Rivers Day event set

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 2, 2006


The revitalization of Still Creek will be the focus of the World Rivers Day celebrations in Burnaby on Sept. 24.

City council has instructed its staff to find corporate sponsors and to get more community involvement for the city's 14th annual celebration of local waterways.

Council also approved a long list of activities for the event, including:

- invasive plant removal and information sessions;

- riparian (creekside) planting activities;

- creek clean-ups;

- library displays;

- free tours of the Wildlife Rescue Association garden;

- free Central Valley Greenway bike tours;

- free paddling trips on the Still Creek corridor;

- free ecology walks with English- and Mandarin-speaking guides, offered by the Green Club;

- educational displays and activities; and

- food for event participants.

The city will also send letters to the owners of all commercial and industrial land abutting Still Creek in an attempt to raise awareness of the city's new stormwater management plan, titled From Pipe Dreams to Healthy Streams.

The city will also lend its support to other Rivers Day events, such as the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up sponsored by the Vancouver Aquarium and projects conducted by local schools, Scout troops and other community agencies.

Although B.C. Rivers Day has been celebrated by environmentalists and other activists for the past 25 years, it did not become a formal celebration until Burnaby resident Mark Angelo encouraged city hall to proclaim the event in 1993. Last year, Angelo helped to convince the United Nations to formally declare the last Sunday in September as World Rivers Day.

EDMONDS FESTIVAL MONDAY

The 14th annual Taste of Edmonds community event - formerly known as the Big Pig Gig - is set to run on Labour Day Monday.

The festival, which features a bouncy castle, dunk tank, barbecue and games, typically attracts about 3,500 people to the neighbourhood around Southside Community Church, near Kingsway and Edmonds.

City hall has approved the closure of Arcola Street between Walker and Hall Avenues, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., to accommodate the Sept. 4 event.

HANNA COURT KIDS' FAIR

The Burnaby Children's Centre, which operates two day cares on Hanna Court, near the Edmonds SkyTrain station, is hosting its fourth annual street sale and kids' fair on Saturday, Sept. 16.

The day-long outdoor event will feature games and activities, plus tables of vendors selling clothing, toys and other goods that cater to children. The event is expected to attract approximately 150 to 200 people.

Council agreed to close Hanna Court from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day in question to accommodate the event. The street is located one block south of the B.C. Hydro head office on Southpoint Drive, near the newly opened Taylor Park elementary school.

TOY RUN ARRIVES OCT. 1

The annual Christmas Toy Run motorcycle ride will travel through Burnaby on Sunday, Oct. 1, this year.

The annual event, which typically attracts several thousand motorcycle riders, provides toys for children of needy families throuhout the Lower Mainland. In Burnaby, the most notable impact from the charity event is a series of street closures and parking restrictions.

As usual, the toy run will result in a no-parking restriction on the westbound lane of Hastings between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. In addition, all north-south access across Hastings will be blocked between the hours of 10 a.m. until approximately 12 p.m., except for three access roads - Willingdon, Holdom and Cliff Ave., where traffic will be queued up and allowed to cross at 15 minute intervals.

The city intends to send notice of these changes to all north Burnaby residents by Sept. 15, and large 'advance warning signs' will be installed on streets along the parade route by Sept. 22.