Category: Vancouver East

Outside the Ukrainian Hall in Strathcona, a young woman stood on the sidewalk, quietly playing a vaguely Eastern European-sounding tune.  But this was no traditional squeezebox concert geared for a polka-loving crowd.  Inside the hall, devotees of the accordion gathered on wooden chairs.  Dreadlocked punks with painted faces sat next to young hipsters and middle-aged men with grey ponytails and black berets.

Saturday’s concert, the penultimate event in the week-long Accordion Noir festival, opened with the anarcho-punk sounds of Vancouver-island’s Ursula.  Under the deep red curtains of the Ukrainian hall, a banjo, an accordion and a single drum inspired the gathered crowd of accordion enthusiasts to stomp their feet and cheer wildly.

“The accordion doesn’t only have to be a punch line,” said festival organizer Rowan Lipkovits, “real music can be done on the squeezebox.”  Lipkovits described the prejudice against the accordion as stemming, in part, from what he calls “Lawrence Welk champagne music.”  But those that dismiss the instrument as only being engineered to play polka are missing a whole world of music that is often dark and edgy.  Lipkovits said that the accordion is experiencing a renaissance as young people pick up the instrument and challenge the guitar’s hegemony in popular music.

Bruce Triggs, who, along with Lipkovits, started the radio show that gives its name to the festival, sees the accordion as having “a bunch of qualities that make it different and cool.”  He cited the instrument’s loudness, portability and its ability to play both rhythm and melody at the same time as being key features.  He described playing his accordion at the Seattle WTO protests in 1999.

While the older generation might think of Welk and dismiss the accordion, Triggs said that today’s young people have no real reason to be prejudiced against the instrument he described as “viscerally cool.”  Triggs reeled off an exhaustive list of accordion-oriented bands, spanning from the Finnish heavy metal of Turisas to the folk-punk sounds of Saint Petersburg-based Iva Nova.  He said that the radio show receives about 20 new cds of accordion music each week.

With a weekly radio show and podcast boasting as many as 3000 downloads, a monthly squeezebox circle and an annual festival that strained capacity at local venues, the edgy renaissance of the accordion appears to be gaining a strong hold in Vancouver’s music scene.

On Thursday, a small group of parents, educators and community leaders gathered in Strathcona community centre for a meeting about school closures in East Vancouver.  The driving rain likely kept many at home, but those that did show up to the small room on the community centre’s ground floor spoke passionately about keeping schools like Seymour and Queen Alexandra Elementary open.

Jenny Kwan, MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, moderated a panel discussion about the effects of cuts to education spending.

For Andrea Esslemont, an Aboriginal mother living in Strathcona, the closing of Seymour Elementary school means a huge upheaval.  Esslemont, a mother of three, used to transport her ten year old daughter, who has special needs, to a school outside of the neighbourhood.  She worked for a year to get her child into a school closer to her home.  Within weeks of her daughter starting school, Esslemont found out that Seymour had been identified as one of 11 possible school closures.

Having her daughter at a school in the neighbourhood is important for Esslemont because she believes that there is more community support available there.  She said that going to a school nearby means that her daughter works with people who know her and can keep her safe.  She worries about her daughter getting lost in the system if she attends a larger school.  She is also concerned about the logistics of moving her daughter elsewhere.

Chrystal Tabobandung, from the Ojibwe nation, has four boys attending Queen Alexandra Elementary.  “I haven’t considered it,” she said when asked what she’d do if the school closed, “I’m going to fight with everything I have.”  Tabobandung called for parents to join together and act, rather than relying on petitions and meetings to stop the government’s planned closures.

Noel Herron, former principal of Strathcona Elementary school, highlighted the vulnerability of inner city students.  While the government cites declining enrollment as a reason for closing the schools, Herron believes that smaller classes are necessary for children in the area.  He also pointed to the role of schools as resource centres for the neighbourhood.  “You close a school, you close the heart of a community,” he said.

Steel fences and barbed wire surround the squat warehouses and buildings on Industrial avenue. Distant sounds of metal clanging, loads dropping and radios droning filled the air. At the CN railway yard, a single truck was fork-lifting rusty containers from one spot to another.

Eric Jorgens, a visiting manager at the yard pointed to six stationary tankers lined up on the tracks. The capacity of each tanker is marked in bright yellow paint: 25601 gallons. “Those ones contain biodiesel from Iowa. This yard is where steel wheel meets rubber wheel. From here, the diesel will go off to Chevron or Shell and such, and be diluted down to 5% or 10% and sold at gas stations. A lot of this biofuel coming into B.C.”

