What’s On: July 16-31, 2008

• The BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum launches its Hero in You Summer Speaker Series on Wednesday, July 16th with a talk by Hall of Famers Jim Taylor and Steve Armitage who will share their perspectives on sport in the province based on their 80+ years of collective work in the sport media field. Taylor and Armitage will be speaking at the museum from 1-2pm. Other upcoming speakers include Thelma Wright, Lynn Kanuka and Stephanie Berto-Berkun (track and field) on Wednesday, July 23rd, and Al Wilson and Jack Farley (football) on Wednesday, July 30th.

• The Jewish Museum & Archives of BC is offering Historic Walking Tours of Jewish Strathcona and Gastown on Wednesday, July 16th (1:30pm), Sunday, July 20th (10am and 1:30pm), and Wednesday, July 30th (1:30pm). These 2-hour tours provide insight into the landmarks, architecture, events and evolution of the Gastown and Strathcona districts, while sharing anecdotes of daily life in the heart of the early Jewish community in Vancouver. The tours meet at the northwest corner of Abbott and Water Streets at the fountain. Tours cost $10 for individuals, which includes a copy of the booklet In the Footsteps of Jewish Vancouver, 1886 to 2006. You can purchase your tickets at the start of the tour or by contacting the Jewish Museum & Archives of BC at 604-257-5199. Additional tours will be offered in August.

• Local historian John Atkin will be leading more Wednesday Night Heritage Walks: Fraser & 28th on July 16th (meet on the southwest corner at this intersection), Collingwood on July 23rd (meet at the east exit of the Joyce Skytrain station), and Strathcona Heights on July 30th (meet at the northeast corner of Arbutus and 33rd). All tours start at 7pm and each costs $10 per person. For more information about Atkin’s guided walks, please visit his website. John Atkin will also be holding a Walking the Line tour for the Burnaby Village Museum on Saturday, July 19th at 10am. This month’s tour meets at Royal Oak SkyTrain station and will explore the history and architecture of the Royal Oak area and the history of the BC Electric Railway’s Interurban line used by today’s SkyTrain. Tickets for the Burnaby tour are $10 per person.

• Celebrate the launch of the Japanese Canadian National Museum’s new online exhibition Asahi: Canadian Baseball Legends with former Asahi player Kaye Kaminishi at the JCNM on Thursday, July 17th from 7-9pm. The launch will consist of a formal program and introduction to the website, which will be followed by a baseball-themed reception with fun activities for all ages. The online exhibit, presented in English, French and Japanese, outlines the history and legacy of the Vancouver Asahi baseball team whose home field was Oppenheimer Park from 1914 to 1941. The website includes resources for teachers. You can view the exhibit by clicking here.

• Vancouver Voices will be presenting Acis and Galatea, a concert-staged performance of Handel’s opera of pastoral romance, to benefit VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Capital Campaign. Concerts will be held on Friday, July 18th and Saturday, July 19th at 7pm both evenings on the garden’s Great Lawn, rain or shine. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Tickets Tonight online or by phone at 604-684-2787.

• The Enchanted Evening Concert Series continues at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Tzimmes emphasizes the diversity within Jewish music with styles that range from Middle Eastern to Folk and Worldbeat. Hear this group sing in four languages — Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino and English — when they perform at the garden on Friday, July 18th. The Vancouver Piano Ensemble will make an appearance on Friday, July 25th to present an evening of timeless masterpieces played on two grand pianos. All concerts in this series begin at 7:30pm (doors at 7pm) and tickets are $18 for non-members and $15 for Garden Society members. Reservations are recommended; please call 604-662-3207 or email assistant@vancouverchinesegarden.com.

• The Bowen Island Community Museum co-hosts the 16th Annual Bowen Island People, Plants and Places Tour on Saturday, July 19th and Sunday, July 20th. Tour guests are required to bring a car for this self-guided tour, which will take you through eastern, western and southern parts of Bowen Island to view some of the island’s most interesting homes, gardens and historic sites. Tickets are $20 each. This event regularly sells out, so you will need to purchase your tickets in advance by emailing your name address and phone number to bowenppp@shaw.ca or by calling 604-947-0384. For more information, please contact the museum directly.

