2018 BMX Alumni Family Picnic Online Ticketing

Scroll down for important information on this year's event. Once you have read the restrictions and instructions, you can purchase your tickets below and follow the instructions on how to submit your information.

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LOCATION CHANGE

The 16th Annual BMX Alumni picnic has been moved in 2018 from the public Centennial Park in Etobicoke to the private Father Kamber Park in Mississauga.  It is located on Mississauga Road just south of Eglinton.  Entrance to the park is south of the church at 4525 Mississauga Road.

RESTRICTED ACCESS

All attendees MUST purchase a ticket to attend this private event (see instructions below).  No tickets will be issued at the gate.  The tickets includes lunch and tea as well as games registrations.   Attendance will be controlled from all access points.  There is ample free parking onsite in designated areas.

EARLY BIRD

Purchase your tickets early to avoid disappointment.  All ticketing will be online this year.  Please ensure you have purchased your tickets in advance and print them for verification at the venue.  Early bird pricing ends on June 30th, 2018, three weeks prior to the event.

PARK RESTRICTIONS

Father Kamber Park has a strict NO PETS policy.

No barbeque cooking is permitted in the park.

Alcoholic beverages are banned outside the bar area.

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STEP #1 - TICKET SELECTION 

Once you have read and understood the restrictions and instructions for this year's event, you can click on 'REGISTER' on button in the EventSmart window below.  The password for the ticketing site is (lowercase) 'mapuca' (without the quotes).  Once you have logged in, these instructions will repeat as you scroll to the ticket selector at the bottom of the page.  Select the number of tickets you need and click on 'REGISTER NOW'

STEP #2 - PERSONAL INFORMATION 

Enter ALL Personal and Address information under "Attendee 1". The items with a Red Asterisk * are mandatory.
 For family purchases, you may click the box to 'Use Attendee #1's information for ALL attendees' editing First Name as necessary. If not, enter personal information (including valid email addresses) for each guest, ignoring Kid's Information for Adult Tickets.
For 'Kid's Tickets' please complete all the requested information including the age and gender which is required for games participation. You cannot 'PROCEED TO PAYMENT OPTIONS' if mandatory fields are not completed.

STEP # 3 - REGISTRATION CHECKOUT 

After verifying your purchase, you can select our PayPal payment processor where you can pay by credit card or your PayPal account. You will receive an email confirmation with a link to your ticket(s). Please print and bring these tickets to the event.
For those who cannot do online payments, select 'Invoice' and follow instructions for making offline payments. (If you have any queries or questions do not hesitate to call your BMX committee contact or email them) 

All personal information will be stored with the strictest privacy and only be used for our BMX event use.

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BMX-Alumni 2018 Family picnic flyer

BMX 2015 Picnic sold out

BMX Toronto 2015 Family Picnic

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Niagara Falls Tour, BMX 2014 Reunion

Adventure to and around Niagara Falls

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Monday, July 21, 2104

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Explore the wonder and natural beauty, of one of Canada's most iconic landmarks on your trip to Niagara Falls.  You can stand at a distance and take great pictures, or for the true adventurer hop on board the Maid of the Mist, or take The Journey Behind the Falls, or explore the bird kingdom  or Butterfly Conservatory and see, smell, taste, and feel, all this great place has to offer. Prices of all attractions can be found on the websites attached.

Browse further at: http://www.nigaraparks.com/niagara-falls-attractions

Journey Behind the Falls

Located at the brink of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, elevators descend 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels. The sound is like thunder; the sight is awe-inspiring! Take a journey deep below and behind the heart of Niagara, and stand in the mist where the mighty Horseshoe Falls tumbles from 13 storeys above!

Maid of the Mist

A powerful diesel-engined boat will take you from the Canadian docks past the base of the American Falls, then into the basin of the magnificent Canadian Horseshoe Falls.  Water rushes all around as you "soak" in the excitement and explore the roar of the Falls!

Fallsview Casino

Excitement and Entertainment!!! Whether your game is slots or tables, you'll find it all on one of the largest Casino gaming floors in the world – an impressive 200,000 square feet – the equivalent of three football fields!

Harness you inner Lady Gaga and show off your Poker Face, battle a one armed bandit in the hopes of hitting the elusive jackpot, take in a show or just enjoy a delicious meal.

Browse further at: http://www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com/

Butterfly Conservatory

This magical attraction features over 2,000 free-flying, colourful tropical butterflies floating freely among lush, exotic blossoms and greenery. This allows for a rare opportunity to watch numerous species of butterflies floating majestically among nectar producing flowers. Paths wind through the rainforest setting, past a pond and waterfall and the Emergence window, where butterflies leave their pupae and prepare to take their first flight! Let Your Spirit Soar in Niagara Falls!

