|
Editorial Committee: Evan Alderson, Susan Wright, Sharon Yandle
Production Editor: Robyn Chan
Proofreader: Kathryn Woodward
Contributors this Issue: Tracy Betel (PAC Secretary), Carla Pitton (Market Hill), Evan Alderson (Regatta), Daniela Elza (False Creek Co-op), False Creek Friends Society
|
|
|
|
Valentines And Pink Shirts
ENCOURAGING STUDENTS’ SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
Tracy Betel, PAC Secretary
|
|
Cards For Others On Valentine’s Day
Just like last year, students at False Creek Elementary made valentine cards for residents of Broadway Lodge. They made the cards either on their own or as part of a class art activity, and then dropped them off at the school office. More than 100 cards were delivered to the Lodge.
|
|
Together Against Bullying: Pink Shirt Day
The school has started a Social Diversity Club, supported by Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Hyde (Gr. 6/7 teachers) and began by looking at examples of racism and anti-racism found in movies, books and personal narratives
For Pink Shirt Day on February 23rd, the club gave the following interactive presentation to the early primary classes on the origins and meaning of this annual anti-bullying day.
*
Today, we will share the story of Pink Shirt Day. But first, who has an idea about what bullying is?
Well, bullying is when a mean kid teases, disrespects, discriminates, hurts, or makes fun of you. Pink Shirt Day is a very special day when you wear something pink and try to stop bullying.
It began in Nova Scotia when a boy in grade 9 came to school wearing a pink shirt. Two bullies went up to him and teased him for wearing a shirt that was the colour pink. Do you know why they made fun of him for wearing a pink shirt?
They thought that pink was a girl's colour, and he was a boy, so he should not wear pink. You should never bully or make fun of anyone. If you saw this happening, what would you do?
Well, two boys saw this happening and they decided to try and stop it. They went to the store after school and bought many pink shirts. They had decided to codename their plan. Does anyone know or have a guess what they called it?
They called it “the sea of pink”. The next day they handed out shirts at the door and people put them on. When the boy who was bullied came into school he was very happy. Does anyone know why that would stop the bullies from bullying?
It stopped the bullies because they saw all these people supporting this boy and they realized that the boy was not alone and it would be impossible to bully him. Since the boy had all these people supporting him, the bullies were too scared to make fun of him.
*
The story is remembered for the great stand against bullying that these people showed. It is also important that we as a school try to make sure that there is no bullying happening, using this story as an example. Students also read short stories about kindness and created a billboard art piece, with the classes.
|
|
RePlan’s principal focus at this point is toward the implementation of the October 28 unanimous Council motion on False Creek South. In particular, that motion directed staff to “pursue deep consultation with the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association”. RePlan project manager Nathan Edelson provides some details here.
|
|
STAVING OFF COYOTES - ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
This past week has seen numerous sightings of coyotes in Charleson Park. One Fairview resident reported that two large ones chased her dog from the pond to the berm, and another saw possibly the same two by the school.
Don’t let these sightings go unreported. Informing the authorities helps them know where to put signage and other aids for residents. Lots of information here on how to deal with coyotes: https://stanleyparkecology.ca/ecology/co-existing-with-coyotes/
This is the peak of mating season – late February to early March – and the fact that coyotes are monogamous tends to bring out aggression in the males. However, after their pups are born in late spring and summer, all coyotes are at their most aggressive. Not something to look forward to, but there you go.
Otherwise, if you have a dog and are a Direct Action kind of person, you might want to purchase a Coyote Vest and, in case you feel the double rows of metal spikes or the 12 spikes around the collar may not do the trick, you can also add a few Coyote Whiskers. |
|
|
Although the humiliation suffered by this otherwise defenceless pup with its Kill Me Now look may be unsettling, you can be assured that no coyote will touch your dog. Nor will anyone else. Including you.
|
|
RESULTS! HYDRO POLES GONE
Carla Pitton, Market Hill
|
|
|
In the afternoon of February 10th, a great deal of action happened near the bus loop on Moberly Road. Three BC Hydro trucks and six employees were rousing two wooden poles from their many years of slumber under the cedar trees (see Between The Bridges, January 14, Bulletin #41).
|
|
|
It must've been a painful awakening as a chainsaw operator drew near and severed the poles at their thickest ends. Next came the noisy Hydro crane with attached cable and hook, lifting one of the poles off the ground and onto the bunk of the truck. Once the procedure was finished the truck drove away and the second truck moved into position to remove the remaining pole.
So why were those two poles left at the bus loop for so many years? Well, that remains a mystery. One friendly crew member surmised they were meant as replacements but were never needed, and over the years had simply been forgotten.
Now that the poles have been removed, are there any ideas you may have to enhance the area surrounding the cedar trees? If so, contact Carla at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*.
|
|
THE HEARTS OF FALSE CREEK
Evan Alderson, Regatta
|
|
|
Between The Bridges has been blessed this week with the submission of two poems. Both speak to love of this community, but from different angles. The first poem below celebrates the simple pleasures of community available to all of us now. The poem that follows speaks to widely shared anxieties about the community’s future. I think they belong together.
