Jack Parasiuk By COCO BIKADOROFF Photographs by DEAN MCLEAN   It couldn’t be more nestled in the heart of the village. The fresh flowers surrounding the patio and the beautifully designed french doors set the entrance for an inviting bistro experience. Jack Parasiuk is a hard working entrepaneur with a very kind and happy air about him. He took over Suvai Restaurant in 2007 when the opportunity presented itself after he had been working with the previous owners. But this is not his first restaurant; he owned a business in Gastown with his best friend and current chef Denis Scipion who he has great respect and admiration for. Jack started in the business as a young boy along with his family. His European upbringing taught him that a happy environment involved many a good time including good food, drink, dancing, entertainment, socializing, but with an emphasis on food. When asked ‘Why Kerrisdale?’, Jack said that it reminded him of the ‘70’s. The village ambiance is a perfect setting for Suvai’s epicurean experience, and the close knit community reminds him of simpler days, when the world was not as technologically busy and people were more engaging and personable. He feels that is what it’s like present day in the community. He believes in treating others the way you wish to be treated and that this neighbourhood has provided him with just that.   People smile and take the time to chat even if they don’t know him, and you can tell when you meet him that even after one encounter, however small, he will remember you. Jack hopes that Suvai will leave a lasting impression on its visitors. That a good time will be had by all and that they will remember the warm, cozy spot...

Mike Hallatt, co-founder of Benny’s bagels,premiered his first documentary film ‘Uncle Herb’ about end of life issues and how they intersect health care at Kerrisdale Community Centre’s Creative Artisti Series on January 22, 2012. Here is the movie review (For those that missed it)!! “An Exploration of Gourmet Healthcare” Reviewed by Trina Moran Someone in your family needs surgery to correct a condition that is life threatening. Now imagine if your health care system denied them the surgery. Why? They’re too old, it’s too risky, and someone else needs that procedure more than they do. Now, these reasons seem a little unacceptable, right? ‘Uncle Herb’, a documentary by Vancouverite Michael Hallat, explores this exact predicament. His own Uncle Herb, whom the documentary follows, is denied surgery to correct his abdominal aorta aneurysm. Why? Because he’s 89 years old and the Canadian healthcare system deems Herb ‘too old’ and the surgery ‘too risky’. Herb, a spry and determined ex-WWII military officer refuses to take ‘too old’ and ‘too risky’ for an answer. Instead, he heads to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the Dalai Lama of American healthcare. As far as Herb himself is concerned, he loves life and is willing to do, travel, and pay whatever it takes to ensure he keeps living. Hallat notes that Herb is proud of his service during WWII and describes the Canadian healthcare’s attitude towards Herb as ‘here’s a blanket, go home, make yourself comfortable, and die’. As far as Herb is concerned, he did not fight the Nazis to take a blanket, go home, make himself comfortable, and die. Thus, Herb and his nephew Michael set out for America in search of the healthcare Herb deserves. Hallat escorts Herb throughout the entire duration of Herb’s surgery. In a trailer they embark on...

For the first time in history, four generations are coming together, Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. We round up the best way to unlock the freedom of self-expression and our creative potential.   By Keiko Honda, Photographed by Erik Price  All programs and classes at the community centre, like most things in life, are divided by age, so why not start something different? We identified three fruitful areas for developing a program agenda for Kerrisdale Community Centre. These are community building, creativity, and intergenerational learning. Why is intergenerational learning so important? Current lifestyle increasingly has led to generations becoming distanced from one another, particularly younger from older. Today, we live in a different time; we think we have everything at our finger-tips, knowledge, information, products, and communication tools, instantly making us hyper-consumerists without face-to-face interactions. But, how does today’s way of life impact on the way we learn from each other? Are we missing the opportunities to enrich our lives from other generations? How is the life we think we have affecting our innate creative potential? For people of any age, creativity is a birthright. The truth of the matter is that we all ARE artists and we are entitled to express our creativity whatever form we choose to experiment with. But, how can we look at our lives in a way like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement? Where to begin? This is why we launched “Creative Artists Series” in order to change the way people of all ages can learn together and from each other. It is a slow and small but fresh start, with full of possibilities intended to foster lifelong learning relationships between different generations and helps to unleash creativity. As the Zen master, Shunryu Suzuki says, “In the beginner’s mind there are...

Dominic Morgan is the manager at Bean around the World on Dunbar and 40th. He has been a real supporter of the “Creative Artist Series” at the Kerrisdale Community Centre through a generous donation of coffee to all the participants. By COCO BIKADOROFF     Photographs by DEAN MCLEAN     Dominic is a great supporter of the local arts and runs his business with an honest sense of community flair. I sat down with Dominic to interview him at his establishment… Q. The brunch at your cafe is very successful. What do you love about it? I love the atmosphere that we create, I feel that we’ve created a place where people can feel like it’s their second home and if they do feel that way then I feel it’s perfect. Q. What is the secret to your success? The secret is there is no secret. It’s just having a passion for the work and instilling passion in both the employees and the customers. Q. Which work do you consider your greatest? My greatest…not sure how to answer that, my greatest work so far is a work in progress, and that’s training up people to do what I do here. To be able to pass on the knowledge that I’ve gained. If that’s successful, which I know it will be, then that will be my biggest accomplishment here. Q. What’s the hardest part of running a business like this? Umm, the hardest part ? Nothing is really hard, mainly things are more tedious and that’s anything that’s away from the front counter. Anything that’s not being out here with the people I find less exciting. I like to connect with the customers. Q. What’s the newest, freshest approach that you bring to your job? That’s actually...

Gerry is a third generation Chinese Canadian born in Victoria, B.C. and a long-time resident in the Kerrisdale area. He had a wonderful career for over 40-plus years in the field of Architecture. Gerry is retired and now with more leisure time to do other things, he accidently a year ago rekindled his childhood passion for the arts. On Christmas morning of 2010, doing their traditional family “Christmas Stocking Stuffer” event he received a set of etching tools and a few small etching blocks in his stocking from Santa (from his daughter, Tara, who knew her father’s artistic talent). Shortly after the New Year, Gerry picked up the etching tools and the polymer faced etching blocks and started to scratch out some images. Since picking up the etching tools, Gerry has created some larger artwork etchings which are show-cased in the E-Gallery. Gerry plans to continue etching new artworks to satisfying his artistic endeavors. Photographs by Erik...