(Click on photos to enlarge image)

ONCE A WEEK - EVERY WEEK

FAMILY STORY TIME ... Every Tuesday from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. at Joe Fortes Library, join this program for parents and caregivers with young children. Songs, rhymes and stories are shared. Suitable for pre-schooled and toddlers of all abilities to enjoy and learn together.
FARMER'S MARKET on Comox (between Thurlow and Bute) every Saturday through October 20 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stock up on fresh fruit and veggies for tasty summer meals and picnics at the beach.

A WEST END MAYORAL CANDIDATES FORUM

Tuesday, October 9
7 - 9 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Welsey Church (1022 Nelson)

Several stakeholders in the West End including: West End Families In Action (WEFA), WE Arts WEArts.ca, Denman & West Neighbours (DAWN), West End Seniors' Network, Gordon Neighbourhood House, Metro Vancouver Alliance, Young Ideas, and St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church are inviting Vancouver’s leading mayoral candidates to discuss their positions on pressing issues facing the residents and businesses in Vancouver’s West End.

Aim … to provide a forum where candidates can explain their positions and hear the concerns of local residents via questions to be provided by stakeholders. Among the themes of concern within the West End about which candidates will have an opportunity to share their ideas are:

1. livability and quality of life;
2. residential affordability and homelessness; and
3. viability of independent local businesses.

Format … Candidates will answer questions provided by stakeholders, and a moderator (Richard F Zussman, Global) will ensure that answers and exchanges among candidates are concise and on target so as to make best use of the 7:00-9:00pm time frame for the event.

Selection of Candidates … This will be done closer to the forum, with an eye to keeping it to a manageable number. Endorsement by a political party or organization will be taken into account in making a selection.

Your Participation … Everyone is invited to submit questions that can be posed by the moderator to the candidates. For further information about the event and to add questions to pool from which a selection will be made for putting to the candidates, please contact siobhan@gordonhouse.org.

Accessibility … St. Andrew's Wesley Church is a wheelchair-accessible facility. For those with a mobility device, access to the event space (the sanctuary) is from Nelson Street. A gender-neutral washroom will be available for this event. Participants are encouraged to minimize the use of scented products such as cologne or perfumes. Please let organizers know if you have any specific accessibility requirements, and they will do their best to accommodate you.

BIRDY EMBROIDERY

Wednesdays, Oct. 10 & 17
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
West End Community Centre Lobby
Free

As part of the ongoing Birds In Residence project, in this workshop you will learn some basic stithces, then look at birds and learn how to interpret their beauty with embroidery. Instructor Jill Taylor is passionate about this disappearing art and will share her enthusiasm. Completed works can be mounted on cards or framed. Suitable for all ages.

PHILOSOPHER’S CAFE @ JOE FORTES LIBRARY

Thursday, Oct. 11
7 p.m.
Joe Fortes Library
Free. No Registration Required.

Thinking the unthinkable, imagining the impossible, and discussing the improbable. That’s the theme of SFU’s Philosophers’ Café series of informal public discussions in the heart of our communities. Since 1998, this award-winning program has engaged the interests of scholars, seniors, students, philosophers, and non-philosophers through stimulating dialogue and the passionate exchange of ideas. The October Café at Joe Fortes will address issues around democracy. More than just voting, real democracy involves citizens participating in the deliberative process. How can we make democracy real, and should we? Mark Battersby will lead the conversation.

Piñata fun at Gordon Neighbourhood House.

COMMUNITY PINATA WORKSHOP

Saturday, Oct. 13
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Gordon Neighbourhood House
Free

Unleash your creativity and make a piñata with Meaghan Kennedy. Join your neighbours of all ages in learning this art form popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Traditionally, a piñata is a decorated form, often an animal, filled with candies, fruits, and gifts and hung up to be broken with sticks by blindfolded persons as part of a birthday, Christmas, or other celebration.

WEST END URBAN GARDEN CLUB: GROWING JAPANESE VEGGIES

Sunday, Oct. 14
1 - 3 p.m.
West End Community Centre / Barclay Room
$13 for one session

Village Vancouver and West End Urban Garden Club team up to present a workshop, by the Tonari Gumi Gardeners, in which you’ll learn about Japanese vegetables nd how to grow them. Workshop participants can take home plant starts or seeds, and enjoy sampling some of these veggies in simple Japanese recipes. The community seed library will be there so you can pick up additional free seeds for your garden. Advance registration required at the WECC.

MIGRATORY BIRD TEA & TALK

Sunday, Oct. 14
2 - 4 p.m.
Coal Harbour Community Centre / Activity Room
Free

Another event in the ongoing Birds in Residence project, join a casual social gathering with local bird enthusiasts and a talk about the Pacific flyway and the birds who pass through. Some bird song singing may occur!

VINO, VIBES & VAN GOGH

Friday, Oct. 19
8 - 11 p.m.
Gordon Neighbourhood House
$10 (+$1.34 service fee) here

Enjoy a glass of pinot with your palette, or maybe some cabernet with your canvas. Vino, Vibes & Van Gogh is the perfect event to unwind, socialize, and get creative. The entire second floor of Gordon Neighbourhood House will feature three art-themed rooms, a DJ, participatory art projects, wine and snacks. Unleash your creative spirit, there are no limits or expectations, and no experience is required.

Admission includes art supplies, a glass of wine, and snacks from Habibi's Mediterranean Foods. Last year tickets to this popular night sold out, so avoid disappointment and get your ticket online or at the GNH reception desk now!