*
Not too long ago, Maggie Rayner (Pacific Cove) was invited by a neighbour to join “The Creekers,” an informal group that regularly gathers at the Convivial Café for coffee and chat. The Creekers grew from even more casual gatherings at a regular spot along the Seawall. Finding it a welcome relief from the social isolation of Covid, she now enjoys the camaraderie of the Creekers and the friendships that have grown out of it. She shares her appreciation here:
THE CREEKERS
They come from every direction in the neighbourhood
With dogs, without
Ten or Twelve
Sometimes more
One arrives with a cane
Another uses a walker
The heart of the group, in a wheelchair
Able or disabled, each Creeker
Smiles as they approach the Convivial Café
On the False Creek Seawall
The sun is out, the day is warming
A circle of friends sit
Outside the cafe
10 am coffee in the time of Covid
-Maggie Rayner
|
|
|
Graham McGarva (Alder Bay Co-op) is a well-known architect with substantial experience in planning major development projects, including Olympic Village. He chairs RePlan’s Community Planning Working Group and has been deeply involved in imagining possibilities for our collective future. He reflects on that legacy here:
February 14th, 2022
Love Letter
to False Creek,
from one generation
to the next.
It is a race, this thing with death.
So far I am winning, soft chair
and a good book before my
zoom meeting starts; where we
will discuss which buildings are to be demolished first, and on
whose timetable. What schedule am I on?
Many have died before me,
why do I care so much about
enabling someone to live
in something that resembles my home
after I have been decanted?
I don't know, but it keeps me alive. And while it matters not whether I read the book,
it does if I write you this poem instead.
- Graham McGarva
|
|
|
For one thing: attempted garage and locker break-ins at Alder Bay Co-op and two other enclaves.
If you have that unfortunate experience, please remember to report to the police. They won’t send Officer Friendly or anyone else to your door, but compiling the stats can help identify areas that may be in need of extra surveillance. Meanwhile, preventative action, like charity, begins at home.
|
|
The Watery Part Of The Creek
SUMMER OF SUSTAINABILITY COMING
|
|
At a recent meeting of the Neighbourhood Association, Zaida Schneider of the False Creek Friends Society described events planned for False Creek this summer, built around a number of scientific and celebratory events already scheduled for the Creek. These plans focus on creating opportunities for local residents and young people from across the city to learn more and care more about the sustainability of our local marine environment. While details are still emerging, Zaida is eager to engage the participation of the False Creek South community in contributing to the planning and needed volunteer efforts. False Creek Friends provides much more information here.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Jonn Matson of the Squamish Streamkeepers with herring roe panel in False Creek
|
|
PLACE MATTERS IN FALSE CREEK SOUTH
Daniela Elza, False Creek Co-op
|
|
The newly minted Place Mattering Matters Collective gathers two artists (Maria Roth and Daniela Elza) and two architects (Richard Evans and Graham McGarva) with the purpose of opening conversations on the qualities of place needed to thrive in our shared urban environment: to look at the issues through the poetics of space as well as the mathematics of it.
After the two battles we had with Vancouver city hall last year—one for the co-op lease renewal framework in June, and the other in October on the proposed redevelopment plan of False Creek South—we saw the need to continue to engage with communities that are fighting for their deeply affordable homes. We started the Place Mattering Matters Salon to look at the different pieces of the puzzle in the un-affordable housing crisis.
Salon 01 launched on January 25th with the screening of the movie PUSH to lay some common vocabulary and background on the financialization of our homes. Salon 02 followed on February 8th with a discussion on mass affordability with guest speaker Patrick Condon who has been writing with passion and clarity on the complexities we are grappling with. Patrick’s book Sick City: Disease, Race, Inequality and Urban Land is free to download.
Each salon aims to dispel myths entrenched in the discourse, contributes to unpacking words around housing that are poorly defined, and has some form of poetic/artistic engagement. We close with the questions: What can we do today? (short-term) and What can we do tomorrow (long-term)? We hope to empower each other with specific actions we can take right away and build a vision for the future. We aim to accomplish all this in a once-a-month 60 minute (for now online) session.
|
|
|
|
|
Leslie Kern, featured speaker in Salon 4, Celebrating Women In The City, March 8
|
|
We run on the second Tuesday of the month. Next up:
Salon 03: Celebrating Women in the City, March 8, 4PM with guest speaker Leslie Kern.
You can register here.
Salon 04, on April 12, will discuss the more poetic aspects of what gives our neighbourhoods a happiness advantage. Other topics we hope to cover in future salons are illicit/criminal money in housing, and aging in community.
As it rapidly transforms around us, not only does place matter but that it matters is essential for the health of the whole community. We hope you can join us in these explorations.
Email contact: *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*
|
|
|
RE: Our Bulletin #43, February 11, Marta Goodwin (False Creek Co-op) writes:
Lots of engaging and varied content in this issue! I always enjoy BTB, but this was especially good. Great job everyone!
*
Carla Pitton, Market Hill writes:
Thanks to Bonny Campbell's encouragement and a BC Hydro contact number she included in the Readers Respond section in Bulletin #42, I persevered in trying to find out if the two poles could be removed from under the cedar trees at the Bus Stop on Moberly Road. This time I met with success! (See Results! Hydro Poles Gone in this issue.)
|
|
|
“It was breathtaking”.
So said Yael Stav (Spruce Village) who broke her run last week to catch this shot of a late sun on False Creek.
|
|
|
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/
|
|
|
|
|
|
