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Now that's a legacy

The official grand opening of the Whistler Olympic Plaza this past weekend was an exceptional event, capping off a month of great entertainment.

The official grand opening of the Whistler Olympic Plaza this past weekend was an exceptional event, capping off a month of great entertainment.  On behalf of Whistler Blackcomb I would like to say thank you to the Resort Municipality of Whistler for their hard work and dedication coordinating the concert series this past month.  A huge thank you also goes to the Province of British Columbia and Government of Canada for the funding to build Whistler Olympic Plaza, and additional funding for the concert series.

Visitors from far and wide, along with Whistler locals, have enjoyed Whistler's Olympic Plaza all month long and at each event the atmosphere has been magnetic. Each person present, whether they had been in Whistler for the Games or not, were experiencing a piece of the energy and excitement that radiated through Whistler in February and March 2010 all because of this incredible new amphitheatre and green space. And it's ours Whistler. Talk about an Olympic Legacy!

An incredible asset to this community, British Columbia and Canada, here's to many more celebrations and events in Whistler Olympic Plaza; a place that will continue to bring the community and guests from around the world together, keeping the memory and spirit of the Games alive. With a glowing heart...

Dave Brownlie

President and COO

Whistler Blackcomb

 

 

Whistler's Olympic Celebration Plaza in a word... awesome!

Finally an overbuilt legacy that nobody is complaining about and is not destined to become a white elephant. Even we over-taxed locals can temporarily forget our woes.

The closing of the Boot left us with a void and a grieving audience. Now we've got our mojo back with a stage the size of the old club. The clear-cut trees are long forgotten and the Olympic hangover is but a fading memory. It's time to fill our hotels and restaurants and party again!

There is a drawback, however, that few recognize; these free concerts along with all the TWSSF, Crankworx and many other heavily sponsored events have created a spoiled, complacent and jaded breed of local concertgoer. In the real world, which of course Whistler is far from, such high-calibre concerts can be expensive. Tickets, hotels, travel, childcare, food and party favours can easily set you back $500 for big shows in the city.

Being an event promoter myself, I echo the sentiments of organizers and club managers stated in last weeks Pique , titled "Live concerts in trouble: Less interest in ticketed events hurting promoters." I also have seen a steady decline in people willing to actually pay for live music. To me, $20 to $30 to see a talented band seems like good entertainment value. One can easily blow that on a lunch, bar tab, night at the movies or lottery tickets. These are professionals who often dedicate their lives to their art. Tons of equipment, large crews and huge travel costs create lots of overhead, yet the younger crowd would rather hire a DJ. With the advent of virtually free internet music, playing live is one of the only ways artists can generate revenue. This requires our support or up-and-coming bands will cease to show up.

As Neil Young wrote, "Live music is better, bumper stickers should be issued." If you agree and have the weekend off, head on up to Poole Creek (Birken) on Saturday and Sunday. For a measly $50 you get to see six jam bands with camping included. Consider it an investment.

Mike Roger

Birken/Whistler

 

Keep it family

As Whistler residents, my partner and I have been lucky enough to see all the free shows at Olympic Plaza this summer. Whistler Presents, you did an amazing job finding and booking big-name acts, and providing high quality, family-friendly events. We thank you.

When we heard that the grand opening celebration would feature Kathleen Edwards and the Sam Roberts Band we were thrilled. We invited family to come up for the weekend and help us celebrate. All of the previous shows had been great, almost - clean, happy, family fun, starting on time and ending at 10 p.m. sharp. We planned our day accordingly.

By 7 p.m. we were set up and ready to rock! We had coffee for the big people, candy for the little people, chairs and blankets for all.

By 7:05 the candy was gone and we waited excitedly. 7:15 came and went, as did 7:30, 7:45, and I'm quite sure 8 o'clock. We were tired of waiting, but when substitute emcee Jully Black marched out on stage we peaked a little and felt the whole crowd emit relief.

Finally! Yay! Here we go!"

But we were wrong. We first had to hear about Jully's butt, her interest in men, listen to how she'd been drinking wine backstage and watch her video on the new big screens. What a relief when she finally introduced Kathleen Edwards! We knew SHE was family-friendly. We hooted and cheered as Kathleen finally hit the stage (all of us who were still awake that is). She looked like an angel, and sang like one too. Beautiful, squeaky clean...and then she spoke. "Glad to be here... yada yada yada.... especially when it's not so (F-bomb) cold." What the....?

"Did I just hear that right?" my sister asked me. We were reeling! I'm pretty pretty sure that's what I heard. We were beginning to recover from the bomb when we heard Kathleen say, "Show me your t*ts!" No mistaking that one.

Excuse me, Ms. Edwards, but where do you think you are? Since when is the "f-bomb" family-friendly? That may have been funny when you drank your way up to Whistler but it's not funny in our town or our new stage with our little children.

