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Roland Clarke and Jacek Lorek, DNC Executives discuss DTES LAPP with Vancouver Courier newspaper
On Christmas Eve 2013, Roland Clarke and Jacek Lorek, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council – DNC Executives discuss DTES LAPP with Rebecca Blissett of Vancouver Courier newspaper
DTES Street Market at Pigeon Park in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sun Dec 22, 2013
DTES Street Market Sunday before Christmas 2013
Roland Clarke, Coordinator of the DTES Street Market says:
The 185th Street Market at Pigeon Park on Sunday
Our 200th market day at Pigeon Park on Sunday will take place on April 6th – This will be a day of celebration for the Downtown Eastside. We plan to invite City Councillors, dignitaries, and anyone that wants to celebrate with the people of the DTES.
The day was only slightly drizzly, and quite mild considering that it was the first day of winter…
This was the last Sunday market at Pigeon Park before Christmas, and the penultimate market of the year.
Lots of creatures were stirring, all over the park, making their last few sales on this drizzly Sunday.
Not one negative event that I can recall over the course of the day, and lots of positive ones…
Mark Bradshaw of the VPD did a walk through of the market. We made sure that he knew that we appreciated his presence, and that we welcomed him back. He made a few jokes, and nabbed someone selling some contraband. Luckily for us, the person was outside the market at the time…
We had at least one group giving away blankets, clothing, toiletries, lots of food. It definitely was a friendly Christmas atmosphere all over the market.
The clean up went great. The park was clear by 5:30pm, and the garbage truck came early, shortly after.
The final shift went home before 6pm, which I believe is a record.
Sales of coffee and tents was quite good given that there were only 95 vendors in the park this Sunday.
As a final note before Christmas, I want to give a warm thanks to all the volunteers that work the Street Market week in and week out. They do real work for a small stipend, usually about $3 per hour. They pile about 1/2 tonne of garbage in one spot from all over the park, and maintain peace and order during the day. They watch out for their fellow vendors, and really take pride in this unique downtown eastside creation we call the Pigeon Park Street Market.
God bless all the volunteers and vendors, and God protect them from the greedy and the ignorant.
In this time of giving. In this time of the year where we should all count our blessings, I am sincerely begging those with power, wealth, secure warm homes, and loving families to take a moment to reflect on what we have built in our neighbourhood with so little.
DTES Street Market at Pigeon Park in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES) on Sun Dec 15, 2013
Sunday Dec 15, 2013
Roland Clarke, Coordinator of the DTES Street Market says:
This was the 184th Street Market at Pigeon Park on Sunday!
Our 200th market day at Pigeon Park on Sunday will take place on April 6th – This will be a day of celebration for the Downtown Eastside. We plan to invite City Councillors, dignitaries, and anyone that wants to celebrate with the people of the DTES.
Despite threats of rain, it was rain free for the entire day. A moderate December day, with low wind,
The vendors were very well behaved this Sunday. We had no issues keeping the east side of Carrall clear, or the Church, or keeping order in most of the park. Clean up went well, we had the usual 1/2 tonne of garbage at the end of the day, and the volunteers did a stellar job as always.
The tent crew is now so practised and professional that they are finishing the tear down of the tents in less than 15 minutes. That means that with a little more pay we could handle twice as many tents with ease.
I can’t wait for this Summer…
Yukon Dan
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We had a special guest at the market this weekend, Yukon Dan. Dan gives demonstrations all around the province to children and community groups on how to pan for gold. He came and gave away several hundred dollars worth of gold to customers at the market this Sunday.
Cambridge House
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John Baldwin from the Cambridge house came down to Pigeon Park this Sunday. They initially wanted to give away free Chili, but I told them that this was not our model at the Street Market. There is so much begging culture in the Downtown Eastside, and we don’t need more of it. It destroys the people’s self esteem, it provides no employment and it lowers the value of people and things. What we want is pride, and economic activity.
They took my advice and decided to sell the bowls of Chilli for $0.50 a bowl. If someone did not have the money, then they would offer the bowl for free. This way, us Downtown Eastsiders would get a sense of pride and buy our own lunch with the money that we earn for ourselves at the Street Market. This is the economic engine that we want to encourage. This is called uplift, and it is almost entirely absent from the charity models that our applied to our neighbourhood.
The Cambridge House promised to donate whatever money that they made at The Market to the market fund. This way, the right economic choices are encouraged in our neighbourhood.
Thank you to the Cambridge House for coming to our market!
Roland Clarke and DJ Joe of DNC and DTES Street Market with Andrew of SBC Restaurant
Roland Clarke and DJ Joe of DNC – Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council and DTES Street Market speak with Andrew of SBC Restaurant in Vancouver Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council (DNC) Board Meeting – Tues Dec 10, 2013
Women’s Group Committee
Jewels announces that there was a meeting of a new women’s committee of the DNC last week.
MOTION: Roland motions to create a women’s committee of the DNC that will deal with issues such as empowerment, education, entrepreneurship, women’s safety, sharing and collaboration. Ludvik seconds. motion passes
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