(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.
WEST END SUMMER ART MARKET … at Jim Deva Plaza Saturdays though September 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.. brought to you by the good folks at WE Arts. Come on out and meet your neighbours, buy some art, and mix with the artists.

DEDICATION OF FIRST KNOWN AIDS MEMORIAL

Tuesday, September 4
10 a.m.
Devonian Park

In October of 1985 four cherry trees were planted at Devonian Park, on the north side of Georgia Street at the entrance to Stanley Park, in memory of four AIDS victims, identified at the time only as James, Ivan, Gino, and Randy. AIDS Vancouver will conduct a ceremony on September 4 to dedicate this long overlooked memorial, the first known of its kind.

The ceremony will begin with Elder Valerie Nicholson blessing the land. Bringing greetings from the Mayor and Council and the City of Vancouver will be Councillor Adriane Carr. Parks Board Manager of Park Operations Yann Gagnon will also attend, along with Michael Welsh and James Johnstone who were a part of the original staff and volunteers at AIDS Vancouver who planted the first four trees, and Brandy Svendson whose research uncovered this memorial.

WEST END GAMES NIGHT

Last Friday of very month (Sept. 28)
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.

The Labyrinth at St. Paul's Anglican Church.

IN THE LABYRINTH

Music In The Labyrinth
Last Friday of Every Month (Sept. 28)
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, Sept. 28, will Naad with Vi An Diep and Greg and Ingrid Valou.

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

FIRESIDE BOOK CLUB

Second & Fourth Fridays (Sept. 14 & 28)
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.

Sept. 14 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 Sept. 28th title will be "The Red-Haired Woman" by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.

A West End scene by artist Alexander Finlayson.

MOLE GALLERY EXHIBITION

Fridays Sept. 14, 21 & 28
1 to 5 p.m.
Mole Gallery / 1157 Penrell (alleyway)
Free

For 30 years Alexander Finlayson has been painting Vancouver's West End. The Mole Gallery is presentingt a retrospective of his vibrant and colourful renderings of the neighbourhood surrounding Mole Hill. Dating from 1995 to present, Mole Hill's buildings, gardens and community are depicted before, during and after the remediation period in the early 2000s.

The Mole Gallery is a pop-up community art gallery located in the heart of Vancouver's historic Mole Hill block, open every Friday 1-5pm.

This November 20,1931 photo shows students and instructor’s from Maxine's Beauty School. (Stuart Thomson Photo Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives)

TALES FROM THE WEST END

Wed. Sept. 19
5:30 to 7 p.m.
JJ Bean (1209 Bidwell)
Free

Tales From the West End” is an evening of story-telling the history of the West End community.
September’s featured storyteller is heritage consultant Donald Luxton, who will share stories entitled "Curl up and Dye”, the tonsorial arts as practiced in the barber shops and beauty salons of early Vancouver. He will include stories from Maxine’s Beauty School, the current location of JJ Bean.

Bring along your own photos and stories of the West End's past to share with your neighbours. Admission is free and there will be complimentary coffee and tea thanks to JJ Bean.

TRY IT OUT OPEN MIC

Every Third Thursday (Sept. 20)
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.

ANNUAL AIDS WALK

Sunday, Sept. 23
Registration at 10:30 a.m.
Opening Ceremonies at 11:30 a.m.
Walk begins at 12 noon
Sunset Beach
Click here for more information and to pre-register.

BC’s first AIDS WALK was held in Vancouver in 1986 at a time when people were dying from the disease. Thirty-three years later, a lot has changed, but we’re still walking to raise funds to support low income folks living with HIV in BC. HIV has not gone away.

A WEST END HERITAGE TOUR

Saturday, Sept. 29
12 noon to 5 p.m.
Information and tickets here or call 604.264.9642

The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has created a new self-guided heritage tour that explores Vancouver’s diverse West End neighbourhood. The West End Heritage Tour features sites between Robson Street and English Bay, and Burrard Street and Stanley Park, making it ideal for getting around by bike, foot, public transit or car.

Vancouver’s West End has many layers of history starting with thousands of years of First Nations communities. Today early settlers’ homes, century-old apartment buildings, several churches, monuments and innovative Mid-Century architecture mark the area’s transformation over the last 130 years.

There are 15 stops included on the tour, with is a diversity of buildings and outdoor spaces, the majority being private or not accessible to the general public. The sites include historic residences like the Queen Charlotte Apartments and Kensington Place, adapted spaces like the Mole Hill Housing Society and Pacific Heights Co-Op, the Modernist Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation office, two heritage churches, private gardens and more.

Ticket holders will receive a brochure with information about each site, special offers from local businesses to enjoy on tour day, tips for getting around by transit or bike and information on where to park. Explore the evolution and history of this historic neighbourhood by visiting a selection of stops that are of most interest, or visit each one in any order

A film still from Cindy Mochizuiki’s “Sue Sada Was Here” (2018) shot at Roedde House Museum.

MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE III

September 25 - November 18
Various Days & Times (see below)
Roedde House Museum (1415 Barclay)
Admission $5 / $8 on Sundays for Tea & Tour

Memories of the Future III is an installation of prints and a collection of textiles by Diyan Achjadi and a new experimental dance film by Cindy Mochizuki that collapse fact and fiction and interweave official and counter histories. The exhibition is the third in a series of projects inviting contemporary artists to create artworks in response to the traditional stories told by historic house museums in Canada. Through a range of mediums and approaches these site-specific interventions explore the layered and hidden stories of our social and material histories. Using the visual language of the present and speculating on possibilities for the future, memories of the distant past are newly exposed, interpreted and remembered.

In response to the history and domestic setting of the Roedde House—built in 1893 and originally home to the family of Gustav Roedde, one of Vancouver’s first bookbinders— the artists have markd and inscribed the Roedde House Museum with reimagined narratives.

The artists each consider an element of the museum’s print history, including the Roedde’s successful printing business and the decorative arts typical of the late 19th century. Inserting their artworks within the period rooms, the artists interrupt the museum’s dominant story of a middle-class European immigrant family and speak to Canada’s difficult colonial history, which continues to shape the nation’s present.

“Memories of the Future” borrows its title from a controversial collection of essays by Ukrainian-born writer Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. Written in the 1920s, Krzhizhanovsky’s subversive essays were censored by Soviet authorities, and it was only after his death that his writing was republished to critical acclaim. As the reference suggests, Memories of the Future offers a form of cultural excavation that attempts to uncover buried stories and forgotten histories.

Memories of the Future was collaboratively conceived and developed by curators Noa Bronstein and Katherine Dennis. The exhibition Memories of the Future III at the Roedde House Museum is the sole curatorial work of Katherine Dennis.

Dates & Times:
Tues. Sept. 25 - Fri. Sept. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Sept. 29 - Nov. 18: Tues. through Sat. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sun. 1 to 4 p.m.

Project 529 Bike Registrations at your West End - Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre.

COMMUNITY POLICING CENTRE OPEN HOUSE

Sat. Sept. 29
12 noon to 3 p.m.
WECHCPC (1267 Davie)

Meet your West End - Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre (WECHCPC) volunteers, staff, Board members, and Vancouver Police Neighbourhood Police Officers at an Open House. The team will be recruiting volunteers, showcasing some of their activities and initiatives, conducting Child Find Fingerprinting services, and giving away free safety items. In addition, there will be a 50/50 draw and a raffle for great prizes. Find out more about our Community Policing Centre here.