Joy Silver a retired elementary school teacher and a trainer of the Spirit Play How do we choose to live our lives? Joy Silver explores what being spiritual means to you. She explains us how the Spirit Play Methodology of telling stories can be used to model universal values and respect our interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The stories can inform and inspire all children of all faiths to act in the world with compassion, to recognize what we have in common; and to understand our differences. An Interview with Joy Silver Video:...

Trina Moran UBC Faculty of Arts Interns A Staff Writer for Kerrisdale Playbook   As a fourth year Arts student, I decided to take on an internship to utilize the skills and experiences I have gained from my years as a UBC undergraduate. As a staff writer intern for the KCC, I have been given the task of creating a platform for the stories of the beacons of the Kerrisdale community. Everyone that I have the pleasure of interviewing is enlightening with their pride of their community, their role in it, and how their work and role impacts others. Hailing from New Westminster, BC, I appreciate the firm presence of community within Kerrisdale and believe that it is quality that sets it apart from other communities in Vancouver. Being a theatre major, I realize the importance of everyone’s role in a community and how they are like the pieces of a puzzle. Every piece is unique, but it is as a whole do we see the true image. When Trina is not writing articles for the KCC e-Newsletter or doing UBC student related things she is an avid theatre attendee, actor, playwright, director, actor, bartender, coffee drinker, delicious food enthusiast, yogi, dinosaur impersonator, and amateur...

  Interviewed and written by Trina Moran Photographed by Noriko Nasu-Tidball Near the corner of West 41st Avenue and Maple Street lies Gem Chocolates. Radiant in its chic white and deep sky blue hue, this artisan chocolate delicatessen is owned and run by foodie and chocolatier, Glenn Knowles. Behind the counter Glenn is accommodating, approachable, and is a wealth of knowledge about each and every product in store. Whether he is behind the counter constructing an original Gem collection for a customer, in his candy kitchen crafting award winning caramels, or simply making the best hot chocolate of you will ever taste, Glenn is a chocolate mastermind and his creations are so delicious they could be criminal!                   Gem Chocolates opened on December 19th 2011 and quickly thrived under the Holiday demand for sweet treats as presents. Previously Gem Chocolates was only available through third parties and online. Today, Gem Chocolates is proud to say that it has settled its roots in its Kerrisdale location and has already gained numerous regular clientele. As well, Gem Chocolates has shipped chocolates as far as eastern Canada, Florida, Virginia, New York, California, Japan, Hawaii, and Brazil. After many years of working in finance and securities in both Canada and abroad, Glenn felt that he had to pursue another passion in life. Glenn notes that he was always a foodie and was interested in the culinary arts. After learning of an online chocolatier school, École Chocolat, (http://www.ecolechocolat.com/chocolate-program.php), Glenn found his passion: Chocolate. Needless to say, after much practice and recipe perfecting, Glenn was on his way to being one of the top chocolatiers in Vancouver. When deciding to become a commercial business, Glenn spawned the name ‘Gem’ in congruence with his two children: Eamon and Madeleine. Glenn’s chocolates consist of...

Meet Our President = Interviewed and Written by Shahbanno Bhatti   Photographs by Noriko Nasu-Tidball   I interviewed Oscar Bisnar, the chairman of the Board at the Kerrisdale Community Centre.  Oscar has been involved with the Kerrisdale Community Center society for the past four years, starting out as a committee member.  He has a Sociology and Master of Education degree from UBC.  Oscar retired from teaching after 35 hardworking years.  ??????Travelling all around the world, he has come to the conclusion that Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. His hobbies include woodwork and fitness.  He often comes to Kerrisdale to use the fitness room.  ??????Oscar would like to see some improvements in the community center.   One of the things the Board plans is to have the new facilities for the swimming pool and arena.  However, there are issues with this development, as the community center is against the brick financial wall of the city and Park Board to get funding for it.  Moreover, one of Oscar’s main focuses being the President is to do Succession planning to motivate and encourage new board members to take up leadership positions.  He believes that it is one of the main components to achieve success in an organization, as the transitioning phase of appointing new board members runs more smoothly.   The community center consists of a diversified Board of individuals.  The center conducts elections every year electing new members for a two year term.  The current board consists of 4 newcomers as well as 15 members who have been working on the board for various years. Here is a brief introduction of the highly-engaged and high-functioning Kerrisdale Board.   Note: The summary information below comes from a brief self-report questionnaire in which...

‘Bridging the Gaps’ An Interview with Ph.D student Hana Al-Bannay By Trina Moran When it comes to improving the lives of fellow community members, the story of Hana Al-Bannay outshines the rest. Hailing from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, Hana is pursuing her Ph.D in rehabilitation sciences at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation focuses on improving the health of Saudi Arabian Muslim women through education related to lifestyle conditions with special reference to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hana began her academic career at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, and finished her first degree with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English Language. Shortly after finishing her English degree, Hana worked at a military based hospital as an interpreter. It is here that Hana became interested in the medical field. In addition, working with a large number of international employees inspired her to study abroad, leading her to Canada. In 2003 Hana completed a BA in Sociology at the University of Victoria and went on to pursue a master’s thesis at Royal Rhodes University focusing on the B.C. Arab community experiences with the Canadian health system. Aiming to finish her doctoral thesis by 2013, Hana hopes that the impact of her research at UBC will aid in designing health education programs suitable for the lifestyle of Muslim women in Saudi Arabia, empowering Saudi and Muslim women to pursue healthy living, and decreasing the prevalence of lifestyle conditions including type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia. A recent medical study notes that since the late 1980s there has been an increasing trend among adult Saudis of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, the rate being one in five. Other studies have concluded that a rise in obesity, hypertension, and coronary artery disease are the most...

