A flurry of history buffs will soon be descending upon Powell River.
Between May 5 and 8, the Powell River Historical Museum and Archives will host the annual conference of the BC Historical Federation (BCHF), with support and collaboration from the Townsite Heritage Society, the Texada Island Heritage Society, Powell River Geneology, and the City of Powell River.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us all,” says museum coordinator Teedie Kagume. “We’ve been preparing for almost two years, to showcase our town to delegates from all over the province. There’s so much about this area that people don’t know.” Read more »
It is with great pleasure to announce that the Powell River Regional District is taking another step towards creating a more sustainble community with the induction of a Waste Management Eduction Program. Coco Hess and Abby McLennan, through BHC Consulting, have been awarded the contract and are happy to declare that they will be planting the seed to inaugurate a zero waste initiative. Through working with the Regional District and local community, they aspire to be instrumental players in introducing and advancing solid waste management planning in our community. The first phase of this program is to create an educational plan which will then lead to the delivery of the proposed plan in phase two, scheduled to kick-off later this spring.
The proposed education campaign will focus on multiple targets, via various mediums and will be visual, distinctive, and fun for the community to get behind. Promotion of waste reduction and reuse will be the primary targets. Waste reduction (or prevention) is the preferred approach to waste management because waste that never gets created doesn't have waste management costs!
Some ideas for our plan so far include:
* The creation of a well maintained waste management education website
* A local Compost Education Centre
* A waste management Resource Guide
Joining Abby and Coco in this endeavor are three rats, who together have formed the Let's Talk Trash Team. This team will be spearheaded by the rats who love to talk trash and who's mission is to develop and deliver sustainable waste management strategies to lead us down the road to zero waste.
Taking part in this mission to reduce the waste that you generate is a long, hard, lifelong effort. Join the team today by starting to re-thinking your purchasing decisions. Can you reduce or reuse items that would otherwise be destined to the landfill by making an alternative choice? Read more »
by yazmin
Paddling for Life Society, a non-profit society with registered-charity status, will host the 2010 Sunshine Coast Final Fling Dragon-Boat Festival at Mowat Bay, on Saturday, Sept, 25, 2010.
Last year, when our team of breast-cancer survivors and supporters attended the annual event at Garden Bay, we agreed to host this year’s regatta in Powell River. The Dragon-Boat movement for breast cancer survivors in BC began in 1996 and there are now hundreds of teams holding festivals and regattas throughout the province. We are supported in this new venture by the Pearl Warriors, a mixed team of men and women who paddle alongside us at Powell Lake. This event is not just for breast cancer survivors—all paddling teams are welcome. The regatta begins at 11 a.m. Saturday morning and will finish about 3 p.m. The bay will come alive with the sounds of race horns, cheering, and drumming. Paddling for Life, the Pearl Warriors from Powell River, and four Sunshine Coast teams, with their supporters, will converge on the race site. “The Final Fling” is the last festival of the season for most Sunshine Coast teams. There will be food vendors onsite, a silent auction, a raffle, an awards ceremony and lots more excitement to round out the day. A 42-feet-long dragon boat carries 20 paddlers, a steersperson, and a drummer or caller. Its prime directive is to paddle in complete unison. It is not always the strongest team that wins, but the one that is best able to work together. “One boat—one paddle” is a dragon boat’s mantra. Read more »
by Brenda
The voters in the Regional District responded July 17 to Powell River’s desperate need for a shelter for homeless, abused and injured animals. The present situation requires volunteers to pre-empt their own lives in order to take calls, make calls, pick up and deliver, and search for kind-hearted people willing to take in a homeless or unwanted dog or cat (and many other critters!) and foster that animal until a suitable home can be found. Many many volunteers work very hard, giving of their free time and resources, to ensure that Powell River’s innocent creatures are cared for in the best way possible. There is a new SCPA shelter waiting in the wings, however, since funding for operating expenses was dependent on the July referendum.