When the Sam Roberts Band came on, they made it all worthwhile. They rocked. If you couldn't make it this time, we hope to see you at a future show in our fantastic new venue.  And I hope the show's running on time.

Maureen Teahan

Whistler

 

Someone who gets it

Thank you to MLA Joan McIntyre for the response to my concerns regarding both the arbitrary ruling by the B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Board (LCLB) on the Jazz on the Mountain at Whistler and The RBC GranFondo Whistler special occasion licence applications, as well as the need for a review of the policies and legislation of the LCLB in regards to these types of events. We have spoken about this in the past, referencing the issues with licensing for the Pemberton Festival and general liquor licensing for both food and liquor primary establishments.

There is grave concern by council, as expressed in the council resolution of August 23, 2011, as well as in our business community, that the current policies and legislation fail to recognize the current reality of a modern society. In a phrase, both the industry and the communities of British Columbia have evolved and matured. The current policies and regulation have not kept pace with this growth.

The economic impact of these policies is endured far beyond the simple sale of a beer in a restaurant. They have informed decisions by event promoters, locally, regionally and internationally as to whether or not to proceed with events. These events range from small community-based fundraisers to large scale productions designed to grow into internationally recognized destination events with the potential to drive the cultural and economic benefits clearly identified as priorities for the Province of British Columbia.

It is time for us to go beyond acknowledging the need to review and put actions on the table. The first step for this is to understand the current reality of these policies and regulations.

As an example of the absurdities currently enforced, I offer the following: when a silent auction takes place at a fundraiser, the enforcement of current regulations requires that any liquor - typically bottles of wine which are readily procured and fetch generous bids - must be either empty display bottles or that portion of the silent auction must be held in a separate, de-licensed area outside of the event venue. Imagine the effect this has on the success of the silent auction, both to the guest experience and the financial benefit of a charity. And this is just one example. Meanwhile these charities are being called upon more and more to fill the gaps in funding cuts from all levels of government.

When an entire community, its council and staff support an special occasion license (SOL) application for an event that has successfully secured the SOL in previous years, the LCLB has the discretion to arbitrarily decide that they will decline the application for reasons that they determine to be in the interests of public safety. These decisions are made in the face of the fact that these concerns have been dealt with at the local level by communities with the experience and resources to do so.

The province of British Columbia has hosted the world with unparalleled success during the Olympics. We have only just begun to reap the benefits of the legacies of the Games. Let us continue to learn from our experiences and move towards a progressive liquor licencing and regulations policy.

I invite you (Joan McIntyre) and the ministers, copied in this letter, to meet with the representatives of the food and beverage, festivals and events producers to not only discuss the issues, but to commit to an action plan that will generate results. We can start with Whistler. I am certain that we can gain province-wide participation through the BCRFCA amongst others.

With the financial challenges of the HST recall, we are in more need than ever to work toward policies that allow for the success and growth the tourism in British Columbia. Locally, the investment by the Province through the RMI must be allowed to be leveraged through a progressive, enabling liquor license and regulation policy.

I look forward to the opportunity to take the next steps in this process.

Christopher Quinlan

Councillor, RMOW

 

Bikes are cars, too

I missed the RBC GranFondo ride last year because of a conflict but was looking forward to riding in the event this year on September 10. We live in Washington State and had a free long weekend. I thought it would be great if we went up to Whistler, especially since I could train on my road bike on part of the "course." On Thursday afternoon I had my wife drop me off in Porteau Cove to ride my bike up to Whistler and hopefully meet her in time for dinner. This would allow me to try my luck at several of the signature hill climbs.

I was pleased with myself having made it up Furry Creek Hill and Britannia Hill and was on the drop handlebars happily cycling north through Squamish. So as not to hinder motor traffic I ride well inside the white line. Unfortunately this caused my demise when, one kilometre north of the intersection of Highway 99 and Garibaldi Way and decidedly in the bike lane, I hit a 12 centimetre-diameter tree.

I'm not writing to mention a freshly fallen tree in the mountains as this and rockfall happen all the time and is a known risk. My puzzle is that a tree had fallen across the highway and there was ample time for it to be dealt with, at least in a fashion. The top of the fallen, dead tree had been neatly removed and laid aside in the grass. I'm assuming a resourceful motorist with a saw in their car did this. Despite the trunk being of fairly uniform calibre for quite a distance, the cut was done right exactly on the white line, leaving a full five feet of tree trunk perpendicular to the highway, right at handlebar level, completely obstructing the bike lane, like an immovable turnstile.

I am a careful cyclist with no prior road crashes in 50 years of cycling but going at full speed I clipped this obstruction and flew upside down into the motor traffic lane and landed on my back, head and hip. My glasses broke, my helmet cracked in three places, etc., etc. Many thanks to the motorist from Whistler who stopped to check on me. He introduced himself but my temporary amnesia prevents me from thanking him by name. If you read this, thanks again. Truly kind. The fact that I'm not in the hospital is a miracle.

