Post ideas enter my inbox every morning, like lines of commuters ascending SkyTrain station escalators during rush hour. Sometimes there’s an event listing, charity campaign, or concert listing. However on occasion, an email contains a short, sweet, touching human interest story — in this case, it’s about a tractor in a Kootenay region town.

The Flood is a two-minute short documentary that has been posted online to pay tribute to the city of Rossland’s beloved 1972 Ford 3000 tractor. Yes, a tractor. Its job for the last 40 years has been to resurface the local ice rink, serving as a Zamboni. Over the course of its 80,000 scrapes, it became a fixture of the community. Quirky and unique, it was the subject of many fan photographs and childhood memories.

Upon hearing that the machine was set to retire, filmmaker Scott Carlson decided to shoot The Flood to pay homage to the tractor he’d observed on the rink since he was young.

When the video was posted, it went viral. I’m told that Scott received hundreds of personal responses while the view counter online reached 37,000 in just a few days. Farmers, car enthusiasts, plant workers, and more were contacting Scott to thank him for the inspiration. As a result, this star was not retired after all. It takes longer, it’s not as shiny and new, but it gets the job done. When it comes to hockey in this country we get nostalgic over the strangest things, but that’s just what Canadians do.

As a side note, I recognized the score of the clip right away. It’s from Field of Dreams — a movie, and another sport, very close to my heart.

It’s been five years since CKNW was inspired by the story of two students from Nova Scotia (David Shepherd and Travis Price) who took a stand against bullying by wearing pink shirts to school in protest.

Since that time, the concept of Pink Shirt Day has grown into a national campaign to raise awareness about how harmful bullying can be and that simply isn’t acceptable.

There are many forms of bullying, including in the workplace and online, as it isn’t limited to the schoolyard. On February 29, 2012, join media personalities, students, teachers, offices, public officials, parents, and children in wearing a pink shirt.

Pink Shirt Day t-shirts are available online or at London Drugs locations across Western Canada. Proceeds from shirt sales will support the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Coast BC and the CKNW Orphans’ Fund.

I support Pink Shirt Day and encourage all British Columbians to get involved. On February 29th, Bullying Stops Here. Follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter for more information and updates.

Already recognized in Canada and the United States, the City of Vancouver has also officially declared February as Black History Month. Last year I touched on Vancouver’s Black history by doing up a small profile on East Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley, but there is a much greater story to be told and celebrated.

Governor Douglas ca. 1860 Royal BC Museum
BC Archives# 193501-001. Call#: A-01229

Although often overlooked, there’s a rich tapestry of Black history going back to the early colonial origins of Canada.

In 1858, nearly 800 free Black people left the oppressive racial conditions of San Francisco for a new life on Vancouver Island. Governor James Douglas had invited them to settle in British Columbia. Though still faced with intense discrimination, these pioneers enriched the political, religious and economic life of the colony.

Unknown to many, Douglas was himself the product of a mixed marriage — his father was Scottish and his mother Guyanese. Douglas strove to be known as Caucasian; however, he quickly agreed to the appeal from the San Francisco delegation. In turn, the Black pioneers pledged their support to Douglas and to the cause of British sovereignty.

Many from that initial group have contributed notably to BC life: Mifflin Gibbs became a prominent politician; Charles and Nancy Alexander initiated the Shady Creek Methodist Church; and John Deas established a salmon cannery. The group also formed one of the earliest colonial militia units, the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. A ceremony took place on February 20, 2000, in Saanichton, BC to honour the original arrival of Black pioneers in British Columbia. [City of Vancouver]

Vancouverites like Harry Jerome, Emery Barnes, and Dr Rosemary Brown were pioneers in their fields, and the legendary Joe Fortes was named Vancouver’s “Citizen of the Century”.

1910s – Joe Fortes in front of his cottage at the foot of Bidwell Street. Archives item# CVA 371-1977.

Local Black History Month Events

What: Women of Our Times, Here & Now. Join The National Congress of Black Women Foundation as they honour: Barbara Howard, Eleanor Collins, Eve Smith, Marcella King, Thelma Gibson, and Jeni LeGon. A reception, a silent auction and live entertainment to follow.
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2012
Time: Doors open 5:30pm, 6:00pm start
Where: James Cowan Theatre, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby
Event Link

What: 5th Annual Pan Afrikan Slam. Poetry and music, presented by Black Dot Roots and Culture Collective. Admission by donation.
Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Time: 8:00pm
Where: Calabasha Bistro, 428 Carrall St
Event Link

What: Movie – The Godmother of Rock & Roll: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012
Time: Doors at 6:30pm, 7:00pm start
Where: Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St
Event Link

What: Free movie – The Mighty Jerome
Date: Monday, February 27, 2012
Time: 7:00pm
Where: Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia

What: Theatre: Intimate Apparel. The story of 35-year-old Esther who is an independent African-American woman who makes a good living sewing exquisite undergarments and corsets for brides-to-be. Set in 1905 New York.
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Time: 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Where: The Arts Club Theatre, Granville Island Stage
Event Link

What: Honouring Black History Month Though Oral Tradition: “Family Celebrations: How Does your Family Honour Heritage?”. Admission by donation.
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Time: 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Where: Intercultural Hub, Matsqui Recreation Centre, 3106 Clearbook Road, Abbotsford
Event Link

A full list of events is available on the City of Vancouver’s Black History Month homepage.

Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada will be live from Prince Edward Island on the CBC February 11, 2012. Starting at 11:00am, the Edmonton Oilers will face the Ottawa Senators, the Jets will play the Penguins, the Habs will fight the Leafs, and the Vancouver Canucks will face-off with the Calgary Flames at 7:00pm.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Last year I sent John Biehler up to cover Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada in Whitehorse and between the banquet, concerts, alumni, and outdoor activities, I think he had a pretty great time. Aside from the Canadian match-ups, there will be satellite events across the country to celebrate hockey. These include festivities in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Windsor, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; Thunder Bay, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Richmond, BC. Each event is hosted by a CBC personality and will focus on community hockey, organizations, and initiatives.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Around here, the Richmond Olympic Oval will be the place to be. They’ll have free admission, an NHL Hall of Fame exhibit, NHL trophies, games, live entertainment, and a chance to meet the Canucks’ mascot Fin along with Trevor Linden. There will also be giants screens to watch the CBC games, a day-long hockey jamboree on twin Olympic-sized ice sheets, a public road hockey tournament, hockey skills zone, and prize giveaways including a trip to Japan.

Mark this down in your calendar as a fun, free day in Richmond with the hockey lovers in your family. Catch all the Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada action at the oval from 10:30am to 10:00pm on February 11th.

Update February 7, 2012: I have been offered 3 prize packs to give away to readers in honour of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada. The prize packs include a Scotiabank Hockey Club bag, jersey, water bottle, puck, toque, scarf and mitts. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming your favourite Canadian hockey player of all time (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw 3 winners tomorrow, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:00pm so we can try to get the prize packs out before the weekend.

Update The winners are Val, Brandon, and @ksceviour!

Move over Red and Yellow, M&Ms have a new spokescandy. Ms. Brown, to be revealed to Canadians this month, is the “Chief Chocolate Officer” at Mars Inc. with a distinct personality and unmatched knowledge of milk chocolate.

Ms. Brown will make her first appearance, after working behind the scenes for the last seventy years, at The Grove in LA and M&M’s World in New York. The event will be broadcast live on Facebook Monday, January 30, at 12:00pm PT.

M&Ms have partnered with blogs across Canada to spread the word about Ms. Brown and I’m their exclusive Vancouver partner for the launch. As such, they have offered up an M&Ms prize pack valued at $90 for one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at 1:00pm January 30, 2012. Follow M&Ms Canada on Facebook or Twitter for more information.

Update Ms. Brown is here! Check out her new look and stay tuned for the winner announcement for my contest.

Update The winner is Debra, congratulations!

The Bachelor is coming to Canada and not just on an extravagant date. The Bachelor Canada, from Force Four Entertainment and Citytv, was announced this morning.

The Bachelor Canada will have 9 episodes, with pre-production starting in the spring. Starting today, they are kicking off a nation-wide casting call for single ladies who would like to find love on reality television.

From this morning’s press release: “The Bachelor has long been a fan favourite on Citytv and we look forward to putting a Canadian spin on this thriving franchise,” said Claire Freeland, Director of Original Programming, Rogers Media, and Executive Producer of The Bachelor Canada. “Canada is brimming with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes and we’re excited to offer them the opportunity to embark on their own quest for love through this entertaining series.”

While the bachelor himself hasn’t yet been announced, ladies can fill out a form online in the meantime to throw their hat in the ring. The show is slated to start filming in the fall.

Follow The Bachelor Canada Twitter or Facebook for news and updates.

Related: Read my interview with The Bachelorette: Jillian Harris.

The 2012 CONCACAF (“Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football”) Olympic women’s qualifying tournament gets underway at BC Place tomorrow and will run until January 29, 2012.

Photo credit: Canada Soccer on Flickr

All eight CONCACAF teams will be vying for one of two spots available at the London 2012 Olympics. Group A features Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Haiti while Group B features USA, Mexico, Guatemala and Dominican Republic [source: Canada Soccer].

Cheer on Team Canada starting tomorrow as they take on Haiti at 7:30pm Pacific Time. After that they play Cuba on Saturday, Costa Rica on Monday, and the semi-finals will be on Friday with the finals on Sunday, January 29th. All games will be broadcast on Sportsnet, check local listings to be sure.

