The other day I noticed a bunch of Canadian geese down at the Fraser River Styrofoam patch. Why, I wondered, would they prefer to toddle here rather than fly south for the winter? More importantly, I wondered why was no one cleaning this mess up. I decided to take a half hour out of my day and putting it toward my own personal community initiative. I was going to pick up garbage and report my findings.

On Sunday, September 25, the Carter Foreshore Park and the South Dyke Road from Gifford Street to Boundary Road in Queensborough were targeted for cleanup by 28 people who participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Even though downpours occurred just before and after, the event was rain free. Collecting approximately 95 kg of litter was a bittersweet moment for participants.

When I was young and living in Alberta in the 1980’s, I belonged to the Dairy 4-H Club. One of our big projects every year was Highway Clean-up. We picked up garbage on the side of the Highway for probably about 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon. It was amazing to see the amount of garbage that littered the side of the road. Fast forward to 2011. Have we as humans learned our lesson about littering? It seems that we as a collective whole have not. That is why The Vancouver Aquarium partnered with TD Canada Trust and started the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, happening this weekend in New Westminster and beyond.

Perhaps nothing better symbolizes New Westminster’s often polarizing politics than the Westminster Pier Park project. The ambitious, even audacious, $25-million project involves reclaiming a long stretch of blighted brownfield bordering the Fraser River for a new public park.

The Knit 1 Take 2 knitting group that meets Sundays at Waves Coffee is holding their Second Annual Knit in the Park this Sunday, September 18th, from noon to 4. They’ll be meeting at the bandshell rain or shine and activities include the very fun Yarn Steal and a Potluck. From their email:
If you want to participate in the yarn steal please bring 100 grams of yarn, wrapped.  Please select a yarn you’d enjoy knitting. The event is also picnic pot luck. Since this is a picnic please choose food that’s easy …

The Early Childhood Development Committee (for children ages 0-6) and the Middle Childhood Development Committee (6-12) are looking for input for their upcoming Summer Activity Guide. Do you have an event or group you’d like to share?

Summerfest in Grimston Park was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came. The turnout surpassed our expectations. We estimated that we had about 500 people at the movie alone, and maybe 1000 over the course of the afternoon. Our sleepy little West End park was packed with happy families!

Bring your swimsuits and a picnic blanket to Grimston Park on Saturday, July 17 for Summerfest, a new community celebration in New Westminster’s West End. Enjoy a family-friendly evening of play and live music, shop the mini-Farmer’s Market, and finish the evening off with a special free screening of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial under the stars.

New Westminster Museum & Archvies’ Rob McCullough is working on creating an interpretive panel about the history of Grimston Park to be unveiled at the inaugural Summerfest in Grimston Park, Saturday, July 17. Rob is currently seeking photos, stories and comments from those who have enjoyed the park over the years since it opened.

The new playground at Grimston Park is now open, and it is AWESOME. The park’s designers have done an incredible job creating a welcoming and imaginative space to play for kids of all ages. While the temporary fence is still partially up, and there’s still some work to do (laying sod, painting the wading pool), the playground and pool are now open for play.

I’ve spent the past three or four months deeply involved in the process of selling our townhouse and buying a house; a real house, with a yard, and a non-matching-with-your-neighbour-front-door and, importantly, no strata council. It’s been an extremely complex process complete with volatile mood swings and nail biting moments but all, as they say, has come out in the wash and sometime in July I will be saying goodbye to my beloved Brow of the Hill and jumping rather headfirst into a new neighbourhood I know only secondhand: Sapperton.

I know some people out there aren’t on board with the City of New Westminster’s decision a while back to purchase the land along the waterfront of the Fraser River. But, like the Olympics, the decision was made, it’s inevitable, and you either have to quietly rage about it or just get on with trying to enjoy it.
Admittedly, I’ve always been one of the supporters of the decision to purchase the land and do something – anything – with it. I can’t stand looking at the wasteland that is that …

Recently, we put the call out to our readers to submit the questions about local matters that have you stumped. Today, we’ve got the answer to a question from Kathryn Berry: “Why are there are so few recreational classes offered by NWPR for adults, such as dance classes? There are lots for children and for seniors, but there seems to be a paucity of physical recreation for the adult crowd.”

For those in the aching, angst filled years between 13-18, weekends are often filled with drinking, driving aimlessly around town, attending house parties, and being silly bored. In my youth, I spent countless hours fundraising for a youth centre, but I never did see the creation of a youth drop in centre while I was the age to enjoy it. So when I heard about the groundbreaking of a youth centre at Moody Park, I was excited to see not only the funds already allocated, but stuff actually happening.

