My kid friend loves to "drop in" with moves like this caveman, which he landed, on Sunday afternoon on Commercial Drive in Vancouver

The kid in this picture has a big cast on his arm, but this doesn’t stop him from doing risky things. We met at Leeside Park, near Hastings and Cassiar, in an underpass and had seen him around at other parks.

I drove Toby down to Leeside to meet up with his friends and they were definitely the youngest there. I was what I called their “adult chaperone” and when I arrived there were two police cars parked outside.

I went up to one cop and asked: “How’s it going here?” and he told me the property next door had called them to check out the event. Organizers brought in fencing on a rented flatbed and a generator for powering the sound system that played death metal. But aside from a little drinking in public, it was safe, and the cop asked me to call if anything got out of hand.

His request made me feel like such a responsible mom! haha

The event was hosted by Deer Man of Dark Woods of the Barrier Kult, a.k.a the BA.KU. movement. I learned about it from our friend Max, 12, who was thrilled to win a limited edition Deer Man of Dark Woods board by SKULL SKATES at the skate comp.

“Vancouver is a place of ritual and awe,” Deer Man told the VancouverIsAwesome blog on Halloween.

The boys were definitely in awe and I’m thankful to the organizers (including PD of SKULL SKATES, who I said hi to and thanked). They put a lot of work into the event and were really supportive towards the younger kids like my son and his friends.

Deer Man told my son he could get a t-shirt “if he tried anything” on the barrier. So he gave it a go, amongst all the bigger guys, and won his t-shirt, which he was so pleased with. He also got another one for his friend, along with a big handfull of stickers (now on my car).

I made this video below using the camera on my MacBook, so it’s pretty rough, but I put it on YouTube to show the mood of the event. I wish it captured the swoosh of skateboard wheels and the growling voice of the death metal singer on the recorded music powered by a generator.

So please take a moment and vote now to help the little children of my neighbourhood.

A group of dedicated parents are garnering community support at supportourplayground.org. As I write, they need about 600 more votes in the next eight days. Below is more info about it, from the website created by the Laura Secord Parent Advisory Committee.

Background on the school

Laura Secord students are working in portables in the school field while their buildings are seismically upgraded, in case of earthquakes

Laura Secord Elementary is a large inner city school running at full capacity with 640 students from Kindergarten up to Grade 7. We currently have a very small play structure that is full when a single class of 25 students is outside; when all 27 classes are outside our playground is grossly inadequate. The school is home to a number of community outreach programs, including Strong Start, Neighbourhoods of Learning and afterschool care.

Vancouver has very few wheelchair-accessible play areas and Laura Secord would like to be the first school in our area to offer an inclusive play area for kids with disabilities, including physical handicaps and autism. Our goal is to create an inclusive play environment made from safe and sustainable materials that will greatly contribute to the quality of life in our community; a play environment that will attract families outside of school hours and be safeguarded by our neighbours.

Our French Immersion catchment area includes approximately 9,000 kids who would be served by the new playground, including an estimated 350 children with disabilities.

My son learns to "drop in" at a big angle at the Dry Spot in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. July 22, 2010

By the time I arrived and took the picture, he had done it about 10 times, “without bailing once,” he reports.

He said he felt “scared as all hell” when he decided to try it. I asked what he was thinking and he said his initial thought was: “Oh my god, I’m going to break my neck as soon as I try.”

So, how did he find the guts to try it? (Because, I can honestly say, there is not a hope in hell I would ever try that!)

“By saying ‘I know I can do it’ and just doing it,” he said. “Ben helped me by standing in front of me and holding my hands and then telling me to push down with my front foot really really hard.”

He was talking about Ben Chibber, owner of the Dry Spot and Monke Skateboards. Ben gives private and semi-private lessons along with skatepark day camps in August (some spots still available).

Ben is a natural mentor – calm, patient, and encouraging – and Toby has a great connection with him. Toby said another reason he “just did it” is because Ben was coaching him.

“I just decided to do it because I didn’t want to be annoying,” he said, describing the adrenalin rush it gave him, which he says he loved. “I felt it go from the tips of my hair to the bottoms of my feet in a split second!”

The new skate park at Kensington Park at Knight and 37th in Vancouver. The Rasta red, gold, and green are part of the memorial to Don Hartley - also known as Don the Mad Carver RIP.

That’s an opinion I heard today from someone who wrote in to the Province newspaper about how upset she was to see the paper’s story and photos of people at the new park skating without helmets.

“What disrespect to Hartley!” said Rochelle Hepworth of Port Coquitlam. “So I’m back to asking — how much more than a death will it take for some skateboarders to protect their brains?”

That’s a tricky one. I wonder if the helmet-less guys feel like they are disrespecting The Mad Carver. What are their reasons for not wearing one?

Personally I would wear a helmet and I would make my kid wear one too. He would choose to wear one on his own, anyways. I would advise others to wear one, but ultimately it’s a personal choice. In my opinion, not wearing a helmet is a bad idea.

But is it disrespectful to Don Hartley? I don’t know. What do you think?

