Tag Archives: olympic neighbourhoods

Kelly Anne White

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Who are you?

I am Kelly Anne Elizabeth White and I’m full of surprises. Allow me to explain. One could assume, given my exceptionally British name, that I am in fact English. Although I love tea, Coronation Street and custard I am in fact a proper Canadian mosaic of ancestries. Indeed my grandparents immigrated to Canada from none other than Holland, and the Caribbean and decided to settle in the beautiful city of Montreal where I was born thirty years ago. Surprise number two, I’m actually almost 30! I know, I know…my youthful features are deceiving.

As for my career, I’m a health educator who promotes student wellness at a university. I did my M.Ed. in health education because I believe good education leads to good health, and both lead to a happier life. I’m one of a handful of people with a Canadian degree in this area and my specialty is health literacy which I tweet about here: http://twitter.com/healthliterate

2. What do you do for fun?

I enjoy trying out new recreational activities. Recently I’ve discovered a hidden talent for sailing. Yes, these scrawny limbs can tack like you wouldn’t believe. You may have seen me last summer, cruising Jericho while singing “Ais the boys that builds the boat, Ais the boys that sails er!”. If it weren’t for my crippling sea sickness I’d probably be racing yachts in the Mediterranean full time. I also enjoy commenting on CBC news stories and then counting how many readers give me a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. I won’t tell you my on-screen alias though, it’ll mess with my stats. I also enjoy cooking meals, listening to music and keepin it real.

3. What is your favourite community and why?

If you’ve seen my first Gumboot video about the North Shore, you’ll understand why North Vancouver is my favorite community. Walking by the ocean, or hiking in the mountains or doing both on the same day is pretty remarkable. So is the annual Caribbean Days festival that I attend every summer at Waterfront park. I get to connect with my Caribbean roots while indulging in the food, music, bevvies and people that are at the festival each year. It may not be the classiest event on the North Shore (bring your camera for the after 6 pm crowd in the beer garden…) but everyone is welcome and good times are guaranteed.

4. What is your superpower?

My superpower is name-that-tune. I can identify a song within milli-seconds or a few beats on low volume. I store so much musical information in my brain that people call me k-pod.

5. How do you use it to build community?

I use this superpower to help me start conversations with people I don’t know. Like if I’m at an event or function and I hear a song come on I can say to my neighbor, “hey, i love this song, don’t you? whatever happened to Chumbawamba anyway?” and just like that, you’ve got yourself a conversation. I’m not sure if this necessarily builds community…but as one of music’s greatest living icons once said, “music…. makes the people….come together. yaaaa”. (Madonna), and I definitely agree with that!

My Three Favourite Things About Kelly Anne White are…

1. Her sparkling smile. If eyes are the window to the soul, then Kelly’s smile is the door to her enchanting personality. You can’t have a bad conversation with her because she is just so quirky, positive and delightful.

2. Hand-talking. Kelly could’ve been the best flight attendant in the history of the profession, but she embraced the world of health promotion and now uses her directive gestures to influence the health and wellness of tens of thousands of university students.

3. Storytelling. Sparkling smile + Hand-talking + Quirkiness = amazing storyteller and on-air personality; the Daily Gumboot staff can only hope to harness her style and skills again in the not too distant future.

As told by John Horn…

Olympic Neighbourhoods: The North Shore

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As a key media outlet for the 2010 Olympics, the Daily Gumboot is excited to bring you our “Olympics Neighbourhoods” series. Here’s how it works: each week, Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, and Editor-in-Chief, John will profile a different Vancouver neighbourhood with a specific focus on things that might interest out-of-town visitors who arrive in The Couve for the Olympics. We will do this between now and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and the story will be told be the Gumboot’s editors asking and answering the five questions below. These are the straight goods that you can’t get from VANOC, the Ministry of Tourism or the City of Vancouver. Let’s get to it!

Your Olympic Neighbourhood this week is…The North Shore!