• On Saturday, July 19th the Delta Museum & Archives will be running a bus tour of North Delta led by heritage expert Don Luxton. Journey through North Delta’s vibrant history before planned road construction alters the current landscape. The tour will cover some of North Delta’s historic routes, sites and heritage buildings. The tour runs from 10am-2pm rain or shine and participants are asked to bring their own lunch. Tickets are $29 per person, and pre-registration and pre-payment are required. For more information or to register, please contact the museum at 604-946-9322.

• Tour the historic Surrey Centre Cemetery with heritage consultant Warren Sommer on Saturday, July 19th from 10:30am-12pm. Tickets for this tour are $10 per person. Please contact the Surrey Museum at 604-592-6956 to register.

• Learn about the military heritage of New Westminster on Saturday, July 19th between 1:30-3:30pm at the New Westminster Museum & Archives’ Irving House. Museum Manager Colin Stevens will discuss the city’s military past during peace and wartime. Admission for this event is by donation. Please contact Irving House to register at 604-527-4640.

• Head down to Britannia Heritage Shipyard on Saturday, July 19th for a summer concert by Bocephus King. King’s songs range from vaudeville to Nashville and blues-rock to gospel. The concert starts at 6:30pm and admission is by donation. Don’t forget to bring your chairs, blanket and picnic basket!

• The Vancouver Aquarium will be holding a family-themed sleepover on Saturday, July 19th. The theme for this sleepover is ”Paws, Claws, and Jaws.” For more details and pricing information, please visit the Aquarium’s sleepovers web page.

• Visit the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday, July 20th between 12-5pm for SuperSunday, a special day recurring monthly that allows families to learn about art together through various hands-on art-based activities. Children ages 12 and under receive complimentary admission to the Vancouver Art Gallery when accompanied by a paid adult.

• A costumed guide from the Gulf of Georgia Cannery will lead a walking tour of Steveston’s history on Monday, July 21st. Join this stroll along the Steveston waterfront, from the cannery to Britannia Heritage Shipyard, to learn about the heyday of Steveston’s fishing industry. The cost is $10 per person and reservations are required. Please call 604-664-9009 for more information or to register.

• Visit the Surrey Museum for Old-Fashioned Sports Day on Saturday, July 26th between 1-4pm. Join in an afternoon of fun, games and outdoor pioneer pastimes on the museum’s lawn. From well-known classics like marbles, jacks and hopscotch, to the forgotten fun of hoops and sticks, sack races and spinning tops, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. Participation is by donation, but does not include admission to the museum’s exhibit galleries.

• Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC will be hosting a tea ceremony with the Urasenke Foundation of Vancouver on Saturday, July 26th at 1pm, 1:50pm, 2:40pm, 3:30pm and 4:20pm. Registrants witness the formal preparation of tea and participate as guests. The participation fee is $5 and reservations are strongly encouraged as space is limited to eight people for each ceremony. To make a reservation, please phone 604-939-7749 or email Keith Snyder at krsnyder@shaw.ca.

• Hear toe-tapping rhythms by Pancho & Sal at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery on Saturday, July 26th. The concert is part of the Music at the Cannery summer music series, and the show begins at 6:30pm.

• The Museum of Anthropology will be opening up one of its popular group tours to individuals on Sunday, July 27th at 1pm. The tour A Matter of Taste: Ceramics and Culinary Connections links the history of European food, nutrition, and the etiquette of eating with the ceramics in the Koerner Ceramics Gallery. The cost for the tour is $10 per person. Please register by calling 604-822-4643 or by emailing bookings@moa.ubc.ca.

• The exhibit Dolls to Cigars: Souvenirs of BC’s Centennial opens at the Delta Museum & Archives on Tuesday, July 29th. Close to 100 souvenirs created for BC’s last big birthday will be on display at the museum. The exhibit runs to December 19, 2008.