Don Hartley memorial at the new Kensington Community Centre skate park on Knight and 37th in East Vancouver

Don Hartley was a famous local skate boarder known in skater circles since the 1970s. He died a year ago, at 52 after a collision at a Canada Day skate competition at Seylynn Park in North Vancouver. He was not wearing a helmet, though he usually did. He wore a helmet during the competition, but had taken it off on his way out of the skate park. I learned the info about what happened – along with a mass of condolences to his sons and family – from the Wall of the Rest In Peace Donald Hartley Facebook Page

Our first visit to the new skate park

It was glorious. The sun was blazing and people of all ages were riding in the bowls. Toby circled the edge of the park on his BMX – not finding a lot of opportunity to go into the bowls with so many skaters there.

I asked one of the skaters about the etiquette of riding a BMX in a skateboard park. He was taking a break, on the grass, near where I sat on my lawn chair. He said the skaters didn’t mind, as long as the BMXers watched out for the skaters, who get the worst of it in collisions with bikes

In any case, I’ve been scanning great reviews of the park and its retro-California style. More reports to come…

The new skate park opens officially on Saturday, July 17, will officially open from 11am to 1pm.

“The event will include a ribbon cutting, cake, skateboard demonstrations by local skaters and a helmet giveaway. The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition and Concrete Powder skateboard magazine will also be hand. The park is located at 37th Avenue at Knight Street, east of the Kensington Community Centre,” reads a press release from the Vancouver Parks Board.

Photo credit: revertebrate on Flickr

It’s Car Free Vancouver tomorrow – and I’m going to be on Commercial Drive watching Slowpoke and the Smoke at the East End Food Co-op at 2 p.m.

Slowpoke’s “psychedelic doo-wop” gets me every time, with all those wacky Frank Zappa covers and more – played by veteran Vancouver musicians Tony Bardach, Brad Lambert, and Eric Napier.

“Let’s really take back our streets tomorrow at car free!” says main Car Free coordinator Carla Bergman, via Facebook. “Be generous, bring food to share, give out art and other things for free. Stop the buying. The drive has become too “commercial”! We will have lots of FREE stuff at the Thistle space down on Napier! Come visit.”

She’s talking about The Purple Thistle – a youth-run arts and activism centre in East Van.

Dance performance at IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival at Vancouver East Cultural Centre on May 19, 2010

My son heard about the performance yesterday from one of his friends at Windsor House and begged me to take him. The theatre performance was at 6 and the dance showcase was at 8, with the whole she-bang ending at 10. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to both because four hours seemed a bit too long.

But I agreed, somewhat begrudgingly, because I wanted my homeschooled son to spend time with his peers and see their work. In the end, I was so happy we went because it was a fantastic set of performances – far beyond my expectations.

And the entire thing was created by youth (13 to 24) including writing, performing, lighting, sound, stage managing, media relations, and promotion.

An annual event

“Every year, for one week in May, The Cultch is taken over and transformed by young people… in what has grown to be Vancouver’s largest youth-driven arts festival,” reads the IGNITE! website. “The festival includes showcases in music, dance, and spoken word, the world premiere of three one-act plays, a visual arts exhibit, variety shows featuring improv, drag, circus arts, and much more.”

We saw two plays – first: OUR TIME, written by Christine Quintana and directed by Brendan Albano

. This play had a creative well-developed storyline about a young girl facing the future after high school graduation – with a few unexpected twists and turns. The second: TOP SECRET was written by Deborah Voght and directed by Rachel Aberle

 and dealt with the issue of a couple of young gay guys “coming out.”

The dance show – Swish – featured more than 80 dancers from around the city. Dance styles ranged from breakdance to bhangra, tap dance to interpretive drama dance – and it was held together with a wacky drama about a school on another plant studying dance as an example of human weirdness.

The IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival runs til May 22.

Party at Grandview Park on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC, Canada on May 15, 2010.

A Facebook Group called “Defend Grandview Park on The Drive” outlines its opposition to the City of Vancouver’s plans for the park upgrade.

“Defend Grandview supports a park upgrade, in phases, that does not require the closure of anything more than 10 percent or at the very outside, 20 percent, at any one time. The washrooms need renovating, the playground some upgrading, some flower beds and paths some upkeep and maintenance. At most the cost should not exceed $500 000. The remaining $1 milliion could be directed to a host of other far more needy causes – school budgets being perhaps foremost,” reads the Defend Grandview Facebook Page.

Neighbourhood gentrification?

People opposed to the upgrade talk about gentrification. Rich people wanna get rid of the riff-raff. Yuppies are buying up all the houses around the park and now they’re saying negative things about “non-family” groups who use the park. Smoking weed and hanging out is the main activity of some groups in the eastern part of the park, and family-oriented neighbours are concerned about this.

In my experience, these various park users coexist peacefully. My son went to Britannia preschool right beside this park and I’ve been bringing him to this playground since he was a baby. I’ve heard rumours about the park – that needles and condoms are sometimes found there – but I’ve never seen any.

Last night at the party, I felt great nostalgia for the playground, which I’ve seen my son grow up on. A dozen kids ran around on the wooden equipment (soon to be replaced) playing tag in the dusk while the band played its ska-punk-Reggae punk sound and young people (teens and 20s) danced around.

