Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Category Archives: Health & Wellness


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Come out – dig in! Earth Day celebration at Everett Crowley Park, April 27, 2019

Saturday, April 27, 11 am – 3 pm. From the 7200 Kerr Street parking lot, follow the signs to the Earth Fest celebration site.

BY MARY HIEBERT

Did you know that southeast Vancouver is home to one of the largest parks in the city?

Everett Crowley Park is an urban forest. From the views of Richmond farmlands to the tranquil Avalon Pond, the park has many trails and quiet places to enjoy the choruses of birds amid the lush woodland.

The site is named for Park Board Commissioner Everett Crowley, long-time resident and owner of Avalon, Vancouver’s last independent dairy. Formerly known as the Kerr Road Dump, this area was a closed landfill for 25 years before its official opening as a park in 1987.

Through the hard work and dedication of community stewards and the Parks Board, the natural environment is recovering resulting in a lovely wooded and hilly habitat frequented by birds and other urban wildlife. A great place for dog walking, too.

In 2017 the Vancouver Parks Board piloted a park stewardship program in Everett Crowley Park. Individuals, couples and families enthusiastically volunteered to help keep “invasives” at bay in newly replanted areas of the park. The Park Stewardship program is now growing strong, with monthly “invasive pull” events. Working together is a fun and efficient way to get things done!

Everett Crowley Park is a perfect place for nature-based learning. School and out-of-school groups are invited to come and learn.

A scheduled school class arrives at nearby Champlain Heights Community Centre where the first lesson is: History.

Looking up at the giant jigsaw puzzle mural in the community centre’s entrance way, the children learn how long humans have lived in this area, who the first peoples were and how they lived. The story unfolds, First Nations, then colonization, logging of the area, then dairy farming, City landfill and finally what is now Everett Crowley Park.

Then it’s off to the park itself for hands-on tree planting by the children, mushroom log inoculation, sound scaping and listening. A very healthy way to learn.

If you haven’t visited Everett Crowley Park for a while, come out to the Earth Fest celebration on Saturday, April 27. There will be a wide range of free family-friendly activities including music and dance by the Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers, eco-demonstrations such as mason bee care and health, Dogs in the Park Initiative, nature talks and walks, forest-based learning, stream-keeping Vancouver’s streams and rivers, hands on making of spore and seed “bombs.”

You can also join volunteers to plant bee-friendly shrubs and tree-friendly mushrooms. Learn the past history of the park and where it’s growing, what park stewards are doing and how you can be involved.

The entertainment, exhibits and activities are all free and wheelchair accessible. Free healthy snacks and refreshments – please bring your own cup!

This annual community event is organized by local residents and is supported by the Champlain Heights Community Association’s Everett Crowley Park Committee in partnership with the Vancouver Parks Board. Saturday, April 27, 11 am – 3 pm. From the 7200 Kerr Street parking lot, follow the signs to the Earth Fest celebration site.

Mary Hiebert is a park steward with the Everett Crowley Park Committee.

Copyright 2019 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Join the fight against climate change at the 9th annual Earth Day Parade, April 20, 2019

More than 1,000 community members will march on Saturday, April 20, will you be one of them?

BY RACHEL CHOW

Our planet is being hurt by our environmental and social decisions and the first step to changing that is by raising awareness and shifting how we think about our relationship to the natural world.

The Youth 4 Climate Justice Now Committee invites everyone in the Lower Mainland to attend the 9th annual Earth Day Parade on April 20, 2019, to participate in a fun day of learning about environmental issues, celebrate the work being down in communities around climate justice and learn how we can shape a more sustainable world.

Windermere Leadership students invite the community to march in the 9th annual Earth Day Parade, Saturday, April 20, 2019. Pictured is Earth Day Parade 2018. Photo by Michael Wheatley

“It’s hard to take the first step towards making change, especially for youth, but this generation is the future and our choices will affect both us and generations to come, so we need to take action now if we still want a planet to live on,” says Rachel Chow, one of the organizers this year.