According to The B.C. government’s Livesmart website, “As B.C. continues to implement the Climate Action Plan, it is also moving ahead with coordinated actions to help the province adapt to climate change.” One of these actions is the imposition of the carbon tax and the motor fuel tax.

Two blocks west of CN railways, on 360 Industrial Avenue, is the green and yellow building of The Recycling Alternative, which houses the city’s only 100% biodiesel pump. The pump is run by the Vancouver Biodiesel Co-op, which has approximately 200 members who use 100% biodiesel to run their cars.

Alex Day, founder member of the co-operative, had something to say about the B.C. government’s efforts to “help British Columbians make green choices that save money at home, at work and on the road.”

“Since January 1st, 2010, the motor fuel tax, which biodiesel was previously exempt from, adds 25.11 cents per litre more to the cost of biodiesel. The government decided that it is too onerous to distinguish between the two, since they now have the renewable fuel standard so they’re just not distinguishing, so all renewable fuels are also being charged the carbon tax, which makes no sense.”

“The carbon tax is mostly just a slap in the face,” added Day. “The intention of the carbon tax is to put a disincentive on carbon based fuels and therefore create an incentive for renewable fuels. All the members talk about it , and are not happy about, and while they made the decision to choose renewable fuel, it is souring for them to know that the government won’t take the effort to exempt 100% biodiesel from the carbon and motor vehicle taxes instead of just bundling them in with other carbon-based fuels. Our membership is still growing, but some old members use less biodiesel and some have just stopped using it.

How backwards it is to charge carbon tax to renewable fuels, and how unhelpful it is to charge the motor fuel tax to biodiesel in a growing industry.” Day was not satisfied with the government’s steps to reduce British Columbia’s carbon footprint.

Andrea Potter stood in front of a row of gleaming jars filled with small green cucumbers.  She used her fingers to push down the cucumbers as she poured salty water over them.  Elsewhere on the table, a tall beige pot held freshly shredded cabbage and apple, a mixture that will become sauerkraut after a few weeks of fermentation.  A bright pink mixture of red and green cabbage showcased the final product of the process, giving off a pleasantly light pickled scent.

Potter is a holistic nutritionist and chef.  On Saturday, she was staffing a booth at Trout Lake farmer’s market.  She was invited to the event to show people how to preserve food using the lacto-fermentation process, rather than canning or pickling their produce.  Shoppers at the market stopped by Potter’s booth to ask questions and share stories of their own attempts at food preservation.

Potter’s booth was just one of the many activities and vendors at Saturday’s market.  Under another awning, market goers swapped cookbooks with each other.  Musicians entertained shoppers in the shade of a tall tree at the centre of the market.

At the far end of the line of white, blue and green tents, a small purple trailer was surrounded by hungry people queuing for large buckwheat crepes with fillings such as pesto, Vancouver-island brie and locally grown salad greens.  Another trailer served lattes and iced coffees, which people sipped as they browsed through the abundance of fresh local fruit and vegetables.

According to manager Anita Georgy, fall is one of the best seasons to visit the market.  She eagerly described the variety of produce available, noting that local cranberries and hazelnuts had just arrived that day.  For Georgy, markets are important because they serve as a bridge between the people who grow food and those who eat it.  She noted that the number of customers at the market is increasing and many people bring their children with them.

Perhaps one of the biggest draws of the market is the chance to be in touch with the seasons and support the local economy.  Vancouver residents can meet their local farmers and craftspeople at Trout Lake Saturday markets until Thanksgiving.

“Hey girlfriend!” said Michael Harris to a woman seated in the front row.  Both laughed, clearly pleased to see each other.

Around the room, a similar scene played itself out as new people entered the large gymnasium at Vancouver’s Aboriginal Friendship Centre.  Every Wednesday is West Coast night at the centre, with a different First Nation hosting the evening.

The room was set up with plastic chairs arranged in rows surrounding a large open space in the centre of the gym.  Music played over a crackling loudspeaker hanging from the ceiling.  Along the walls, stands were set up with jewelry and crafts for sale.  A large booth in the corner was piled high with t-shirts and baseball hats with dazzling metallic patterns.  Near the door, pamphlets and a poster board provided information on the Helping Spirit Lodge Society, an organization that works to prevent violence in the community.

Along the wall closest to the gym’s door two women were kept busy selling golden rounds of bannock, fruit salad and lemon meringue pie.  Large jars of peanut butter and jam were lined up on the table, ready to be spread on the homemade bannock.

