CAR FREE DAY - SUNDAY 19th JUNE 2011!!!!!!

CAR FREE DAY - SUNDAY 19th JUNE 2011!!!!!!

Just to let you all know the dates of the orientation sessions that will be coming up for Car Free Day.

Both will be held at the Brittania Community Services Centre (1661 Napier Street) in the room under the Learning Resource Centre and it would be great if you could attend one of the sessions.  It will be a great chance to get to know some of the other volunteers and to ask any questions. I plan to only keep you for about one hour.

Sunday 12th June at 12 Noon

Wednesday 15th June at 5:30pm

If you have not yet done so already please fill out our online form with your preferences for volunteering on the day of the festival.  http://www.carfreevancouver.org/locations/commercial-drive/volunteers/

Also if you have any family or friends that may be able to lend a hand for a few hours, please also direct them to the online form or ask them to come along with you to one of the orientation sessions.

I thought everyone may like to know that the theme for the Fools Parade this year is Alice in Wonderland: Queen of Hearts Croquet Party. The parade will begin at 1st Avenue and proceed down the Drive at 12 Noon sharp on the 19th!

Many thanks all for your kind assistance in helping us stage one of Vancouvers favourite public events!

Have a great week! Any questions, fire away.
xJulie
--
Julie Faye Fuss & The Car Free Commercial Drive Crew

Street Party Shakedown!
www.carfreevancouver.org
Sunday, June 19th, 12-6pm

Please ride your bike, walk or take transit to the Car Free Day Festival!

Car Free Day Pics

Had a great time on Commercial Drive this weekend for Commercial Drive, Car Free Days. Realtor and Commercial Drive - Live! sponsor Charlie Kiers, my good friend Carol Anne McMillan and I handed out free cherries (the first of the season), free cookies and free CD's.


Here are a few memories from the day.

If anyone has pics from the day, they'd like to share, please feel free to pass them on.

Special Event: Next Drive Fest All Organizers Meeting April 9th

Preparations for the fabulous Commercial Drive Car Free Festival are well under way.
If you want to be a part of it, then get to the next organizers' meeting, happening Wednesday, April 9th 7PM at 1707 Charles Street (enter through the garden gate east of the main entrance).Try and bring an interested friend if you have one.For the information of all organizers (and potential organizers), 7PM meetings at 1707 Charles Street have been set for the following dates leading up to the Drivefest:
- Tuesday, April 29th- Wednesday, May 14th
- Tuesday, May 27th
- Wednesday Jun 4th
- Tuesday, June 10th
Please reply to us at drivefest@carfreevancouver.org if you have any questions or can't make the meeting, but would like to get involved.

Literary: Book Launch At People's Coop

Please join New Star Books and Matt Hern for the launch of Matt's new book

WATCH YOURSELF
Why Safer Isn't Always Better

WHEN: Sunday, September 9, 3 – 5 PM
WHERE: Rime, 1130 Commercial Drive
All ages welcome | Free admission

For more information about the launch, call 604.738-9429, or look here:
http://newstarbooks.com/event.asp

For more information about Matt's new book, click on the image.

Drive Days Pics

Commercial Drive's second Car-Free Day was a big success despite the rain. (I danced in it!)
Here are some pics from the event.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/werdnagreb/sets/72157600956411151/


Found them on "The Livable Blog".

Special Event: Call Out From Carmen of Commercial Drive Day

This is just a reminder that the FINAL ORIENTATION MEETING for all Drive Fest Vols is Wednesday July 18, from 7-9pm. It's in the room below the Britannia Library, down the Napier Greenway.

The Festival is THUS SUNDAY (July 22) -- so if you haven't decided yet whether you can volunteer...this is the moment to commit! It's REALLY FUN, you get presents and great food all day, lotsa lovin and 10,000 frequent-flyer karma points. And you get to help set the course for our urban paradise. This is powerful stuff. You'll want to tell your grandkids you were in on the revolution.

We strongly encourage you to come to the orientation on Wednesday -- especially if you're a first-timer (or want a refresher, or to check out our funky crew, get your choice of stylin' t-shirts for $10, find out about the volunteer adoration party, or thrill to more barricade haiku).

If you don't have a confirmed barricade shift yet, or have not yet chosen a duty, you can sign up at that time.

