The Lights at Lafarge Winter Lights Display is now on nightly until January, with hundreds of thousands of lights illuminating one of Coquitlam’s star attractions. It’s free to attend, has community engagement and family activities with Coquitlam’s Park Spark team, and provides plenty of photo ops.
Winter Lights at Lafarge Lake
Dates: November 25, 2017 to January 21, 2018
Times: Nightly 4:30pm to 11:00pm (past midnight on New Year’s Eve)
Where: Lafarge Lake, Town Centre Park Coquitlam
Admission: FREE!
The Lights at Lafarge Winter Lights Display is located just steps from Lafarge Lake-Douglas SkyTrain Station and is a wonderful opportunity to get outdoors and get active with friends and family.
Follow the 1.2km trail around the lake and enter a variety of themed light zones. Walk through the lighted 90-foot-long framed caterpillar, take pics at the Arbour Walk lighted archway, visit the Fantasy Forest with an elfin tree house, and tip toe through the Woodland Garden with overhead starbursts and tulip lights over the ground.
#ExploreCoquitlam Giveaway
I’ve had so much fun partnering with the City of Coquitlam this year and we’re both very excited to host a photo contest for Lights at Lafarge.
When you visit the attraction, you’ll find two picture frame signs in the area that are marked with #ExploreCoquitlam.
- Take a photo with a frame and post it on social media using #ExploreCoquitlam & @Miss604
- You’ll be entered to win an awesome prize package valued at $400!
The Prize
All you need to do is visit this the free Lights at Lafarge display by January 2nd, find a frame, and post a photo tagging #ExploreCoquitlam & @Miss604 and you’ll be entered to win!
I will draw one winner at random from all entries received (combined on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), on January 2, 2018 at 12:00pm. Follow the City of Coquitlam on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Miss604 is a proud sponsor of Lights at Lafarge
UPDATE: The winner is Lloyd Silva!
What’s even better than giving an awesome gift? A gift that keeps on giving of course! According to the Canadian Red Cross, an impressive 63% of Canadians feel compelled to donate to charity or volunteer their time as we approach this holiday season. In this spirit, I have put together a gift guide, with meaning. You can give a thoughtful gift to a friend or loved one, and in turn that gift also supports your community or efforts abroad.
Gifts with Meaning That Give Back
Organization: Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House
Gift: Holiday Gift Baskets for $99 including local, hand-made, artisinal items from local businesses. Bombay Masala Tea, olive oil, honey, salmon, locally-roasted coffee and much more in this delicious gift. All proceeds benefit DTES Neighbourhood House and their programs. Delivery is free to Burnaby, Vancouver, Richmond, North Vancouver and West Vancouver.
Organization: Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Canada
Gift: Cozy For A Cause With Bootlegger supports BBBSC when you purchase some festive Holiday Slipper Socks for $10, $1 of each pair sold directly benefits the charity. The money raised helps ensure that Canadian youth who are in need of a mentor receive the support of an adult to help them tackle issues like bullying, and help to give them self-confidence.
Organization: Me to We
Gift: Browse an entire catalogue of handmade items, from coffee to necklaces, each supporting a pillar of Me to We’s programs: Education, Water, Health, Food, and Opportunity. Just one example: You can gift a gorgeous #GirlLove rafiki bracelet, created in collaboration with Lilly Singh, handcrafted by a mama in Kenya who is empowered through earning a fair wage for her work, and from which proceeds provide access to education. Every gift in the Me to We holiday guide has an impact, in fact you can even browse the online shop sorting by impact.
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.
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!
You can purchase or upgrade your winter tires and also support an awesome cause in your community this season with Kal Tire and Food Banks in BC.
I didn’t really realize the impact and effectiveness that winter tires can have on a car until I was ripping across a closed course runway at the Pitt Meadows airport with Kal Tire and slamming on my anti-lock brakes last year. I then repeated the process a few times, at various speeds and with various tires, getting quite an education. Winter tires are crucial components, and they’re even legally required on many BC highways starting in October and lasting throughout the season.
When you purchase a set of any four tires at Kal Tire this season, you will receive $50 off your tire purchase and your local food bank will also receive $50. All donations stay in your local community, and the cash donation gives your local food bank some great buying power.
