The RunGo app, a running app with turn-by-turn instructions for popular running routes in cities like Vancouver, London, New York, and Seattle, is hosting the Dash for Dogs this month. This is a guided 10km, 5km or 2km run or walk through Stanley Park with proceeds going to BC & Alberta Guide Dogs.
Where Stanley Park trails, starting and ending at Brockton Point When Saturday, February 20, 2016 Registration Register online for the 2km Walk ($15 by Feb 17); 5km Run ($30 by Feb 17); or 10km Run ($35 by Feb 17).
This is a fun, non-competitive race with start times between 9:00am and 9:30am. There will be no route markers as participants will be encouraged to use the RunGo app to make their way around the course.
After the run there will be a social event with pancakes, prizes, and good tunes. Guide dogs and good dogs are welcome, dogs must be on leash and under control at all times for the safety of the working guide dogs.
Download the RunGo app for Android or Apple devices.
BC & Alberta Guide Dogs makes a profound difference to blind/ visually impaired people by partnering them with a certified guide dog at no cost. These guide dogs provide tangible and immediate help; making a significant difference in their partner’s safety, independence, sense of well being and belonging.
Megaphone Magazine’s local vendors will be showing some local celebrities, politicians, and business leaders the ropes this Thursday as they pair up for the Big Sell.
Megaphone Magazine’s Big Sell
The Big Sell is a way to raise the profile of homelessness in our communities, and to highlight Megaphone’s social enterprise model as a means for low-income people earning an income through meaningful work.
Megaphone is a magazine sold on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria by homeless and low-income vendors. Vendors buy the paper for 75 cents and sell the magazine for $2.
I’ll be one of the guests standing alongside one of Megaphone’s vendors at the Big Sell from 10:30am to 11:30am on Thursday, February 4, 2016 at Granville and Georgia. I’ll be paired up with a Megaphone vendor who will show me how they work.
Megaphone Big Sell Guest Vendors
Ishkandar Ahmed (CEO, Choices Markets)
Cory Ashworth (Broadcaster, Roundhouse Radio)
The Belle Game
Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604)
Vancouver Canadians Mascot Chef Wasabi
Councillor Adriane Carr (Green Party)
Paul Faoro (CUPE BC)
Gregory Henriquez (Henriquez & Partners Architects)
Trish Garner (BC Poverty Reduction Coalition)
Catherine Ludgate and Linda Morris (Vancity)
Dan Mangan
Councillor Geoff Meggs (Vision Vancouver)
Katrina Pacey (Pivot Legal Society)
Sussane Skidmore (BCGEU)
The Big Sell is part of #VendorWeek, a celebration of street paper vendors around the world. Last year street paper vendors earned $47 million, selling street papers in 35 countries & 24 languages. In Vancouver and Victoria, Megaphone Magazine employed 164 vendors.
Buy a Megaphone from us on Thursday to support people experiencing poverty and homelessness in our city. Megaphone vendors work hard every day to create positive change in their own lives, and in the communities we share. Follow the conversation online @MegaphoneMag.
Family Day in BC is for spending time with loved ones and one thing that can make that an even better experience is the lack of a price tag or admission ticket.
Photo credit: BC Gov Photos – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool
Free on Family Day in Vancouver
Free family skate (rentals included) at Cloverdale Arena, Newton Arena, North Surrey Arena and free family swims at all Surrey public pools.
Celebrate the Year of the Monkey and paint the town red at CF Pacific Centre! Happiness, good fortune and joy will be spread at CF Pacific Centre through a series of festive events, giveaways, and dazzling displays this Lunar New Year.
Paint the Town Red with CF Pacific Centre
In Downtown Vancouver, CF Pacific Centre will be rolling out more than the red carpet for shoppers throughout Chinese New Year celebrations from February 1st to 14th.
Start your experience by entering the shopping centre through Georgia and Howe, and take in the wonder of 200 red lanterns decorating the rotunda. Shoppers can look forward to surprise, random giveaways, including stylish red accessories, while you shop for some of the hottest, red, items:
Martina by Nine West (available at CF Pacific Centre and CF Richmond Centre)
PANDORA Red Effervescence Charm (available at CF Pacific Centre and CF Richmond Centre)
Tom Ford Fragrance (Jasmine Rouge) from Harry Rosen
Tateossian Pen (Lacca Fountain Pen) from Harry Rosen
For event more fun, the first 100 people to purchase a CF SHOP! card valued at $100 or more will also receive a pair of earrings from PANDORA.