This event is 19+, so please bring two pieces of ID, including one government issued photo ID. Additional glasses of wine are $4, and alcohol-free drinks are $2.

Organized by Young Ideas.

VOTE — JUST DO IT!

Saturday, Oct. 20
Advance Polling Oct. 10 - 17
Polls Open 8 a.m. - 8 pm. on all dates at all locations.
Ten West End - Coal Harbour Voting Stations.
Information here

The most important thing going on in our community this month is the Civic election, wherein Vancouver gets to choose a new mayor, city councillors, park board commissioners, and school trustees.

Find out everything you need to know, including where to vote, here.

WEST END GAMES NIGHT

Last Friday of very month (Oct. 26)
7 - 11 p.m.
Gordon Neighbourhood House (1019 Broughton)
Free
Looking for a spot to play board games with friends? Or do you want to meet neighbours and learn new games? Join the fun at the West End Games Night, hosted by Young Ideas and Gordon Neighbourhood House. If you arrive solo, the friendly hosts can help form groups, and teach you new games.

TALES FROM THE WEST END

Wednesday, Oct. 17
5:30 - 7 p.m.( story telling 5:45 - 6:45 p.m.)
JJ Bean (Bidwell & Davie)
Free / Complimentary Coffee & Tea

"Tales From the West End” is an evening of story-telling where West Enders, past and present, explore and experience our community through stories about our past.

October’s featured storytellers, educators and historians, Isaac Vanderhorst and Janet Leduc, will intrigue us with their story, “Recreation in the West End, 1890s to 1930s”. Bring your stories and photos to share with your neighbours. October’s featured storytellers, educators and historians, Isaac Vanderhorst and Janet Leduc, will share stories of, “Recreation in the West End, 1890s to 1930s”. Bring your own stories and photos to share with your neighbours.

TRY IT OUT OPEN MIC

Every Third Thursday (Oct. 18)
7 to 9 p.m.
Barclay Manor (1447 Barclay)
Free

Got a story to tell, a song to sing, a tune to play? Share your interests and your talent in an informal gathering of friends and neighbours, or just come to listen and enjoy. Sign up at 7, first come, first served. One mic, acoustic guitar amp, and piano provided.

IN THE LABYRINTH

Music In The Labyrinth
Last Friday of Every Month (Oct. 26)
St. Paul's Anglican Church (1130 Jervis)
7 to 9 p.m.
By Donation

The Labyrinth at St. Paul’s Anglican Church is a full 13-metre replica of the medieval labyrinth laid in the stone floor of the 13th-century Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Chartres, 80Km south of Paris. It is laid on the hardwood upper floor of St Paul's Church Hall in a space once used as a theatre and a basketball court. The Labyrinth is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and Sundays from 9:30 to 12:30 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.

The last Friday of every month the Labyrinth experience is accompanied by a local musician or group. Music on this last Friday, Oct. 26, will be by Zlatna Mountain.

Click here to learn more about the St. Paul's Labyrinth.

FIRESIDE BOOK CLUB

Second & Fourth Fridays (Oct. 12 & 26)
11 a.m. to 12 noon
Joe Fortes Library / Stanley Court Room
Free
Connect with other avid readers to talk doubt what you’ve been reading and why you love it — or didn’t! Every second and fourth Friday of the month.

October 12 is Reader’s Choice - Potpourri (as is the first meeting every month) when you can discuss whatever book you’re currently reading or recently read and share why you liked it, or didn’t. The Oct. 26 title will be "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

ZERO WASTE REUSE & RECYCLE DROP-OFF

Saturday, Oct. 13
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Barclay Manor parking Lot (1447 Barclay)
Free

There's a safe way to dispose of all those things that regular recycling bins don't accept. Computers, electronics, small appliances, clean clothing and textiles and more. For a full list of accepted items visit vancouver.ca/kvs, and if you'd like to volunteer to help at this event. contact Brian Wong at brian.wong@vancouver.ca. And of course it's free!

WEST ENDERS GETTING ORGANIZED

Housing and affordability are the interrelated hot button topics as we approach the October 20 Vancouver civic election, and West Enders are getting organized and making their views known.

One group of West Enders who were involved in the development of the West End Community Plan have launched a petition calling on the City to uphold the agreements made in that plan. They assert that the City is ignoring the height limits contained in the Plan and is approving developments in the four inner West End Neighbourhoods that exceed the six storey height limit in the Plan, enabling developers to target the luxury condo market with higher buildings.

They are asking Council to formally adopt a motion stating the City’s commitment to honouring the 2013 deal it made with West End residents, i.e., in exchange for acceptance of super-towers on the Burrard/Georgia corridors and lower Davie/Robson Streets, the City will uphold and enforce the six storey height limit in the four inner Neighbourhoods.

In the long term they want the City to amend the zoning bylaws in the West End to integrate the core principles and intent of the West End Plan, as key to assuring the preservation of the characteristics that make the West End one of the world’s great urban neighbourhoods.

Learn more about this group and sign the petition here.

A VIDEO TOUR OF WEST END HISTORY

In 2013, community members supported a set of emerging and refined plan directions, including the West End Community Values, which helped shape the community plan. The plan focussed on neighbourhood character, housing, local business, heritage, transportation, and parking.

A video was produced by the City of Vancouver as part of the West End community plan, to give residents a sense of the planning and development historic milestones that shaped their community today. Follow the link here to view the video, and learn more about the West End Community Plan here.