What's happening in Cloverdale in July 2010

Well July looks to be a relatively quiet month in Cloverdale. Perhaps due to all the energy surrounding the Canada Day festivities the town has to spend a month resting up.

The horse racing season has ended until October 1 but the Fraser Downs Casino is open.

July 1, Thursday - 11am to 11pm - Canada Day at the Cloverdale Millenium Park may or may not be the place to be. Expecting crowds of around 100,000. For more info on the day long festivities, see their web site. http://www.canadaday.surrey.ca

July 24 to 25, Saturday and Sunday - 10am to 4pm - Honeybee Festival, including live entertainment and an artisan's market, held at the Honeybee Centre at Fry's Corner, that would be the northeast corner of 176th Street and the Fraser Highway. More information at their web page http://www.honeybeecentre.com

So far that's all I can see happening around Cloverdale. Will update if I see any flyers show up on the store windows.

Smart Choice truck makes a poor choice

Earlier today I was following a Smart Choice Transport semi trailer truck on Highway 10 making a left hand turn onto 168th Street, so as to head to South Surrey/White Rock.

What's so unusual? This isn't a truck route. If in doubt, look at the sign that says no heavy trucks over 10,000 kg. When this truck turned I could see the weight on its door - 29,500 kg. So yeah, I'd say it qualified as a heavy truck.

This is not the first heavy truck that's travelled along 168th judging by the poor condition of the road and the cracks in the pavement.

Bylaw officers don't seem to be too interested in truckers breaking the law, as evidenced by the complaints of residents on 64th Avenue where the bylaw officers suggest residents take the truckers to court. Yeah, right. Who's going to go to that trouble?

I'd say Smart Choice Transport made a poor choice in hiring a driver who has no respect for the laws of the road around Cloverdale.

The Return of the Cannons

Can you hear them yet?

Yes, its the distinctive battle cry of the blueberry cannons in Cloverdale farmer's fields.

It won't be long before people living in the newer subdivisions send in their noise complaints to the local newspapers.

Accident at Millenium Park?

We were driving eastbound on 64th Avenue this morning and noticed the edge of Cloverdale's Millenium Park, approximately across from Tim Hortons looks like a truck ran through it. Bushes, trees, and the split log rail fence are torn apart along the road. Its quite a mess and not particularly good news for whatever clean up crew the city will have to send in to get it looking better by Thursday for the Canada Day celebrations.

The real question is, was there an accident here or did somebody do this on purpose?

Greenaway Park update

I walked the dogs over to Greenaway Park this morning but none of the signs around the area said what's going on. However I managed to speak with one of the workers. They're putting in a tennis court.

But aren't there a couple of tennis courts up on the hill between the park and Lord Tweedsmuir?

The man says they're gone now. I still remember them being built around 1970, Cloverdale's first tennis courts. The second ones were built at the back of Cloverdale Junior High in the mid-70's. Both supposed to be public courts but often the school teachers took their gym classes down to play tennis, often ending in heated arguments with Cloverdale residents who were already using the courts.

Foundation stones in Greenaway Park?

Earlier this evening I drove past Greenaway Park. The first thing I noticed is no one is in the pool, no big surprise there. But in that pit being dug up with the heavy machinery is what looks like a ledge of allen block or concrete forms. Driving down 60th I was a little too far to tell which it was but it definitely looks like a foundation of some sort is being put down in the area closest to the fairgrounds parking lot. Where there's a foundation, there's bound to be be a building. I wonder what they're putting in.

Stay tuned.

Canada Day by the Bay

If you'd rather go to the beach than the Millenium Park on July 1, nearby White Rock is hosting Canada Day by the Bay. Events and activities all day at the beach capping the evening off with fireworks. More information on their poster.

http://www.city.whiterock.bc.ca/2005Leisure-Services/pdfLeisureServices/Canada%20Day%20poster.pdf

Free pancakes at Kraus Berry Farms on Canada Day?

Once again Kraus Berry Farms in the Otter area of Langley is hosting a free pancake breakfast on Canada Day from 9am to 11am. Their address is 6179 - 248th Street in Langley. Their web site is www.krausberryfarms.com

We drove out last year and the place was a zoo. Parking was - well everywhere. In their parking lot, up and down their driveway, and down 248th Street. We rode our motorbikes and the parking attendants shooed us to park beneath a tree near the store so we got up close parking. The line up for pancakes was at least 20 minutes. The pancakes were good and there was homemade berry syrup and fresh raspberries to put on the cakes. There was a donation can for a charity that I don't recall now. Perhaps cancer? We put in a good donation but not everyone showing up for their free pancakes did. We purchased berries and left. Several families stayed after breakfast to pick their own berries. Due to the cold weather raspberries aren't ripe yet. My plants are just starting to turn red the past couple of days, so I don't know if Kraus will have in time for Canada Day.