Demolition is underway at Grimston Park, as the work begins to replace the aging adventure playground with safer, more modern equipment. After a series of public consultations, the final design seems to be pretty much settled.

Here’s what will be included in the $230,000 upgrade.

The City of New Westminster has secured nearly $22 million in funding under the Build Canada Fund, administered by the federal government and Province of British Columbia. Projects earmarked for funding include the Westminster Pier Park ($8.3 million from each level of government) and streets and sidewalk revitalization ($2.66 million from each level of government).

By now we’ve all heard gripes about the so-called Hyack Square revitalization project, just recently completed with a replaced overpass grand re-opening this month. ince the grand reopening of Hyack Square, criticism has come on multiple levels. Now that it’s all open, however, it is an evident lack of criticism that concerns me most – lack of criticism of the replacement of a totally inaccessible pedestrian walkway to a now public facility that has no other safe wheelchair or stroller access, as part of the renovation of Hyack Square.

When I was a kid, I loved the water – on TV mostly. In real life, it was something to akin to a lurking creature looking to choke the life out of me. I have no idea how I got this fear of water, which had me taking beginner lessons at the late age of thirteen. But, wherever it came from, it’s not a dominant gene passed along by me. My three (almost four!) year old daughter is in love with the water, particularly this summer …

The 10th Annual Doggy Fun Day is set to happen Sunday, August 30th from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. It takes place, as in previous years, on the playing field above the dog park in Queens Park. Billed as “fun and games for dogs and their people”, this year’s DFD is being put together by the Pacific Volunteer Education and Assistance Team for Animals (VEATA, for short), which is a relatively new group helmed by long time well known animal volunteer, Cheryl Rogers (who some of you may simply know as “the lady …

Smokers, here’s another reason to quit. The City of New Westminster is banning smoking in all city parks and trails to reduce the risk of fire in the summer heat. Charcoal and wood-burning BBQs are also a no-go, along with the obvious ban on open fires. Propane BBQs are still allowed, so long as they’re on raised, non-combustible surfaces.
If you see any signs of smoke or fire, call 9-1-1 immediately. Last Wednesday’s storm notwithstanding, it’s pretty dry out there. We don’t want another 1898.

The Grimston Park playground consultation is chugging along. For those who are curious, two proposed design directions are now up on the web, and the Parks dept. is looking for feedback on which one most appeals to the community, as well as specific feedback on types of equipment we want to see.
It seems a few things have changed since the first consultation: now one of the options includes salvaged pieces of the old playground, possibly including the tower (roof removed to discourage late-night partiers and homeless sleepers) and the iconic …

This time next year, Grimston Park could look substantially different.
The summer wading pool and winter toboggan hill will remain untouched, as will the lacrosse box and tennis courts. But the towering adventure playground with the plunging slides and the rattling drawbridge will be gone. So too the iconic tires cupping the border of the playground at the edge of the steep slope to the lacrosse box. Replacing these will be … well, we don’t know exactly what yet.
Today was the day of the first public consultation about the park. After the …

This is a guest post by Rob Jones, who shares some of his first impressions of New Westminster as a new resident of our city. You can read more from Rob on his blog, The Delete Bin, and also find him on Twitter @clippernolan.
There are elements of every city that makes it unique, makes them feel like home.
My experience with big-small towns is well established, even if I am a recent resident of New Westminster. Like New West, my hometown of Oakville Ontario was founded next to a busy waterway; …

Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I was recently appointed as the market manager for the Royal City Farmers’ Market, but I am so excited about the market’s reopening coming up!
The second incarnation of the Royal City Farmers’ Market is about to kick off June 25th with a special “Welcome to Summer Vacation” market, featuring kids’ activities including toys and crafts, a magician, face painting, and a special appearance by Mayor Wayne Wright who will start the market season off with a bang! The market runs June 25 to October 8 …

The day I learned to sing, I was in the car on a hot summer day listening to a Charlotte Diamond tape with my mother and sister. We often listened to Ten Carrot Diamond and other Diamond albums in the car, and until this day, we ‘sang’ along delighting in the noise without regard to tune or tone.
I remember feeling the wind in my hair as we drove down St. John’s street in Port Moody with our windows rolled down, caterwauling away. Perhaps we had been driving for a while, …