This week no specific nation hosted, so the event became an open mic night.  Harris, one of three masters of ceremonies for the evening, told jokes and short stories to warm up the crowd.  He then gave a warm welcome to newcomers to the event.  He also greeted regulars, pointing out well-known artists and groups of people from different Aboriginal communities in the crowd.  He urged all those in attendance to bring family members who might be visiting Vancouver to West Coast night.  Harris then invited anyone with a drum to come up and sing.

Soon people started filtering to the front to join in traditional songs from the Kwakwaka’wakw and other nations.  In the crowd, some listened to the music while others chatted in small groups.  Children ran around the edges of the gym, playing tag and laughing.  In the front row, a little girl who seemed to have just started walking bounced unsteadily to the music.  She wandered closer to the singers clapping her hands, a huge grin on her face.

Six giant dumpsters were slumped against the wall, just barely concealing the heaps of garbage that festered beneath them. A broken television was stacked atop some damp furniture and had empty coffee containers perched delicately on top of it. The alleyway was fraught with bits of paper, plastic, and cigarette butts, and reeked of mould and urine.

Robert Sutherland grabbed a broom, while Varouj Gumuchian, Travis Martin and Jasiriat Somjee busied themselves with moving the dumpsters. Under the co-ordination of Sutherland, the four had taken it upon themselves to transform the alley north of Broadway, alongside Main Street, into a “Liveable Laneway,” a public space that would encourage pedestrians to linger in the space rather than flee from it.

Coinciding with the Autumn Shift car-free festival on Main Street, Liveable Laneways is an event spearheaded by Sutherland to facilitate long term change that would make the area cleaner and more people-friendly, benefiting merchants, visitors and residents. “We need more people spaces in Mount Pleasant,” said Sutherland, “I want this to be a public place with green roofs, green cafes, arts and activity”

From noon till 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, the alleyway will be converted into a vibrant public space, with a farmers market, a BBQ, cottage industry stalls, art installations, food, a skate park, pony rides and a stage for music.

Raking bits of rubbish out from the grass, Somjee said “I’m here to make the city greener and more pedestrian friendly.” She had come to help out as part of the Environmental Youth Alliance.

Gumuchian wanted to contribute his art. “My thing is sculpture – installation art. People bring their culture to the place. Lanes become alive with trades, crafts, and that relates to sustainability. Symbiotically creating micro businesses in the alley, as opposed to Main Street, which is more store-front stuff.” Gumuchian said he felt positive about the event, but that there were always some challenges and obstacles. “Cleaning is horrific. This place has been unkempt and unclean for years. The city doesn’t co-operate, cleaners don’t show up, there is red tape around licensing for the event, everything costs money.”

Chindi Varadarajulu, owner of Chutney Villa, a restaurant adjacent to the alley, said “Everybody is so nasty with their garbage. Stacks of old mattresses, paint, gardening stuff, furniture, they use it as a toilet – I’ve seen a guy taking a dump there. It is the most abused space.” She hopes that this event will help keep the alley clean, while bringing a lot more life and attitude to the city.

Concerned parents and citizens plotted with community leaders and politicians in East Vancouver Thursday on actions to prevent the possible closure of two local schools. The schools are just two of nine in East Vancouver identified by the Vancouver School Board as likely to be shuttered in 2011 to offset an $18 million budget shortfall.

Thursday’s meeting followed the release earlier this week of a University of B.C. report that claimed East Vancouver children are already more vulnerable than others in the city. With East Vancouver slated to take a disproportionate hit for the citywide shortfall, many in attendance questioned the board’s wisdom.

The cuts would be an “attack on the most vulnerable kids in this city,” said Noel Herron, a former Vancouver principal and school trustee.

“Vulnerable families feel like they’re under attack,” said Grace Tait, a family coordinator with the Ray-Cam Co-operative Centre. She noted that schools are “the only places that those families access any kinds of supports.”

Local mother Andrea Esslemont spoke of the great efforts she took over the last year to ensure her daughter, who has special needs, would be able to attend a school close to her home that has the level of care and attention she needs. “I want her to have the best possible start so that she can be the best person she can be,” said Esslemont, who also said that adjusting to change is very difficult for her daughter. “I don’t want the school to close.”

The meeting, which attracted a small crowd of a few dozen, was held at the Strathcona Community Centre amid a backdrop of plunking piano keys and the thumping of active young feet.

“You close a school, you close the heart of the community,” said Herron, “you close a neighbourhood school, you shut the neighbourhood down.”

