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Editorial Committee: Evan Alderson, Susan Wright, Sharon Yandle
Production Editor: Robyn Chan
Contributors this Issue: Tracy Betel (PAC Secretary), Wes Knapp (Regatta), Meg Clarke (Newport Quay), Carla Pitton (Market Hill), Sharon Yandle (Marine Mews), Kathleen MacKinnon (Regatta)
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Between The Bridges is going on summer hiatus! This will be the last issue until September. Check out the FCSNA Facebook page for updates on the Leg In Boot Pop-Up Plaza, and watch for RePlan news from the Co-op Working Group and Strata Leaseholders Society.
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At Leg-in-Boot Square
ENTHUSIASM POPS UP FOR THE SQUARE
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Maybe it’s the July 1st promise of the longed-for relaxing of pandemic rules, but the idea of a Pop Up Plaza in False Creek South is generating an explosion of interest and galvanizing the community toward enlivening Leg-In-Boot Square.
With the City Engineering Department’s Pop Up plan for new “hardware” like seating, tables, and umbrellas, enthusiastic residents met on June 16 to begin developing the “software”. What kinds of things can we do in the long-neglected Square that was always intended to be the heart of the neighbourhood?
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Among the ideas canvassed at the well-attended meeting, convened by Beth Dempster outside her Convivial Cafe:
- Use one or more of these tables for specific interests like chess or crafts or children’s activities or discussions of matters weighty and small - or all of the above, and others.
- Continue last summer’s successful Music In The Square with local musicians on Saturdays from 2-4 pm.
- Children’s programs like Arte en la Plaza (see the article in this issue).
- Easy access to up-to-date announcements and invitations through online resources such as the FCSNA website and Facebook page, and an outside chalkboard or bulletin board for that purpose, likely stationed near the Convivial Café.
But things are moving quickly. The picnic tables are scheduled to arrive on Saturday, June 26. Beth thinks “the Square is looking a bit scruffy”, and has a call out for volunteers to help in a Weeding/Clean-Up Party. (see notice below).
Meanwhile, there are ongoing discussions with Engineering about the water fountain (and possibly a drinking fountain), cable locks to secure furniture, additional umbrellas, a recycling bin, the idea of planters - and more.
Key to both the Pop-Up structures and community activities is sensitivity to the residents and businesses surrounding the Square. Both the City and the community organizers are eager to receive feedback and make adaptations as necessary.
Much depends on the willingness of people to step forward to make things happen. We need volunteers for stewardship duties to provide “eyes on the street” or occasional cleaning, to scout musicians and help organize specific programs, and to just pass the word and encourage a vibrant sense of community in Leg-in-Boot.
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WEEDING and CLEAN-UP PARTY
LEG-IN-BOOT SQUARE
Friday - June 25th 7:30 pm
Saturday - June 26th at 9:30 am
Bring your own gear (gloves, tools, knee pads...) Convivial will provide some goodies.
Come chat with neighbours and wipe out some weeds.
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RePlan and community leaders have been busy throughout the spring, meeting with City Councillors and staff in anticipation of the City’s vision for the future of the False Creek South community. We have also been hard at work collecting and analyzing data that will provide a more accurate and fulsome picture of the neighbourhood. And, the long-awaited co-op lease renewal framework is expected to be resolved soon, with more details to come.
Click here to read more.
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LOTS OF PRIZES FOR BIKE TO SCHOOL WEEK
Tracy Betel, PAC Secretary
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Roxanne Brooks (Spruce Village), a parent on False Creek South Elementary’s Advisory Committee (PAC), organized a Bike to School Week from May 31st to June 4th, put on by Hub Cycling as part of its “Go by Bike Week”.
The goal -- to encourage students to “wheel” (bike, board or scoot) to school is a great way to get children (and their parents) back on their bikes in the spring every year. It’s also a reminder of the beautiful seawall bike path that runs off city streets and through the neighbourhood, almost the entire way from Spanish Banks to Stanley Park.
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In the “Before Times”, a bike parade kicked off the event where children on their decorated rides did a five-minute loop in front of the school. Parents were invited to watch the procession and an outside group hosted bike workshops for each class. This year, the PAC set up an outdoor obstacle course and each class had its own designated time slot to complete the course.
As a fun way to motivate students, they were entered into a prize draw each day they wheeled to school. At the end of the week, prizes donated by the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association were awarded. Gifts included cards from Kids Books, Nintendo, Cineplex, Dairy Queen and Subway. The Paul family (former PAC parents) donated 26 bike light sets from MEC that were given out during an in-class draw.
This lone event in the pandemic year was a great success. Participation rates ranged from 112 to 177 students per day, for a grand total of 776 rides in the week! The students really enjoyed both the commute to and from school and the obstacle course. (Thanks to PAC parent and school staff member Miaka Nufer for coordinating all the tallies.)
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This July, three participatory arts events especially for children-- and in Spanish -- will take place in Leg-in-Boot Square.
Art In The Square will feature five Latin American artists who will bring music, dance and storytelling in Spanish to little kids ages 4-7 on July 22, 23 and 30, 5 to 6pm.