We often drive out there to pick up fresh berries. If we're very lucky we can catch blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries at the same time, thanks to those everbearing plants. They have the sweetest, juiciest berries but they tend to be higher priced than the farms around Cloverdale, so I don't purchase from them as much as I used to unless I happen to be out in the Aldergrove area.

Are free pancakes worth a half hour drive from Cloverdale and a line up of about the same time not to mention parking hassles. I'll let you decide.

Playing at the Clova from June 25 - July 1 2010

This coming week - June 25 to July 1 - the Clova Theatre in downtown Cloverdale is showing:

7pm - Gunless

8:45pm - Get Him to the Greek

Last show lets out at 10:30pm. Times are approximate. The Clova delays starting the first show until patrons have completed their purchases at the concession. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies, or $4 on Tuesdays.

Swimmers in Greenaway Pool!

Yes, its finally happened. I saw people swimming in Greenaway Pool. I drove by Greenaway Park twice this afternoon at 3:30 and 5:10 and people in the pool.

I checked the City of Surrey's web page for outdoor pool times and I have found a link http://www.surrey.ca/Living+in+Surrey/Parks+and+Recreation/Recreation+Services+and+Places/Pools/Outdoor/default.htm

The only thing that is odd is that Monday to Friday Greenaway Pool's hours are 3 to 4pm and 6 to 7:30pm so that doesn't really explain why I saw several people in the pool after 5pm today. But that's the link that shows the hours for all outdoor pools in Surrey. How accurate it is, who knows.

Canada Day Celebrations at Cloverdale's Millenium Park 2010

Just thought I'd throw it out there that once again Canada Day celebrations are happening at the Millenium Park in Cloverdale, corner of 64th Avenue and 176th Street on July 1.

Festivities begin at 10am and last until 10:30 with the fireworks show. There's entertainment all day long on the stage and various activities going on in the park including a midway. Admission is free but if you want to go on the rides or buy food at the concession stands, bring money with you. Many people bring picnic lunch and dinner and their lawn chairs and stay all day.

Parking available on the fairgrounds around the racetrack and casino. Whatever you do, don't park in the Clover Crossing Mall across the street. They have big signs up at all the entrances warning you if you park there and leave the property without your car it will be towed. They have security guards working the parking lot all day keeping an eye on where people are going after they park in the mall's parking lot.

Bottom line is if you are not planning to attend the Canada Day celebrations, this is a very good intersection to avoid all day.

More information at this web page http://www.canadaday.surrey.ca/default.htm

If you're interested in volunteering for the celebrations there is a link for volunteers at the above web page. You have about another week to sign up if interesting in volunteering.

Greenaway Park Renovations

A couple of things I've noticed in the past month while driving past Greenaway Park:

1. The swimming pool has had water in it since the beginning of June but so far the pool has either not opened or no one is ever swimming it in when one would think peak times would be (evenings and weekends).

2. There is major excavating going on in the playground area without any signage what's going on. Temporary fencing is up around this area.

I can see replacing playground equipment for safety reasons when it gets outdated but that doesn't require putting a fence up around the playground, just replacing swings and slides as needed over the years. What's happening in Greenaway Park is a pit and heavy equipment digging it. The only playground equipment I see is the monkey bars.

I can't find anything on the City of Surrey's web page which explains the renovations. That playground has served its purpose well since the 1960's and probably earlier. Its been well looked after and has had swings, teeter totters, slide, monkey bars, merry go round, and sand box. What else do you really need in a park this size? And closing the playground when it gets its highest use of the year during the summer?

I'm not sure what the city is doing.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Police counterattack in Cloverdale

We took the dogs for a walk tonight and saw several police officers set up on Highway 15 just north of 58th Avenue, in front of the United Church. They're stopping all cars headed south. I figured they're looking for drivers who've been drinking. There were a couple of cars pulled over and their drivers - a younger fellow and an older man - standing nearby. An officer in a car was writing something up. A tow truck arrived and was preparing to hook up the car belonging to the younger man. Its a good place for them to set up. Cars round that curve and bang, there are the police. There is nowhere to go.

This is the first time I've seen the police set up for checking drinking drivers. I've seen them set up speeding traps and also where they pull over random cars for safety checks, mostly on 60th Avenue in the fairgrounds/Greenaway Park area.

I guess they're getting some business tonight keeping our streets safer.

Playing at the Clova from June 18 to June 24, 2010

This coming week at the Clova beginning Friday June 18 till the 24th is:

7pm - Sex and the City 2

9:40pm - Letters to Juliet

Second show lets out at 11:20. Times are approximate. The Clova doesn't start the movies until there are no customers waiting at the concession. Admission is $7 or $4 on Tuesday. Stay for one or both movies at that price. Bring your own reusable popcorn and beverage container and fill up at the concession for $2.

