Arguably the cocktail capital of Canada, and home to some of the top ten best hotel bars in the world, Victoria is known and celebrated for its spirited drinks and the mixologists who make them. This is why the annual Art of the Cocktail event explores all areas of cocktails with two full days of tastings and seminars, from sampling and sipping, to learning the distilling process, pairings and watching the professionals compete behind the bar.

Art of the Cocktail

When: Saturday, October 24th and Sunday October 25th, 2015
Where: Crystal Garden, Parkside Hotel & Spa, The Vic Theatre (Victoria, BC)
Tickets: Available online for the Grand Tasting, seminars, and Best of the Northwest competition. Purchasing a Spirited Pass will get you into all of the events.

Art of the Cocktail consists of three main events:
Seminars include Cheese Please! and Meet Your Island Makers. Best of the Pacific Northwest is a competition open to northwest bartenders and mixologists. The Grand Tasting is the cocktail event of the year, featuring BC distilleries, as well as some of the names you know and love.

Win an Art of the Cocktail Getaway in Victoria

The Art of the Cocktail wants to bring one luck Miss604 reader and a guest to Victoria for this amazing weekend. This prize package includes 2 VIP Grand Tasting tickets, a night at the iconic downtown Fairmont Empress, and flights from Downtown Vancouver to Downtown Victoria with Harbour Air.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow the Art of the Cocktail on Facebook and Twitter for more information. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, October 9, 2015.

Contest Rules: Must be 19+. Please enjoy responsibly. Airfare and hotel stay prizes are only valid during this specific event, October 24-25, 2015 and cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash value. Prize includes admission to the Grand Tasting, tokens can then be purchased for $1/token.

Update The winner is Heather Jensen!

Queen Elizabeth Secondary (“QE”) in Surrey is celebrating its 75th anniversary this month and if you attended, between 1940 and 2015, you’re invited to the party!

Photo courtesy of Donald Cosens

Queen Elizabeth Secondary’s 75th Anniversary

• Where: Queen Elizabeth Secondary (9457 King George Blvd. in Surrey)
• When: Thursday, October 15, 2015
  4:00pm to 6:00pm – Activities/Performances/Showcases of current QE Students
  3:30pm to 6:00pm – Meeting and Photos with people from your decade
  6:30pm to 8:00pm – Official Ceremony
  8:30pm to 11:30pm – After-event party at Central City Brew Pub and Restaurant
• Tickets: Available online for $8, and will be available at the door for $10.

School History

QE opened as a full secondary school in 1940 and was named after the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who accompanied King George VI on his royal visit to Canada in 1939.

1960s – View of the school from King George Hwy. Image courtesy of the City of Surrey Archives. Reference code: F44-0-10-0-0-0-0-56.

In the 1950s it became a senior high school (grades 11-12) and in 1967 it suffered a fire, losing records and graduation photos in the process.

1967 – School fire. Image courtesy of the City of Surrey Archives. Reference code: F44-0-10-0-0-0-0-65.

The school was rebuilt in 1969 and my mother, whose family moved to Canada from Germany, attended during that time. In 1999, the year after I graduated from QE, it amalgamated with William Beagle Junior Secondary to become a grade 8-12 school.

About the Anniversary

All of this history and more will be celebrated at the anniversary event. Donald Cosens, Chair of the Celebration Committee says that they are expecting about 500 attendees and have pre-sold over 200 tickets already. To prepare for the event, and promoting it through a Facebook page, he has been sourcing old yearbooks and any other ephemeral pieces of nostalgia since much of the school’s archive was lost in the fire in 1967.

Cosens says that there will be a lot of current student involvement including the Royal Players (drama), a poetry showcase, a dance team performance, a 3-point competition, Rock Band, Decades Art, Social Studies projects, and more. “This is more of a celebration of the school. It’s more ceremonial in nature [than a reunion].” There will be dignitaries in attendance as well and you can hopefully expect to see others from your grad class at the event.

What Makes QE Special

Up until the late 1990s it was also a magical place where junior high kids from LA Matheson, West Whalley, and William Beagle all came together and got along for their last two years of school.

For me, QE will always be special as it’s where I graduated high school — and how my rugby team went to the provincial championships, twice!

I’m really not attached to the building per se, as during my time there it was a portable city, with classrooms all held within a network of temporary buildings with the exception of one wing of the school and one gymnasium. It was the people, the classes, and the teachers that made it special to me.

“I have learned a lot as a teacher here both professionally and personally. I think the fact that so many people care for each other and for the students makes it special,” Cosens told me. “I have been a teacher here for 8 years. It holds a special place for me already.”

If you know of any current or former Royals who are not involved, be sure to spread the word and get your tickets today. Join the event on Facebook for more information. As the event is at the school, no alcohol will be served but feel free to attend the after party at Central City from 8:30pm onward.

The view from Vancouver’s City Hall is one of the best around because it captures not only our ever-growing downtown core, but our beautiful mountain and ocean borders. This week’s “Then and Now” collage includes photos that have all been taken from City Hall, in the 1940s, 1960s, and 2015. Thanks to Jenn Chan Photography​ for the use of her image as well as the City of Vancouver Archives.

