball diamonds, tennis courts and a community centre. The jewel in the crown was to be a regulation size baseball diamond and bleachers, fit for league play.
Reporter Swangard applauded the dedication of the local volunteers and the cooperation of the district in buying the property for them. But it is clear that Swangard was most impressed by the initiative and organizational skills of Haddon Bolivar.
It appeared clear to the group of volunteers that “once the project is finished it ought to be named Haddon Bolivar Centre.”
It appears clear also, that reporter Erwin Swangard was inspired by Haddon Bolivar, a man who was, wrote Swangard: “building his own monument.” Under development in May, the park was “opened with a bang” by a baseball tournament on Labor Day weekend, 1950.
Read the full story via Opposite The City »
Team Canada aka Whalley Little League is enjoying their 6th national championship title, tying them for second most in the country. They are back in action today at the Little League World Series at 3:00pm vs Mexico.
The Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”) has announced its line up of Canadian films in the True North and Sea to Sky streams, which are anchored by a mix of moving Indigenous stories of redemption and commanding female voices.
#MustSeeBC
The BC Spotlight (Sea to Sky) series features dark comedy with Bruce Sweeney’s Kingsway. Grant Baldwin’s This Mountain Life and Kathleen S. Jayme’s Finding Big Country document the alpine and the athletic, respectively. Finally, Sean Devlin’s When the Storm Fades features a Filipino family’s re-enactment of their recovery from disaster.
In advance of the festival, the #mustseeBC campaign invites audiences to preview trailers, promote BC filmmakers across social networks and VOTE for their favourite films. The film that gets the most fan votes takes the title “Audience Must-See-Film” and gets a special red carpet screening. Voting starts on September 6th and closes on September 25th, 2018.
BC Spotlight (Sea to Sky presented by TELUS):
Because We Are Girls (dir. Baljit Sangra, Canada) – World Premiere
Edge of the Knife (dirs. Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown, Canada)
Finding Big Country (dir. Kathleen S. Jayme, Canada/USA) – World Premiere
Freaks (dirs. Adam Stein, Zach Lipovsky, Canada)
Kingsway (dir. Bruce Sweeney, Canada)
N.O.N. (dir. Zebulon Zang, Canada)
Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket (dirs. Cody Graham, Carey Newman, Canada) World Premiere
The Darling (dir. Seung-Yup Lee, Canada/South Korea) – North American Premiere
This Mountain Life (dir. Grant Baldwin, Canada)
When the Storm Fades (dir. Sean Devlin, Canada/Philippines)
The True North stream will also feature several commanding female voices behind the camera. Director Patricia Rozema returns to VIFF with Mouthpiece, adapted from a two woman play, while Jasmin Mozaffari’s debut Firecrackers depicts two friends’ bid to escape their hometown.
True North presented by Telefilm:
A Sister’s Song (dir. Danae Elon, Canada) – North American Premiere
Clara (dir. Akash Sherman, Canada/USA)
Firecrackers (dir. Jasmin Mozaffari, Canada)
Genesis (dir. Philippe Lesage, Canada) – North American Premiere
Giant Little Ones (dir. Keith Behrman, Canada)
Mouthpiece (dir. Patricia Rozema, Canada)
Quiet Killing (dir. Kim O’Bomsawin, Canada)
Roads in February (dir. Katherine Jerkovic, Canada/Uruguay)
The Far Shore (dir. David Uloth, Canada) – World Premiere
Ville Neuve (dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Canada) – North American Premiere
What is Democracy? (dir. Astra Taylor, Canada)
What Walaa Wants (dir. Christy Garland, Canada/Palestine)
Totally Indie Day
Where: Vancouver International Film Centre (1181 Seymour St)
When: September 29, 2018
VIFF also announced Totally Indie Day, presented by STORYHIVE, programming that will include in depth conversations with Hollywood’s elite creators such as three-time Oscar nominee and editor Jay Cassidy (American Hustle), production designers Jade Healy (I, Tonya) and Chris Jones (Lady Bird), and more.
VIFF Timelines
Monday, August 20, 2018
ONLINE: Advance VIFF Pass + Ticket Packs on sale at viff.org
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Full Program available online.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
IN-PERSON: Box Office opens at The Vancouver International Film Centre. Monday to Saturday: 12:00pm to 7:00pm, Sunday: 2:00pm to 7:00pm.
VIFF 2018 runs September 27 to October 12, 2018. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about the festival, its events, special guests, and films.
Miss604 is a proud media partner of VIFF 2018.
The 24th annual Metro Vancouver Feast of Fields at UBC Farm is Canada’s largest and longest running local food celebration!