Funded by a Community Arts Grant and sponsored by the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association, the initiative is the brainchild of Fiorella Pinillos (Strathearn Court) and her friend Giuliana Lira. Dedicated to creating spaces where members of Vancouver’s Latin-American community can connect and engage, they have recently established a cooperative, La Libélula, to further that mission.
Further information at General 4 — la libelula or on its Facebook page (search for La Libélula).
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MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR BOTTLE COLLECTORS
Wes Knapp, Regatta
It is not unusual to see someone in the neighbourhood riding a bike or pushing a cart loaded with plastic bags and jam-packed with empty bottles and cans.
One strata council, Henley Court in Wheelhouse Square, taking inspiration from other enclaves, recently decided to make it easier for collectors to gain access to the refundable bottles and cans discarded by residents. They built a container which remains unlocked, allowing collectors to access it anytime.
Charlie Richmond, a member of the Henley Court strata council, tells us that residents are supportive of the special container. Because not all the refundables are always placed in the new container, other residents often check to see that they end up in the proper bin for the collectors. Here’s what it looks like:
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Neighbours who come in contact with individuals trying to eke out a living as bottle collectors often gain insight into the harshness of their lives and sometimes learn how those lives have gone sideways. Collectors are usually very transient, however, and their disappearance can leave us wondering if they are OK.
Kudos to the Henley Court Strata Council for its new bottle bin. Designed to help the collectors, it conveys a positive signal.
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Carol MacKinnon (Harbour Cove) writes:
Thank you once again for such an informative and generous newsletter...I'm excited to join the gathering on the 16th to contribute to the CONVIVIALITY of our neighbourhood!!
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SILENT AUCTION SURPRISES
Kathleen MacKinnon, Regatta
A couple of years ago in the ‘Before Times’, at a silent auction raising funds for the BC Lung Association, we bid on and ‘won’ a kayak trip for four donated by Vancouver Water Adventures whose flagship location is on Granville Island.
I found the trip voucher in an envelope in the drawer where we keep our Canadian Tire dollars. The voucher was to expire on June 30, 2021, so on a beautiful sunny and calm day this week we paddled east along the shore of the Creek and west along the beaches in the West End. Perhaps the only other time we’ve seen the Creek from this vantage point is from the Aquabus or the False Creek Ferry.
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Vancouver Water Adventures (est. 2009), a Vancouver company owned and operated by siblings Jessica and Clayton Watson, not only provide human-powered adventures but also scenic zodiac tours within the city and beyond. Since this is our summer to ‘Explore BC’ we like the idea of their boat tour up the Indian Arm to Granite Falls, a spectacular 150 foot waterfall cascading down the mountain -- a rare site and a tricky place to get to on your own.
The Bowen Island dinner tour also sounds attractive and easy. Hop on the zodiac around 5 pm, pass by Stanley Park, Lighthouse Park and a seal colony on the way to dinner at either Rustique or Doc Morgan’s on Bowen Island. Then check out the little shops near the dock before the return trip home.
Perhaps we’ll do both of these trips! (For details on all their excursions check out their website: vancouverwateradventures.com.
Back to that drawer with the Canadian Tire dollars, I found two more envelopes -- both from past silent auctions: Four passes to Van Dusen Botanical Garden and a Gift Certificate to Introductory Japanese Taiko Drumming lessons - group size to be discussed!
Imagine what these two surprise adventures might lead to?
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What's In A Name?
THE GORY NAMING OF LEG-IN-BOOT SQUARE
Meg Clarke, Newport Quay (with thanks to Rider Cooey, False Creek Co-op)
Of all the place names in False Creek, surely this is the most evocative of another era, raising images of piracy or battles at sea. Like the other place names, it originated with the uninvited settlers.
The tale is simple but gory. Historian Stuart Cumberland wrote in 1889 that “a man mysteriously disappeared -- and a top-boot containing a foot and a portion of the leg, had been found in the forest at False Creek, a place close by the town.
“This, it was surmised, was all that remained of the missing man, a cougar having disposed of the rest.”
According to historian Elizabeth Walker, writing a century later, the boot had been hung at the local police station for two weeks but nobody claimed it.
In 1889, the space we now call Leg-in-Boot Square was actually under water. The large Mackie Creek flowed from the Douglas Park area past the present hospital, gathering width and momentum, cascading between Ash and Heather through a ravine up to 60 feet deep until flowing into the salt water of False Creek -- right where the Square sits now. Bridges spanned the Creek at 6th, 7th and 8th Avenues. (This photo shows the flood of 1909 at 8th Avenue).
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That Mackie Creek was the primary source of fresh water for the area led to the cutting of the False Creek Trail around 1860 from the capital city, New Westminster, largely along a route now known as Kingsway.
A much-diminished waterway still flows under Leg-In-Boot Square – you can watch it empty into the Creek after heavy rains. This, the mouth of Mackie Creek, had long been a magnet for the peoples living here. As we gather on the patterned stonework of the plaza that now covers it over, we can appreciate the layering of history: the settler history that the plaza’s odd name celebrates and also the long human experience, here in this place, before that history began.