Browther at: http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/play/attractions/butterfly-conservatory/

Bird Kingdom

Discover a world class tropical adventure. This is the largest free-flying indoor aviary in the world. More than 400 birds make their home in this 50,000 sq.ft. multi-level rainforest setting nestled in a building. A 40-foot waterfall, tropical plants, and hundreds of birds from around the world put on a show. Many of the 80 species of birds living at Bird Kingdom are endangered or threatened in the wild.

Explore the nocturnal room which is home to many animals, some spooky and creepy! Explore the dark side of an ancient jungle ruin where you will encounter bats, owls and many non-flying creatures of the night! Wander amid the chirping of crickets, witness the bat feedings, the hooting of owls and other sounds that go bump in the night! Normally these animals would be asleep during the day but their internal clock have been reversed by keeping it dark during the day and light at night so we can see these creatures at their liveliest!

Continue to explore the Small Aviary where many of the 40 bird species who live here are so small that you could fit 6 in your hand! Witness the incredible colors, hear the distinct songs and watch as the unique personalities of each species come alive!

      

Browse further at:  http://www.birdkingdom.ca/

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Walter D'Souza Condolence images

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Zero Waste Home

Zero Waste Home:

Zero Waste Essential: Positivity

Someone recently asked me how I stay upbeat: "How do you not let the weight of our environmental situation get you down?" 

Every year, Earth Month (April) hits our lives and disturbs our mindsets with a surge of ecological facts... so much information being shared about the sad state of the environment, it's easy to feel saddened by the situation. And of course, when Earth day is everyday with the Zero Waste lifestyle, it's natural to feel frustrated along the way (as I have described here). You even come to wish you did not know as much as you do. It's a common feeling that we all share on our road to Zero. It certainly affected me at one point, but rest assured that with commitment, these frustrations subside.

Here are 5 ways that I found to remedy depression caused by environmental awareness:

1. Retrain your eye. When I started paying attention to waste, I started noticing all the trashy practices around me (the negative). Today, I have learned to focus on the bright side; to pay attention to the solutions (positive). I don't look for disposable cups in people hands, I look for the reusable ones being carried. I don't look at the plastic bag of potatoes in the produce aisle (ugh), I look at the beautiful pile of loose ones (ahh). 
2. Have a good sense of humor. I was recently invited to a sustainable event.  They served wine in disposable plastic cups and after a long day of work, I was dying for that drink. Five years ago, I would have whined about the plastic cup. Today, I enjoy the challenge of finding a solution on the spot. Ironically, I noticed that flowers were drinking out of glass jars (vases), people out of plastic ones. I took a vase and someone's used plastic cup,  and after a little hand-washing at the bathroom sink, my problem was solved - and I was a happy camper with a glass of wine in hand...
3. Live by example/Walk the talk. I felt angry at the world when I considered the environmental problems to be irreversible and my actions to be too small to make a difference. But once I had a system in place to tackle our waste as much as possible, we became part of the solution and frustrations slowly went away to make room for peace. I stopped worrying about what other people do, and started only worrying about my own actions. Not only is the Zero Waste lifestyle good for the environment, it makes you feel good about what you do, knowing that every purchase, every decision is thought out and every time you shop with reusables your actions are noticed by others and may inspire change. 
4. Let your voice be heard. I can't say it loud and clear enough: Accepting is condoning. When we partake in an unsustainable practice without taking action against it, we not only get frustrated but we also perpetuate the wasteful method and silently ask for more, which then leads to more frustration! And with the frustration locked up inside us, negativity inevitably starts eating us up (I found this to be particularly true of relationships, but to also be true in this case). Today, I speak up and effectively address these issues on the spot. Taking action (see active discards) and demanding change turns the problem back at its originators, clearing my head of negative thoughts and making room for positive ones! 
5. Get out more and hug someone (or as a default, hug a tree). There is nothing better for me to de-stress, renew my energy (get rid of the negative one), than to take a walk outside (which I have permanently scheduled into my weekly planner) or hug my family. Can't get enough of either. It's as simple as that.

What helps you beat the depression that comes from environmental awareness?

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Greener Living—Taught To Me By Cockroaches! : Living Green Magazine

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Humane Connection: Beyond Green: Tips for Bringing Humane Choices to Your Office

Humane Connection: Beyond Green: Tips for Bringing Humane Choices to Your Office:

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Image courtesy of OfficeNow.

You’re making positive changes in your life at home in support of a compassionate, healthy, sustainable, just world, and now you’d like to extend your circle of humane choices to your work place. Easy, right? ‘Cause everyone wants a humane world! Actually, not so easy. At work you have to deal with the potentially-conflicting values, knowledge and practices of co-workers, company policies and long-standing traditions of “That’s how we’ve always done it!” and other potential hurdles.