Photo credit: Canada Soccer / Mexsport Javier Garcia. PanAmerican Games.

Tickets are available for purchase if you would like to attend any of the matches. They start at just $10 and you can get packages starting at $69. Find out more from Canada Soccer including information about family rates and group ticket purchases. I know the Southsiders will be there to support our national team as well, in section 249.

Follow @CanadaSoccerEN on Twitter and track the tag #CANWNT (Canada Women’s National Team, I assume) for hometown tweets about the tournament.

One thing that John and I look forward to most on the weekends is a proper breakfast. From Monday to Friday we’re starting the day with coffee and a muffin, or sometimes a breakfast sandwich. When Saturday and Sunday roll around, we either take a morning trip to the market or try out some of our city’s best eateries to get our dose of eggs.

The Egg Farmers of Canada have recently launched a mobile application (for iPhone and Android) that helps you cook eggs at home. Whether you’re boiling, poaching, frying, scrambling, or combining them with other ingredients, the app set out to educate Canadians about the seemingly endless array of egg preparations – for any meal.

Egg Timer iPhone App

I downloaded the free app to give it a whirl. It caught John’s eye right and we played around with the settings. We usually get our eggs over medium so I clicked on the pre-set timer. You could just use your iPhone’s default timer for this, but the benefit of using the one within the app is that it will pair up with recipes, and let you know when to flip.

I do cook from home often and I use various recipe applications. The Egg Timer app has dozens of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, kids meals, and quick snacks. It’s been added to my food app arsenal for my future endeavours with quiche, macaroni bake, risotto, gnocchi, or burger melts.

Egg Timer iPhone App

To promote this new tool, the Egg Farmers of Canada have offered up 5 egg-tastic prize packages to give away. Each package includes:

• A Get Cracking apron
• A cookbook: The Perfect Egg Cookbook, by Alex Barker
• A cookbook in French: Les Oeufs, Plus de 130 recettes, par Michel Roux
• A microwave egg cooker
• Spiced French Toast mix
• A Get Cracking egg turner

To enter to win, leave a comment on this post naming your favourite place to eat eggs in Vancouver. You could say eggs benedict at Cafe Medina, the big bowl breakfast at White Spot, a frittata from Campagnolo, or the scrambled eggs you make with your kids at home.

I will draw 5 winners next Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 10:00am. Prize packages will be delivered to each of the winner.

Update The winners are Shelley, Rachel, Jan, Mike, and Vaughn!

CBC’s latest original series, Arctic Air, will premiere January 10, 2012 and to celebrate, they’re hosting a red carpet screening event at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver.

Arctic Air is a one-hour adventure series set in the booming Arctic, about a maverick airline and the unconventional family who runs it. On the ground, Bobby (Adam Beach), the headstrong business partner, struggles to save the airline from crashing financially while Mel (Kevin McNulty), the cantankerous co-owner, keeps his crew of pilots in the air. Caught in the crossfire is Mel’s hotshot pilot daughter Krista (Pascale Hutton).

The cast and crew of Arctic Air will be joined on the red carpet by other celebrities and VIPs for this viewing, which will be followed by a Q&A session for the crowd. The CBC has offered up 5 pairs of tickets to this event that I can give away to my readers. There are 2 ways for you to enter to win:

• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

• Answer the trivia question in the contest box below (1 entry)

Each winner will be able to attend the screening event with a guest on January 10, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). I will draw all 5 winners on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:00am 3:00pm.

Follow Arctic Air on Facebook and Twitter throughout the season.

Update The winners are: @taigimaeda, Jared, Lyn, Gladys, and Rebecca.

World AIDS Day is Thursday, December 1st and will aim to raise awareness about HIV testing and a cure.

Photo credit: Trygve.u on Flickr

According to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (“CANFAR”): “A quarter of Canadians with HIV are not aware of their infection and young adults (aged 15-29) account for approximately 26 per cent of all people diagnosed with HIV in Canada. Since the first World AIDS Day in 1988, people around the world have shown their commitment to finding a cure by ‘going red’ and wearing a red ribbon.”

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS has launched the “Treatment as Prevention” campaign that encourages individuals to get tested.

Local events for World AIDS Day include a free breakfast at the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation starting at 8:00am and the fourth annual Voices of Hope concert hosted by CBC’s Bill Richardson. The concert takes place at Christ Church Cathedral (Georgia and Burrard) at 7:00pm and admission is by donation.

Also, all four Whole Foods locations in Vancouver will be donating 5% of their net sales to AIDS Vancouver Grocery on December 1st.

BC Place Stadium in Vancouver (and the CN Tower in Toronto) will glow with red lights from 5:00pm on Thursday in honor of World AIDS Day.