Thursday, October 3, 2024 Zuber Singh 95

Hoops for Hope and Glow-in-the-dark Mural Inauguration Update

A Glowing Past, Present, & Future

We thought to update you on the Hoops for Hope fundraiser we had March 2nd of this year. As you may recall, we were raising money to sponsor our beloved community pillar Danreb Domingo’s team “The South Island Angels” such that they could compete in the Filipino Victoria Basketball League of 2024 before Danreb and his wife Mariyani took off to the Philippines. Our event was a great success and, with a lot of community spirit and good will, we did manage to fundraise some money which went directly to Danreb and towards the Jersey manufacturing costs of the South Island Angels.

Soon after our fundraiser, however, we received some surprising news. It turned out that, due to Danreb’s paperwork processing faster than expected, he had the chance to leave Canada and return to the Philippines much earlier than we foresaw. It meant, however, that he had a chance to be closer to his family which was, of course, delightful news for everybody. In light of this, and with a heavy heart, we said an early goodbye to our dear friend, and with the blessings of our community we sent him off with the proper Victoria farewell that he deserved.

Since then, we’ve received some amazing news! Not only did Danreb compete recently in the Philippines Poblacion Inter-zone basketball league, but with his leadership, his team the Poblacion North managed to blaze through the tournament, finally securing a semi-final slot. Dan is doing wonderfully, and is spending lots of quality time with his dearly missed family and friends. Danreb and Mariyani are also expecting a baby, which was of course the most thrilling news for us all! We’re so happy to see Danreb and Mariyani glow with health, joy, and many successes.

We also wanted to let you know that our state of the art live-edge concrete table was raffled off and we’re pleased to announce that Jonna and the Ate Restaurant team is the recipient of this beautiful piece! Jonna and the team definitely deserve this table, after all their team was so integral and appreciated for our fundraiser.

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Glow-in-the-dark Mural Inauguration

On the subject of company events, we just ended our summer season with an event that was unforgettable! As you may recall, we had our Glow-in-the-dark Mural inauguration this past September 6th. What fun it was! The mural was looking fantastic and, with the backdrop of our shop, it seemed to be glowing even before the sunset hit. Once the LED blacklights shone on the surface, the ethereal green radiance of the art pieces even made our team, who so far had been accustomed to the ongoing project, drop our jaws with a proud, “Wow!”

And the glowing mural wasn’t the only light fixture of the evening, we actually had a variety of colourful lights and lasers interwoven through the shop atmosphere, to the point that it was almost unrecognizable as a workshop, and looked more like a family friendly rave. Not only this, we acquired a smoke machine which acted as a canvas for the projections of lights and lasers, making them play and dance to the tunes. Welcome to Club Lopez!

And the tunes were something else as well! DJ Soleil, a homegrown talent of global renown graced the space with a vivid mix of house and pop music. We were all so floored, literally, on the floor dancing and shaking away in a celebratory mood. We always have massive appreciation for local talent, and DJ Soleil truly embodies that excellence. Though it was our first time meeting with Soleil, we couldn’t help but feel great pride for our own Victoria based brilliance, and we’ll be sure to have him back from future events. If you haven’t already, you can follow Soleil on Instagram and check out his music on Soundcloud here.

Of course, we must throw massive appreciation for our favourite food vendors, Inasal house, who brought the Philippines to our Victoria back compound. Their Filipino style BBQ and their pork dumplings made our mouths water, adding taste and aroma to make for a night of complete sensory delight. Here at Lopez Contracting, we love small local business as much as we love a party, and it was our privilege to conjoin our great passions in such a precious memory. If you’re ever in the Uptown area, we cannot recommend enough that you check out Inasal house and patronize their delicious home-cooked and authentic style bites.

The evening was one filled with laughter and excitement. Outside the compound the children’s faction were enjoying the evening as much as the adults! They were overjoyed for the chance to play basketball using our live-edge basketball hoop, which is displayed suspended above our workshop fence line on the street side. Now, this hoop is much more than just an exhibition of work, it’s completely usable; something the kids were all to eager to try themselves. Soon enough, the adults joined in with a scurry of shoes, the twang of the dribbling ball, and a rhythmic mix of panting and giggles. The joys of the sport, with all ages now participating, quickly added to the beautiful mix.

In the front section, by Inasal’s BBQ kiosk, our guests sat with joy and a mouthful of Inasal and rice, chatting and joking away whilst flurries of action whirled around them. Our beloved friend Luke Connor from Rapt Media was there as well, and he brought an impressive array of cutting edge tech filming gear. Probably the most exciting toy was Luke’s camera mounted drone. As the crew and our guests took aim at and scurried about the basketball hoops, the green light of the drone sped through the air, leaving a trail of wind and awe. Luke’s been so kind to put together a gorgeous video of the night, including drone shots which make us feel just giddy! Check it out below, and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Thank you so much for your time, dear reader. We deeply appreciate your support of our friendly neighbourhood one-stop workshop! We're always glad to be of service, and on behalf of our team we hope to see you soon!