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

Whist Drive 'n' Hop

BMX - Whist Drive Rules

Whist is a game of strategy and can be rather amusing. Whist is a plain trick game, where 4 players, paired off in partners, try to win as many tricks as they can.
Basic Rules:
It is a 4 player game, where there are two fixed partners. Your partner should sit facing you and the game is played clockwise. A standard deck of playing cards, 52, are used in this game. The cards are ranked from highest to lowest A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Dealing:
The shuffle is done by the player to the dealer's left and cut by the person on the right of the dealer. The dealer deals all the cards out, one at a time, until all the players have 13 cards.
How to Play:
The person to the dealer's left plays the first trick. Any card may be played at this time. The rest of the players, in a clockwise direction, plays a card to the trick. Now the players must play the same suit as the card that was led in the trick, if they can. If the player can not play the same suit, you may use/discard any other card. The highest Card in the Suit that was led/played by the opener/starter of the Hand, wins the Trick.
No Trump Game:
In a No-Trump game, the players will follow the same pattern as the process detailed above; in determining the winner of each Trick.
Trump Suit Game:
For a Trump Suit game, the Whist Conductor will declare the Trump Suit, before the that Game commences. In the event that a player does not have in his possession a card from the leading suit, a trump suit card can be played. The Trump Card overrides the other (3) suit cards of any denomination( A…2). This process is followed till all the 4 players complete the Hand. In this case the highest trump would win the Hand. But if no trump card is played (the card determined for that hand of whist by the dealer's last card) then the high card of the suit wins the trick.
Trick:
The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Scoring:
When all 13 tricks have been played, the side which that wins the most # of Tricks in the Game will be recorded on the Score card of each Partner/Player. The Score card has to be initialed by the Opposing Players. In the event that a Players on any table, win more than 10 Tricks, the Score card has to be Approved and signed by a BMX Whist Judges.
Disputes/Errors:
Arbitration of any disputes or errors will be handled by BMX Whist Drive Committee, and shall remain binding and final, immaterial of the outcome.

Disclaimer: Any Rule or Text changes to the above can be solely performed by the BMX Whist Committee. In the event that there are not equal # of Ladies and Gents, we will compensate for the ratio by substitution.

Newsletter August 2010

Once again another year has come around and the BMX 2010 picnic is over. This was a culmination of many com-mittee hours spent in meetings, organizing and planning to give our alumni the very best for the 2010 picnic.
Our rewards were seen in the many participants who at-tended with finesse, joy and enthusiasm. To the many at-tendees who brought along their own plates and cutlery in support of our green theme we say a big “Thank you“. Our aim is to make this picnic 100% green and your interest and compliance in making this world a better place for our chil-dren is gratifying.
Not withstanding the rain, BMX’ers and guests partici-pated in the sports events, danced to the music of Ralph and his crew, and huddled together to play bingo. Kids and seniors alike giggled and laughed as they enjoyed games geared to their age groups.
Many thanks to our sponsors who were also key in bring-ing this event to you.
Winners.- one and all
2010 BMX Picnic
In this 2 page newslet-ter…
-Picnic report -Green tips -Toronto scholarship
- Goa scholarship
- Next Event– Whist Drive
Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce
BYOB ( Bring your own bag!): Re-usable grocery bags greatly reduce the amount of plastic bags go-ing into landfills, and are easily available in most stores. Use them for all your shopping needs!
Toronto Scholarship
BMX Toronto is interested in setting up a local scholarship for children of BMX alumni. A pro-posal has been made to direct this bursary towards a specific goal of encouraging the appli-cant to develop a community project towards which the funding will be directed.
We will be circulating details shortly
Goa Scholarship
Recipients of this award have been named. Congratulations to all.
www.bmx2004.com
Sunday November 21, 2010
Vic Johnston Community Centre 335 Church Street, Streetsville, On
Please keep November 21, 2010 free for a fun BMX Event. The day will include Mass, a meal and snacks, whist and dancing.
JOKE
Why do teachers use a bamboo cane ? Because when the cane goes 'bam' the child goes boo!

BMX Whist cum Hop event, Nov 21st, 2010

Tickets for this event will be available from BMX committee members on a first-come-first-served basis.

Dress Casual '60s; Cash Bar.
Whist participants are limited to 100 players.
Ticket prices:
Whist-cum-hop - $25 (Fabulous prizes, snacks & full buffet Lunch with dessert)
Hop only - $20 (Snacks, Buffet Lunch with dessert)
Dance your hearts out to the music of a Live Band and DJ Mario.