Last Monday two of our group inadvertently decided to go exploring during the hike to Tunnel Bluffs. Lions Bay Search and Rescue did a wonderful job of rescuing the explorers from a cliff that sprang up in front of them!!

To try and avoid this happening again, if you own a cell phone bring it along and get my number before we start the hike and if you lose the group and things look a little different from usual try giving me a call before things get too challenging!

Next Monday, (August 2nd. BC Day) we are going to stick closer to home and just do Trudi’s Trail followed by the Centennial Trail. We will meet at the top of Sunset at 8:30am  and if you bring a snack or light lunch we will finish at the picnic bench on the Eagle View loop where we can see the eaglet who is almost ready to leave the nest.

These points of clarification are in response to a letter on the subject of secondary suites submitted by resident Pauline Brider, and published on this website one week ago. While reacting to its content is a natural response, I have chosen not to.  Instead, I would like to remind the author that a public and personalized attack on any Councillor only discourages good, sane people from running for Council in Lions Bay. Ironically, it works against what the writer seems to want.

Turning to Ms Brider's comments, she sent in a tightly-reasoned, four-page letter which became part of the correspondence to the Public Hearing.   Councillor Ronsley and I certainly read it, as we did her other correspondence to Council since that time.  I have no idea why Ms Brider thinks that we would not have considered her views.  We did.  We considered them in the same way as we considered all other input, letters and comments from Lions Bay residents.

Considering does not necessarily mean agreeing with, however.

We have had a great response from Lions Bay gardeners and artists alike to participate in our Art and Garden Festival to be held Sunday, August 15th from 11:00 am until 5:30 pm.  

Odlum Brown Limited, sponsors of the Harmony Arts Festival being held in West Vancouver, July 30th to August 8th have graciously agreed to be our presenting sponsor for our 2010 Lions Bay Art and Garden Festival.  We thank them for their support.

We currently have 12 beautiful and unique gardens with 14 local artists ranging from painters to jewelers to sculptors.  What an amazing amount of artistic talent we have in our community!

Supervised children's art events are planned for Wade Park so that parents may tour the gardens and view the artists work while their kids are having a great art experience. 

The Village Hall will be the communication and service hub for the event.  You can pick up your tour maps, buy refreshments and use the washrooms. We also will have some interesting garden and art displays for your interest while you are milling around.  

 We are currently working out parking for the event with the possiblity of a shuttle service that will circulate through the garden tour route throughout the day.

The Festival will culminate with closure of the gardens at 4:00 pm followed by a wine reception at the home of Ute Philips and Peter Wreglesworth at 180 Highveiw Place.  The reception will be an opportunity to mingle and enjoy the company of gardeners, artists and Festival attendees alike.

A reminder that sensible shoes will make your garden experience safer and more enjoyable. 

Please circle August 15th on your calendar and join us for an inspiring art and garden experience.

It was a very exciting end to the 2010 Paralympic Games for the Swedish Paralympic Team.  On the last day of competitions, 15 year old Zebastian Modin and guide Albin Ackerot won bonze medals in the 1 km. visually impaired cross-country sprint.  Zebastian was the youngest athlete to ever win in this type of competition.  It was a wonderful result for the hardworking Swedish Team.

These atheletes, accompanied by their coach Anders Emanuelsson, were kind enough to stop in at the Lions Bay School on their way down from Whistler.  Vice Principal Kevin Thorpe managed to keep the children from rushing outside for lunch long enough for the last minute visit.  They were thrilled to be able to see and to hold a genuine bronze medal and to meet these wonderful role models in person. 

Zebastian's english was very good and he was pleased to answer the children's questions and practise for the many interviews he would be facing back home.  Anders is an Athletics Teacher back in Sweden and was also thrilled to visit our unique Lions Bay school in the woods.  The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic sports were certainly more than just about winning medals, opportunities like this to learn and inspire was tremendous added value.

Sometimes an advertisement so captivates your eye that it makes you think. So it was with a picture of a single small seedling, bearing only three or four tiny leaves, with a developing root system apparently thriving in hospitable soil.  The caption read: "Your food starts here". It was but a single tender seedling, not a field, not a vast prairie, not an extensive productive farmland - just one solitary, lonely seedling. But wait, surely the seed came first?

Leaving aside the puzzle of "Who or what came first?", we soon realize that there are many players who provide food for our table. Out crops are part of the great plant kingdom. They need sunshine, water, carbon dioxide, other nutrients, and a sustaining soil medium replete with beneficial bacteria in which to grow. Toxic substances, whether natural or man imposed, need to be absent. The grains give us our daily bread. In the animal domain, the herbivores graze on nature's providence, the carnivores eat the herbivores, and we eat the beneficence of both of them for our food.

Today I erected a clothes line. I realize it is against some bylaw but happily the bylaw doesn't apply to me. After 20+ years I am no longer a villager. I can have a clothes line. Sustainable, green, environmentally friendly. James Nelson

Currently there are 13 active members trained to assist Lions Bay residents to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies such as fires, floods or earthquake.

If you experience an emergency/disaster and your insurance is not readily accessible, funding from the Provincial Emergency Program may cover certain short-term costs including food, clothing and accommodation (usually up to 72 hours) giving you and your family time to plan your next steps.

If you do experience an emergency and your home is uninhabitable, you will need to consider the following:

Do you have family or friends that you could stay with while you are out of your home?
Have you contacted your insurance company and/or landlord?
Have you made arrangements for your pets?
Have you made arrangements past the short term assistance?
If you have no financial resources, have you contacted your local Income Assistance office?
Does your employer know you may not be at work for the next few days?
Does your mail need redirecting?
Do you have appointments to cancel?
Have you notified your children’s teachers?
Have you notified relatives outside the area that you are safe?