Wallace & Carey truck runs a red light

This didn't happen in Cloverdale, just a little south in Hazelmere.

Last night around 7:45pm I was travelling northbound on 184th Street and waiting at a red light on 16th Avenue. To my left I noticed a Wallace & Carey panel truck travelling along 16th Avenue heading east. My light turned green and I kept my eye on that truck that was still barrelling along 16th at well over the posted speed limit and decided to wait. No point in me being right and ending up dead. My light was green for a good 4 or 5 seconds by the time the Wallace & Carey truck ran the red light.

I just don't get it about some companies. Why do they hire bad drivers and then give them a company vehicle with the company name plastered all over it? Talk about bad advertising.

The ice cream van is back!

Ah, the familiar sounds from childhood. Tonight I heard the ice cream van for the first time this year coming down our street. I've seen ice cream trucks around over the past couple of months but tonight is the first time I've heard one in our neighborhood this year blasting the unmistakable melody of Little Brown Jug. We don't have many children living around here so whenever I've seen/heard the ice cream van its traveling past at a good clip with the music doing double or triple time which can be rather amusing. Though not so funny for the people who may have heard the music, craved a treat, and by the time they got outside with their cash saw the van gumbooting it down the street.

When I was growing up in Cloverdale the ice cream truck travelled a little more slowly down our street and there was plenty of business from kids and adults. Nearly every house had someone standing at the end of the driveway awaiting the van. We always came running back in the house screaming: "It's the ice cream man!" hoping our parents would dole out a couple of dimes. And sure enough it was always a man driving the van and serving up the frozen treats. I don't remember seeing a woman driving the van. And the treats were a lot cheaper back then. Popsicles, Fudgsicles, Creamsicles, and Revellos all were about ten cents each. Over the years the prices increased up to about twenty-five cents, maybe even fifty cents by the time I was an adult and resisting the temptation to run out to the curb when I heard the blasting music.

Have you seen the prices on the ice cream trucks today? I don't even know if $2 is the lowest price, but the prices all run from $2 something up to $5 or so. Yikes! But its the cost of doing business. Gas prices, wages, taxes, etc. Its too bad the ice cream van doesn't attract customers the way they did when I was a kid.

Playing at the Clova from June 11 - June 17 2010

Playing at the Clova in Cloverdale this coming week starting on Friday June 11 to the 17th is:

7pm - Iron Man 2

9:20 - Robin Hood

Last show lets out at 11:40pm. Times are approximate. On busy nights at the concession stand the staff wait until most of the patrons are seated before starting the movie. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies, and Tuesday's admission is $4. Bring your own reusable containers for popcorn and sodas and fill up at the concession for $2.

Phone in Cloverdale

A recent discussion about the old operator's phone system sparked memories of the phone we had in the house. An old black rotary dialer phone that was provided by BC Tel who supplied all the phones across the province.

The phone number in Cloverdale started with 574 or 576 which continues today with a couple of other exchanges thrown in due to the growing population in our community. But back in the 60's and early 70's if we were phoning someone else in Cloverdale we only had to dial 5 numbers. The first number depended on the last number in the first three numbers in the exchange, being either 574 or 576. All we had to do was dial the 4 or the 6 and then the last four numbers. For example growing up our phone number was 574-5059. If I was over at a friend's house and needed to call home, I would dial 45059.

Back then only local calls were free. We could phone everywhere else in Cloverdale, Langley, White Rock, and some other parts of Surrey. Whalley was a long distance call. Vancouver was long distance.

Sometime in the 70's some of the regions around the Greater Vancouver area became toll free and as a result we were no longer able to use five numbers to phone around Cloverdale and had to dial all seven numbers. A small price for now being able to phone everywhere in Surrey, New Westminster, and Vancouver for free. However it was still long distance to call North or West Vancouver and for some reason, Tsawwassen. It was also long distance to phone the other side of the Fraser River to Maple Ridge and Coquitlam.

It was kind of annoying by the early 80's because my farrier lived in Tsawwassen and if I needed my horse's hooves done I either had to phone long distance or go to a friend's house in White Rock or North Delta where it was toll free to call and make an appointment.

We still had party lines in the area up until the late 80's. My family always had a private phone, but several of my friend's houses were on party lines. You never knew who was picking up a phone and listening in to your conversation.

Finally in the 90's most of the Greater Vancouver Area became toll free calls. I no longer had to visit someone in a toll free zone to call friends in North Vancouver or Maple Ridge.

Rememer the BC Tel store that was in Guildford Mall selling phones? I still have a Mickey Mouse phone with the BC Tel logo on it.

