Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Tag Archives: Slocan Park


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Songs for the salmon! Get ready for the Renfrew Ravine Harvest Moon Festival 2016

Saturday, September 17

Turtle Bliss Gamelan

Turtle Bliss Gamelan playing with lanterns by Naomi Singer. Photo by Zora Feren

BY LUCAS CHAN

For months Still Moon Arts Society has been preparing for the 14th annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, held this year on Saturday, September 17.

The moon festival celebrates the nature and beauty of Renfrew Ravine and Still Creek. For many decades the ravine was abandoned by the salmon due to the polluted water and ecosystems caused by the neglect of this natural space. But the salmon have been returning to spawn in our community since 2012, thanks to the hard work of many community stewards and local governments collaborating to restore health of the stream and the ecosystem.

On the Wild Salmon Caravan in June, youth from Still Moon Arts were honoured to join in singing many First Nations songs for the salmon all along the Fraser River. Still Moon wants to extend the idea to our community that we, too, can have songs for the salmon as yet another way of caring for our local stream, Still Creek.

Make your own lantern

The month of September will be busy in preparation for the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival to be held at Slocan Park and Renfrew Park. You are welcome to come out to Slocan Hall and make a lantern to carry in the parade:

  • Tuesday and Wednesday, September 6 and 7: Globe lanterns, 4–8 pm
  • Thursday and Friday, September 8 and 9: Salmon lanterns, 4–8 pm
  • Saturday and Sunday, September 10 and 11: Advanced Sculptural Lantern Making 10 am–1 pm
  • Monday and Tuesday, September 12 and 13: Globe lanterns, 4–8 pm
  • Wednesday and Thursday, September 14 and 15: Glass jar lanterns, 4–8 pm

The big day

Moon Fest Fireworks

Fireworks finale with metal fence by Heather Jones. Photo by Zora Feren

Festival day, Saturday, Sept ember 17, consists of two main components that take place at Slocan Park and Renfrew Park.

At Slocan Park from 4–7 pm there will be a Harvest Fair to showcase community harvests alongside family-friendly activities, community booths and musical performances.

At 7:15 pm a twilight lantern procession will lead the community from Slocan Park to Renfrew Park along the edge of the ravine.

At Renfrew Park you are guaranteed to be wowed by the community and artist made lanterns decorating the site to highlight the natural beauty of Still Creek. There will be refreshments, activities, interactive local art pieces as well as a fireworks finale to bring the night to a close.

More ravine celebrations

Still Moon Arts will end the month with an Equinox labyrinth walk on Thursday, September 22 and a World Rivers Day art and water celebration on Sunday, September 25.

Still Moon Arts Society is also in the process of putting together Still Creek Stories, a collection of stories from the community that share their stories and experiences in the ravine. These stories will be compiled into an art book as a representation of the memories and hopes of what Still Creek was in the past, is in the present, and hopefully will be in the future. Pre-orders will be available at the Renfrew Park portion of the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival on September 17!

For more information find Still Moon Arts on Facebook as Still Moon Arts Society and on Twitter and Instagram as stillmoonarts.

Copyright (c) 2016 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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13th Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival this Saturday, September 26

Moon-Festival-September-26BY SILING ZHANG

Fall is officially upon us and so is this year’s Renfrew Ravine Harvest Moon Festival, scheduled for this Saturday, September 26 at both Slocan and Renfrew parks! For those of you who just can’t wait, Still Moon Arts has organized a series of activities leading up to the festivities. This is your opportunity to get involved!

Local artist Yoko Tomita will be teaching lantern workshops at the Slocan Field House from 4-8 pm on the following days:

• Bamboo and Wire Frame Lanterns: September 14-18
• Globe Lantern: September 21-23
• Glass Jar Lanterns on September 23-24

The cost of these workshops is between $10 and $25. No reservations are required. For more information, check out our website stillmoon.org!

Due to the drought and dryness this year, we are also on the lookout for glass jar donations to minimize fire hazards within the ravine. We are looking for short jars, no longer than the length of your hand, with rims wide enough to fit a tea candle. If you have any such jars to spare, we would love to have them! Jars can be dropped off at the lantern workshops in Slocan Park Field House.

For the avid gardeners, don’t forget to bring your best vegetation to the Harvest Fair portion of the Moon Festival at Slocan Park. Categories include:
• Most sizeable sunflower
• Most bountiful flower bouquet
• Most gorgeous green bouquet
• Most creative fall display
• Tastiest homemade jam/jelly
• Most alluring Asian vegetable
• Most cumbersome cabbage
• Tubbiest tomato
• Heaviest zucchini
• Sexiest squash
• Beefiest bean
• Craziest carrot

Please visit the website at stillmoon.org for regular updates, or find them on Facebook, where they’ll be posting up-to-date details on all their activities, including a series of free preview concerts featuring musicians from the Moon Festival line-up!


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February 2015 issue of RCC News is here

Happy Chinese New Year!

This issue of the RCC News is full of the many wonderful people, events and programs happening in our neighbourhood!

February 2015 Renfrew-Collingwood Community NewsGet your February 2015 issue of the RCC News at your local coffee shop, grocery store, library and community centre.

Or click on the cover image to view the new issue.

In this issue:

Do you have a local story to tell or an event to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email rccnews-editorial@cnh.bc.ca.

The deadline for the March 2015 issue is February 10. You are welcome to submit a story from 300 to 400 words, with high resolution photos in a jpg at least 1 MB file size.