New West’s Biggest Little Garden program has attracted attention from the LA Times, which has published an article about the innovative community gardening initiative. The program is the brainchild of Fraserside Living Well Program director Diane Cairns, who had to find a solution to increase local food production in a city where 70% of us live in apartment buildings. She wanted to revive the old ‘Victory Garden’ concept of growing your own fruits and vegetables – and sharing the harvest with your neighbours – but how could it take off …

I’m told I am hard to shop for. People tell me that I’m picky and they are scared to buy me things I might not like. One gift that is always a winner in my books, is a gift certificate for a spa.  I’m a fan of pampering and preening and relaxation and any sort of rejuvenation that I put zero effort into and come out feeling better than when I went in. As a fan of spas, I have also become hyper critical of spas. 
A while back, my husband …

Last night I presented a two-hour program at the New Westminster Public Library called Blogging Basics, to help people get started creating their own blogs. We had a great turnout, with 60 registered and only a few empty seats in the auditorium.  It was a very lively crowd, full of questions and comments – I barely made it through the presentation in those two hours!
Hopefully I was able to answer some questions and even inspire some folks to start blogging themselves! We also disussed using Twitter and Facebook to promote …

I learned about elevator pitches in grad school – we were put on the spot, standing in a box outlined on the floor in front of our class, and provoked to give a 30-second spiel about a global health issue we were passionate about. Lately I’ve been preparing gleefully for a trip to the Big Apple, and I’ve been thinking about all of the endless websites that tell you the 10 meals under $10 in NYC, “Best Vegetarian Dining in New York,” “Must see before you die in the big …

Plant a Row, Grow a Row, a non-profit agency that organizes the donation of high value garden produce to food banks and low-income families will be teaming up with St. Thomas More High School (Burnaby) for their 2009 programme and to kick things off, the school is hosting a Gardener’s Party on Thursday evening, March 26th featuring presentations and question and answer sessions with the regions top gardening gurus.
Potential guests are asked to bring items for the food bank. More information is listed below.  Claude Ledoux, New Westminster Horticulture …

This is a guest post by Reena Meijer Drees, who is a New Westminster resident active in the campaign supporting BC-STV. Watch for a follow-up post tomorrow on the potential impact of electoral reform on local politics. You can read more about BC-STV on Reena’s blog and STV.ca (”Yes” side) or nostv.org (”No” side). Opponents of STV are welcome to respond in the comments and/or write a guest post supporting their position.
If BC-STV were to be implemented, there would be some changes to how our elections would run. I’ve discussed these in other postings. But there …

This is a guest post by Reena Meijer Drees, who is a New Westminster resident active in the campaign supporting BC-STV. Watch for a follow-up post tomorrow on the potential impact of electoral reform on local politics. You can read more about BC-STV on Reena’s blog and STV.ca (“Yes” side) or nostv.org (“No” side). Opponents of STV are welcome to respond in the comments and/or write a guest post supporting their position.
Remember the referendum on electoral reform in 2005?
I never paid the slightest attention to electoral reform before we …

In my mailbox today, I got a little piece of paper that appears to be junk mail. Upon further inspection, it was a blurb from the Metro Vancouver letting me know they are seeking to amend their solid waste plan, by exporting our garbage to the United States. The Cache Creek landfill, long one of the Lower Mainland’s dumping grounds, is closing down in 2010 and the powers that be apparently went, “Huh. Well. What are we going to do wih all that garbage?”
So they have two proposals they want …

I am considering hosting an Emergency Child First Aid & CPR course (formerly called “Childsafe”) specifically for parents or people who work with or care for children regularly. Participants will receive certification in CPR for infants, children and adults and also learn emergency first aid for children. 10 people are needed to participate and the class can hold a maximum of 18. I’m working on the location, but suspect it will be at the library here in New West or  some other community centre out this way, or possibly someone’s …

Hidden among a collision repair shop, a marine outboard sales and repair place, and an ICBC claims centre is New Westminster’s only winery. When you visit Pacific Breeze Winery, you won’t find grapevines snaking over a landscape of rolling hills, but you will meet some of New Westminster’s most passionate oenophiles, and taste some truly exceptional wine.
Pacific Breeze started five years ago, and today employs about 15 people including the two original partners – Frank Gregus and Maurice Hamilton. Frank and Maurice’s passion for wine was kindled years earlier with …

The Urban Wildlife Series takes a look at wildlife we share our city with. This is the third in a series. You can view the others, as they are added, by clicking here.
Street cats are a part of our urban landscape, and it’s a rare alley/empty lot/junk-filled yard that doesn’t house at least one feral cat, if not an entire colony of cats. I think of these cats as ninjas – silent and fast but sneaking about and watching your every move. Many people have success “befriending” cats like …

A few days ago, Will and I made our way down to The Orange Room, which recently reopened under new management. It has long been a favourite haunt of ours, so we came with high expectations and a little fear that the elements that made The Orange Room so great (delicious menu, friendly service, live music, stylish atmosphere) might be missing under different management.

We came away reassured, though our experience was somewhat marred by new restauranteur growing pains (more on that later). It was exciting to have a whole new …

Yellow tights, architectural shoes, and exploding drop earrings might just be the continuous run of New York fashion week, but when it comes to eye glasses that make a statement, you don’t have to go further than New Westminster.
Brilliantly innovative, local designer Traff Green’s designs, Reflections by Traff, are a unique medley of hand-picked colours to show skin tones at their best!   The carefully contoured and connected shapes of his designs will match any face shape and eyes.
The result?
Bold, impactful eye glasses for the everyday woman. And with limited …

Recently, commenter and contributor Ruth Seeley mentioned a link to Rick Springate’s website Go See TV, a website that contains fascinating old video footage of New Westminster events, converted into easy to view digital vignettes. This website is a rare treasure trove of nostalgia for all who have lived a life in the Royal City or who are interested in the way lives use to be lived here.
One page of Go See TV exclusively presents footage from most May Day celebrations from 1932 to 1963, all of which were …