March 18, 2006 | Tips from Us >
McBride, Festivals & Events
We're already planning a grand celebration for the
75th anniversary of incorporation of the Village of McBride (1932) on
August 3 - 5, 2007. We are gathering up a contact list. Did you ever live in McBride, or know anyone who did? If so,
please submit your name, email, fax, phone, mailing address, and if you like a blurb about when you were here. Official invitations will be going out later this year. Keep an eye on the
Village website for details as they unfold.
March 18, 2006 | Tips from Us >
McBride, Festivals & Events
until we become Hockeyville! One of the early contenders in the CBC/Kraft Hockeyville Competition, McBride spontaneously erupted in
BLUE - everywhere there are blue lights, streamers, clothing, hair, faces, cars, even a horse. Main Street businesses decked out their storefronts in blue, the Village trimmed the municipal office building with blue lights, trees and lampposts are wrapped in blue, and many homes in the area replaced Christmas lights with blue. On February 19, players from minor hockey, Veneer Kings, Old Timers, Women's Team and coaches all turned out for a huge mixed tournament at the Robson Valley Rec Centre. The stands were packed with fans who generously donated Kraft items to the Food Bank. And 550 people, from a village of 750, turned out for the Hockeyville photo that day. The CBC film crew visited us on the weekend of March 4 & 5. The Figure Skating Club's Carnival opened with one of our Mounties skating around the rink carrying the Canadian flag - how cool is that? And the McBride Old Timers made a special appearance as the ladies in blue at the fashion show number of the Carnival. On Sunday, Main Street was cordoned off into eight rinks for a gigantic street hockey tournament with teams comprised of players of all ages. Following the tournament, players and fans lined up to spell out "WE ARE HOCKEYVILLE" the length of Main Street while a local pilot flew the film crew and local photographers over for an aerial shot. I won't tell you what else we have up our sleeve in case you latecomers into the competition are looking to steal ideas! We look forward to seeing
McBride on the list of finalists that will be announced on March 29.
March 18, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Smithers, Festivals & Events
Community energy is running high in Smithers' bid to become Canada's "Hockeyville". What started out as an idea around a table at a local pub, is now consuming the whole community. The creative energy and enthusiasm is is really remarkable. Businesses are supporting Hockeyville almost without excpetion--storefronts are decorated; signs hang everywhere; staff serve customers in either red or white "Smithers is Hockeyville" jerseys. Last week, a CBC film crew were in town for 2 days. Besides filming the energy in the downtown core, they were tranported up to Hudson Bay Mountain to film a women's hockey game played at over 5 000 feet. We expect this is a world record for women's hockey at this altitude. Smithers is on a role! Last week on CBC Television, a local family was judged to have the best 'backyard rink' in Canada. The feeling around town is that we're going to make the top 50 entries for "Hockeyville" and we have a good chance of winning. Move over Smithers--here comes "Hockeyville".
March 15, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Wineries & Vineyards
Find more information about Vancouver - Wineries & Vineyards
Spring is slowly making it's way into Vancouver so it was time for my first gelato of the season. There are lots of great places to get ice cream and gelato and picking a flavour is always is a challenge for me.
So when I visited La Casa Gelato, I was in for the extreme challenge because La Casa Gelato offers over 200 flavours of gelato and ice cream. Reading all the labels can take a long time but it's fun to see al the different flavours. There are the everyday vanilla, chocolate, lemon and such. But they offer flavours that range from interesting such as Guinness Draft or Pear Gorgonzola to very interesting such as wasabi or garlic. They offer free samples so you don't have to commit to anything to try it.
La Casa Gelato is located somewhat off the beaten path in a bit of an industrial part of town at 1033 Venables St (view on Google Maps). But it's but near Commercial Drive, where you can, among other things, enjoy other Italian foods.
March 08, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Wineries & Vineyards
Find more information about Vancouver - Wineries & Vineyards
I attended and volunteered for the wine festival this past weekend and I just wanted to let you know this was a fantastic event if you enjoy wine or if you are looking for new wines to purchase to take to dinner parties! The evening tastings were held at the Vancouver Convention Centre at the Waterfront and the theme region this year was France. There were 60 wineries serving 240 wines from 7 different regions in France (including Champagne). Altogether the festival had 750 wines, 185 wineries and 15 countries participating this year. Besides noticing people getting friendlier as the night progressed, the evening consisted of wine tasting, food sampling and a dance performance by a group of gals (Can-Can style type dancing). My recommendations for next year, is to attend the tasting room on the first night (Thursday) as noted on the festivals website. It is less busy and you'll have a better chance of purchasing the hard-to-find wines in the Festival Wine Shop. When I went, the wines I wanted to purchase were all sold out. Oh! and be sure to have a bite to eat before hand! They do have samples of cheese, chocolate and other snacks but it won't fill your stomach. As for volunteering, this was my first year and I'll probably help again next year as it seemed to be a well organized event. It was run by a great group of people and lot's of volunteers who have been returning to help almost every year. I'm not sure how many times you have to volunteer in order to move from spit bucket removal to tearing tickets at the door. But whatever job I'm assigned to, I'll be there again next year!
