Dundarave Festival Celebrates 50 Years of North Shore Search and Rescue with VPG Realty Inc

Canadians are turning their minds these weeks to the importance of people who put everything on the line to keep us safe.  From the harrowing events that have taken place in Montreal and Ottawa, to the enduring power of Remembrance Day holds for our community.  Gratitude is a beautiful thing.

This season, with thanks to the generous support of VPG Realty Inc, the Dundarave Festival is honoured to celebrate the ways the volunteers of North Shore Rescue have for fifty years been there for us in our darkest hours. 

We are blessed to live at the feet of mountains, range upon range of some of the most breathtaking wilderness in the world. 

But our mountains are as unforgiving as they are beautiful.  If we fail to respect them, the consequences can be dire.

"I run the mountain trails that rise up behind West Vancouver, and have done so for my entire adult life," said VPG's Eric Langhjelm.  "I do everything I can to make sure I'm safe.  But when I'm up there in the back country I always think about the vital role North Shore Search and Rescue plays in always being ready for us if and when we need help.  Our community owes them an enormous debt of gratitude."

"The North Shore Rescue has always been about community," said Mike Danks, NSR Team Leader.  "Everyone saw the reality of this at the beginning of the year -- the way everyone rallied around us as we mourned the loss of our leader and inspiration, Tim Jones.  It means so much to us to end the year like this with the Dundarave Festival, because it allows us to celebrate the heart and strength and compassion that are deep in the DNA of our community."

Eric Langhjelm, left, with Mike Danks