If you can't make it to the orientation, fear not! Just let us know, and we will fill you in on the details.

Looking forward to making eye contact with all you superheroes shortly!

-The Drive Fest Crew
volunteers@commercialdrivefestival.org

604.253.2127

p.s. we are still looking for a loan of a PICKUP TRUCK from Sat. night through Monday morning...if anyone has a line on such a thing we would be utterly thrilled..

Special Event: Commercial Drive Car-Free Days is Coming Again

Sign on for Car-Free Commercial Drive Day #2 (Sunday July 22)

Come play in the street, East Van Style – again!

Join the Drive Fest Superhero Crew! Another chance to experience the sweetest volunteer gig in town, at the wildest and most subversive event in the City. A 2-hr shift gets you a flouro-yellow superhero cape to wear (if you are a barricadista), excellent lunch, treats & coddling in the swank Green Room, special gifts and prizes, a stylish t-shirt for cheap, the chance to work/play with our stellar crew, and an invite to the excellent Volunteer Adoration Afterparty (August 16 at the WISE Hal)l. Plus you get to tell cars where to go, and help create our urban paradise – the City of the future.

We need 200+ volunteers to turn this fantasy into reality, so please sign up NOW!

TO THE BARRICADES!

Our most urgent need is for 130 friendly Barricadistas to hold up the perimeters of the party. Simply choose your shift and e-mail your preferences (1st, 2nd and 3rd choices) to Mark at barricades@commercialdrivefestival.org.

Shifts are: 9:40am to 12, 11:45 to 2, 1:45 to 4, 3:45 to 6, or 5:45 to 8pm.

Other volunteer opportunities include:

PRE-FEST

* Help with Business or Vendor Liason (a great way to get to know the Drive or independent/crafter business communities).

* Spend a couple of hours doing some postering or flyer distribution.

* Do you have a car, van, truck or industrial bike trailer at your disposal? Get some carbon credits! Pickup/chore runners needed.

FESTIVAL DAY

* Volunteer Support: 3-hr shifts available in our sumptuous Green Room, or helping to source and procure donations for volunteers.

* Info People: Staff the Info Tent or T-shirt booth, hand out flyers, etc. - great for hardcore Drive residents who know the scene.

* Donation Fairies & Fools: Wow the crowds and help raise funds to keep the party rollin. Roving performers, donation fairies, face painters, clowns, etc.

* Set-Up, Tear-down and Greeners: The festival emerges, as if from thin air and then disappears without a trace...suitable for featherweights or bench-lifters...

* Photographers and Videographers: record the event from as many perspectives as possible (pref. with digital media).

* Helpers At Large: "whatever you need me to do"...we will slot you in. If you have specific skills, resources or contacts to offer, please let us know.

Send an e-mail to Andrea at volunteers@commercialdrivefestival.org to take on any of the above chores, with your name and contact info. Let us know what you'd like to do (if you have a preference), and any special interests, abilities, needs, or physical limitations you might have.

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATIONS

There will be two orientatiion sessions where you can pick up your t-shirt, check out the crew, and get all the necessary scoop. These are on:

Saturday July 14 from 2 to 4pm, and Wednesday July 18 from 7 to 9 pm. You don't need to attend both! Please choose one session, and if possible let us know which one. If you can't make it to either session PLEASE tell us, and we will make sure you don't miss anything.

If you haven't experienced it yet, check out www.commercialdrivefestival.org to see videos and photos and find out what all the fuss is about. We are so grateful to you for rocking this fun revolution.

-The Car-Free Commercial Drive Crew

info@commercialdrivefestival.org

Scenes From Car-Free Commercial Drive Festival June 17 2007

And a reminder that it happens yet again on July 22. 2007!

ThisCityRocks - Episode 3: C.R. Avery Band

Only Two More Sleeps Until Car-Free Days!

Join Commercial Drive Donations Collection team

Help the Bus Rider's Union Stop the Fare Increase

On June 27th, TransLink directors will vote on the 2008 fare increase. If they are successful, fares will go up by at least 25 cents and monthly passes will go up by at least $4. We keep paying more, but the bus system actually is getting worse as overcrowding, long waits and pass-ups continue. While the crisis is clear, TransLink still pours billions into privatized rail projects like the Canada Line instead of buying more buses.