Specifying an annual $75,000 contribution towards the operation of this new shelter, the referendum resulted in a landslide victory for animals in need. Shared by residents of Powell River and surrounding electoral areas, that amount comes to an estimated cost of $5.00 per year for the average residential property. This is a nominal amount of money for each of us to pay—less than the cost of a latte, an inexpensive bottle of wine, a package of cigarettes, a dinner out or a bag of dog kibble.... We will soon have an SPCA shelter in Powell River! Woofs of joy and thank-mew for your vote!
Powell River’s Hot Summer Night Market is back for a third season with a new mix of goods to Willingdon Beach every Thursday, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, until August 26. That’s nine weeks of eclectic local shopping you can’t find anywhere else!
Local textile artist Amber Friedman stepped up to the plate as Coordinator this year. Amber has worked with the New Brunswick Crafts Council as festival coordinator as well as coordinating arts events for Fredericton’s New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.
“I’m so excited the market has started,” says Amber. “We have new vendors, more good musicians and longer hours this year. This summer’s success is not just the joy of finding amazing local products. The Night Market is also a great place to visit with your neighbors, enjoy talented musicians, watch the famous Powell River sunsets and do some hula-hooping! Please come out and support your community.”
Vendors back for a return engagement include Moe’s Kitchen, with yummy home cookin’ and fruity juices; one-of-a-kind ceramics and jewelry from Funktifyd Creations; Kissing Fish Studio, art & photography by Powell River artist Mischa Brooks-Thoma; hand-dyed and handspun yarns by Danika Reeve of Spinswim Studio; unique tie-dyed and silkscreened fashions from International Fabric; beautiful pottery by Brenda Neall of Down-to-Earth Clayworks; and the faithful and fabulous Doreen with her table of treasures with all of her proceeds going to support the Powell River soup kitchen.
New regular vendors this year include Velma Richmond and her natural soaps; the Lund Farmers’ Co-op with fresh produce; Periwinkle Granary with fresh pasta, milled flours and muffin mixes, and the CHPPPR (Community Heritage Publishing Project Powell River) partners with some of Powell River’s first totally local books!. Read more »
Get ready! Powell River’s 50-Mile Challenge group is planning the second annual Edible Garden Tour for Sunday, August 8, with local gardeners and homesteads showing off the fruits of their labors to the public. Look for details at Thursday’s Night Markets on Willingdon Beach, at the weekend Open Air Market, or at http://pr50.wordpress.com to plot your best route to becoming a guiltless gourmet the 50-mile way. A map and list of gardens and sources of local food will be available a couple of weeks before the big day. Nibble your way through town while meeting friends—what better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon?
by Deb
The Powell River Historical Museum & Archives—a perfect way to learn about Powell River’s history when you’re looking for something cool—or different—to do this summer with the family or out-of-town guests. The displays and extensive archives are open 7 days a week, 9 – 4:30. Guided tours are available on request; we also arrange “museum hunts”—fun and educational for children and adults.
The Sliammon First-Nation display highlights this summer, along with the Billy Goat Smith Cabin and a special display for the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy. Watch for Puppet Shows of historical stories and Sliammon legends. Visit the website at www.powellrivermuseum.ca.
The Museum will take part in the Powell River Centennial celebration, July 30 – Aug.1, in the Townsite. As well as making a point of visiting the Museum during the festivities, look for our special display in Dwight Hall.
Our popular Museum Talks program, involving guest speakers talking about their lives, will recommence in September. Coffee and tea are provided at these free events.
Currently, the Museum is looking for donations of the following items: soccer balls, boots, uniforms, logging boots, old hard hats, and school jackets. Items of local significance are welcome, and we always want to know about photographs that may be of historical interest, too. With your permission, we scan your pictures and then return the originals to you.
Our best-kept secret is the Gift Cupboard, where you will find unique, locally made arts, crafts and books, at great prices.
CHPPPR (Community Heritage Publishing Project Powell River) is about to be born as an initiative of PRESS (Powell River Educational Services Society).
A fund-raising project will soon be rolled out to earn Powell River its very own Espresso Book Machine. The goal? $150,000 by the end of 2010!