“Throughout the years, society’s connection to nature has faded, but that connection will never disappear,” she continues. “My whole life, I’ve been surrounded by both cities and nature, and I can’t imagine a planet where that balance is broken. I want to spread awareness about these problems because if our view on nature isn’t changed, I don’t even know if I’ll have a future to look forward to.”

The goal of the parade and festival is to inform the community of our current climate situation and provide them with a reason to care about the planet. It will be on Saturday, April 20, 2019 from 1 to 3 pm starting at Commercial and Broadway and continuing to Grandview Park. There will be guest speakers, performers, and diverse booths about many topics that youth find most pressing in the climate justice movement.

About the Earth Day Parade

For the past 9 years, Windermere Leadership students have taken on the role of organizing the parade to host an event for Earth Day created by youth, for youth, about environmental and social problems and how we can help shape the future that we want. Each year, they host a festival with many different booths and speakers at Grandview Park to engage the community in these problems. This year will be the 9th year Leadership students will host this celebration and they hope to bring about change in any way they can. Learn more at: http://earthdayparade.ca/ or https://instagram.com/windermereldp?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1civybdp6bxpx

Rachel Chow is a student in the Leadership program at Windermere Secondary and the Earth Day coordinator.

Copyright 2019 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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New trails open up the wonders of Renfrew Ravine

New walkways take residents deep into Renfrew Ravine. Photos by Julie Cheng

BY JULIE CHENG

“Have you come across the coyotes yet?” the walker asked me one morning.

It’s a completely different world down here, deep in Renfrew Ravine. The peace of the forest surrounds you; the sounds of the birds and rushing water soothe you. Then there are the coyotes.

I’d taken the steel stairs and timber steps leading from the Boyd Diversion entranceway near 22nd Avenue, past newly planted native plants and down to a boardwalk that winds its way alongside its creek, Still Creek.

The walkways are part of a park renewal that’s been years in the making. In October 2018, the Vancouver Park Board finally completed the construction of the new trails around Renfrew Community Park and Renfrew Ravine Park.

Renfrew Ravine Park is located between the 29th Avenue SkyTrain station and East 22nd Avenue. It’s the only park in Vancouver with a creek in a natural ravine. It’s never been culverted over, like many other Vancouver creeks, apparently because it was too far east and too steep.

The boardwalk runs along Still Creek.

The boardwalk runs along Still Creek. New trails around Renfrew Community Park and Renfrew Ravine Park were completed in October 2018.

Members of the Still Moon Arts Society, a local arts and environmental organization that co-produces the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, have long envisioned a trail system around the ravine and were key in getting these trails done.

Still Moon Arts has also been instrumental in the return of chum salmon to Still Creek. This happened for the first time after 80 years, in 2012. Since then, salmon have been seen spawning behind the Canadian Tire on Grandview Highway in late October or early November.

Access to nature has been linked to enhanced mood and well-being and lowered stress and depression. So it’s wonderful that residents young and old are discovering the wonders found in this urban forest, at the creek’s edge.

Just beware the coyotes.

A cascade of sword ferns above Still Creek.

A cascade of sword ferns above Still Creek.

How neighbours can help the salmon and the ecosystem in Renfrew-Ravine

  • Do not use harmful chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. These run into the storm drainage system and may end up in Still Creek.
  • Dispose of garbage, chemicals, paints and other liquids properly. Do not dump chemicals down the storm drain.
  • Wash your car without soap or with phosphate-free soap.
  • Join the Still Creek Streamkeepers to monitor the health of Still Creek and run activities that help improve water quality and ecosystems. You can also take part in monthly meetings. Find more info at stillmoon.org/learn/streamkeepers/

Renfrew Ravine improvements

  • Staircases with better access to trails
  • Accessible walkway into the trail system from the parking lot on Renfrew Street
  • Bridges across Still Creek
  • Dog off-leash park near Renfrew and 22nd Avenue
  • Fencing and benches

─Source: City of Vancouver

Copyright 2019 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News