Between The Bridges – December 12

If you have been strolling on the Vancouver seawall lately, you have probably seen a bright, inviting space. That's us – we’re The Refillery, a small family-owned Canadian business built on the idea of healthy, natural products and having a cleaner, safer world. 

Our shop is run by my mom, Samara, my dad, Saj, and us three kids - my brother (7, middle), me (10, oldest), and my sister (4, youngest). We look for the best Canadian products for home, body, and pantry. 

We also offer a refill side where you can refill over 40 things like laundry detergent, dishwasher solutions, shampoo, body wash, and fruit/veggie wash. In fact, we have over 300 items from around Canada, but mostly BC. 

Lastly, I like that we are supporting my school by offering a 10% discount to False Creek Elementary families until December 24th, and 10% of all proceeds will be donated to the school for new computers and class trips. We've had lots of kids and parents, and even teachers, take advantage of this campaign, and I hope we can do it again.

As Circles in the Square winds down for the holidays, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have attended our events, our open houses, workshops, conversation circles, and other gatherings, or have hosted events in our space. We are delighted with our beginning this year, and there is room for much more in 2026.

Here are a few events you might find interesting in January: 

January 11th - 10 am – 4 pm - Death Conversation Game: an easy way to talk about grief, death, and dying with power and dignity.

January 14th – 10 am – 12 noon - Song Circle: Easy songs and chants, interwoven with periods of silence and a poem to start and finish. All voices welcome.

January 24th – 2 pm – 5 pm – Wet Felting for Beginners: A contemplative afternoon exploring life’s Wintering Season through fibre arts creativity.

If you would like more information or to register, please be in touch with me at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*. If you have a group or an idea that we might include in the programming for Circles in the Square, let us know or just drop by 665A Market Hill in Leg-In-Boot Square, just down the way from Convivial Café.

We look forward to spending time with you next year!

Nathan’s Book Club is an urban studies-focused group that is concluding another successful calendar year of reading, listening, and learning together. 

Over the past two years, we have built up quite a library – with limited storage space. We would like to offer extra copies to the community for purchase during our holiday Book Sale. Funds raised will be donated to the False Creek South Community Housing Trust (FCS CHT).

If you would like to purchase a book during the Book Sale, please email Sarah at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required* before December 21, 2025, to arrange payment and pickup. As only limited copies are available, we offer advance apologies if the title you want is sold out.

The following titles are available for purchase at the cost of $10 each: 

• Montgomery, Charles. Happy city: Transforming our lives through urban design. 
• Stein, Samuel. Capital city: Gentrification and the real estate state.
• Donaldson, Jesse. Land of Destiny: A History of Vancouver Real Estate. 
• Graham, Wade. Dream cities: Seven urban ideas that shape the world.
• Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
• Kern, Leslie. Feminist city: Claiming space in a man-made world.

If you are interested in joining the email list for Nathan’s Book Club, we’d love to have you! Please send an email to *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*. Our next meeting will take place on Sunday, January 25, 2026 to discuss The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids by Alexandra Lange.

Winter Solstice Lantern Festival (Sunday, December 21, 5-6 pm): Come to Leg-In-Boot to celebrate the longest night of the year with free wassail, music from Jon Dron, and the light of many lanterns. Leg-In-Boot will once again be a marshalling point for the Secret Lantern Society event. Bring your lanterns and, at 6 pm, join the Bloco Energia Samba Band for the procession to Granville Island – or just come and enjoy the festive occasion.

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Convivial Christmas Prep Party (December 23, 4 pm - later): Join in the fun! Festive music, festive drinks and festive conversation while peeling potatoes, chopping veggies, rolling pie dough and more. No skills required - just helping hands and Christmas spirit. Drop-ins are welcome, but we would appreciate knowing how many can come to help: *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*.

We will also need volunteers to help serve and deliver dinners on Christmas Day and with clean-up on Boxing Day (afternoon).

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Convivial Christmas Day Dinner (December 25, pick-up: 5:30-6:30 pm): The annual pay-what-you-can Christmas Day Dinner at Convivial Cafe is happening again. Dinner will be $0 - $45, take-out only. Free delivery is available for people in the neighbourhood who have trouble getting about. Dinner includes roasted turkey or roasted squash, with all the trimmings: stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry-apple chutney, salad, pumpkin pie, etc. etc. etc. Registration is appreciated - but not required. (We cook to the numbers but always make extra.)

Please let us know if you are interested in dinner or volunteering: *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*.

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Convivial Winter Hiatus: As usual, the Convivial Café and Bakery will be closed for the month of January. Think of it as a community service: no yummy goodies to tempt people as we all strive to re-adjust our eating habits after the festive season. We will reopen in February 2026!

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the first residents moving into False Creek South. An auspicious occasion, to be sure!

As RePlan’s Community Planning Assistant, and now Project Manager, since 2019, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time digging into the neighbourhood’s history and hearing stories that community members have shared. But this history doesn’t exist anywhere that people can easily share it.

To celebrate the neighbourhood’s 50th anniversary, I would like to gather, archive, and display photos of the early days of False Creek South on the Neighbourhood Association’s website.

There are plenty of photos in the City of Vancouver Archives of the building of False Creek South, but very few of the people.

If you have photos that you’re willing to lend to the project, please email me at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*. Photos will be collected, scanned, and returned promptly to owners.