4 Dine Out comes to South Van Romer’s Burger Bar sees success at this year’s Dine Out festival By TANYA COMMISSO s South Vancouver’s only partici- Ae in Tourism Vancouver’s ine Out Vancouver Festival 2015, management at Romer’s Burger Bar is enjoying the increase in busi- ness during what would otherwise be a slow post-holiday season. The festival, now in its 18th year, takes place at participating restau- rants around Metro Vancouver from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1, showcasing unique three-course meals at discounted pric- es ranging from $18 to $38, depending on location. The Romer’s group of res- taurants are participating in Dine Out for the second year. “Last year we were quite busy with it — this year we’re even busier,” said Aaron Iverson, general manager of the Romer’s location in River District. “Tve worked in other restaurants as well, and I think Dine Out seems to just be getting bigger and bigger,” he said. In terms of promoting the res- taurant year round, Iverson said he la Va finds the associ- ated member- “,.. Dine ship fee to be worth the price. Out seems “As a restau- rant group, it to be get- does help us out. . f [Tourism Van- ting bigg er couver] involve and bigger vs with other events _ they’re AARON IVERSON puting on ROMER'’S GENERAL ‘hroughout the MANAGER year,” Iverson said. The deci- sion to be South Vancouver’s sole en- try into the festival was made collec- tively, with the location in River District adopting the same Dine Out menus as their Yaletown and Kitsilano counterparts. According to Amber Sessions, man- ager of travel and trade media rela- tions for Tourism Vancouver, the lack of South Vancouver presence at Dine Out isn’t something the festival is ac- tively looking to remedy. “The restaurants just come to us that want to be part of the promotion. We don’t necessarily go after any par- ticular neighbourhoods to try to get sign-ups,” she said. Ultimately, Iverson said the neigh- bourhood plays a big part in the Dine Out experience. “T think that Dine Out is a communi- ty-based thing. It just brings everyone in your community in as a sort of, ‘thank you for coming out this year,” he said. TANYA COMMISSO photo Organic beet Salad, R Famous Drunken’ Donuts, Romer’s Righ- teous Rib Burger. Oklahoma! show full of heart Studio 58 students strive to take the audience on a journey in their production of the classic, fun-filled musical Midd ddd ddddgaee f Se cm Left to right: Kamyar Pazandeh, Jessica Wagstaff, Bailey Soleil Creed, Alexandra Wever and Caitlin Goruk rehearse scenes from the play Oklahoma! on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015 at Langara College. By ANNA DIMOFF his February, Oklahoma! hits the stage at Studio 58, bringing a lit- tle bit of southern charm to Lan- gara in a swirl of brightly co- loured petticoats and _ classic, honky-tonk swing. This production of the classic musi- cal strives to take the audience on a journey of transformation and growth with the youth in a small American community. The play’s director David Hudgins defines the play as a story of “young people confronting rapid change in their own lives and also in the world.” In the last weeks of rehearsals the students of Studio 58 are hard at work fine-tuning the show. Amongst the fre- quent interruptions to “take it from the top” there is plenty of laughter. “We are a small family here,” said Alexandra Wever, who plays the char- acter of Laurey. “We go through so much change within ourselves,” she said, explaining the process of self-re- flection and growth the actors experi- ence during classes and rehearsals. But the production hasn’t taken shape without its challenges. “We're asking these students to be, essentially, triple threats so it still is a challenge for them to step up to the level that they need to be at in order to fulfill this,” Hudgins said. Wever, who moved to Canada from Guatemala in 2010 to study theatre in ANNA DIMOFF photo tume. Victoria, faces a different set of chal- lenges with English being her second language. She said she overcomes this obstacle by trusting in her capabilities to “use the English language to com- municate and create images.” The audience can expect plenty of “heart,” according to Wever. She is ex- cited that Studio 58 is “bringing [Okla- homa!] back to its roots, into the raw environment” of a smaller stage that allows the story to be the main focus. “This show is a real chestnut, an old, beloved musical,” Hudgins said. “It feels like you really go on a journey in the play, so that’s what I hope [the au- dience] take[s] away.” The show runs from Feb. 5 to Mar. 1, 2015. DAVID COOPER photo Alexandra Wever (Laurey) and Owen Bishop (Curly) in full cos- SHOW INFO FOR STUDENTS: Student RUSH tickets $10 at door, first come first serve First two nights free with valid student ID TICKET RESERVA- TION: To reserve tickets call: 604-323-5227 The show runs Feb. 5 to Mar. 1 First Nation's exhibit tells origin story New Musqueam exhibit at three Metro Vancouver locations displays items that once belonged to the nation thousands of years ago to show people the Musqueam First Nation is still a strong society By KELVIN GAWLEY story of Vancouver’s origin with a new ex- hibit called cosna?em, the city before the city. The exhibition, told from the nation’s per- spective and in its own words, was launched last Sunday, Jan. 25 at three local venues: the Musqueam Cultural Education Resource Cen- tre, the Museum of Vancouver and the Muse- um of Anthropology at UBC. “This exhibit is for us to show the world we’re still here. We’re not a dead extinct soci- ety,” said Larry Grant, a member of the elder’s advisory team who was consulted in the nearly two-year planning process for the exhibition. Among the articles on display at the gallery are tools, weapons and clothing that show what the lives of casna?am (pronounced “tsuss-nuh-um”) villagers were like, some five thousand years ago. The Musqueam First Na- tion had an unprecedented degree of control over what was, and wasn’t included in the dis- Te: Musqueam First Nation is telling the plays. “All three venues were vetted by Musqueam in how they were going to be displayed, what was going to be said about them and how much language was going to be put into it,” Grant said. Items on display are called “belongings”, rather than artifacts, to remind guests of the people who made, owned and used them. Mus- queam people wrote the accompanying descriptions of the belongings. Grant said these descriptions “bring our vil- lage of ¢asna?em back to life in contemporary language.” Certain items, such as medicinal paints, spirit dancing articles and other private be- longings, are not on display. The tradition of keeping certain things private has not always been respected by non-Musqueam organiza- tions, according to Stanley Copp, chair of the sociology and anthropology department at Langara College. Copp said he was visiting Capilano Suspen- sion Bridge Park with friends and was sur- prised to see a xwaixwai mask, (used in a Mus- queam secret society) on display. “T was appalled. I nearly walked out,” Copp said, in reaction to the lack of respect given to the Musqueam_tradi- tion of keeping the mask private. He said the mask “is never, ever displayed.” Grant said he hopes that aboriginal and non-aboriginal visitors to the exhibition walk away with a deeper re- spect for the history of the city’s original in- STANELY COPP habitants. Chair of the He said he hopes this sociology and exhibition brings a anthropology department at more progressive view Langara College of aboriginal people. “We are a contempo- rary people [and] al- ways have been,” he said.