I am embarrassed that I hit the tree but not being the visual size of an intersection, stalled car or pedestrian, it must have achieved a kind of camouflaged horizon line effect. I did see it in time to miss all but five centimetres of it, but that was enough to completely stop my right handlebar as I was attempting to swerve out into motor traffic.

My plea is this; the majority of motorists may not realize that along this road from Vancouver to Whistler the "shoulder" seconds as a very active bike lane. So if you are a knowledgeable motorist or are yourself one of the many fine athletes in the area, and you see a genuine problem in the shoulder, i.e. bike lane, then call it in. I'm pleased that Squamish dispatch was not ignoring a problem that they knew about, but dismayed that somebody had to hit it (me) or that someone might have been hit by a car when they did miss it, for the authorities to be notified.

If in the future you do pull out the cell phone, my guess is that rather than be met with derision, you will receive a prompt, courteous and concerned response, as we did, and a desire to send out a road crew to fix the problem promptly, as occurred in this case. RCMP and the road crews can't fix what they don't know about but they do realize the importance of keeping the bike lane free of hazards especially in the run-up to such a major event as the GranFondo when lots of athletes will no doubt be training on the course. Plus, if you want cyclists to stay in the bike lane where we belong help us when you can.

An extra plea; always wear your helmet even when tooling around on the Valley Trail in Whistler. The craziest things happen. My helmet saved my life and even kept me conscious. And for those amateur cyclists out there, consider wearing a hydration pack instead of bringing an extra water bottle. My CamelBak cover is destroyed by the force of my crash but my back, at least, is unscathed -  it turns out they are pretty good body armour in disguise.

Cheers. See you at the GranFondo if I can heal that fast. Thanks for being a great biking and sports community.

Bob Pringle

Mount Vernon, Washington

 

Ride with traffic

What your parents taught you is wrong! Ride your bike with the flow of traffic, not against it.

Notice those painted bike symbols in the bike path? They face the right way when you're on the right hand side of the road. If you're always seeing upside down bikes now you know why - switch sides already.

Tara Ryan

Whistler

 

No peace in the park

It's not like I would dare look down my nose at float-plane access. In fact I'm a bit jealous. However, keeping it all in perspective, some rewards are best earned in my opinion. and I'm not at all impressed that the Alpine Club of Canada allows booking for an entire hut at Lake Lovely Water to a kids group. We were sadly awakened all night long while these kids yelled and screamed, danced, played music, made noise, hollered for and to each other and generally turned the wilderness into an urban echo. Their babysitter said they had booked the entire hut for five days. So I guess anyone wishing to do some mountaineering should ask 'who' is occupying the hut prior to finding out the hard way.

Greg Sievers

Colorado

 

AugustFest a Success!

Over 1,000 Slow Food Cyclists ended their exciting day at the Rotary Bavarian style beer garden AugustFest. A huge thank you to "Team AugustFest" - our hard working volunteers, Scotiabank staff and Rotarians. Thank you also to our generous sponsors; Superior Propane, Pemberton Valley Supermarket, Whistler Blackcomb and our suppliers at Whistler Brewery, Two Rivers Specialty Meats, Lonetree Okanagan Cider, Pemberton Valley Vineyard and North Arm Farm. Thanks to The Wood for sharing their kitchen with us. Thank you to the two soloists Susan Holden and Phil Richards who, along with bands Kostaman, Jana Marie and Friends, and Tractor entertained us with their lively music.

Our second annual fundraiser raised $10,000 plus for local Rotary projects with $5,000 of this being generously donated by Scotiabank.

Liz Scroggins

Rotary Club of Pemberton

 

Re-Use-It Centre turns 12

The Whistler Community Services Society and Re-Use-It Centre would like to offer a huge thank you for everyone's support at our 12th Birthday Sale.

Special thanks to Nesters for the delicious cake, Starbucks for the tasty coffee and David's Tea for the refreshing iced tea. Thanks also to our extra helpers Davin Moore (WCSS Outreach), Brian Van Straaten (WCSS Re-Build-It Centre) helped to make it a great day! Of course, the sale would not have been so successful without our awesome team down here at the WCSS Re-Use-It Centre: Aaron, Andy, Brad, Emma, Max, Michaela, Mike, Ryan, Sarah, Sierra and the wonderful and generous Sulee. Your enthusiasm and energy makes this place one of the best stores to work at in Whistler! Last but not least, thanks to you, our generous Whistler community, for not only coming down to support us on the day but for keeping the steady stream of donations through our doors down here in Function Junction that enable us to keep raising funds to support over 25 programs and people in need.

Helen Taylor

Re-Use-it Centre

 

Do you have a Helping Hand?

