If there's a picture window on the soul of Vancouver – a city I love so dearly – I think it must be the Ambleside seawall. Mountains rising straight out of Burrard Inlet’s waters and the majestic profile of the Lions' Gate Bridge, connecting nature and culture unlike any other place in the world. And the people you meet when out for a stroll there: a cross-section of the vital, multi-cultural population that makes Vancouver so amazing.
If I'm waxing poetic about the seawall, it's because I've had a chance to get reacquainted with the little pleasures of Vancouver since my retirement three years ago. But scenic strolls aren't all that I've been up to. I've been working hard to strengthen and sustain a thriving arts scene and to support a profound local commitment to the less fortunate. After concluding my career at Canadian Western Bank & Trust, I'm now sitting on the board of directors of three crucially important Vancouver-based organizations: the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Vancouver Opera Foundation, and the Health and Home Care Society of BC.
For the internationally renowned Vancouver Bach Choir, which turns 80 this year, I’m working to help support several programs, such as the invaluable youth choir programming that for the past 25 years has spawned national and international singing careers for several young British Columbians. I’m also involved with the Vancouver Opera Foundation’s several new initiatives to help garner support from individual and corporate foundations that support arts, education and young artist programs associated with the Vancouver Opera, which also has a landmark (50th) anniversary this year. For the Health and Home Care Society of BC, which has proudly provided community-based health and social services since 1898, I’m helping to raise funds for such critical programs as Meals on Wheels and the Family Respite Centre.
In addition to the above attempts to help local, successful organizations continue to thrive, I've also found time to help share the marvels of Vancouver's North Shore and the city's amazing restaurant scene with the rest of the world. I’m working closely with Vancouver author Evaleen Jaager Roy to promote her new coffee table book, Four Chefs One Garden. Filled with lavish photos of Jaager Roy's North Shore garden, the book also includes seasonal recipes from local superstar chefs Tojo, Umberto, Vij, and Michel Jacob of Le Crocodile.
Check your local bookstore or ask me in person about how you may help out with any of the above initiatives. You know where to find me - soaking up the unique combination of nature, culture and social life on Vancouver’s salubrious seawall.
~ Terry Pask, Vancouver Opera Foundation Trustee
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