Feast of Fields events are FarmFolk CityFolk’s annual local food celebrations and signature fundraising events, held each year on a different farm in the Okanagan Valley, in Metro Vancouver and on Southern Vancouver Island. Guests are invited to taste, sip, and enjoy the local, zero waste creations from more than 60 of British Columbia’s best food and beverage providers.
Feast of Fields
Where: UBC Farm (3461 Ross Drive, Vancouver)
When: Sunday, September 9, 2018 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Tickets: Available online now. This is an all ages event, with “youth” tickets available for participants under 18. All participants 19+ years of age with “adult” tickets must bring 2 pieces of ID to receive a tasting wristband. Guests can also purchase a shuttle ticket, with the bus departing at 12:15pm from between the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Burrard Skytrain Station on the day of the event, with return at 5:15pm from UBC Farm.
Feast of Fields is a three hour wandering gourmet harvest festival that highlights the connections between farmers and chefs, fields and tables, and between farm folks and city folks. With a wine glass and linen napkin in hand, guests stroll across a farmer’s field, traveling from tent to tent (sometimes through the barn, past the tractor or around the chicken coop) listening to live music, and tasting gourmet creations from BC top chefs, farmers, fishers, ranchers, food artisans, vintners, brewers, distillers and other beverage producers.
The participating producers in this year’s event include 14 breweries, 10 wineries, 5 distilleries and 3 tea producers, and a selection of the best-known names in local food, such as Arc at the Fairmont, The Pointe Restaurant at the Wickaninnish Inn, Fable, Forage, and Colette Grand Café based out of the iconic Holt Renfrew.
Feast of Fields is FarmFolk CityFolk’s annual local food celebration and fundraiser, highlighting the contribution local chefs, restaurants, farmers, ranchers, fishers, food artisans, vintners, brewers and distillers make to our local economy. It emphasizes how they are connected to the land, support the regional economy, and create the most delicious local, seasonal and sustainable flavours BC has to offer. FarmFolk CityFolk is a not-for-profit society that works to cultivate a local, sustainable food system. Proceeds from Feast of Fields support the continuing efforts of FarmFolk CityFolk in each of the regions where the events are held.
Follow the Metro Vancouver Feast of Fields event on Instagram as well as FarmFolk CityFolk on Facebook for more info.
Sipping my Woods Coffee on the way to Bellewood Acres and planning dinner in historic Fairhaven after a bike ride down the tulip-lined Main Street. This was my morning in Lynden, Washington, which is just 1 hour from Downtown Vancouver and 30 minutes from the border in White Rock. I stopped in for a visit last fall and discovered that although I was so close to home, I felt far, far away in a small town with generations of family farms, down-home cooking and craft beer, and it was simply lovely.
Learn its History
Learn about the area’s rich agricultural history at the Lynden Pioneer Museum. See how the pioneers lived in a replica town, browse displays, learn about local families, and if you’re a fan of classic motorcycles, cars, and horse-drawn carriages you’ll want to see their collection downstairs.
Photo by Laura Yee-Lim for Miss604
Shop for Gifts
The Bellewood Acres Apple Farm gift shop is one impressive retail destination! Shop for everything from kitchen wares, pies and preserves, to seasonal decorations, books, glasses, flowers, and of course local produce.
Another place to shop would by Lynden’s Front Street – voted the best Main Street in America a few years ago! Pop into Village Books & Paper Dreams in the Waples Building for anything books, paper, journal, and more including great gift ideas.
Photo by Laura Yee-Lim for Miss604
Appreciate the Arts
The Jansen Arts Centre is the cultural centre of Lynden. Through its Front Street doors you’ll find a cafe, grand piano (where you can catch someone playing it beautifully, often) and an artsy gift shop. There are galleries, meeting spaces, and exhibits upstairs and downstairs you can watch artisans at work making jewelry, painting, or try your hand at a pottery class. There are also yoga and dance studios, recording studios, and performance spaces. It has it all! Pop by to browse the art, book a class, or catch a show.
Check out the Lynden community event calendar here »
Craft Beer
Craft beer, wine, cider, and charity! Overflow Taps is the little craft beer joint with BIG heart. $0.25 of every pint goes to Charity Water. Meet some friends, play some board games, enjoy the skateboard-themed decor and merch, and order in some take-out.
Stay a While
Lynden officially welcomed its first boutique hotel, when the 35-room Inn at Lynden opened its doors to travelers in the century-old Waples Mercantile Building at the corner of 5th and Front streets in the historic downtown district. It’s one of only a handful of hotels in Washington State on the National Registry of Historic Places. Right downstairs you have a bakery cafe, craft beer taphouse (Overflow Taps), and they have bikes for guests to use to get around town.
Explore by Sea
Whale watch with San Juan Cruises out of the Alaska Ferry Building in Bellingham, just a quick drive away within Whatcom County. Park for the day and hop on a narrated tour that will sail through the San Juan Islands, spot wildlife, supply lunch, and a walk around on San Juan Island via Friday Harbour. They offer a variety of themed cruises, full or half day, with craft beer, wine, picnics or full dinners.
