What's happening in Cloverdale during December 2010

Well there's not too much going on in Cloverdale during December 2010 other than the Santa Claus Parade. The Santa Parade of Lights is on Sunday December 5 on 176th Street starting at 5:30pm. The parade starts in the fairgrounds, makes its way down 176A street to 58A Avenue then along 176th Street down mainstreet Cloverdale. Once it hits Highway 10 they double back on the Cloverdale Bypass and return to the fairgrounds or they go home. Its kind of interesting watching the trucks blend in with the regular traffic. For more information check out the web page here.

On Saturday December 11 the Cloverdale Legion is holding a pancake breakfast from 8am to 11:30am. $4.50 gets pancakes, sausage, eggs, coffee, tea, and orange juice. On Sunday December 12, the Legion is having breakfast with Santa, same price same menu. 9am to 11:30am.

Don't forget to stop by Potter's on the corner of 192 Street and 48th Avenue to wander around their Christmas store. Or stop by at night to admire their lights.

Clothing bins at old Cloverdale Mall

On the northwest corner parking lot of the old Cloverdale Mall - on 58A Avenue just before it bends to become 58th Avenue - there are several donation bins. Mostly accepting clothing and one is for books.

One of the clothing bins either isn't locked or the lock can be easily broken into because we often see people rooting through the clothes in the bin looking for something to wear.

Most of these look like homeless people, likely living in the tent city just south of the Clydesdale Inn, though there are other bush areas around Cloverdale that look like homeless people have set up living quarters.

With the recent bout of snow and rain there are a bunch of soggy clothes dragged out of one of the bins and scattered around. I saw quite a few people there on Sunday November 28 when I went past. The clothes are wet and nasty now but I guess that doesn't matter if you need them. They'll eventually dry out.

This post is kind of a heads up to well meaning citizens who bring clean clothes to the donation bins thinking they're going to a charity but instead they're scattered around the parking lot left out in the elements. I'm not sure how often the charities that own the bins show up to pick them up but apparently not all that frequently. Your best bet is to take clothes directly to the charity of your choice or phone them because many offer pick up service.

Surrey Now newspaper dumped under a hedge

I was out walking the dogs and noticed a bunch of Surrey Now newspapers dumped under a hedge down the street. One newspaper is sitting on the grass between the sidewalk and hedge, the rest of the stack stuffed under the hedge. A pretty soggy mess by now!

When we moved into this house a few years ago it had been vacant for awhile. The people that owned the house lived elsewhere and rented it out. Tenants were gone, it was up for sale, we bought, and took our time moving in. I guess in the interim whoever is delivering The Now in our part of Cloverdale decided the vacant house was a good place to dump extra copies that he (she?) didn't want to deliver. As soon as I moved in I contacted The Now to let them know I wasn't happy about dealing with 20 or 30 newspapers - really fills up the old recycling bin! - and asked them to stop all newspaper deliver to my house which they did.

From time to time when I'm out walking my dogs I'll see extra copies of The Now dumped in the next block.

This time I looked up their contact information on the Internet and phoned the number for circulation. They're closed on the weekend but the recorded message said it was the Langley Advance. I'm not sure if they handle the circulation for The Now too so I just hung up and sent an email instead to the address for deliveries asking them to come and clean up their mess.

The house in front of where the stack of Now newspapers has been dumped has renters living there. The hedge is quite thick and on the corner of the property. I'm sure they'll never notice the papers there unless they happen to be out for a walk.

Hopefully The Now will show up to pick up their unwanted newspapers.

Clean your sidewalks

Surrey bylaws say that sidewalks must be cleaned by 10am excluding Sundays if there's been a snowfall.

My husband loves playing with the snowblower. Not only does he get the sidewalk in front of our house cleared, he goes a block up the street in each direction. And if he notices someone needs their driveway cleaned he goes in. Just loves playing with that toy. He had it out twice yesterday. Once before 10am and then in the afternoon about 4 hours later but we'd already had a lot of snow fall during that gap.

