Dear Readers Spring is here! A time of birthing. It feels like the city has come back to life with Sakura in stunning full bloom. Like flowers, when we are in full bloom, we are like a magnet attracting ideas, people, and opportunity to us, with beauty, power, and purpose. So here we are, this month our feature offers a roundup of true achievers in full bloom from around the globe who’ve called Vancouver home, some of whom I proudly consider friends. Architect Gregory Henriquez, whom I’ve known through our mutual friend, plays serious parts on the creation of a new landscape for how we engage in community and life, Yayoi Hirano, one of the finest and rarest mime-dance artists and Noh mask makers that Japan has produced, continues her quest to blend of Japanese and Western transitions, Mary poppins-esque Sara Troy, having made a name for herself as DIVA, has found her groove in life both personally and professionally, and Executive Director of KOM Community Policing Centre Tony Bulic, a citizen of both Canada and Croatia, contributes to the richness of the harmony, the aliveness, and the safety of our community beyond imagining. I hope this issue will support you in blooming in the richness of who you are! Keiko Honda Editor-in-Chief              ...

By Dave Wheaton Photos: Noriko Naru-Tidball   In Oru Restaurant one Tuesday afternoon we met with superstar architect Gregory Henriquez, managing partner of Henriquez Partners Architects.  As one of Vancouver’s most influential community figures, Gregory has received wide recognition for designing Woodward’s redevelopment in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside. Today, Gregory and his architectural firm are working on several projects to promote community, social justice, and sustainability across Vancouver. As if that wasn’t enough, Gregory’s buildings are designed to have a distinct style and are some of the most recognizable pieces of Vancouver. As expected, Gregory keeps busy.   “We’re doing all sorts of things – everything from Oakridge, which is very large, to little projects like the York Theater on commercial drive, where we’ve brought an old theater back to life. We’re turning a prison into social housing over on Main Street, and creating the first immigrant services building in North America which is going to integrate temporary housing with non-profits to help immigrants from other countries, which is exciting. We’re doing our first project in the Middle-East. We’re doing a myriad of different re-zonings around town – most of which are for complex mixed-use. We’re redoing a church into rental and social housing. It’s an amazing project. So we’re pretty busy.”   But despite these staggering contributions to Vancouver, Henriquez Partners Architects is a relatively small team. They employ only 51 people while most competing firms are multi-nationals that employ thousands. Gregory’s architectural style is famous for incorporating an ethical component to the buildings he and his team design.  “Each project is about finding the soft spot and the thing that is required in order for a community or an issue or an idea to be brought to light”, Gregory explains, his inspiration...

By Haley Cameron Photos: Noriko Nasu-Tidball The first half hour I spend with Yayoi Hirano provides a notable clash of cultures. The slight Japanese woman sits across from me in a traditional kimono complete with tabi socks, as we explore the boundaries of our linguistic restrictions over a few slices of pizza. It’s during this casual dinner that I learn Yayoi-san relocated to Canada from Japan twelve years ago. And later, as we discuss her interesting career, I learn that merging various cultural extremes is rather habitual in her lifelong East-meets-West artistic dialogue. Having a piece of Ham and Pineapple while dressed in traditional Japanese garb no longer seems quite so unusual.   It’s unfair to limit Yayoi-san to a single title, considering her vast talents in a multitude of creative outlets, but above all else she identifies as a mime artist. “Since I was a child I loved to act,” she tells me, sharing that in her very first elementary school production she was so determined to be on stage that she performed through a fever of 102 degrees. Yayoi-san’s interest in drama continued to develop through her youth. She recalls watching a European theatre group present Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor in high school, considering it an important milestone in her own developing love of drama. Despite the language barrier, Yayoi-san was able to recognize the underlying story and therefore relate to the movement, costumes, and sets. “I was dearly fascinated. I fell in love,” she says.   While Yayoi-san was exploring various means of artistic expression she met Lecoq mimes (the traditional French mimes typically associated with the art form). Having already realized acting’s ability to transcend linguistic barriers, miming struck a chord for the young artist. She began to...