Whistler is a wonderful place to live and play.  The unique community of Whistler hosts many individuals from all over the globe some who end up making their home here. Whistlerites are known to work hard but play even harder and I think this is one place that bosses expect a staff to adhere by the 20cm rule. Unfortunately, extended family support is often far away when someone gets ill or injured and finds themselves in need.

Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS) has a program called Helping Hand that provides a volunteer to those individuals who need some extra assistance.  Some examples are an individual with an injury, new parents, housebound seniors or anyone whose circumstance leads them to need additional support.

A volunteer may take an individual to get groceries, to a doctors appointment, prepare a simple meal, help with dishes, watch an infant, tutor a student - the possibilities are endless.

We are also expanding to include long distance driving to medical appointments in Squamish and Vancouver. If you are interested in providing a "helping hand" to those who need please contact Melissa Deller at helpinghand@mywcss.org or 604-902-0865.

Melissa Deller

Whistler

 

Whistler comes through for cancer

Wow! What an amazing community you are! I was so thoroughly overwhelmed by the turnout at Creekbread last Tuesday (August 23rd) for the fundraiser for my Sears Great Canadian Run team, run4nick. The support I felt in everyone's presence was like a big group hug. Thank you!

More importantly than how I felt was how Nick felt. He was able to feel supported and loved all the way from his bed in post-bone marrow transplant isolation at BC Children's Hospital. A big thank you to his wonderful friends who were able to attend and who sent photos to him that night and posted on Facebook. He told me he too was overwhelmed by the community support. My husband, in Vancouver with Nick on Tuesday, appreciated the turnout too but they both missed the chance to have their favourite pizza!

The fundraiser wasn't only about showing support for Nick or my family it was to raise money to end kids' cancer. In part because of your generosity and sheer number of pizzas sold, my team run4nick was the top fundraiser for the Sears Great Canadian Run. Half the funds raised go to BC Children's Hospital Foundation and the rest go to the Sears Canada Charitable Foundation to support 17 pediatric cancer centres across Canada. Thank you! Oh, by the way, the Saturday, August 27 run was epic! Such a fun and, for me, emotional event. Get a team together and sign up for next year's event!

I don't want to end this letter without thanking some of the amazing people who helped make Tuesday's event such a success. Thank you to The Hairfarmers, Guitar Doug and Grateful Greg. You can take a lot of credit for the awesome attendance... you guys rock! Thank you to Tammy and the staff at Creekbread for cranking out the pizza, beer and beverages to a crowd that must have totalled 250. Amazing effort! Many thanks to the generous sponsors who donated silent auction items. Thank you again to Nick's friends and my family's friends who could be there Tuesday... you are all loved! And of course a big thanks to my fabulous teammates Cynthia, Michelle, Sam, Suze and Mardi. You women are truly awesome and I so appreciate our friendship. Can't wait for next year's run!
In case I haven't quite expressed my feelings enough... thank you Whistler for embracing Nick and my family as we struggle through this difficult time. I love my new hometown!
Lisa and the Geddes: Bill, Nick, Xander and Sarah

 

LEGO blocks building community

Whoa, kids really do love LEGO! On Saturday the Whistler Museum and Archives hosted its 15th annual LEGO-building competition and it was our most successful one yet. Registration was full by early Thursday, leaving us with the difficult task of turning away dozens of disappointed kids (and their parents). If you were one of the unlucky ones, make sure to sign up early next year to avoid missing out.
This year's theme was "Transportation: How would YOU get to Whistler?" and did we ever see some inspired designs. When these youth grow up the commute to Whistler is sure to get faster, safer, greener, and way more fun!

A big thank you to our esteemed judges Michelle Leroux (WhistlerIsAwesome.com, Reine Communications), Chris Quinlan (RMOW Municipal Council, Whistler Farmer's Market) and Lauren Stara (Whistler Public Library). The kids made sure your task was exceedingly difficult.

Congratulations to all our contestants, whose boundless excitement and creativity made for a hugely successful and enjoyable afternoon. Several local businesses generously donated prizes to ensure that the contestants efforts did not go unrewarded and that nobody left empty-handed: Ziptrek, The Core, Whoola Toys, Prior, Armchair Books, Lush, Cows, The Body Shop, Hatley, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Meadow Park, Marketplace IGA, Blenz, Purebread, The Grocery Store and Fun For Kids Clothing and Accessories.

One final piece of LEGO-related business: For the last few weeks we've had a massive jar of LEGO bricks on display at the Museum and kids were encouraged to take a stab at the total number of pieces. We had well over 100 guesses but local-boy Callum MacFarlane's guess of 660 was closest to the actual number of 645. Congratulations Callum! You've won a family membership to the Whistler Museum so now you and your family can come check out our exhibits whenever you want!
The Whistler Museum