For any questions or assistance in developing an emergency plan for yourself or family, or if you would like to join the team, please contact any of the three ESS Directors: Carolyn Wray, Lisa Turpin, Sally Pollock.

By the time the publication of the summer 2010 lionsbay.net and Lions Bay Community News reaches your mail boxes you most likely have found more time to do the things that Lions Bay is famous for...

The children are out of school and you have the privilege to fill your days with fun activities. Lacy and fun filled days at the beach have been part of our shores for many years. The summer of 2010 has a new option in presenting you with a fabulous way to discover new trails through our woods. Bring the children, take the dog, team up with other families.

How about a picnic lunch? Take time this summer and be inspired. Let the children invent their new games while walking through the woods.

The committed team of Lions Bay trail blazers has worked passionately in making our village a back yard a walkers / hikers paradise.

We encourage young and not so young to enrich their daily lives with a walk / hike. New medical studies have shown the benefits of daily walking. While walking along the network of trails you might find other fellow hikers.

Whenever I have too much on my mind I manage to download my brain/computer while walking in the woods. Within the space of a short 45 to 60 minute walk / hike I feel refreshed.

Below you will find the names of the new and existing trails.

It is now just over 2 years ago that I was invited to join my wife and 3 other ladies to come on a Monday morning hike around the village. Bear season was approaching and they thought it would be good to have a man along too, as long as he walked in front!!

One of them suggested that since I was recently retired I must have lots of time on my hands and could send out a weekly notice as to where we were going to meet.

Since then the list has grown dramatically and there are now 80 people who receive the weekly email. People have commented that it has been a great way to meet other people in the village and discover trails that they didn’t know even existed. We have now extended the Monday hike to the first Saturday of every month for those unfortunate souls who have to work on Mondays!

Let’s tip the hat (if we have one) to Mr. Gershwin:

Fish are out there on the Sound, the bald eagle is hovering over Brunswick Beach; not sure about the cotton. In any event, it’s summer, a little late arriving;  but for one and all, it’s time to go easy on the rules which by necessity, whether applied with discretion or enforced boot camp style, each household has them to prevent descent into borderline chaos.

For the younger folk it’s the end of school and the morning’s parental screaming to get out of bed, a well-earned respite from disciplined homework, the evening meal and bed later than usual; and heaven! sleeping in! For more mature members, vows to get in better shape so life at this time of the year can be more enjoyable and promises made, hopefully to be fulfilled, of a thousand household projects from fixing the unruly backyard to reading unread books gathering dust on the shelves. Perhaps even re-create the spark in your love life.

Rules? They are always out there, in some form or other, but make them a more balanced ingredient in your life in this beautiful time of the year. It is the season for fun. Indulge yourself.

It’s summer. An’ the livin’ is easy.

Lions Bay had a relatively mild bear season last year with few bear conflicts, probably due to the abundant berry crop.  As a result, well-fed females may have produced lots of young cubs over the winter.

This spring there have been numerous bear reports about a fairly large bear with a healthy coat in the Sunset, Timbertop, Bayview and Oceanview areas.  This bear has so far limited his activity to wild areas, including the forested area next to the school. 

Dirt May Be Good For Your Brain

A few years ago, in this column, I wrote about The Green Gym, a programme that has been so successful in Britain. This programme is designed to get people out of gyms into the countryside to do physical volunteer work which not only improves the health of the participant but ultimately benefits everyone in the community through an enhanced environment.

After reading the article, I expected new volunteer gardeners to rush forward in droves but, sadly, our numbers have been steadily declining over the years.

Spending time outdoors has always offered health benefits for the body and the mind but now, it turns out, even the dirt may be good for you.

Scientists at The Sage College of Troy, N.Y. have discovered that exposure to certain kinds of soil bacteria can reduce anxiety and increase learning capability when ingested or inhaled. Just imagine! Joining the Volunteer Garden Group could now make you smarter as well as healthier.

Recently, while I was planting the annuals in the pots, ingesting and inhaling all that beneficial soil bacteria, Peach Akerhielm, out walking her dog, stopped to compliment us, as many people do, on the display in Grant Prior’s bridge boxes. I told her that the other great benefit of our position is that we get only compliments but no abuse whatsoever. She laughed good- naturedly, knowing full well what I meant and then contributed a sizeable sum towards the purchase of more flowers. The following afternoon Mr. Oldridge, bless his heart, did the same. Thanks to the generosity of these two individuals, we can all look forward to a wonderful display this summer.

In the meantime, please call or email me at : 604 922 9842  or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in becoming healthier, more tolerant and smarter.

What a fast and fun year we have had at playgroup. It's hard to believe that summer is here, especially with all the rain, but the month of June for us brings our playgroup year to an end.

Going into September we were unsure of our number of younger kids, as many of the regulars were moving on to playschool. We were delighted to have a few new families to the village with small ones. Also, some new babies and their mommies, of course, visited playgroup often.

Many thanks to all our gracious hosts and their enthusiasm to open playgroup and bring such yummy snacks. It was very comforting to go to the village hall on a damp and dark Monday morn and be greeted with warm smiles, hot coffee and tea, babbling babies and great company. All of us who attend are grateful for the friends our children have made as well as ourselves.

Playgroup is a regularly scheduled playtime on Monday mornings through out the school year at the village hall from 9:30am--11:30am.

It is mostly kids aged 0-4 years because of school but any child with mom, dad, caregiver, grandparent or nanny is welcome. There are many cars and trikes to ride in/on and smaller toys like lego and a play kitchen.

One thing is certain the opportunity for children to socialize and play with others their own age before getting to school is both priceless and precious.
Our last meeting is Monday June 28th.

Playgroup will resume on Monday September 13th, at the village hall, 9:30am. Have a wonderful summer everyone.