Raise a Reader Day 2011!!

For those of you who don't know what Raise a Reader Day is, here's a little background information for you!

Every fall Canucks veterans and newcomers take to the streets of Vancouver to hand out newspapers and pose for photos with smiling fans. Today, they were all at it again with the Vancouver Sun in hand, with all proceeds going towards literacy programs on Raise a Reader Day!  You can get a picture taken or autograph from them in exchange for a donation.  A toonie is usually suggested.

So I didn't sleep a wink last night cause I was so excited to be meeting my Canucks.  Left the house at 6:30am and got downtown by 7:30am.  I was hoping for a Canuck to be stationed out at Burrard Skytrain but there were only the "red shirt' volunteers.  No Canucks.  So I made my way up Burrard and Georgia where Bob Lenarduzzi and Victor de Bonis were handing out papers on one side of the street, and another group of Spike the Mascot, Jordan Harvey, Joe Cannon and Carl Valentine were handing out papers opposite them.  I didn't get pics done with Lenarduzzi and de Bonis as they were busy being interviewed for the news so I walked across the street to the other group and bought a paper and had my pic taken with them. I finally got a picture with the elusive Spike!! Couldn't find the dang bird anywhere at Empire! Woots!!

Please keep in mind that all these athletes are at least 6 feet tall or over and I am not even close.  The sad part is that I am wearing boots with heels in these pics. :(

My next plan was to find out where all the Canucks were hiding.  So I crossed the street and headed down W.Georgia towards the Art Gallery where I ran into Joey Kenward, who does all the Canuck interviews on Canucks.com since Kristen Reid left.  I asked him where I could find Ryan Kesler.  He said he had no clue and that they were looking for him as well. So I kept walking on towards Granville where I passed Darcy Rota and kept going towards a huge crowd forming outside of London Drugs.  This is where I found Ryan Kesler.  He had a huge lineup and for a donation you could take a pic and get an autograph from him.  The front page story of the Vancouver Sun this morning was featuring Kesler and his family as well so it was a no brainer to get him to sign it for me.  The line took about 20 mins and it was awesome.  Such a sweet guy...he did all the poses the girls wanted and was just awesome with the crowd.  Luv this guy!

Once I was done with Kesler, I went back and got a pic done with Darcy Rota!! Jeez....I honestly didn't think the man was still alive!!  He's such an awesome guy...shook his hand and he autographed the newspaper for me and took a pic with me.

After this, I headed towards Robson cause I know sometimes they are at the Starbucks too by Thurlow.  As I was walking down there I ran into the Vancouver Giants volunteers who I stopped to talk to and they were asking if I had seen any Canucks yet...I told them about Kesler and Rota.  One of the volunteers then suggested I head over to the Burrard Skytrain Station cause he had seen two of them there!  I first walked across the street to get a pic with the Vancouver Giants Mascot and then headed to Burrard Skytrain Station.

As I was walking back towards the skytrain station, I was wondering who the two Canucks could be?  As I got closer, I saw it was Mason Raymond and Steve Pinizzotto!!  Of course!! All the Canucks out today were on the injured list...lol.  The line was short so that told me that they had just got there as they weren't there when I had first shown up at 7:30am.  It was now 8:30am.  Mason is soooooo sweet....he autographed my newspaper and then I turned to Pinizzotto and welcomed him to Vancouver and to the team..he smiled and said "Thanks!".  He also signed my newspaper and then we took a pic together. It was sweet. :)

At this point, I was getting hungry as I hadn't had any breakfast as of yet. The Foodbank had set up in front of the Art Gallery and were hosting an organic breakfast by donation.  So I went in, donated, received a little green reusable bag from a volunteer and then received a vanilla chai tea drink box, three different types of granola bars (which I still have in my bag), an expresso donut and a coffee....they had cereals and yogurts too but I wasn't interested in it. I sat at the fountain and ate my food in peace.  I watched the crowds walk down W.Georgia as I ate.  When my tummy was full, I headed down towards Coal Harbour and chilled out there for bit and then met up with friends from work.  It was a great way to spend my morning. :)