March 04, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Armstrong, Festivals & Events
Thinking about attending the
Interior Provincial Exhibition & Stampede? Or as we fondly call it
'our fair'. The
Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede 'the
IPE' is truly an agricultural fair and we invite everyone to join us
August 30 - September 3 2006. 5 Days of Canadian Pro-Rodeo, the largest midway outside of the PNE, displays, entertainment, the parade, and demonstrations are not to be missed.
http://www.ipeandstampede.comLast year we hosted over
114,000 in 5 days so if you are thinking about joining us, we encourage you to make arrangements for accomodation now. We don't want you to miss
milking a goat or watching the
heavy horse competition because you couldn't find
'room at the inn'! There is a listing of accomodation and services on our website
http://www.aschamber.com or
contact us for a visitor package.
February 24, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Richmond, Dining
Find more information about Richmond - Dining
This past Tuesday my friend dropped into town and decided to stay at the Fairmont YVR the other night, I had my hesitations to visit her because of the cost for parking. A good thing for her, she was one of my best friends so I didn't mind sacrifing parking fees. I rolled up to Gateway Valet & Concierge at the hotels entrance and asked the valet what my options were for parking in order to visit a guest at the hotel. He offered valet at $15/hour or go into the economy lot and park for $10 for the entire evening. Well, as the thrifty person I am, I went for options 2. All you need to do is bring your parking stub with you after parking your car and take it to the front desk and ask to pre-pay your ticket with them. You must get the room number of the guest staying at the hotel and the fee will be applied to the guest's room. Just make arrangements with your friend/family to pay him/her the $10 and voila, parking guaranteed, at least, til the next morning and as a bonus, you have in-and-out privilages! I didn't get the procedure on the in-and-out privilages but they take your license plate so there is something in place, just ask the cashier upon exiting. One concern I had was that, at night, the economy lot looked dark and far but when walking from the parking lot to the hotel, it wasn't as far as I thought. Just follow the pedistrian paths, the signs and as long as you walk in the lit areas, you'll feel safe. Another great thing about the economy parking lot is that the main lit area was wide, turfed and was covered for those rainy Vancouver days! Two notes on the hotel for visitors and travellers: 1) If you have down time before your international/US flight, go to the bar in the hotel for a drink where you can listen to the catchy music stylings of the bar's pianist and enjoy some complimentary spicy trail mix while sitting in comfy couches/chairs. 2) This hotel is also a great place to stay if you have a really early flight the next day and you have no one in
February 24, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Festivals & Events
If you're a sports fan like me, you've probably spent the last couple weeks glued to the TV watching the 2006 Winter Olympics. As the games draw to a close eyes are shifting towards the home of the 2010 Winter Games - British Columbia. Here at Tourism BC we can feel it already. Interest in the province, and in Canada is starting to swell, it's only going to grow. The next four years are going to be exciting ones. The spotlight on BC officially begins at the 2006 Closing Ceremonies, when the Olympic flag gets passed on to the Mayor of the next host city - Vancouver. Sam Sullivan, the current Mayor of Vancouver will be there to accept the flag, as well a take part in a ceremony inviting the world to come to BC in 2010; it's shaping up to be a great show. The Closing Ceremonies will take place this Sunday, February 26 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.
February 23, 2006 | Tips from Us >
North Vancouver, Snowshoeing
Find more information about North Vancouver - Snowshoeing
A bunch of us went snowshoeing last night at
Grouse Mountain. While the trek beside Blue Grouse Lake and along the side of the ski run was quite easy and relatively short, we quickly learned the best reason to take their Snowshoe Fondue tour had nothing to do with the snow or the shoe - it was the cheese fondue! We ended up in Altitudes Bistro for our dinner complete with 4 different fondues: traditional cheese (yum!), vegetarian bouillon, curry bouillon, and chocolate. Waiting for us were plates of salmon, scallops, prawns, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, potatoes, and an assortment of vegetables. Hands-down, the winner of the evening was the never-ending bread basket. Imagine baguette slices drenched in bubbly warm, melted cheese, which I assumed was french raclette. The other table favourite was the banana bread sloshed in liquid chocolate. However, Jackie prefered to just spoon it down straight. Overall, we all left with in a state of "fondue-pig-out-induced-stupor", as quoted by Mark, and managed to happily wobble our way back to the gondola for our ride down the mountain.
February 14, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Festivals & Events
I was on the bus yesterday and read a poster about
Celebration Week in
Vancouver. If you are a fan of the Olympics, you might want to check out these free events promoted as the “countdown to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
On Sunday February 26 there is a Street Party at Library Square from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm, complete with a live broadcast of the closing ceremonies in Turin / Turino, live music, Italian food, cake, and sports demos you can try.
On Wednesday March 1 from 5:30 to 6:30 there is a sunset procession of fire twirlers, stilt walkers and drummers to the official lighting of the Inukshuk stone sculpture that stands over English Bay. This sculpture inspired Vancouver's 2010 Olympic emblem. The event starts at Sunset Beach.