For every $1 the food bank gets, it can turn it into almost $3 worth of food, enabling your donation to go further so they can provide non-perishable items for those in need. Also, about 40% of food distributed by food banks is fresh, meaning your dollar contributions can help them purchase and supply what is most needed.
Over 860,000 Canadian use the food bank each month and 1 in 3 food bank users is a child. 156,000 Canadian in rural communities also rely on a food bank.
Participating Kal Tire locations in BC:
Richmond
Langley
Maple Ridge
Delta
Port Kells
Surrey
White Rock
Coquitlam
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New West
Burnaby
North Vancouver
Chilliwack
Vernon
Salmon Arm
Kelowna
|
West Kelowna
Penticton
Prince George
Victoria
Nanaimo
Kamloops
and Merritt!
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This is a great way for families to ensure they have safe tires on their vehicle this season as well as make an enormous difference for other families in our community. For more information, follow Kal Tire on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
You may have visited Potters for its house of horrors at Halloween, but did you know that their Surrey/Langley store transform its 28,000 square foot greenhouse into the largest Christmas store in western Canada? Complete with visits from Santa himself, The Christmas Store at Potter’s is an ultimate holiday shopping destination.
The Christmas Store at Potters
Where: 19158 48th Ave, Surrey (off 192nd & 48th)
Hours: Mon-Wed 9:00am to 6:00pm; Thu-Fri 9:00am to 7:00pm; Sat 9:00am to 6:00pm; Sun 10:00am to 6:00pm
For 9 weeks a year, 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.
Potters shops the world for all things Christmas, inspiring you to decorate whether your style is themed, tasteful, traditional or quirky. They have an entire showroom dedicated to Christmas lighting and home décor.
On top of decorations, trees, wreaths and more, you’ll find gifts and over 200 stocking stuffers. Santa and Mrs Claus even make an appearance on weekends in December. View their schedule here »
Win a Gift Card
The folks at The Christmas Store at Potters have offered up a $100 gift card for one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Monday, December 4, 2017. Follow The Christmas Store at Potters on Facebook and Instagram for more information.
Update The winner is Jody Whitelock Ewart!
Visit Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum this season for some old-fashioned fun and spectacular light displays. A stroll down the streets of the Village is magical; the 1920s style lights, the cedar boughs, wreaths and big red bows are welcoming. Window displays and inside scenes highlight winter and Christmas items of times past.
Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum
Address: 6501 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby
When: November 25 to December 15, 2017 Monday to Friday, 1:00pm to 5:30pm; Saturday & Sunday, 1:00pm to 9:00pm. December 16, 2017 to January 5, 2018 Daily 1:00pm to 9:00pm, closed December 24 & 25.
Admission: Gate admission is FREE! Rides on the carousel are $2.65 each or $31.25 for Baker’s Dozen (which make great stocking stuffers).
The light displays throughout the site will twinkle and amaze and delight, while aromas from Heritage Baking wafting from the Farmhouse kitchen tickle your nose on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00pm.
Visit with Father Christmas weekends 2:00pm to 5:00pm; 6:00pm to 8:00pm; and December 18-22 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Enjoy free live performances in Brookfield Hall of Forte Theatre Society’s Toy of the Year, Rainforest Theatre’s The Sword in the Stone: A New Musical.
Explore the traditional Yuletide scenes displayed in the heritage homes, grab a songbook and join a Holiday-Sing-Along, or see if you can complete the Twelve Days of Christmas Scavenger Hunt before doing a craft with the kids.
Special entertainment includes choirs, musicians, magicians and storytellers will be performing daily and the full schedule is available online here »
Bright in Burnaby
When: December 2, 4:00pm to 9:00pm
New this year! Heritage Christmas season commences with the official launch, Bright in Burnaby. Festivities include an official Tree Lighting ceremony at 6:00pm followed by refreshments (while supplies last). Plus, support the Burnaby Christmas Bureau. All proceeds from carousel tickets sold will be donated to the Bureau. Concord Pacific has committed to matching the funds raised. It’ll be a fun evening, for a great cause!
Plan your visit to Heritage Christmas and Burnaby Village Museum on Facebook and Twitter for information about this event and more.
Miss604 is a proud sponsor of Heritage Christmas 2017-2018
