The front-page article on today’s Newsleader is about New Westminster’s new green bin program. According to the article, with the introduction of a dedicated waste bin for food scraps, New Westminster has gone from having a 31 per cent rate of diverting waste from the landfill in 2009 to 59 per cent in the last three months of 2010. How do you like the green bin program? What do you do to reduce trash? How do you think New West could further reduce garbage sent to the landfill?

New Westminster is a proud and busy place this week. As the Hyack Festival proudly begins its 40th year of celebrating the city, children around the city are busy practicing how to folk dance and dance together around May Poles to celebrate May Day on May 25th. Through his 96 years in New Westminster, J.J. Johnston attended every May Day celebration, was actively involved in many of them. So much so, to the people of our city he became known as “Mr. May Day”.

Tucked back off Columbia Street, sharing a cozy retail space with quirky Arundel Mansion is Aroka Vintage, a recently opened vintage décor wedding shop. Owned and run by Dawna Graham, a resident of New West, Aroka specializes in the sale and rental of niche décor items and dresses. Not sure what qualifies as niche décor? Think ornate tea cups and saucers, glass dessert cups, finely decorated china, pewter candle sticks, brass clocks, lamps and more. It’s like stepping into a beautifully curated antique shop minus the dust.

Thinking about the coming blog posts I’m preparing about Aroka Vintage and Red Brick gets me wondering about what undiscovered little shops around New West I may have missed. This week, let’s share a little love with the shopkeepers of New West. Share your picks for great local boutique shopping in the comments, via Twitter or on Facebook. Gotta love a good excuse to go shopping!

I’ve been dutifully attending TransLink’s consultation sessions for the UBE. We’ve seen 3 so far, and the last one will be held this Thursday evening at 7 pm at the Sapperton Pensioner’s Hall at 318 Keary St, just up from Columbia. Translink will be “reporting out”, summarizing what they’ve heard from the community over the weeks of discussion. I’d encourage all citizens to come out to see what TransLink is planning to bring to New Westminster. As for me, I must admit that my attendance at these sessions has left me feeling like I’ve been pushed into owning something I really don’t want.

Change is good. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for tradition, but it’s nice to switch things up once in a while! And that’s exactly what Hyack is doing this year with the 40th Annual Opening Celebration of the Hyack Festival.

Trying to figure out how to keep your kids busy and out of your hair this summer? Here’s an option—Urban Academy is offering all sorts of summer camps this year, right here in New Westminster.
The arts-infused school is excited about this new offering and sees it as a natural extension of their arts-infused curriculum.

“We’re looking forward to opening our doors for camps this summer,” says Michael Bouchard, Urban Academy’s head of school, in a press release. “We’ve got something for everyone, and it’s a great way for kids to continue …

A few times now, a number of the local twitter geeks have had a conversation online about food. Because food is the greatest common denominator. One of the places that continually gets mentioned is Graze Market and Deli and we all salivate all over our keyboards and dreamily discuss what makes an awesome pulled pork sandwich. So what does make an awesome pulled pork sandwich? We’ll get to that.

Back in 2009, I wrote a guest post on Tenth to the Fraser entitled, “Taking the plunge into community involvement”. I’m hoping at the end of this post I can convince one of you to take the plunge. It’s a topical subject, with Briana’s recent New West Wednesday’s topic asking about people’s involvement (or not) in their local residents’ associations. Commenters are discussing their experiences and I’d have to say mine’s been overwhelmingly positive, which certainly makes me a bit sad about moving away.

My neighbour reminded me today that I forgot to post this week’s New West Wednesday question yesterday. Sorry! Hopefully you won’t mind if we do it today instead.
This week, I’d like to hear what you think about Residents’ Associations in New Westminster. Have you ever attended a meeting? Why or why not? What do you think about your RA? What do you think the role of RAs is or should be for New West residents?

The latest flavour of the month is the voter turnout. I don’t believe changing the electoral system will address the issue of voter apathy. Whether its electoral reform, electronic balloting, or what have you, none of those things address the core reason why we have 55 to 60% voter turnout for elections. To me, it has everything to do with the way elections are portrayed by the media in Canada. Where ever you choose to get your information from, you see the area of politics constantly under attack.

A cash-only diner with serve-yourself coffee ready to pour from a hot plate, the Coming Home Cafe may be low on frills but it doesn’t skimp on the flourishes. Homey meals like mac ‘n cheese are spiced up with gourmet additions like chorizo, and on that hot plate coffee is Kicking Horse Coffee – quality stuff. Inside, the decor is the kind of thrift-store chic you’d see in an art-school major’s first college flat. It’s zany, colourful and lovingly retro.

New West is a tight-knit community, but the flip side of that is that it can seem a bit cliquey to newcomers. A lot of information is passed via word-of-mouth and it takes some time to learn about the best places to go and other insider tips.
In this week’s New West Wednesday, let’s share a tidbit or two to help newcomers to the city get their bearings. What do you wish someone had told you when you were new to the city? What hidden gems would you recommend if someone …

Crime is down in British Columbia. In New Westminster, it’s way down. According to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General of B.C., the provincial crime rate has dropped 19% over the past decade. In New Westminster, it’s down a striking 32%.

Jen checks out independently owned and operated Queens Park Florist – just in time for Mother’s Day.