Roberto Giannicola, IHE graduate and founder of Provokare Presentations, an organization that helps businesses and their employees make more socially-responsible choices, says,

“For a company to be socially responsible, and not fall in the “greenwasher” category, then every member of the organization or company needs to begin to act as a socially responsible person. And being responsible goes beyond recycling the can of soda or reducing paper usage, it means learning about how our lifestyle impacts people, animals and the world, and how we can choose to change that.”

Here are 15 general tips for helping you inspire humane choices at your place of work:

1. Start with your own circle of control. What can you affect in your daily work life? Can you bike to work? Recycle all your waste? Find creative ways to reuse supplies? Bring cruelty-free personal products? Wear snazzy work clothes purchased at a thrift store? Bring your own tasty, organic vegan lunch (with a bit extra to share)? Model what’s possible to others.
2. Share your humane messages in a compassionate, subtle way. If nothing else, you can share bits of information about your own choices with curious co-workers. If you have your own office or cubicle, you can put up (office-appropriate) posters or other paraphernalia. Is there a general information board where you can place flyers about upcoming humane events in your community, or veg restaurant guides, or tips about choosing fair trade? Look for logical opportunities.
3. Begin with small changes. Recommend veg, organic food from a local business for the next meeting. Host a “zero waste” contest amongst your co-workers (from increasing recycling, to using double-sided copies, to only printing when necessary, to using technology to decrease use of paper, to bringing your own mugs and dinnerware from home, etc.). Bring a guest speaker to talk about investing in socially responsible companies.
4. Find colleagues who share some of the same interests and concerns that you do and team up to work on small changes. Are both of you crazed over the number of plastic water bottles your company uses? Start a campaign to encourage reusable bottles and water filters. Tired of donuts and junk food? Organize a potluck featuring local, vegan, organic food. Want to bring awareness to fair trade? Pitch in together to supply fair trade coffees, teas, sugar, and other products.
5. Increase your knowledge about humane business practices by reading resources such as Cradle to Cradle, Sustainable Industries, and looking for resources such as Sustainable Business and the Rocky Mountain Institute.
6. Examine every aspect of your workplace (not all at once!) and ask yourself how the company’s policies and operations, and the actions and habits of employees, can be tweaked to do the most good and least harm for all people, animals, and the planet. Look for opportunities to introduce positive change a bit at a time. Alternative transportation? Low-tox, cruelty-free office, kitchen, and bathroom supplies?
7. Provide credible data and positive solutions. If you want to replace a product, service, practice, or policy, offer several specific positive alternatives that will meet the need as well or better. If you’re trying to change a company policy, write up a proposal, showing how making certain changes will save time, money, resources, etc. – the sorts of criteria that bring joy to the hearts of managers and CEOs.
8. If your company produces a product or service for citizens to purchase, consider how you can make that product or service more MOGO (Most Good). People are increasingly concerned about the impacts of their choices – and about the practices of the businesses they patronize. If you can provide them with compassionate, sustainable, just alternatives, you could well increase your business.
9. Network with other businesses and community organizations to investigate how you can share resources and collaborate. Can you go together to buy sweatshop-free uniforms? Recycled or tree-free paper? Establish reciprocal business relationships with local/regional companies, so that profits stay in your communities.
10. Be ready for “No.” When co-workers or employers tell you something isn’t possible because of x (it’s too expensive/complicated/time-consuming/radical, etc.), challenge yourself to investigate and develop creative solutions that can facilitate a “Yes.” Pull from the expertise and interests of others to help you.
11. Explore ways that other businesses and employees are bringing the humane philosophy to the workplace and find out which ideas are right for your office. If another business is already doing it successfully, you're more likely to get a "Yes."
12. Volunteer to coordinate a “Humane Office” group to work on steps toward sustainable, just, humane goals.
13. Provide educational opportunities for your co-workers. Initiate discussion courses, such as those available from organizations like the Northwest Earth Institute, (or IHE's own online courses) or start a brown-bag lunch series and invite in local speakers to talk about ways to live a humane life. Be sure there’s sufficient interest among colleagues.
14. Use technology as a strategy for humane choices. Can your next meeting use web conferencing? Is document-sharing or the use of wikis a possibility? How about telecommuting at least part of the week?
15. Remember to keep the journey toward a humane workplace fun and engaging and empowering for everyone.

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Grand Prize Raffle

We are excited to announce that BMX founding member and prominent Goan hotelier, Lucindo Faria, has donated TWO generous holiday stays - a two day stay in Portugal AND a 5 day stay in Goa, including breakfasts.  The winner of either prize has the option of extending their stay at either location for an additional 5 days at a 50% discount off the standard rates.