 By Katja De Bock Photos: Noriko Nasu-Tidball   When you hear her warm, soft voice speak in a confident tone, you wouldn’t guess the woman behind the mike describes herself as shy and suffering from anxiety and depression.   Sara Troy, who grew up in England, lived in South-Africa and travelled intensely before settling down in B.C. some 34 years ago, had to overcome asthma, chronic pain and fatigue from fibromyalgia, as well as a divorce before discovering what she truly loves – helping others gain self-esteem through radio.   “I am an abundant woman,” says Troy, and what she means is how her life was enriched by her predicament, but also by her talent to listen to the need of others – sharpened through years of work as a spiritual counselor.   “I feel the pain in life, the pain from others and how to take it on,” she says. “I can empower others to find their own solutions.” And if anyone asks how to do that, Troy has a witty reply: “Instead of saying ‘There’s an app for that, I say, there’s a show for that.’ ”   The show, that’s Ask Sara, a half-hour online radio show about issues such as hope, fear, regrets, or what makes a woman. The content is largely improvised in the studio. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do until I turn the mike on,” Troy says. “It’s whatever comes at that time.”   The show airs live Mondays, with repeats on Wednesdays and Fridays at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Positive Living Vibration (PVL) Radio, the internet radio station she started in April 2013 with her producing partner Bill Mackie. They produce and broadcast from their Pitt Meadows home.   All shows, including those by...

By Katja De Bock Photos: Noriko Nasu-Tidball  When Tony Bulic is out on patrol canvassing Kerrisdale’s streets for suspicious activity, more often than not someone will come out and thank him for his work. That’s no surprise, really, as Bulic has been a well-known face in the community even before he took on the job of Executive Director of Kerrisdale Oakridge Marpole Community Policing Centre (KOM CPC).   Bulic, 40, was born and raised in Vancouver as the son of Croatian immigrants. As his father was a builder, the family moved around a few times, before settling in Kerrisdale, where Bulic visited Kerrisdale Elementary. He continued his education at Vancouver College and took a leadership course at BCIT.   Bulic says he has strong roots in Kerrisdale and was pleased to grow up in such a family-friendly environment with all the great amenities and parks.   “I don’t think there was a block in Kerrisdale that didn’t have 10, 15 kids when I was growing up,” he says. “It was a very positive, energizing place. We didn’t need fitness centres to get in shape, we just went outside and the kids were there.”   As a citizen of both Canada and Croatia, Bulic had to attend one year of military service in his ancestral country and left in 1998. It was after the Balkan war and just before the Kosovo crisis.   “It was a real honour to serve,” says Bulic, who speaks Croation fluently and stayed away from Vancouver for 1.5 years. “Croatia is a beautiful, peaceful country, part of NATO and the European Union. They are always looking to assist other countries on peace missions.” It’s this pride of the successful transition from war to peace and prosperity in Croatia that inspired...

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TINGA Tupper Integrated Neighbourhood Greenway Association (TINGA), the Greenway’s official non-profit organization, is always looking for more volunteers so consider getting involved! To learn more about the Tupper Greenway story, contact greenstreets@vancouver.ca or call 604-873-7204. http://tuppergreenway.com/our-story/tinga/       Green Streets Green Streets gardens are planted on traffic circles and corner bulges. The City pays for the initial planting. As a volunteer gardener, you will work with the City and your community to help the gardens grow during the year. You can simply weed and water, or choose to add your own personal touch by adding your favourite plants, providing more colour and interest through the changing seasons. Sign-up: http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/green-streets-volunteer-application-form.aspx     Frisch Farms Are you interested in learning about gardening, agriculture, urban farming, vegetables, healthy eating, nutrition, Vancouver’s neighbourhoods and nature? Apply as an intern with Frisch Farms! http://frischfarmsvancouver.wordpress.com/2014-internships/       DIGA Can you help the Disabled Independent Gardeners Association? DIGA is a community-based not-for-profit organization that relies on support from individuals and organizations in all sectors.  Our volunteer program matches able-bodied gardeners with our members, to make gardening more accessible and achievable. http://www.disabilityfoundation.org/diga/volunteer_program.htm    Many more GREEN volunteering opportunities Here is a list of Vancouver-area organizations who rely on volunteer help from community members to make the city a better place for all of us to live. http://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/green-volunteer-opportunities.aspx...