It's that time of year again and hopefully the weather can hold off so that all the little kids can get out and enjoy Halloween. 

This Saturday October 25th is the annual Cloverdale Halloween Costume Parade and Pumpkin Power. The festivities start at noon and run until 3pm. At 2:00pm they do a big group photo of all the kiddies in front of the Surrey Museum and Plaza. Then they group off and head to various areas of the downtown Cloverdale core lead by volunteers. A large majority of the local Cloverdale vendors participate and hand out treats for the Cloverdale Halloween Costume Parade.

Every year the Bettina Reid Group tries to help out if we can and represent our local HomeLife office. This year you can come out and see us handing out candy in the square next to Malary's Fashions on 176th St. The Cloverdale Halloween Costume Parade is always a lot of fun getting to see the cute costumes the kids dress up in....or that their parents have subjected them to. :)

Check out this quick clip of the cutest costume and its so easy to make: LED stick-man costume

We look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Diwali to all of our Sikh, Jain and Hindu, clients and friends.

Diwali is The Festival of Lights celebrated every year around this time. It is one of the biggest Hindi festivals of the year. Hindus celebrate this with their friends and families by lighting candles and firecrackers.

Sikhs celebrate in much the same way with their friends and family by lighting oil lamps and reading Sikh holy Texts.

I have never heard of Jain's, but they also celebrate in much the same way, lighting oil lamps, fasting and participating in charity events. 

All 3 celebrate very similarily and the children I think enjoy the many sweets along with the beautiful lights during the Festival of Lights. 

The Festival of Lights symbolize light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over darkness.

Every year I tell my family I support my clients and the community we live in by decorating my home for the Christmas holidays on November 1 in support of the Festival of Lights. Why not, gives me a reason to share in such a beautiful festival and to decorate early. :)

Having grown up in a poor family, there were many times where my family had to lean on our local food bank in order to eat. So, I can appreciate the need to donate to the food banks in your community year round and challenge everyone if they can... to do so.

But I never really thought about donating some of the things that I read about in an article that was originally posted back in December likely for the holiday food drives and then recently reposted on facebook. Whenever I shop for our Office Christmas Families I always think of just about everything one would need...but I realize I have forgotten some of the little things that I read about in this article.

The article mentions that Food Banks rarely request some of these items because items like Peanut butter, baby food, cereal,and canned goods are usually the most needed items...But that doesn't mean they don't need other items.

Some great items in the list were feminine products, toiletries, more importantly baby toiletries, crackers and spices. I don't think I have ever donated spices....but what a great and inexpensive item to donate. Something I will consider when putting together Christmas Hampres this year. 

To read the article click on the following link:

10 Things Food Banks Need But Won't Ask For

Food Banks need our donations year round, not just during the holidays. To donate to your local Food Bank visit the following links:

Surrey  serving Surrey, Cloverdale and North Delta

South Surrey/White Rock

Langley

Greater Vancouver serving many communities

It's that time of year again, summer is over and now that fall is here the weather is starting to change. It won't be long before the days are cool enough to need to start up the furnace for the 1st time in months. Which makes it a perfect time to be sure that it will actually start up by getting it cleaned. While you are getting your furnace cleaned it might be a good idea to have your gutters and roof cleaned too before the rain begins. 

Bob Vila offers some great Fall maintenance tips to ensure your home stays in tip top shape.  Visit the following link to see what great advice he offers:

Home Maintenance Tips

 

Happy Thanksgiving from All of Us at the Bettina Reid Group!

Getting ready to head out for dinner with my Aunt and her family, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for. Very thankful to have such a great family to spend the holidays with, looking forward to it. 

More importantly I am thankful for having such an amazing husband, two beautiful daughters, a career I love and such a wonderful team to work with me. I am healthy and happy than I have ever been and I really do have so much to be thankful for. I hope that everyone has had the oppportunity to share some time with family and friends at some point this weekend. 

Below is a photo of the beautiful fall colours that you can find back east at this time of year...always one of my favourite things about Thanksgiving is getting to see the Fall Colours. If you haven't been to central or eastern Canada it should definitely be on your bucket list of places to see. 

I think all parents in BC are looking forward to the first day of School more than ever before! Certainly strange to be saying Happy First Day of Fall and Back to School in the same sentence. But we are all Happy kids are back in School tomorrow and look forward to a good year going forward!

Happy Fall and Happy first Day of School from all of us at The Bettina Reid Group!