Police action in downtown Cloverdale

I was out walking my dogs and heading for a loop around downtown Cloverdale only to find 176th Street behind yellow police tape and a police officer standing on the corner at 58th Avenue. I can see down the road that the police tape is across 57th Avenue too. I spoke with a man who was talking to the police officer and all I can find out is the police are trying to bring a bad man out of the White Hotel. Apparently he's wanted for murder. The back alley is also behind police tape and there is an ambulance parked at the back of the hotel.

Nothing on the news yet.

The White Hotel is located on the west side of 176th Street near Hawthorne Square. Its about 100 years old and in the past has been a rooming house for more or less unsavory types. A couple of years ago a notice was placed on the door by the owner saying in an attempt to attract a better clientele he had renovated the hotel into one bedroom and bachelor suites for rent.

Payday loan place in Cloverdale

A couple of days ago I walked past the shop where the Salvation Army used to be - 176th Street closer to Highway 10. The store has been walled in half to make two shops and one half has big flashy signs all over the window for payday loans.

These types of establishments prey on unfortunate people who run out of money and need a loan to tide them over until the next pay day. They charge fees higher than a bank's line of credit and unfair loans. They tend to prey on people who are probably only working minimum wage jobs who have difficult times paying anything, let alone exorbitant fees and interest rates. Its a neverending cycle that is hard to get out of.

When I worked at the head office of a financial institution we received many chargeback requests. These were bounced cheques drawn on customer accounts from our institution, primarily paid to a payday loan company whose clients bounced their cheques and were hoping that our company might be able to make the cheque good. Usually these customers had no money in their bank accounts for us to withdraw and after a month we sent the cheque back to the payday loan company as an unsuccessful attempt to pay and I suppose it went to collection agencies from there.

There was a class action lawsuit in Canada a couple of years ago against Money Mart due to their high fees, that they lost, and their former payday loan customers are able to claim their losses, or a portion thereof, by following the settlement procedures that were published on their website earlier this year.

A few years ago Langley announced they would not allow any more of these places to open because they prey on the down and out in our society. I believe about 3 stores had opened in Langley prior to this change.

Last year a cheque cashing place did open in Cloverdale on the corner of 176th and 58th. They had a small sign outside "cheques cashed" and they offered Western Union services. They only stayed open for a few months. There is a learning centre or tutoring service now occupied that store.

I guess time will tell if this new establishment will suffer the same fate.

Does everyone hear the sound of lawnmowers?

All day long I've heard the sound of lawnmowers nearby and the distant drone of some a block or so away. We've had all these days of rain and the grass keeps growing and no one can get out to mow their lawns. I managed to mow part of my front lawn and side lawn last weekend when I had a break in the weather. Today I finally was able to mow my back yard for the first time in about a month and trimmed down the front and side again. I should be good for the next few days. I think more rain is in the forecast. My next door neighbor has a really loud lawnmower and unfortunately she is out mowing right now. I was hoping to sit on the sundeck for awhile and relax but not with that noisy machine she has. Kerry says its an industrial grade lawnmower, thereby why it is so loud. Hmm, I'm not sure why an industrial one should be louder than a regular household one, but its ear shattering to be anywhere near it. And she's not wearing hearing protection.

Celticfest Cancelled

I drove by Falcon Ridge farm on 184th Street a little while ago where the Celticfest 2010 was supposed to take place this Saturday. I saw a very small sign saying "closed, event cancelled" leaning against a post. I nearly missed it. I just checked their web page and sure enough its been cancelled. http://www.celticfest2010.atbhost.net/

Playing at the Clova from June 4 - June 10 2010

This coming week, June 4 to 10, the Clova is back to 2 different shows nightly.

7pm - Shrek Forever After

8:50pm - Iron Man 2

Last show lets out at 10:55pm. Times are approximate. On busy nights the Clova waits till patrons have cleared the concession area before starting the movie. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies. Tuesday nights is $4.

What's happening in Cloverdale in June 2010

There are a few things happening around Cloverdale this month.

June 5, Saturday from 3pm to 11pm - Celtic Fest held on the corner of 184th Street and 44th Avenue. Celtic and folk bands, guitar workshops, etc. This is by donation or bring something for the food bank. For more information see their web page. http://www.celticfest2010.atbhost.net/

June 5, Saturday 6pm - Lobsterfest held in Shannon Hall at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, corner of 176th Street and 60th Avenue. All you can eat lobster for $80. See their web page for more info. http://www.lobsterfest2010.ca/

June 12, Saturday 6pm - Rock n Racing fundraiser for Surrey Memorial Hospital at the Fraser Downs racetrack. Horse racing starts at 6pm and the live music at 9pm. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased from guest services at the track. 60th Avenue and 177B Street.

June 12, Saturday 7pm to 7am - Relay For Life at the Millenium Park, southeast corner of 176th Street and 64th Avenue. 12 hour fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. For more information see their website. http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=330220

June 22, Tuesday 6pm to 9pm - art show at Darts Hill Garden northeast corner of 16th Avenue and 170th Street.