If I had an HGTV producer’s blank cheque to go redecorate my living room, my first stop would be Red Brick. On October 5 from 5:30-7:30pm, the store will host the fall kickoff event for NEXT New West, a monthly casual social group for young professionals.

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.

If you are an avid reader like me, then you might be on the look out for a Book Club to join. I love the two book clubs that I belong to. They challenge me to read books I would have never have read before, ever. If you are interested there are a few book clubs around town.

The second annual Vancouver Freelance Camp ‘unconference’ is coming up Saturday, September 10, from 9am to 5pm, just a few days before The Network Hub’s grand opening at their brand new second location in New Westminster’s River Market.

I don’t like to admit defeat, but I am forced to admit that sometimes life becomes jumbled with too many commitments. Life is full of surprises. These past few months have been personally tumultuous (in a good, ‘this is helping me grow’ kind of way). I’m in a very different place than I was when Will and I launched this blog. My attention is elsewhere, and it’s become obvious. This post is partly an apology for that neglect and partly an appeal for help to decide what to do next. Tenth to the Fraser is more than just my blog. I feel like it “belongs” to the community too. Given that, I’d like to hear from you before I decide what to do.

One of my neighbours has an enormous apple tree practically dripping with fruit. The apples are apparently tart, and according to my neighbour, aren’t worth much. To me, those are pie apples just waiting to be exploited. I look at that tree and I see rows of pies, waiting to be baked. I asked my neighbour if I could take a few dozen when they were ready, and he practically begged me to. In his words, “that’s less I have to rake up and chuck in the compost”.

On September 10th, 1898, New Westminster was very nearly destroyed by what is now referred to as “The Great Fire”. Pictures show a city completely ravaged; the devastation razed most of the city’s buildings. On Saturday, September 10th (the same day and date of the Great Fire), New West Fire Fighters will be flipping the pancakes and cooking ham for Sapperton Old Age Pensioners Association. Sapper Flap Jack Saturday is from 8:30 am to 12 noon.

Yesterday I wrote optimistically about pressing on with Summerfest, rain or shine (the post is removed to avoid confusing people further). At the time the forecast was for a sprinkle, and the organizing committee and I didn’t want a little rain to ruin the fun. Unfortunately, the reality is that today the forecast has worsened, and upon further discussion with the committee we realized it was foolish to continue.

Downtown New Westminster has it going on. Well, it could have it going on if it could once again capture the vitality of its once historic past. From an urban planning perspective you could not wish for a better template; you’ve got history, great public transit, a waterfront, shopping, density. So what happened, why did the city turn its back on the downtown?

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”.

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.

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.

Given the recent shenanigans in Ottawa, I was disappointed to see the Globe & Mail, the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers all endorse Steven Harper’s Conservatives. In New Westminster, the Tenth to the Fraser editorial board endorses the NDP.

The all-candidates event co-hosted by New Westminster Environmental Partners, NEXT New West and Tenth to the Fraser went swimmingly tonight, with seven out of the eight candidates representing the Conservatives, NDP, Liberals and Greens showing up to mix and mingle with local voters.

Just an FYI for parents of babies & toddlers and other regulars at the public health office: the New Westminster Public Health Unit is relocating to Uptown from its current home at 537 Carnarvon.

Queens Park and Quayside aren’t the only neighbourhoods in New Westminster with a neighbourhood wide garage sale! Mark May 7th from 9AM to 3PM on your calendar and check out the Massey Victory Heights neighbourhood for great deals.
Where is Massey Victory Heights, you ask? Way over on the eastern tip of New Westminster, you can find the MVH neighbourhood. It is the area south of 10th Avenue and north of 8th Avenue, east of McBride and west of Columbia Street E, plus the two blocks bounded by Craig Avenue and Colby …

Rather than set up a typical all-candidates meeting full of speechifying and, well, politicking, Tenth to the Fraser, N.E.X.T. New West (a networking & social club for young professionals in the city) and New Westminster Environmental Partners have teamed up to organize a special non-partisan Green Drinks – Election Edition meet & greet with candidates. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 20 from 6-9pm at La Rustica, 228 6th Street. All residents are welcome to join us.

First impressions count. But they don’t always stick. What were your first impressions of New Westminster? Has your opinion changed over time?

Hume Park Elementary has been on the chopping block multiple times (a few examples: in 2009, and again in 2010), and each time dedicated parents come to its’ defense and each time Hume Park gets voted to stay open and each time everyone breaths a sigh of relief.  Yesterday, I read that, once again, a trustee is putting forward a motion to consolidate Hume Park with it’s bigger brother up the hill, Richard McBride Elementary. The motion won’t get voted on without another trustee to second it but if it passes, once again …

A little while ago we launched our first ever readership survey on Tenth to the Fraser. We had a great response, with 44 of you taking the time to share your thoughts on the website. I shared some of the preliminary response in an earlier blog post, and as promised, here are the full results.

I must admit that I only vaguely recall hearing about Lit Fest New West before.  When I saw that the 3rd annual event is coming up on Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th I was a little embarrassed that I hadn’t attended previously.  Being an avid reader, sometimes writer, and long time New West resident it seems like the kind of thing that should have been on my radar!
So, reading the blurb on the Arts Council website I immediately added it into my iPhone calendar so as not to miss this …

Bloom Art Studio at River Market is a safe place for kids to get messy – without driving parents crazy. At home, I like to craft with the kids, but I’m always a little leery of anything truly messy. It’s fun, but I always worry about the cleanup. In a space like Bloom, the kids are free to play with colour and form in a space that’s designed to handle mess.

Is $500 a year for occasional babysitters enough to make me go running to City Hall?