Outdoor cinema series returns to The Shipyards

■ NICK LABA

Deckchair Cinema, presented by The Polygon Gallery, returns to North Vancouver’s waterfront this summer

On Thursdays this sunny season, film lovers are being welcomed to bring friends, food and drinks to Cates Deck, located in front of the gallery

The series kicked off June 29 with Fantastic Planet, a 1973 experimental animated science-fiction art film directed by René Laloux, followed by other cult and art house movies including Cher and Nicolas Cage’s iconic date to the opera in Moonstruck, Olivia Newton-John-starring disco fantasy Xanadu and Interstella 5555, an anime adventure that visualizes a Daft Punk album

Showings on the two-storey outdoor screen start at sunset, with music and entertainment leading up to curtain time Audience members are encouraged to bring their own blankets or low chairs Admission is by donation ($10 each recommended) and includes access to The Polygon’s

Waterfront Bar & Grill

summer exhibition, Phase Shifting Index by Jeremy Shaw

Cates Deck is a public space zoned for alcohol consumption, so guests can bring their own or buy drinks from local breweries and wineries at an outdoor “meet the makers” market

Deckchair Cinema had a great response in its first year, says Polygon marketing manager Michael Mann

“We almost immediately had a lot of people showing up for it,” he said “The films are a bit different than other movie nights around the Lower Mainland And I think people really responded to the adventurous programming we ’ re doing”

This year ’ s programming is a mix of drive-in favourites and Criterion classics, Mann said

He drew attention to John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China It stars Kurt Russell and James Hong and Kim Cattrall As you may know, Cattrall grew up and has a home on Vancouver Island

“It’s just a really fun and weird, pure popcorn flick from the 80s – a video store classic, I would say, ” Mann said

He also noted Whale Rider – about a young Māori woman seizing her destiny and saving her tribe in New Zealand – as well as No Bears, a meta-fiction work by Jafar Panahi, who is currently in prison in Iran for making the film

“It’s a great community event and you ’ re going to see a really interesting movie and have fun with your friends It’s almost as much a movie night as it is a social night,” Mann said

In future years, Mann said the summer movie series will continue “indefinitely” ♦

Deckchair Cinema Summer

2023 SCHEDULE

JULY 13

What We Do In The Shadows • 9:15 p.m.

JULY 20

Whale Rider • 9:15 p m , celebrating Squamish Amalgamation Day

JULY 27

Big Trouble In Little China • 9:00 p m

AUGUST 3

Xanadu • 9:00 p.m., celebrating North Shore Pride Week

AUGUST 10

Lovers Rock • 8:45 p.m.

AUGUST 17 Moonstruck • 8:45 p m AUGUST 24

No Bears • 8:30 p.m.

Reporter Mina Kerr-Lazenby hiked The Grouse Grind, known as ‘Mother Nature’s Stairmaster,’ in her latest attempt to become a Vancouverite

■ MINA KERR-LAZENBY

In my 10 months of living in this city, I have come to learn that true Vancouverites are not the ones who were born here, but the ones who have built enough experiences and quirks over time to claim the title.

Owning an Aritzia puffer jacket, for example, amps Vancouverite status by 20 per cent Waxing lyrical to visitors about the plethora of fine restaurants but eating the same crispy chicken sandwich at Cactus Club weekly - 25 per cent Running the Stanley Park Seawall in Lululemon garms - 45 per cent Leaving the house no matter the season with both sunglasses and an umbrella in tow - 18 per cent. Hiking the Grouse Grind and smugly alerting all social media followers of achievement immediately after - 40 per cent. Given I have no interest in owning any type of outerwear that will have me resembling the Michelin Man, I don’t eat meat and refuse

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Ambleside Parkrun knits together West Vancouver community

■ MINA KERR-LAZENBY Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With its pristine ocean views, flat landscape and tightknit community, Ambleside is a “no brainer” location for the free, fitness-focused event Parkrun, said Jatinder Sidhu, director of the West Vancouver event.

The five kilometre run or walk, which starts and finishes behind Ambleside’s iconic Ferry Building every Saturday morning, was instigated by Sidhu in July last year

Since then it has clocked more than 800 registered participants and has had “overwhelmingly positive feedback” from the local community, he said, a response he puts down to the event’s approachable and social nature

“An absolutely critical part of Parkrun is that it is not a race We do not talk about winners or losers,” he said, adding how, while the event is timed, the event’s driving force is more on the community gathering together then it is crowning those who come first

Sidhu said participants should approach the event “without barriers in their mind” Unlike daunting events like marathons or sporting competitions, he said, Parkrun is uber inclusive and open to those who want to run, walk or push a pram with friends, and those of all ages

For those who don’t want to take to the track, there is equal opportunity to be involved from a spectator or volunteer standpoint, with both groups being “vital” to the Parkrun community, said Sidhu

Since it started in July last year almost 100 people have signed up to volunteer for the weekly Ambleside event, with between six and 12 volunteers running the operation each week Comprising people from all walks of life, they include teenagers looking to build volunteer hours, retirees hoping to give back to their community, runners who are too injured to take part, and families of those runners who are taking part

When all participants and volunteers come together

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