Dear Readers, On March 8th, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation remarked International Women’s Day to celebrate and acknowledge the 2014 Remarkable Women honourees who reflect the theme of the Year of Reconciliation. I was very humbled to be chosen and deeply grateful to the City of Vancouver and everyone who have so generously blessed me with their extraordinary gift as a loving human being.  It was an amazing and surely overwhelming experience. I feel that this award was not made to me as an individual, but to the true values of community, resilience, and innovation. I am very appreciative for this opportunity to share my passion for building a creative and caring community where we all celebrate our birth right as an artist. I am so grateful for the wisdom of my friends and colleagues who have opened their hearts and expressed their unique experiences from following their passion and intuition. In the March issue, I am pleased to present the stars of our community who make Vancouver a world city: a truly remarkable woman and environmental leader, Olivia Fermi whose grandfather, Nobel prize laureate Enrico Fermi was a physicist working at the heart of the top-secret effort to build the first atomic bombs, Rev. Jeremy who continues to expand our humanity through a community of acceptance, respect and support, and Debbra Mikaelsen and Philip Solman, the brilliant and gifted couple who put together thousands of interesting and dynamic pages of Edible Vancouver – my favourite magazine!    Thank you for the International Women’s Day 2014, which I will always remember.  Going forward, I will try to live up to the standard of excel­lence I know this award stands for.  Thank you very much.   Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief  ...

 By Haley Cameron Photos by Rosanna Goncalves   When Debbra Mikaelsen, Editor-in-Chief of Edible Vancouver, was nominated for Best Local Advocate in B.C.’s first annual We Love Local awards last summer, she immediately requested the nomination credit the magazine instead. It’s this exact sort of humility that stands out when I sit down with her and husband/Publisher, Philip Solman, to learn more about the publication they’ve raised as their child over the past six years.   In the end Edible Vancouver was credited – and as winner of the category no less. Phil explains that their mission is ultimately to connect people who eat with people who produce and distribute food locally. While admittedly proud of the Best Local Advocate title, the approachable couple behind Edible Vancouver’s success avoids most public recognition. “We’re just not that interesting,” quips Debbra, as her partner explains that they’ve always wanted the brand to stand on its own. “We tend to shy away from the spotlight. We decided early on that there wouldn’t be any faces in the magazine,” he explains, and flipping through the beautiful Almost Spring 2014 issue I realize Debbra’s Editor’s Note is void of the expected headshot. “It’s not the Phil and Debbra show,” she says. But the pair agreed to share their own story in hopes of expanding knowledge of their product; one which has already achieved incredible growth since its 2007 naissance.   When the couple decided years ago that they wanted to work together, neither one was aware of the Edible Communities association that publishes numerous North American titles under the same ‘shop local, eat organic’ premise. Phil had been working with a non-profit society, We Are What We Do, when he was first exposed to the franchise. Through his non-profit...

      By Katja De Bock Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball   On July 16, 1945, an unprecedented explosion shattered the desert at the Trinity site, near Alamogordo New Mexico. Two months after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Allies’ (USA, Great Britain and Canada) secret nuclear weapon development group, code-named the Manhattan Project, detonated a test nuclear weapon, nicknamed The Gadget. The detonation would go into history as the birth of the atomic age. Only weeks later, the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would mean the end of the Second World War, but also the death of hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens and the destruction of two cities.     Olivia Fermi, a Vancouver-based counselor, coach and consultant, is intimately connected to The Manhattan Project: Her grandfather, Nobel prize laureate Enrico Fermi, was a physicist working with Robert Oppenheimer. He worked at the heart of the top-secret effort to build the first atomic bombs.   On March 3, 2014, Olivia Fermi will speak in Denver, Colorado at the American Physical Society, an organization of physicists worldwide. She was invited to speak specifically about the point of view of women related to the Manhattan Project. (Go to her Talk in Denver, CO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtuNtscCB5Y)   She decided to talk about two remarkable women whose connection to the Manhattan Project inspired them to respond and become community visionaries and leaders. They are Fermi’s grandmother Laura Fermi, wife of Enrico, and Los Alamos community leader Marian Naranjo.   For Kerrisdale Playbook, Olivia Fermi offers a sneak preview into her presentation.   Laura Fermi (1907-1977) – pioneering social and environmental leader   As a young girl, Olivia Fermi (who was born as Alice Olivia Weiner and later legally changed to her mother’s maiden name) grew up in a...

By Haley Cameron Photos by Noriko Nasu-Tidball Reverend Jeremy Clark-King, priest at St. Mary’s Anglican Church, barely hesitates when I ask if there’s a specific verse that inspires him on a daily basis. “The glory of God is a human being fully alive,” he recites, before admitting right away that it isn’t actually a biblical excerpt. The line comes instead from Saint Iraneus, a second century theologian. “John 10:10 is practically the same thing,” he offers, ready to provide the biblical version he knew I would be expecting. “I’ve come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.”   It strikes me as surprising that Rev. Jeremy’s first instinct isn’t a biblical reference, but I quickly learn to abandon all expectations when it comes to St. Mary’s. The century-old building that would appear in all ways conservatively traditional from the exterior proves to be impressively open-minded, progressive, and ultimately welcoming within its stained glass doors.   Perhaps this progressive nature shouldn’t be so unexpected. The Church of England acquired autonomy in the sixteenth century, when the country broke free of Papal association and instead combined Catholic and Protestant practices to produce a new branch of Christianity. A somewhat rebellious inauguration, this set the precedent for an opinionated religion that encouraged critical thinking and welcomed modernity. As Jeremy outlines, “We take the Bible seriously, but not literally. We learn from past successes and failures and place a high value on reason.”   As we spend some time covering the basics of the Anglican Church, for instance the correct terminology for Sunday congregations (service, Holy Eucharist, or Communion, he tells me), Rev. Jeremy mentions that one of the ministers on staff until recently is female. Female ordination isn’t the only surprise of this Christian offspring....

Welcome Speech by KCC Board President, Robert Lockhart  “Vancouver School Board representatives, performers, support workers, and guests: Welcome to the 2014 presentation of the Vancouver School Board SWIS Lunar New Year Festival in the year of the Horse.  Since 2010, Kerrisdale Community Centre Society along with Point Grey and David Thompson Secondary Schools has sponsored this VSB SWIS program. The show has grown from its first presentation in a small space in the Kerrisdale Seniors’ Centre, to fill our auditorium. Our society is proud to offer this venue that features the talents of so many young people from our community. If past performances are any indication, you will experience an afternoon of action, dance, singing, games and other multi-cultural festivities. This year for the first time, and in the true multicultural spirit of this community the descendants of the first inhabitants of this region will deliver an Aboriginal blessing on this festival. In the Chinese Zodiac, this is the year of the Horse. Those fortunate to be born in this year of the cycle make unremitting efforts to improve themselves. They are energetic, bright, warm-hearted, and able.  I believe you will also find that these characteristics also describe the performers you are about to see. Welcome, and thank you for participating in this annual event. Enjoy the show.” ~Robert Lockhart       Photos by Erik Price...