On February 9th, CF Pacific Centre will be distributing 200 lucky red envelopes each stuffed with a $10 CF SHOP! card at their Lion Dance Ceremony at the rotunda off Georgie and Howe. The traditional Lion Dance Ceremony and Choy Chang will be performed by the Yau Kung Moon Athletic Institute. The lion will visit participating retailers to bring luck and prosperity for the New Year.
Paint the Town Red from February 1st to 14th and follow CF Pacific Centre on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more events, giveaways, and information with the tag #CFPaintTheTownRed.
Lost Lagoon, on the edge of the city at the entrance to Stanley Park, is only about 100 years old. This captive body of water used to be free-flowing from Coal Harbour, before it was penned in by the Stanley Park Causeway. Here is some history of Lost Lagoon…
The History of Lost Lagoon
1894. Entrance to Stanley Park. Boorne and May Photo. Archives# St Pk P115.
How Lost Lagoon Was Lost
It was poet E. Pauline Johnson that came up with the name Lost Lagoon. When the tide was in, water lapped the shores of the West End. When the water retreated with the tide, the lagoon disappeared entirely.
O! lure of the Lost Lagoon, – I dream to-night that my paddle blurs The purple shade where the seaweed stirs, I hear the call of the singing firs In the hush of the golden moon. » read the full poem…
This area of mud flats is was called Ch’elxwá7elch by the Squamish People, meaning “get dry” (read more Indigenous place names in the Squamish Atlas).
In the early days of the park, the entrance was a bridge, under which the Burrard Inlet water flowed in and out of the lagoon. Between 1916 and 1926 the Stanley Park Causeway was built, land-locking the water entirely. In 1922, the Vancouver Park Board officially called it “Lost Lagoon”, based on the name put to paper by E. Pauline Johnson, who passed away in 1913.
Lost Lagoon From Above 1919
Photographer: Stuart Thomson, Item #CVA 1123-6
Lost Lagoon From Above 2011
Entrance to the Park 1894
Archives# CVA 677-987.
Entrance to the Park 1940
Archives# CVA 586-340
Entrance to the Park 2013
City Beautiful Plan
Michael Kluckner writes in his book Vancouver Remembered that we almost lost the lagoon entirely and ended up with a sports field.
The “City Beautiful” plan would have seen the lagoon filled in to provide space for a sports field or a museum or stadium. Michael quotes a Park Board engineer of the time who said, “Fortunately, they never got beyond the plan stage. The design might have been suitable for a Peace Palace or a European Capitol, but would have resulted in substituting for the present beautiful natural lagoon a purely artificial treatment at a very high cost.” Michael comments, “Once again, lack of money saved Vancouver from the visionaries.” [Source: Vancouver History]
Freshwater and Sanctuary Development
“The next phase in the lake’s development came in 1929, when the saltwater pipes entering from Coal Harbour were shut off, turning it into a freshwater lake. The BC Fish and Game Protection Association was given permission to stock the lake with trout. The Stanley Park Flyfishing Association was formed, and charged members to fish in the lake, while the park board profited from the canoe and boat rentals. This came to an end in 1938 when the walkway around the lake was constructed and the area declared a bird sanctuary.” [Source: Mike Steele: Vancouver’s Famous Stanley Park: The Year-Round Playground]
1929. Archives# CVA 99-1957.
1975. Archives# CVA 99-1975.
1953. Archives# 2009-001.078.
The Jubilee Fountain was installed in 1936.
Today, Lost Lagoon is home to the Stanley Park Nature House, views of the West End, and many of the park’s creatures — from swans and geese to otters, beavers, and flying squirrels.
Martina by 
Bella Freud ‘Loving’ Candle from 
Tom Ford Fragrance (Jasmine Rouge) from 
Tateossian Pen (Lacca Fountain Pen) from 