1) Offer for Two nights complimentary double occupancy stay including Breakfast (for two) at Casa
Shantiniketan, Monte Estoril, Portugal PLUS if required up to additional five days at 50% of rack rate. Website www.casa-shantiniketan.com


2) Offer of Five nights complimentary double occupancy stay including Breakfast (for two) at Palmarinha Resort, Calangute, Goa PLUS if required up to additional five days at 50% of rack rate. 
Website www.Palmarinharesort.com

These prizes, which is valued at several hundred dollars each, will be raffled off to raise funds for the BMX(genY) Toronto Scholarship program for children of local BMXers (see sidebar ---> for details)

The tickets for the raffle will be sold at the picnic only at the rate of :

One ticket for $2; three tickets for $5.

The draw will be held after tea at the end of the EnviroAwards draw.

Save the date - July 14th, 2012

BMX going green - NEW RULES FOR ZERO GARBAGE EVENT

Thanks to your friendly compliance, the BMX Annual Family Picnic has become a premier annual event for BMX Alumni in the GTA.

As a trend-setter, we have also been successful at reducing the waste generated at the event by our Green Initiatives. The Toronto Parks Department has a guide to reduce waste in parks and have recently banned single use water bottles in all facilities, four years after we stopped distributing them. We appreciate your co-operation in reducing garbage by bringing your drinks and snacks in recyclable and reusable containers. We would like to congratulate all who participate.  In appreciation we will award you with ONE Raffle coupon for every reusable utensil used (including kid's - plate, cup, bowl, fork, water-bottle) to win exciting eco-friendly prizes.


PRIZES

• Electronic Photo Frame(s)
• Collapsible leaf barrel with cart
• Folding Stainless Steel clothes dryer
• Wheeled shopping bag
• Collapsible thermal insulated cooler
• Collapsible 5 gallon water container with tap
• 10 steel Green Living waterbottles
• 6 BPA free designer water bottles
• Reusable tote bags

Our 2012 picnic will be the 4th year that we have been promoting our Green Initiatives and we look forward to your continued support. Towards that goal, we will be discouraging single use items (plates, forks, cups, water bottles) in favour of reusable items as well as re-usable water bottles for the sports. We will continue to provide R-O filtered & chilled 5 gallon water stations to refill water bottles and a juice cooler for the kid's lunch.  Adults may bring their own cups too for a refreshing treat at lunch (while supplies last ;)

We are aware that due to extenuating circumstances, not everyone will be able to bring their own re-usable items and we will provide them with compostable utensils for no additional charge. Bringing these back for wet recycling may earn rewards.**

However, for the MEAL SERVICE, we will be offering re-usable plastic plates, stainless steel forks and plastic cups for a donation** of ONE DOLLAR PER ITEM towards the BMXgenY Project. This project funds special community and environmental projects developed by dependent family members of the BMX Alumni. Details of this award and criteria for applications can be found on the BMXgenY Facebook Group Page and in the (right) sidebar of this blog. ------------>

BMX EXCLUSIVE picnic kits are being developed:


PERSONAL KIT for a donation of $5.00 which will include:

1 reusable plastic plate
1 reusable plastic cup

1 reusable steel fork
1 cloth napkin
in a resealable Ziploc freezer bag to stow soiled utensils.
5 Raffle coupons


COUPLE'S KIT for a donation of $10.00 which will include:
2 reusable plastic plates

2 reusable plastic cups

2 reusable steel forks
2 cloth napkins

1 reusable water bottle

1 compostable wet recycling liner

1 compostable paper collection bag

1 resealable Ziploc soiled utensil collection bag

1 reusable cloth BMX 10th Anniversary Souvenir tote
10 Raffle coupons

FAMILY KIT for a donation of $20.00 which will include:
4 reusable plastic plates

4 reusable plastic cups

4 reusable steel forks
4 cloth napkins

2 reusable water bottles

1 compostable wet recycling liner

1 compostable paper collection bag

1 compostable waterproof collection bag

1 clear/blue plastic recycling bag

1 resealable Ziploc soiled utensil collection bag
1 reusable cloth BMX 10th Anniversary Souvenir tote
20 Raffle coupons

**VIP RAFFLE

For those attendees who bring their own plates, forks and cups, we will be awarding them one raffle ticket per utensil which will allow them to win environmentally-friendly prizes from our sponsors and donors. They will also be offered a VIP express service at the meal station and a complimentary soft drink in their own reusable cup.

Bookmark this site (you can follow or subscribe to updates by entering your email address in the email field in the right sidebar) and come back often to see the exciting prizes you can win.

The raffle draw will take place after the Bingo game.

2011 Annual BMX Picnic