Want more info about Lynden? Follow Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Related: Make Soap in Bellingham, Kayak Bellingham Bay, Hike Mt Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest, Heritage Flight Museum, SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention, a Fairhaven Photowalk.
It was around this time six years ago that John and I started packing for our first trip to Maui. Guests of the Kaanapali Beach Resort Association, we knew of Hawaii from pop culture and postcards our whole lives, but we didn’t know what to expect once actually travelled across the Pacific ourselves. What probably surprised me the most is how Maui is known as the
Now that I have completed a couples getaway with a foodie theme on Maui, as well as a girls getaway with a light adventure theme, I feel confident in my selections and can highly recommend each activity. Here are my picks for 10 Things to do on Maui:
10 Things to do on Maui
1. Outrigger Canoe Tour
This is my favourite activity! I get to head out on the water for a paddle, meet awesome guides like Delray and Mahe with Maui Paddlesports, learn local history, spot wildlife, and soak up the views of Maui’s southwest coast from the water.
2. Haleakala Volcano Sunrise
A must-do on Maui! Drive upcountry before dawn to the top of a sleeping volcano where you can look out across the crater at other Hawaiian Islands while the sun rises and bestows a new day while it feels like you’re standing at the top of the world. Since John and I first visited, they now limit the number of daily visitors for the sunrise so be sure to reserve well in advance of your trip. It’s also VERY COLD before sunrise so bring a sweater – even if it’s summer.
3. Coffee & Craft Beer Tour
Want to see how coffee goes from cherry to roasted bean to cup? Visit O’o Farm offers a Seed to Cup tour in the misting forest of Waipoli in Upcountry Maui. Craft beer lover? Then you have to stop into Maui Brewing Co for a tour.
4. Farm Tours
You can eat local, shop farmers markets, and take farm tours on this very agriculturally-focused island! Maui Country Farm Tours has several regional options like the Upcountry Tour that includes sugar cane and pineapple history, tea & scones at a lavender farm, Ocean Vodka Organic Farm and Distillery tour, and a ranch visit.
5. Hiking
You can stroll the beach, or head up to an intensive mountain ridge hikes in Central Maui like my sister took me on. The Waihe’e Ridge Trail Maui is a spectacular, panoramic hike is 8km round trip with a 475m elevation gain, but hiking through the forest, then along a ridge with valley and ocean views on either side was a pretty epic experience! You can find more hiking options, for all levels, here »
6. Sunset Sailboat Cruise
Board one of the Teralani Sailing Charters catamarans right from Kaanapali Beach and enjoy an evening of snacks, drinks, and sunset photo ops from the water as it sails along the Kaanapali coastline toward the island of Molokai and back.
7. Visit Lahaina
The former capital of the entire Hawaiian Kingdom (1820 to 1845). Lahaina is a great little town that mixes trendy tourist shops with history. Walk through Banyan Tree Park just off Front Street, which seems like a mini forest with tree trunks sprouting up everywhere, but it’s all ONE tree! You’ll also find the Old Lahaina Courthouse in Banyan Tree Park, which contains the Lahaina Heritage Museum. Spend some time inside, or take a self-guided history tour outside.
8. Zipline
Get above it all, without hiking and with a little more of an adrenaline rush with SkyLine Eco Adventures. A fun family activity, with 8-line or 11-line adventure tours.
9. Attend a Luau
Every tourist says: “I don’t want to do touristy things,” at one point during their trip planning. However with a luau you get an evening of entertainment, a history lesson of the Pacific island through dance, a multi-course meal (with a healthy side of poi), drinks, and you may even make new friends since many have communal tables for socializing. Check with your hotel to see if they offer a luau, and check the latest Trip Advisor ratings to find a luau that’s right for you ie. the theme of the luau, family-friendly, buffet vs plated meal etc.)
10. Road to Hana
This is one experience I have yet to do, but this drive along the northeast coast is legendary. Roadside food stands lead to lush rainforest hikes with refreshing waterfalls along the beaten path. The Road to Hana will be on my next Maui trip list for sure.
Of course you can also enjoy your hotel’s amenities like the spa, pool, (grotto pool with bar service like at the Hyatt), beachside bar, loungers on the sand, ocean swimming, snorkeling, selfies on the lanai at sunset, restaurants and shave ice).
One of our favourite down-time activities is getting some pineapple juice and Old Lahaina dark rum from the ABC store at the Whalers Village shopping centre and making our own Mai Tais to enjoy on our lanai watching the waves roll in at sunset. Whatever you end up doing, it’s hard to not have a good time on Maui. Maui Nō Ka ʻOi!