Until recently, publishing a Powell River book meant the investment of thousands of dollars and the use of printing, manufacturing, or publishing companies outside Powell River. The summer of 2009 saw the publication of Powell River’s first totally locally made book, the youth-peace-poem anthology Can You hear Peace? This milestone was reached by the Live Poets’ Guild and CMG Printing’s bringing in a perfect-binding machine, which facilitates binding one book at a time, by hand. The ground-breaking Can You Hear Peace? was followed by the publication of Kaimana Wolff’s Bitters and Katje van Loon’s glasstown, using the same method. While a great improvement, this method is labor-intensive and slow, which in turn makes it difficult to produce a cost-effective book.
The discovery of the Espresso Book Machine promised to change all that. “All those years of practising law had to be good for something,” laughs Eva van Loon, who first read about the EBM in a report of a contracts-and-copyright case in a legal newsletter. “At first I thought, Oh-oh, this makes our little publishing initiative obsolete, but as soon as I understood what the EBM does, I realised the real revolution in publishing has begun—and Powell River can be at the head of the change.
Groundworks volunteers have broken some major ground
By Keith MacNiven
To date, we have built a tool shed and fence, prepped the fruit-tree holes, put in paths, and built garden-bed frames.
Now we are laying out the garden, transferring our paper plan to the ground. Once this is complete, we can use the materials that have been donated and collected (seaweed, straw, manure and topsoil) to build up the soil for planting. We’ll also finish the physical infrastructure, such as the compost bins and the prep table and maybe some benches.
This season, the garden will be a work in progress, just like every garden!
The youth are currently out on work-experience placement in the community, busy entering the “real” work force. Some of us top up our hours by coming back to the garden to finish up the remaining tasks.
How can you get involved?
We are going to have regular garden work parties every Friday from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.; so you’re invited to come early, bring a lunch and then dig in!
We could use some more garden tools, such as garden forks, rakes, pitchforks, trowels, etc. We are also looking for strawberry plants. Any extras you have from your spring gardening can be dropped off at the Community Resource Centre.
Thanks to the following people and organisations who have helped us out: Julie Bellian, Diana Wood, David Parkinson, Heinz Becker, Len Menard, Adams Concrete, Rona, Therapeutic Riding, Tanglewood Cedar products, Goat Lake Forest products, Rainbow Valley Feed and Supplies, The Garden Tour committee, Kiwanis Club Of Powell River, Work And Play, and Rachel Hilleran.
Get in touch with us by calling 604-414-4868 or email groundworks.project@gmail.com.
By Sherriff
Just off the Powell River Ferry everything seems normal. I am still not comfortable with the new view over to Hardy Island and Scotch Fir Point going up the big hill. It was always a tunnel through the big trees and seemed, well, safe. Now the trees are completely gone on the ocean side and the full drop down the side of the mountain is exposed and a bit scary.
Ten minutes later, just past where Pete’s toilet with the rubber boots sticking out of the bowl rests on the side of the road, the brake lights ahead
go on and the traffic slows.
On the side of the road is yet another clear-cut. The signs announce the Powell River Canoe Route. There ahead is the reason for the slow-down. It has nothing to do with traffic, but everyone is braking, slowing, and trying to get a better look.
A long banner is being held up by a lot of ladies on the side of the road. The ladies are naked. They look like the ladies in the Dove commercials.
Not twenty years old, or even in their thirties, but middle-to old-aged ladies. I need to know just what would induce seven ladies and two men to strip down in the cold air of March 21st on the side of the road. This isn’t expected in Powell River!
Their banner says “Stripped Bare by Island Timberlands!” Ah, a statement about the clear-cut behind them and all the other clear-cuts in their
region. Even now when lumber is almost worthless on the market, they say the stripping of the trees in the Powell River area continues at full speed.
They tell of the destruction of the Canoe Route, of Horseshoe Creek buried in fallen trees by Island Timberland’s poor logging, and the Provincial
Government’s slack regulations about how much of a buffer zone should be left around creeks. (Apparently no buffer is required on creeks that Read more »