Greens and Beans Deli got a buzz out of its big win the New West Pride Week window display contest.
At the recent New West Pride Fest street festival, Greens and Beans was awarded top spot in the annual Pride Week window display contest, with Brick & Mortar Living placing second and Grand Central Consignment taking third. The winning window received $250 for the charity of its choice, and Greens and Beans will donate its winnings to the Royal City Humane Society.
Leona Green recruited some friends to help decorate the Sapperton eatery for New West Pride Week. Along with rainbow-coloured streamers, a rainbow balloon and a LOVE sign in the front window, interior tables were adorned with rainbow-coloured tablecloths and matching flowers.
The pièce de résistance was a single-seat SOLO electric vehicle that was parked out front, featuring colourful artwork by artist Joe Average. The car, supplied by Electra Meccanica, is covered in colourful bees and features many colours of the rainbow.
“People are getting out of their cars and taking pictures with it,” Green said. “It’s really good for our business too. It brings more people here.”
Last summer, Green and her son Matt became the first customers to take home an Electra Meccanica SOLO, a three-wheeled vehicle made in the Lower Mainland. They’d seen one of the vehicle's prototypes being driven around town, as one of the company's production facilities is in New Westminster.
Green contacted the company to inquire whether it had a rainbow-themed SOLO and learned about the Joe Average car. The Greens’ green SOLO can often be spotted parked in front of the restaurant on East Columbia Street.
“We are good ambassadors for them,” she told the Record before judging took place. “They said yes right away and brought the car right down. It’s out front and it’s getting so much attention.”
Like Greens and Beans' donation to charity, the Joe Average car is also raising money for a good cause.
“It was auctioned off and it got $28,000. The money was all donated to A Loving Spoonful, which is the charity that helps people with AIDS,” Green said of the charity that provides free, nutritious meals to people living with HIV/AIDS in Greater Vancouver. “The person who won the car donated it back, so they could auction it off again. Isn’t that nice?”