I just came back from walking my dog through Cloverdale so I could pick my car up at the mechanic's. Here's what I noticed. The shopkeepers on 176th Street have their sidewalks clear. The deserted Cloverdale Mall, that is owned by the City of Surrey, is full of icy slush. NO city crews showed up to clear the sidewalks. On Highway 10 in front of the Clover Square Village the sidewalks are not cleared of snow and ice and its already 11am on the day following a snowfall. Now I'd think that the property management company is responsible for the sidewalks bordering Highway 10 rather than the few businesses who happen to be situated closer to the road than the others such as Dairy Queen, Coast Capital, Chevron and Salty's.

Continuing down the sidewalk none of the businesses had their sidewalks cleared of snow and ice and slush. That would be A & W, Ricky's, Lordco, Tim Hortons, McDonald's, etc. Now whether the employees/management of these stores are responsible or whether or not they lease their buildings and the owner or property management company is responsible I don't know. But its a dangerous situation. Its disrespectful to the citizens of Cloverdale and disrespectful to the city of Surrey not to abide by the law. Snow removal law is the same in most cities in the Greater Vancouver Area. If you don't want to shovel snow the city of Surrey's website lists contractors who will come to your house or business and take care of clearing driveways and sidewalks. Or check Craigslist. There are many enterprising persons with snow shovels or snow blowers who can be hired to take care of snow clearing.

Surrey Leader showing up again

It looks like the Surrey Leader may have found a new carrier for our area in Cloverdale because we've been receiving their newspapers for about a month now. Whenever they get a good delivery person they usually quit after a couple of months or so. I guess they find another job and move on and then it takes weeks or months to find a new carrier. The houses in this neighborhood are on good sized lots, like a quarter of an acre to an acre, so there's a fair amount of walking to do as opposed to newer neighborhoods where houses are built on small lots so less amount of walking for newspaper carriers who can deliver more papers and make more money.

Today was kind of ironic. With the delivery of the Surrey Leader was a note asking if we want to cancel the paper to phone a number provided.

I can only guess that someone at the Surrey Leader checks this blog from time to time, looked up my address, and the carrier stuck the note on my door. Either than or the whole neighborhood is getting the same note. Nice touch but I'd say due to the rare times we actually receive a Surrey Leader that its pointless to cancel. It almost seems like we already are cancelled and then surprise the Leader shows up for a few weeks and then goes into hiding again.

Though I admit the Surrey Leader usually ends up in my recycling bin unread. Its just not a big deal to me one way or the other if I receive it or if I read it.

But it is kind of fun to report when I don't get it!

Playing at the Clova from November 19 to November 25 2010

Starting this Friday at the Clova is a new release so even though they say until Thursday November 25, expect that to be extended another week. The Clova has to play new releases that open at all other theatres for 2 weeks and can't show a 2nd feature.

7pm - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I'm assuming Part 2 is coming out next year sometime???

This is a long movie. Be prepared to sit still for 2 and a half hours. Lets out around 9:30pm.

Admission is $8. If there are 2 people in your party, admission is $15. Add an extra $4 for each extra person in your group.

Remembrance Day in Cloverdale

We walked to the cenotaph beside the Surrey Museum for Cloverdale's Remembrance Day ceremony. The service started at 10:15 and ended around 11:30. We had 3 different fly pasts, the first group flying over while we were having our 2 minutes of silence at 11am.

Thankfully it didn't rain, a rarety for Remembrance Day. It was cloudy but not overly cold. The rain held off until mid-afternoon, well past the end of the ceremony.

Years ago the Remembrance Day ceremony was held in the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. It started inside the Shannon Hall building which was very nice in bad weather. When it came time to lay the wreaths at the cenotaph, which at that time was located in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds, alongside 176th Street, everyone trooped outdoors. Back in high school I was in the band and every year we played O Canada and God Save the Queen during the Remembrance Day ceremony. One year I remember we'd all gone outside to lay the wreaths. The crowd was closer to the cenotaph, the band was further away from the group. We couldn't hear a thing from the speakers so we were just standing there hanging out waiting to play the last song. My mother was in the crowd so she was able to tell me this later. Whoever had the microphone announced that now the band would now play God Save the Queen. Nothing happened. None of us had heard the announcement. One of the ministers on stage, his son was in the band. My mother watched the minister frantically trying to catch his son's attention. I guess he got it and word was out to the conductor to get the song going.