Organizer Jenny Kwan, MLA for Vancouver – Mount Pleasant, said the shortfall and anticipated cuts amount to “a crisis in our public education system.” She challenged those in attendance to take coordinated, ethnically inclusive action to demand that their schools remain open.

A committee was formed in response to Kwan’s challenge. It is expected to take action on a number of suggestions made in the meeting.

The crowd chuckled as Hannah Carpendale delicately held up a drone between her fingertips and continued to explain the social organization of a beehive. Carpendale, 22, was one of the eight youth who, as part of an apprenticeship program with the Environmental Youth Alliance, were taking care of two hives at the Means of Production community garden.

The culmination of the summer-long apprenticeship program was a mini-symposium held on Sunday under a single tent in China Creek park. Locals were invited to learn more about bee species and their habits. Yellow and black balloons marked tables that displayed an assortment of beekeeping books and paraphernalia. A little table of honey goodies was set up, and hot cups of ginger -lemon-honey tea were served up to the few people who braved the grey skies to attend.

Brian Campbell, master beekeeper of the Blessed Bee Farm in Richmond was there to support the youth. “What’s happening is that there are about half as many beekeepers as there were 25 years ago. Older beekeepers are giving up and so it is important to engage with youth and teach them about beekeeping.” He also talked about the importance of preserving the rapidly declining bee population, citing the carrot-seed shortage that had recently troubled West Coast Seeds as a case in point “We already see the impact on our food. No bees to make the seeds means no seeds to plant the carrot.”

Campbell said that preserving the delicate balance between flora and fauna is a matter of immediate concern. “People need to take personal responsibility for their actions. The use of pesticides is incredibly harmful to B.C.’s wild bees. They are being killed off and this means that we lose native plants, which means we lose native wildlife.”

The youth-led presentations included an overview of the evolving BC beekeeping bylaws, beekeeping practices from around the world. In his presentation titled “Other reasons why bees are better than you and I,” Bryan Brent talked about how bees were being used to diagnose illness because of their acute sense of smell. According to Brent, bees can detect pheromones for cancer, diabetes, and tuberculosis. They have also been trained to find land mines by smelling out TNT residue.

“The idea is to bring awareness into the community, bring bees to them, educate, inspire and connect to this sacred species,” said Shielagh Mckenna, the program coordinator with the EYA who mentored the youth through their apprenticeship.

Blue and red flashing lights, uniformed officers and an explosives detection dog are usually signs that a major incident is happening in East Vancouver.  But on Sunday, these were part of the draw to Cops, Kids & Woodland Park, a family-friendly event put on by the Grandview-Woodlands Community Policing Centre.

Some East Vancouver communities have a rocky relationship with the Vancouver Police Department, with distrust being a fairly common sentiment in the area.  For Adrian Archambault, coordinator for community policing with the centre, the point of Sunday’s event was outreach to the community’s youngest members and their families.  The goal of community policing, according to Archambault, is to provide a bridge between the police and the people who live in the neighbourhood.

The annual event is usually held in Grandview Park, but moved to Woodland Park this year because of Grandview’s closure in August.  Archambault hopes that the event will encourage families to make more use of Woodland Park, which is located just off the Adanac bike route.

The theme for the day was back-to-school safety, with 50 volunteers on hand to help with child identification, bike safety and face painting.  Prabhjot Sandhar, 15, has been volunteering at events like these for the last three years.  She helps out at the community policing centre because she wants to become a police officer.

The flashing lights of a fire truck proved to be one of the day’s major draws, as children were given the opportunity to clamber into the cab for a photo.  A small crowd also formed around two-year-old Bailey, a black Labrador eager for pats from the gathered children.  Handler Constable John Alleman of the transit police explained Bailey’s role as an explosives detection dog working mostly in the Skytrain system.  Alleman tries to bring Bailey out to community events as much as possible.  “Police don’t solve crime on their own,” he said.

Tim Smatlan is a young father who lives around the corner from Woodland Park.  He brought his daughter Violet to the event after hearing about it from a neighbour.  Asked about her favourite part of the day, four and a half year old Violet proudly showed off a blue butterfly drawn like a mask over her eyes.  “Face painting!” she said between bites of hot dog smothered in ketchup.

The event seemed successful, with a few hundred people taking part in the day’s various activities.  But just three blocks away, fresh-looking graffiti painted a different picture of East Vancouver.  “Dead copz,” read a tag in vibrant green lettering on a mural near Britannia high school.  Despite events like Cops, Kids and Woodland Park, tensions between some members of the community and police still exist in this area.