Vancouver Critical Mass

Mostly event announcements, news, and bicycle related activist opinions...
Download Critical Mass flyers and posters, or upload your own
Email vancouvercm~AT~gmail~DOT~com for a posting password
Yes, we ride the last Friday of every month!

28.5.07

Car-Free Commercial Drive Days needs HELP!

Please read carefully and forward to all friendly folks, lists and websites....

*****************
Car-Free Commercial Drive Days
Sunday, June 17
(Fathers Day) & Sunday, July 22
Come play in the street, East Van style.

Hey all!

Hey people big news! Due to popular demand, the peculiar and magnificent Commercial Drive Festival is now evolving into Car-Free Commercial Drive Days -- TWO of them! This represents a huge shift in civic consciousness...it will not be  long before the 'hood, the City, the entire planet recognizes the massive potential for global salvation and FREE FUN that Car-Free streets represent. Hallelujah.

Please help us reclaim the street, and start creating the urban paradise we know is possible.

The first shutdown is June 17, that's less than three weeks away, and WE NEED MORE HELPERS! PLEASE STEP UP NOW.Fun, friends, gifts, connections, snacks & coddling, karma, a stylish t-shirt, and a rockin' volunteer appreciation party are among the sundry rewards for helping to create this festival.

WE ESPECIALLY NEED BARRICADE MARSHALS FOR JUNE 17. These are the people who hold up the perimeters of the party, and we can't shut down the street without them. 130 barricade superheroes are needed to make each day happen. It's not tough work -- a 2-hr shift requires donning a stylish reflective vest (and maybe a superhero cape!), directing car traffic, answering inquiries, and keeping a general eye on the festivities.

If you can take a barricade shift on either or both days (June 17 and/or July 22), please choose a first, second, and third-choice shift from the following:

9:30am to noon
noon to 2pm
2pm to 4pm
4pm to 6pm
6pm to 8pm

Helpers are also needed for:

•  Volunteer support:  3 hour Green Room shifts between 9am and 8pm.
•   Info and T-shirt tent staff: answer questions, sell t-shirts, hand out flyers, etc.
•    Donation Fairies & Fools:  Wow the crowds and help raise funds to keep the party rollin.
•    Set-Up, Tear-down and Site Crew: Suitable for featherweights or bench-lifters...
•    Photo/videographers: record the event, pref. w/digital media
•   Kidzone: help out the little ones
•    Helpers At Large: "whatever you need me to do"...we will slot you in. If you have specific skills, resources or contacts to offer, please let us know.

ALSO, pre-fest duties to be done include:
•    Postering or flyer distribution
•    Pickup/chore runners (w/car, truck, van, or industrial bike trailer)


Please email (or phone) with your name, contact info, and preference for duty and time

Also let us know if you have any special interests, needs or physical abilities or limitations.

Volunteer Orientations (you only need to attend one session) will take place:
Saturday, June 9 at 2pm in the Britannia Library basement
Sunday, June 10 at 2pm in the Britannia Library basement

NOTE: if you want to volunteer but can't attend either Orientation Session, let us  know and we will work around it! But please come to one session if you can, because that is where you'll get the lowdown, meet the crew, and get first pick of funky new t-shirts at a special cheap volunteer price.

So there you go...the time is NOW...please join our superstar crew, and help to co-create our urban paradise!

Looking forward to working/playing with you soon,

Viva!  Viva!
Andrea Curtis,
Coordinating Volunteers
volunteers@commercialdrivefestival.org
cell :: 778.549.7874

Drive Fest info:
www.commercialdrivefestival.org

2 Comments:

  • At 4:46 am, June 18, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Any news or photos on how the Car-Free Commercial Drive Day went?

     
  • At 1:24 am, June 22, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    It was great. You should have gone. The weather was a bit cool and there was a little rain at one point so it wasn't huge huge crowds but it was definately popular, lots of things going on. Too many to mention really. One funny part was when Jane was doing barricade duty on Charles Street a guy in an icecream truck tried to drive onto the Drive and said that he had been given permission by Carmen, the founder of the festival. We were unsure but let him park his truck. Then, David went off to go find Carmen and double check this. And the icecream man noticed and so then he comes out and give us 2 free icecreams. And then, David comes back with Carmen and she is pissed because she had talked to him on the phone and said 'No' earlier. She goes up to him and he says to her: 'Carmen said it was OK!' He said that too her. Anyways she got him to leave and we realised that he was trying to bribe us with the icecream. It was an Orange Creamsicle and then a Bubblegum flavour [eww] popsicle. I think maybe if his offering choice of icecream were better... Anyways, it was just kind of weird to be bribed, and with icecream. Overall it was a very positive thing. There were tons of people, despite the rain. Someone even told me they liked it better because there weren't as many crowd bottlenecks - easier to walk around. And of course at the ending it is always a bit sad as the cars come back. There is still so many people around and so much diversity. It really is great to see it flourish where you meet in the street and are not afraid or worrying about cars. I bet the July one will be hotter and more crowded. July 22. It's not fathers day but it will be amazing still I'm sure. Also quite noteworthy - there was a table set up and a group of people organising for next year for it to be a vancouver wide car free day festival - in multiple locations. Basically several similar events in different locations all on the same day. It idea eventually being to connect those areas into the whole city car free! [eventually, not next year though] Anyways it was quite exciting to hear about this being in the works. I got a bunch of flyers from them but i haven't looked at them yet and can't find them at the moment. Rest assured I will post the URL when I come across it and actively keep this blog up to date with any developments in that area that I am made aware of.

     

Post a Comment

Please be respectful and constructive. If you want to vent or hate do it somewhere else. Violent, threatening and abusive comments will be removed. Please read other posts and discussion to avoid duplicate questions.

<< Home