Ah yes, high school memories of carrying a soggy clarinet during the Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Cloverdale Kindergarten

When I was growing up in Cloverdale most mothers did not hold an outside job. My mother was a teacher but she quit when she had me. My father ran a printing shop and office supply store in Cloverdale and my mother helped out there for a few hours a day when I started school but otherwise she was always at home.

One winter my brother was in the hospital in New Westminster and so my mother was there a lot. I was 5 years old at the time and I couldn't hang out at the hospital or my father's business so they put me in kindergarten which was pretty much like playtime with other kids. The kindergarten was run by a nice elderly lady named Mrs. Nowles. And I know I'm probably spelling her name wrong. Back then I couldn't spell! Could also have been Mrs. Knowles. All I remember was that it sounded like "nose". She had a house on 60th Avenue just west of 176th Street with a huge wing built in the back that was the playroom for kids. That white house is still there. Its on a corner of the alley where the people who live on 176th Street drive in to park in their driveways or garages.

I remember having a lot of fun there playing with other kids. There weren't many kids on 182 Street where I grew up at that time, though as more houses started to be built more kids came to the neighborhood.

The kindergarten worked out well for me because a lot of the kids I met were there in my Grade 1 class when I started at Cloverdale Elementary, making the starting school experience less traumatic for me seeing as how I already knew a lot of kids. Most of the kids were in the same situation that I was. Dad worked, mom stayed home, and the kids just came to kindergarten as a social playtime thing. Most kids only came once or twice a week. I remember having so much fun that even after my brother came home from hospital that I still continued to go and have fun with my new playmates. Mrs. Nowles had a field behind the house and kind of like the big kids in school, she held a sports day back there. She also held an Easter egg hunt there. Mrs. Nowles either had one or two ladies who were employees or volunteers, perhaps moms of some kids in attendance.

A few years down the road kindergarten was introduced into the school system which pretty much effectively shut down Mrs Nowles calling her facility a kindergarten. So she switched and became a daycare which she operated for many more years.

Judging by her age back then I'm sure Mrs. Nowles or Knowles has long since passed away.

Today there is a sign on the fence in front of the house saying they do "lo cost name tags and engraving".

Playing at the Clova from November 5 to November 11 2010

This week at the Clova only one movie is playing from November 5 to 11 and seeing as how its a new release I'm going to go ahead and say its also playing the following week too.

7pm - Megamind

Show lets out at 8:36pm. The Clova's contract with new releases is that they can't play another movie double feature and they have to play it for 2 weeks. Admission is $8 or $15 if there are 2 people in your group. Add another $4 for each extra person in your group. On Tuesday nights the admission is $5 plus $4 for each extra person in your group.

What's happening in Cloverdale during November 2010

Here are a few events you might want to take note of for the month of November:

November 6, Saturday - crafts and bake sale at the Hazelmere United Church on 184th Street, corner of 16th Avenue. 10am to 2pm.

November 11, Thursday - At 10:30am join the crowd at the Cloverdale cenotaph next to the museum for Remembrance Day ceremonies. 17710 56A Ave. 56A will be closed but there is lots of parking on other neighborhood streets around Cloverdale. Also public parking lots at the old Cloverdale Mall near the Legion, the public parking lots on 176A Street behind the Clova, next to the Bank of Montreal, and a little further down on the other side of 58th Avenue across from the bowling alley. Be prepared to walk a couple of blocks or so. It always rains on Remembrance Day so dress for the weather.

November 13, Saturday - 8am to 11:30am - Pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion 17567 57 Ave. $4.50 for pancakes, eggs, sausages, coffee, tea, juice.

November 19 to 20: Christmas in Cloverdale Marketplace in the fairgrounds in the Alice McKay building. Friday night 5pm to 9pm and Saturday hours are 10am to 4pm. Admission is $2, partial proceeds to the food bank. See their web page for more info