Meanwhile, skyrocketing rents, starvation-level welfare rates and a $6 training wage have left thousands of families struggling to survive in BC. Another fare increase would be a direct attack on our ability to feed and clothe our families. Our wages aren't going up – why are bus fares?

The only way we can stop this fare increase is by educating, organizing and mobilizing our communities to fight for our right to an affordable and reliable transit system!


Get involved in our campaign to stop the fare increase!
Here's how:

Spread the Word about the Proposed Fare Increase!

BRU Leafleting sessions:

Thursday, June 7th 6pm-8pm at Broadway and commercial

Sunday, June 17th 10am-3pm on Commercial Drive (between 1st & Venables)

Street Theatre with the BRU Culture Crew

Interested in helping out with props or doing popular education on the streets? Our street theatre this time around will focus on the experiences of bus riders around high fares and poor bus service. Join the BRU Culture Crew on Sunday, June 17th from 10am-3pm at the Commercial Drive festival!


For any of these events, contact us at 604 215 2775 or busridersunion@gmail.com to let us know you're coming!

--
Bus Riders Union
672 East Broadway St.
Vancouver BC
V5T 1X6
http://bru.vcn.bc.ca/
604-215-2775

Special Event: Drive Fest Is Coming...

Special Notice: Car-Free Days Need You

Greetings Car-Free Commercial Drive people!

Big news: due to popular demand, the quirky and magnificent Commercial Drive Festival is now evolving into Car-Free Commercial Drive Days -- TWO of them! This represents a huge shift in civic consciousness...it will not be long before the 'hood, the City, the entire planet recognizes the massive potential for global salvation and FREE FUN that Car-Free streets represent.

So here's the lowdown: Sunday, June 17 (fathers day) and Sunday, July 22...Car-Free Commercial Drive Days invite everyone out to play in the street, East Van style.

This is your party. Your neighbourhood. It is run by the locals, giving their time in exchange for the fruits of creative collaboration.

This is a call out for folks to help get the show on the road -- PLEASE STEP UP NOW! Fun, friends, connections, snacks & coddling, karma, a stylish t-shirt, and a rockin' volunteer afterparty are among the sundry rewards for making it happen.

CAR-FREE DRIVE DAYS needs:

Pre-Fest:
• Help with Community Outreach (staff a table at Stone Soup May 9, or Farmers Market, or...?), or Business Liason (a great way to get to know the Drive businesses)
• Spend a couple of hours doing some postering or flyer distribution

• Do you have a car, van, truck or industrial bike trailer at your disposal? Get some carbon credits! Pickup/chore runners needed.

Festival Day:
• Barricade Superheros: Hold up the perimeters of the party! (2-hr shifts any time between 9am and 8pm.)
• Volunteer Support: Heart of the production – the gathering place and the waterhole. (Coordinator sought. 3 hour Green Room shifts between 9am and 8pm.)

• Info People: Staffing the Info Tent, hand out flyers, etc. – great for hardcore Drive residents who know the scene.

• Donation Fairies & Fools: Wow the crowds and help raise funds to keep the party rollin. Roving performers, donation fairies, face painters, clowns, etc.

• Set-Up, Tear-down and Greeners : The festival emerges, as if from thin air and then disappears without a trace…suitable for featherweights or bench-lifters...

• Photo/videographers: record the event

• Helpers At Large: "whatever you need me to do"...we will slot you in. If you have specific skills, resources or contacts to offer, please let us know.

Please email (or phone) with your name and contact info. We'll need to know where you'd like to contribute your time (if you have a preference), and any special interests, needs or physical abilities or limitations you might have.

Volunteer Orientations (you only need to attend one session) will take place:

Thursday, June 7 at 7pm in the Britannia Library basement
Sunday, June 10 at 2pm in the Britannia Library basement

You'll especially want to be at one of the orientations to order your very own Car-Free Commercial Drive Festival T-Shirt, at a very cheap volunteer price.

So there you go...the time is NOW...please step up and help co-create our urban paradise.

Looking forward to working/playing with you soon,

Viva! Viva!
Andrea Curtis,
Coordinating Volunteers
volunteers@commercialdrivefestival.org
cell :: 778.549.7874

www.commercialdrivefestival.org