About Paul Toolan I first got bitten by the acting bug when I was in secondary school in England.  The school put on a yearly production of a Shakespeare play and of course at first I was cast in supporting roles which gradually grew in size until I was cast as hylock in The Merchant of Venice.  I attended university where I became a very active member of the dramatic society. The society put on at leastone production a year and took a play and a late night revue to the Edinburgh Festival fringe. I particularly enjoyed one year at the fringe when I played a sizeable cameo in the play Antigone  by Jean Anouilh and then took part in the late night revue which had been written by a very talented graduate who was trying to make his way in the show business scene in London. For a while after I graduated I combined teaching and acting at The Mountview theatre club in north London which put on amateur theatre of a high quality. After I emigrated to Canada I continued to teach and took part in the amateur theatre scene in Winnipeg. Then I married and had a family and decided to commit myself fully to teaching. Only recently since I came to Vancouver as a retired teacher have I revisited my theatrical self. I¹ve taken part in several productions over the last few years and finally decided to put together a one person show which explores Shakespeare¹s life and times and how they are reflected in his plays. A Short Story by Paul Toolan Mrs. T It was the voice that struck him at first, high pitched and at the upper end of the register just a little quivery. Reminded him of...

My passion        Written by Lindsay Gibson My name is Lindsay Gibson and I am from the Musqueam Nation in Vancouver BC. I am 28 years old and have lived in Vancouver on the Musqueam reserve since 1990. My family and friends are extremely important to me, as it is their love and support that has made me who I am today, I admire each and everyone of them. My number one goal in life is to positively contribute to other people’s lives, Aboriginal youth in particular. When I am not at work you can find me walking, reading, kayaking, enjoying a live show, and camping when I have the time. For the past three years I have been combining my passion of kayaking and helping by participating in Kayak for a Cure Vancouver. Where we paddle from Jericho to English Bay and back and donate the proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society. I have done many things as I got my first job when I was thirteen years old, and had a summer jobs in Musqueam everyyear since. Before I even started to work my friends and I started a Creek Clean-Up Crew where we would clean up the local creek in Musqueam. One summer two other youth and I taught Musqueam’s traditional language to kindergartners to grade fours. I have done everything from Musqueam Bike Patrol, receptionist, treaty researcher, to landscaper. I was even hired as a youth carver to work on a totem pole outside the Musqueam Band Office. In 2005 I participated in a Haida Gwaii field studies course with Langara College, which started my interest in world culture, travel and experiential learning. The following year I went to Ecuador as a participant on an Aboriginal exchange project, called the...

Mary Dopson ‘Keep Moving Forward’ Written and Photographed by Trina Moran     An inspiring and warm-hearted woman, Mary Dopson sees the world as a race. A race she definitely is leading. At 93, she has seen the world evolve and values the importance of community and keeping up a healthy, positive attitude towards everyone and everything that comes her way. Originally from Scotland, Mary grew up in Winnipeg and resided there for sixty years. ‘It’s COLD.’ remarks Mary when I ask her what Winnipeg is like. A part from Winnipeg’s ice-like temperatures, Mary recalls her glory days of being an athletic runner in the late 1930’s. In 1936 she won 1st place in the Women’s Broad Jump and 2nd in the Women’s 100m, both ‘in the same day’, Mary boasts. That year she qualified for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. Unfortunately due to the Depression, Mary was informed that she would have to pay her own passage to Berlin, and could not attend. Nearly eighty years later, Mary seems just as excited about her accomplishments as she was when she was 18. Dopson smiles and remarks ‘I’m just an old has-been.’ I tell her, ‘It’s better to be a has-been than a never-been.’ Mary stopped running competitively in 1940 due to the outbreak of WWII and to start a family. Recently in 2009, Mary competed in the B.C. Senior’s Games in Richmond in the 100m dash against other seniors 90 and over. Proof that her sporting spirit thrives. She was also honoured during the 2009 B. C. Senior Games in Vancouver by being invited to march with the torch. In 1980 Mary moved to Vancouver to be closer to her sons and in search of ‘better weather.’ She has also resided in Kerrisdale...

Ms. Marilyn Teresa Yee is the School Counsellor for Kerrisdale Elementary, whom I, through multiple courtship, convinced to contribute a piece of wisdom to this issue. As Marilyn likes to say, “We all have the capacity to continue to give love and echo life.” ~ The Editor-in-Chief   Written and Photographed by  COCO BIKADOROFF   Q. How long have you served for Kerrisdale Elementary?  A. This will be my 5th year. Q. During your 5 years of working at KE, what has attracted you to staying with serving at KE? A. The main thing is the creative and professional staff I work with. For a school this size, the dedication to learning is fantastic. Everyone gets along so well. The teachers are very inspiring to me. I love being in a dual track school; I love having the French and the English. It just really stretches your creativity. Q. Do you speak French as well? A. I don’t, I speak enough to get by with the kindergartens and grade one’s but I understand a lot more. Q. Do you have any special training/experience that has prepared you to be a better counsellor?  A. Well all of us are teachers, all the counsellors are teachers.  I have a Masters degree in counselling Psychology.  An interesting sidetrack is that I also have a Diploma in Theology, because I always had a whole lot of questions about the meaning of life, why do people suffer, and how do they find happiness.   Q. Please tell us about any special projects that you’re currently working on. A. The most current project I’m working on is to understand something called ‘Social Thinking’ and it’s the work of Michelle Garcia Winner from San Jose California.  She started working with autistic children and how to...

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...