Click here for the full size

During this weekend’s Doors Open Vancouver event, you can tour public buildings like City Hall and learn more about their architecture and history. Follow the City of Vancouver on Facebook for more information.

This weekend Miss604 is proud to be the social media sponsor of the Canuck Place Gift of Time Gala, for which a few tickets are still available. If you’re looking for an elegant evening out with the chance to win some amazing prizes all while supporting a great cause, I highly recommend you attend — it’s one of the highlights of my year!

The Vancouver International Film Festival also continues this weekend along with Fashion Week, farmers markets, and some great events for kids.

Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend

Events that run for longer than three days in a row are highlighted in green below.

Friday, October 2, 2015
Knit City
Paintings by Numbers
Harlequin Hypnosis Show
Hot Art, Wet City – The 3rd Annual: Boobies & Wieners: Ménage à trois
Theatre Under the Stars Annual Fall Gala
Vancouver Heritage Foundation: City Drinks
Sanjh An Evening of Indian Classical Music, Surrey
Northern Swell: The Cold Water Surf Exhibition Vancouver Opening & Pop-Up
Visit Nardwuar’s Video Vault at CiTR
Mrs Singh & Me at the Newton Cultural Centre
EXCELerate Conference
Vancouver Police Museum: Sins of the City Tour
Vancouver Fashion Week
Harvest Haus
JOE INK Presents 4OUR
Firehall Arts Centre Presents: Love Bomb
Studio 58/Langara College presents Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Vancouver International Film Festival

Saturday, October 3, 2015
Sponsored by Miss604: Canuck Place Gift of Time Gala
Doors Open Vancouver
BC Hop Fest, Abbotsford
Jellybean Park Pumpkin Patch and Farmer’s Market
Surrey Skill Share Fair
David Thompson Secondary Harvest Festival
Blaauw Eco Forest Celebration
Breastfeeding Challenge – Vancouver Coastal Health
Breastfeeding Challenge – Chilliwack
Deja Vu Vintage Market
Family’s Pasta & Italian Cooking Classes
Book Launch – David E Burnell, New Westminster
Kids Can Paint
MSA Museum Presents: The Chilliwack Line
Purolator Tackle Hunger at the BC Lions Game
Other Desert Cities, New Westminster
Burnaby Farmers Market
Trout Lake Farmers Market
West End Farmers Market
Kerrisdale Farmers Market
Vancouver International Photography Festival
Vancouver Police Museum: Sins of the City Tour
Vancouver Opera Presents: Rigoletto
Knit City
Mrs Singh & Me at the Newton Cultural Centre
Vancouver Fashion Week
Harvest Haus
JOE INK Presents 4OUR
Firehall Arts Centre Presents: Love Bomb
Studio 58/Langara College presents Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Vancouver International Film Festival

Sunday, October 4, 2015
AIDS Vancouver Celebrity Dim Sum
Mount Pleasant Farmers Market Fall Fair
Cannery Farmers Market
Sunday Pig Roast at Boulevard
Spirit of the Shore Half Marathon
Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 Legacy Project
UBC Opera Tea in the Garden
Ambleside Farmers Market
Mount Pleasant Farmers Market
Vancouver International Photography Festival
Vancouver Opera Presents: Rigoletto
Knit City
Mrs Singh & Me at the Newton Cultural Centre
Vancouver Fashion Week
Harvest Haus
Firehall Arts Centre Presents: Love Bomb
Studio 58/Langara College presents Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Other Desert Cities, New Westminster
Vancouver International Film Festival

Check out the full October event listings here and if you have an event to include, please send it in by email for a free listing. Follow Miss604 on Twitter for more daily updates.

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Thank you for voting Miss604.com the BEST LOCAL BLOG in the Georgia Straight’s Best of Vancouver. I am honoured to have your readership, your support, your engagement, and your votes.

Since 2008, when the category first appeared in the paper, Miss604 has been the “Best Local Blog” winner or runner up. Since that same year, this has been my full time job.

With an office that consists of myself, a computer screen, a cool wireless speaker my husband got me for Christmas and a coffee cup that’s always half full, I have built a career out of doing what I love. I don’t have a staff, I don’t have writers. I get up in the morning and do marketing, sales, accounting, editing, and publishing all on my own — and I love every minute of it.

I love that I can post about local history, or a personal trip to Iowa, and you, dear readers, will still read what I have to say. I love that I can put the call out for local event listings and then get 300 emails in my inbox each month so that I can promote your art show, bake sale, charity fundraiser, play, or open house. I love that I get to interview interesting people and travel to wonderful places. Thank you for making my dream job a dream come true.

Best of Vancouver 2015 Results

Enough about me! There are dozens and dozens of wonderful winners who share this honour with me, in categories that range from dog spas to bakeries and news personalities. Here are just a few of the other categories in the Georgia Straight’s Best of Vancouver.

Read the full list of winners online and pick up your copy of the Georgia Straight around town on Thursday, October 1st. Follow the Georgia Straight on Twitter for more results, news, and information. Thank you again!