The Vancouver Courier
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
By Sandra Thomas

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Central Park: Meals and memories

Sunset celebration a tasty, multicultural treat

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a celebration at Sunset Community Centre for the launch of a new community cookbook.

I arrived at the centre just as a group of South Asian women dressed in brightly coloured saris began their dance routine. What was fun about their performance was they were soon joined by members of the Filipino dance troupe in attendance, in full costume, as well as members of the audience in street clothes.

The multicultural performance was fitting since The Mixing Bowl: Meals and Memories cookbook is broken into sections by ethnicity, including Chinese, Filipino, Indian, First Nations, "Canadian eh" and Italian. Besides traditional recipes, the cookbook includes personal stories told by the contributors.

Following the speeches and entertainment, refreshments were served, including tiramisu made by Rosaria Cassano who supplied the same recipe for the Italian section of the cookbook. In the name of research, I tried a piece of the creamy Italian dessert and can confirm it was delicious.

Lorna Gibbs, with the Southeast Vancouver Seniors Arts and Cultural Centre Society, says for each section of the book, a group of volunteers organized a meal highlighting the recipes included in their section, and everyone involved with the project was invited to the meal.

Gibbs noted that since many of the seniors don't drive they used transit to travel to the dinners, carrying their precious cargo of home-cooked food to each shared meal.

Federal candidates in the upcoming federal election in Vancouver South may want to take note — the residents I spoke to at the event made it clear a seniors centre, or lack thereof, in the area is still a key issue for them.

The cookbook costs $25 and is available through the society. Call 604-325-0163 or email svsacs@gmail.com. The project was funded by the federal New Horizons for Seniors initiative.

Outdoor pool push

The small army of volunteers who worked tirelessly for years, unsuccessfully, to save the outdoor pool in Mount Pleasant Park has expanded its focus to all of Vancouver.

The redevelopment at Mount Pleasant Park is under way and includes space for a new pool, should money become available. Photograph by: Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier

Mount Pleasant resident Margery Duda says the new non-profit group, Vancouver Society for the Promotion of Outdoor Pools, became a registered non-profit last January with a goal to highlight and support the city's dwindling number of outdoor pools.

Duda says the purpose of the society is to promote outdoor swimming pools and aquatics in the city, while at the same time supporting the efforts of the Mount Pleasant Pool Committee, the Mount Pleasant Community Centre Association, Friends of Mount Pleasant Pool and other community organizations dedicated to replacing the popular attraction.

The new society is looking for members and is holding its first annual general meeting May 7 at the new Mount Pleasant Community Centre at 1 Kingsway, from 2 to 4 p.m. The meeting is open to society members only, but memberships will be for sale at the door prior to the meeting at a cost of $5 for an individual, $10 for a family and $25 per organization. A board of directors will be voted in at the meeting.

The society wants to continue pressuring the park board to include funds for a new outdoor pool in its next capital plan. The redevelopment design of Mount Pleasant Park includes space for a new pool, should money become available.

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