Happy Equinox. Please read that with a little bit of sad sarcasm. I love summer, and the long, dry days for bike rides. But winter is apparently not without charms, and I can start packing on my curling weight.

Yes, the Royal City Curling Club is open again, for it’s 50th season, and I had two curling games this week (a win and a loss, natch), and it is great to be back at the Best Curling Club in BC. It is not too late if you are thinking of trying the roaring game out, or are thinking of returning after a bit of a break. There are leagues for all abilities and levels, a great junior program (with Little Rocks for players as young as 6!), and for the adults, the S&O is always on tap.

Wednesday was a Chamber of Commerce dinner, where the City’s Chief Administrative Officer, Lisa Spitale talked to the members of the Chamber and other guests about her history with the City, and the challenges and opportunities she sees fort he City going forward. She even answered a few kind-of-political questions that probably made her a little uncomfortable with the Mayor and a couple of councilors in the room. As always, Lisa handled it with aplomb and professionalism. She is a true leader, is proud of the progress this City has made, and never puts limits on what we can do of we commit ourselves to it.

On Saturday was the Memorial Service for Anita Hagen. it was an very well attended service, and a very moving one. With a long list of present and former politicians and community builders of all stripes present, there was much talk of her long legacy of service to the community, locally and provincially. The memorial service concluded, however, with an uplifting recital of “Song for the Mira”, with Anita’s closest family on piano and violins leading the congregation and choir, in a way closing a circle back to her childhood home on Nova Scotia and the people closest to her. It was a special moment for a remarkable woman, who will be missed.

Sunday was the 4th? 5th? annual Shoreline Cleanup in Queensborough, organized by the New Westminster Environmental Partners with a little help from the City. It was a windy day with a few showers, but several dozen people showed up to pick up trash along the shoreline of South Dyke Road, pull some invasive plants that are threatening the ecology of the waterfront and the beauty of the City’s waterfront trail system, and even plant some native species to replace the invasives and slow their return.

I also went down to Caps the Original and bought me a new lid. It was due.

See how happy the end of summer makes me?