But today, as I review the Grandview Concept Consultancy Award from the City of Vancouver, I see the upgrade has some really great aspects. For one, it addresses the park’s drainage problems that cause large sections of the field to be re-seeded with grass and roped off from use. Landscapers are professionals who have a passion for making space usable in an urban setting.

The upgraded park should address this problem and there will be more usable greenspace. It also includes much-needed new washrooms, moved to the north-west of the park, and a new playground and water park, “improved entry points to the park that may feature public art,” and more.

It appears that community open houses were held in October, 2009 and January, 2010. In October, 140 people sent completed questionnaire to the City and another 92 gave feedback on plans in January. So, it looks like people had a chance to give feedback – but maybe these are the yuppie neighbours in the equation.

Mom Edna Clifford offered this advice for parents of kids like her son who “stayed off the beaten path” as writer Francois Marchand put it in his article Bandmates, family, friends mourn drummer Devon Clifford’s sudden death published by CanWest in The Gazette Online.

“We want to say to musicians and parents, ‘Even though your (children have) chosen a path that you might not have wanted them to, or know will be a hard one for them, if they need that in their life, then let them follow their passion and encourage them and support them as best you can. Devon was really satisfied with his music. It was all about him, his band and their fans.”

Like this mom, I want to support and encourage my son to do what he loves. I see too many adults who have lost touch with their passion – don’t even know it exists. They don’t know what they want to do in their lives because their passion faded away some time between childhood and adult life as they bowed to the pressures and expectations of others. Many of these folks can rediscover their passion but it’s hard work and better not to lose it in the first place. Kudos to moms like Edna, who encourage their kids’ interests instead of forcing them into what they or others think they are “supposed” to do.

The Dry Spot - Vancouver's only indoor sk8park. Photo by Bret Box

Ben opened this 1375-square foot space in Vancouver’s warehouse district south of Marine Drive (#312 – 8495 Ontario St) in November, 2009. It includes all kinds of ramps, ledges, banks, and a quarter pipe – and all is visible and recorded on a closed-circuit TV camera. Last night we paid $20 for a two-hour admission, a Dry Spot t-shirt, and a discount rate for future visits ($10 for a 2-hour session, while non-members pay $12). All staff are certified in standard first aid and CPR, so they are well-prepared for wipe-outs. Parents are welcome to leave their kids here – a huge bonus for many parents with stuff to do! (Damn kids take up so much time! You folks without kids can keep this in mind if you ever think you missed out! haha)

Kids can sign up for beginner and intermediate lessons in small classes of six to eight students. All instructors are certified by a national skateboard certificate program known as SKATZ. This skateboard teaching program focuses on the “FUNdamentals” of safety, including leadership training, park etiquette, gear selection, and a healthy lifestyle component.

Ben is considering summer camps – and I told him I would spread the word because I think a lot of people (including home learning families) might be interested. It’s a great way to use SelfDesign funds for physical eduction and also a tax-deduction under the government’s campaign to encourage physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.

As a mom always looking for more time, I love this place! I can sit in the lounge and use the wireless – and I can also leave, which is what I plan to do when I finish this blog post. Ben is a natural with the kids, answering all my son’s questions and giving them lots of guidance about the facility.

The boys are pretty starstruck to meet the owner of a skateboard company.

“You mean you actually own Monke?!” asked my son, with an incredulous tone in his voice. “That is so cool! Wait til I tell my friend I met the actual owner of Monke!”

Billiards Plus Ltd in South Vancouver, B.C.

But he really wanted them, and promised to be safe. He Googled “Vancouver BC dart store” and found Billiards Plus in south east Vancouver. Oh why not? It could be a good “unschooling” field trip.

We drove down to the place and saw it filled with pool tables, dart boards, foosball tables, home casino accessories, and a bunch of other cool stuff. We spoke with the super-nice mom of the owner, who told us all about good starter darts and what they were made of. Some were brass, tungsten, or a combo of both. He paid more attention than I did, learning about the flies and shafts he would also need. (I sat on a stool tweeting on my iPhone while he asked questions.)

His plan was to buy this stuff for himself once he got his half of our money for taking part in a mother-son focus group. But today he was so excited about darts that I took him to the place and he asked owner Bruce dozens of questions about many things in the store. I decided to front him the cash to pay for it, and now I’m keeping the entire cheque when it comes in the mail. Fair enough.

Why does he like darts?

“I think it helps with my hand-eye coordination, it’s good for math, and I like throwing sharp objects,” he says.

How about safety?

“The most important rule for safety when playing darts is to make sure nobody is in front of you when you’re shooting your darts,” says my son. “Make sure everyone you’re playing with is behind a line marked with duct tape.”

One game he likes to play with our neighbour Sheldon is called 501. He explained the object of the game is to get 501 points first. This involves a lot of adding and recording numbers on a score board. My boy is an active guy, and this seems like a great way to get him doing math and writing while being on the move. He blogs at Nerdydiary.

Here’s a link to more information on safe use of darts from SafeSport in the U.K. and an article Dartboards For Kids in Dartboard Reviews, out of Guelph, Ontario.