GETI Fest 2013: September 21

Join us for GETI Fest 2013!

People in Motion parade at GETI Fest 2012

GETI stands for "Golden Ears Transition Initiative", which is an umbrella organization for various groups in the community that work together to create a more resilient, vibrant, supportive and caring community, to help us meet our needs for food, energy, shelter and sustainable livelihoods, while reducing our carbon footprint and our dependence on fossil fuels. HUB is one of GETI's Action Groups. You can find out more about GETI on the GETI website. 

Read more about GETI Fest...

GETI Fest 2012

We hope you'll join us for the 2nd annual GETI Fest, in Memorial Peace Park, on Sat. Sept. 22 (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.).

For those of you who don't know about GETI, it's an organization through which all individuals and groups in the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows (Golden Ears) area can work together in a co-ordinated fashion to create a resilient, vibrant, supportive and caring community. This is achieved through local Action Groups that help us meet our needs for food, energy, shelter, sustainable livelihoods and much more, while reducing our carbon footprint and our dependence on fossil fuels. Our local HUB Chapter is one of the many Action Groups of GETI.

Apart from the celebration at GETI Fest of GETI's achievements so far, our HUB Committee is especially excited this year to join the Lougheed Area Girl Guides in celebrating the Day of the Girl at GETI Fest. In order to overcome the many challenges that our world faces today, it’s important to recognize the important role girls and women can play in changing our world for the better. 

If you think cycling has nothing to do with women's emancipation, think again. In the late 19th and early 20th century, cycling has done a lot to give women more freedom and make them more independent. Here's a quote from women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906):"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” 

Presently, only about 25% of cyclists in North America are female. The "cycling infrastructure" that has been built here since mid last century or so has consisted of at the most some white lines and bike symbols on our roads, and it obviously hasn't appealed very much to most women, who generally are not looking for the adrenaline rush that you feel when competing with cars for space on the road. Most women prefer a more peaceful experience, away from car traffic. In countries where cycling is perceived to be safer, such as in the Netherlands, the number of women who bike is much higher. In the Netherlands about 55% of cyclists are women. Many of them own a car, but choose to use their bikes, because it's an enjoyable, convenient, fun and healthy way to get around.

More separated and safer infrastructure in our neck of the woods will give today's Girl Guides and women of all ages the ability to make that choice as well.

HUB's share in the activities at GETI Fest:

 9:30 - 10:30 Cycle Recycle (free bike give-away) #1*
10:00 -  3:00 Artisan Fair / Action Groups / free bike parking / food
10:00 - 11:30 Bike decorating
11:00 - 12:00 Parade
12:30 -  1:30 Cycle Recycle #2*
12:00 -  2:00 Bike rodeo (we have only a few bikes available for those kids who don't have their own bike with them)

*Cycle Recycle #1: tickets to be entered by 10:00. Draw between 10:00 and 10:30;
Cycle Recycle #2: tickets to be entered by 1:00. Draw between 1:00 and 1:30

Events like GETI Fest can only happen with the help of many volunteers. If you would like to help out, please send me an e-mail (jchow23708@yahoo.ca).

Looking forward to seeing you at GETI Fest!

GETI Fest, September 24, 2011

You may wonder what this is all about: "GETI Fest". What is GETI? It stands for "Golden Ears Transition Initiative". GETI tries to raise awareness in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows about global warming, peak oil and the impact of our continued unsustainable lifestyles on our planet, and help to prepare ourselves for a less fossil-fuel dependent economy. Check out GETI's website to find out more.

This event is one of the many that are being organized worldwide on September 24, under the name "Moving Planet". During the afternoon, from noon till 4 pm, you can wander around Memorial Peace Park, meet some of the people of the various action groups of GETI, see some displays and interactive workshops, and find out more about what we are all doing.

Our local Chapter of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition is one of the action groups of GETI, and we're very excited to be part of this event. We will have a bus rack at the event for people to practice putting their bikes on, so that they won't have to fumble while the bus driver is waiting impatiently.. Between 1:30 and 3:30 we will also have a bike decorating station for the kids, followed by a fun bike rodeo. Of course we will provide a free bike valet between noon and 9 pm, so that you won't have to worry about your bike while you're exploring all the different GETI-groups and the artisan fair and enjoying the live music.

And of course we want cyclists to come out in big numbers to be part of the non-fossil-fuel powered parade, which will take place between 4 and 5 pm! Everyone is welcome. If you can't bring your bike, bring your rollerblades, your dancing shoes or hiking boots, your stilts, your unicycle—anything human-powered. The parade route will be very short: just around the Memorial Peace Park Loop, because this is the very first time that we're doing this. We hope to be able to fill up the whole loop with people. If we can all can make that happen together, we will promise you to make next year's event into an even bigger, car-free street event, with people, not cars, occupying a section of Dewdney Trunk Road!

After the parade, dinner will be served (for meal tickets - cost $8 per person - contact Jackie at jchow23708@yahoo.ca), and there will be music and dancing until 9 pm. Fun, fun, fun!

Lastly, but certainly most importantly, I would like to appeal to all the children and youth in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. This is your chance to have your voices heard!  Be part of the parade! Outnumber us old folks, parents and grandparents! So much of this is about YOUR future, and you have to let all of us adults know that we need to listen to you. Tell us that you want us to act NOW and that you want to be part of it! You do have a voice. So be there! On September 24! Please pass on the message.

We would like to have an idea how many people are going to join the parade. So please send an e-mail to blakehandford@shaw.ca to let us know you'll be there. Thanks!