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LOW POND WATER LEVELS TO BE FIXED
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Last issue reader Zenon Samila (Heather Point) inquired about the low water levels in the pond. We asked the City of Vancouver and received this reply from Francisca Olaya Nieto.
“Though the waterfall feed is at the normal level, park staff have identified that the water at the bottom of the waterfall is not being held and is soaking into the surrounding fields rather than following the creek into the pond.
“Based on this, maintenance work is expected to be carried out by the end of this summer to remove the accumulated sediment in the stream connecting the waterfall and the pond, helping to increase pond water levels.
“We will also explore planting options for native shrubs and sedges along sections of the stream to prevent erosion and stabilize the stream banks.”
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LIVING WITH UNKNOWNS
Carla Pitton, Market Hill
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On a recent early morning walk on the seawall I stopped to take in the view across the water. Tall buildings filling the skyline were veiled in a golden light from a rising sun, but although I sat in a cool shaded area, I had no desire to be amongst those warm sun-lit buildings.
False Creek South is a paradise in the heart of a bustling city where wildlife claims its territory. For almost a quarter of a century I've been entertained by squirrels doing acrobatic jumps from one branch to another, an array of birds whizzing between bushes and trees, herons screeching from treetops, generations of crows building nests, ducks and geese in and out of water, the chestnut-coloured river otter. These creatures remind me that my False Creek South is also theirs.
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I continued along the seawall and into the warmth of the early morning sun, feeling grateful to be a part of this community, but there was, unfortunately, a downside. Closer to home, I encountered a long-time resident whom I sensed needed to chat, and asked how she was doing.
"I feel a lot of anxiety over the expiry of our leases," she blurted out.
"Many of us living here stress over the unknown. What to do? Should we stay on till the end? Should we leave? Should we invest further in renovations?
“I wish the City would let us know instead of holding us hostage. We have a right to know, don't we?"
I listened attentively, but what could I offer in response? I, too, am plagued by those same unknowns -- the biggest downside this unique community is currently facing -- and feeling that this paradise is threatened.
Very dedicated people have been working hard to extend the leases, add density in areas which have not yet been developed, and keep False Creek South the affordable community that it is. But many years have passed with questions left unanswered and an ever-lingering feeling of unease among residents.
What will happen to our homes and neighbourhood? Will the City slowly allow it to deteriorate until the last lease has expired? Will it lose its village character? Will it be replaced by concrete high rises like those we look at across the water? Will it lose its wildlife? A paradise lost?
I pray not.
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THE PLAQUE TELLS THE STORY - ALMOST
Sharon Yandle, Marine Mews
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The Alder Bay plaque that commemorates a dragon boat team tells you where the team began and when. But the words, “Our Race Against Breast Cancer”, only hints at telling you why.
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A quarter century ago Abreast In A Boat was identifiable by its all-women crew sporting fuschia shirts and boundless enthusiasm. Paddling that boat generated a national, then international, movement of women determined to prove, through vigorous physical activity and the camaraderie of teamwork, that there is life after breast cancer.
And in those days, proof was needed. Breast cancer was in the closet, more whispered than talked about, as if a woman so diagnosed had done something wrong or had let everyone down. Her very real fears of disfigurement, death, and the treatments themselves, were best kept quiet.
Add to this the medical wisdom of the day that told such women to limit physical activity; in particular, no strain on the upper body. No lifting, no climbing - and certainly no paddling.
Don McKenzie, then a UBC sports med doctor, soon realized that to women engaged in sports and fitness who were diagnosed with breast cancer, hearing they could no longer lead an active life was worse than the diagnosis itself. Looking for evidence behind this advice, Dr. McKenzie was astounded to learn there was none to be found.
Subsequently, he sought out women living with breast cancer for a study of his own. Twenty-four volunteered for dragon boat training, first at the gym (often the False Creek Community Centre) then twice weekly at Alder Bay. The study showed no ill effects from this intense activity, a result repeated for decades around the world.
Dr. McKenzie concluded the study, but these women weren’t going anywhere other than back to Alder Bay. They reorganized, fundraised, recruited more women, travelled internationally and generated more teams (now 40 in Canada and almost 200 in 28 other countries).
One day when they were very novice dragon boaters, an Abreast In A Boat crew found themselves in unexpectedly rough waters. They broke rhythm, floundered and capsized, resulting in a key lesson they carried both on the water and throughout their lives: Whatever happens, keep paddling.
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This summer, Sharon Yandle, an alumnus of Abreast In A Boat, celebrates 25 years as a breast cancer resister.
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CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES: ARTICLES AND PHOTOS
Between The Bridges welcomes readers’ contributions of story ideas, events of interest, original photographs, and completed articles relevant to the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association’s goal to “promote an economically, social and culturally diverse neighbourhood with a friendly, positive and vibrant sense of community”. For details go to:
http://www.falsecreeksouth.org/2021/01/between-the-bridges-contributor-guidelines/
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