1. Where is this neighbourhood exactly and how do I get there?

JOHN: Do you like boats? I hope so, because getting from Downtown to the North Shore means crossing one of two bridges or, if you go car-less, taking the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay. Here is an interactive map that really ties it all together.

2. Why should a tourist/traveler be interested in it?

JOHN: People from the North Shore will tell you that this community represents the pinnacle of a “West Coast” lifestyle. Truly, no other place in the Lower Mainland possesses the combination of nature, suburbia, urban-chique, and small-town-friendliness. This is the place where a traveler can realize the purest of West Coast experiences: catch a gorgeous view of the cityscape over a steaming cup of fair trade, locally roasted coffee and then move on to a day of skiing, golfing and kayaking or mountain biking and then wrapping it all up with a micro-brewed pint of delicious beer. It’s a beautiful thing.

3. What good and/or unique things are there to eat?

JOHN: I defer to Kelly White’s performance for this one. But, if you’re like 72% of our readership and sneak peaks at the Gumboot during free moments in your cubicle at work, then you might not be able to watch the video. If this is the case, there are, allegedly, super-popular, must-try cheese sticks at the Queensdale Market and the mysteriously fantastic sandwich makers at La Galleria in the even more mysterious Edgemont Village.

4. What can I do for fun in this neighbourhood?

JOHN: Ummm…everything! Again, I encourage you to watch this in-depth video about the secrets of the North Shore. Of all the places that Kelly took us, the Lynn Loop was the most inspiring. It reminded me of being back on Vancouver Island (where I grew up) and the idea of being able to do everything from a two hour round trip to an overnight camping excursion where, according to the locals, “you need to know what you’re doing” is what makes Vancouver an absolutely unique urban experience.Check out trails and a full list of other west coast activities here.

5. What are your three favourite things about the North Shore?

KELLY:

1. Being so close to trails and forest so that anyone can get away from the hussel and bussel of city life and enjoy the fresh air on weekends.

2. The friendly community-feel of the North Shore~ residents care about their community and it shows.

3. My favorite outdoor summer festvial, Caribbean Days! Every late July, Waterfront Park hosts a Caribbean Days event with music, a parade, food, and a beer garden. It’s the one event I never miss every year, it is awesome!

JOHN: I wholeheartedly agree with Kelly’s answers above (although I didn’t try the pizza at Taylor’s Crossing), but will just add that my Aunt Julie Ann lives in North Vancouver, so I’m always happy to visit her and get up to some shenanigans.

Olympic Neighbourhoods: Yaletown

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Daily Gumboot Editor-in-Chief, John Horn, has been on assignment in Ottawa, taking on the role of “key negotiator” in the proroguing of parliament. He is at the table with Canadian and Quebecois leaders – so far they are agreeing to eat poutine and beaver tails – and, unfortunately, cannot add a full scope to this week’s installment of the Olympic Neighbourhoods series. But he will add something!


JOHN: (from an airport somewhere in Ontario): Yaletown, I think, is a community in which dogs outnumber children. It hugs False Creek, downtown and the “sporting” district (GM and BC Places).

City of lights.

City of lights.

This community is probably the toniest part of Vancouver, so if you are popping into the hood for a visit, be sure to dress the part.

The Yale Town Brew Pub is a no brainer for casual dining – good food and even better beer define the place.

Steve Nash also recently held a charity soccer game in David Lam Park, which is a cool place to kick a ball around even if Canada’s coolest person isn’t involved in your afternoon at the park.

Finally, the Roundhouse Theatre does amazing work in the cultural arts department: from launching new bands to musicals to Shakespeare, this venue runs the gamut of artistic sensation.

My three Favourite Things about Yaletown are:

1. Steph Hutton. You know and love her from the video and she makes this trendy community even trendier.

2. Yuppies. You just hang out in Yaletown, friends. If too many of you leave your homeworld then people like me will cease to be unique commodities in ‘hoods like The Drive. For better or worse, other communities can define themselves by not being Yaletown.

3. Dogs. What can I say? I love animals. And it is a reflection of true human creativity when someone can house a german shepard in a 500 square foot condo…