Category: Community
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The orange pill
During the summer of 2021, Fiona was offered a job working as a veterinary assistant at a clinic 50 km away. It was a super opportunity, so I told her she should take it, and she could use my car for the commute. I would use the e-bike. We had bought a Rad Mini in […]
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My friend in Nairobi
Almost a year ago I attended a meeting of local New Denverites who were interested in the idea of sponsoring a refugee family. Out of that meeting, the Slocan Valley Refugee Coalition formed. We opened a bank account and started fund-raising and submitted our “we’re ready!” paperwork in January, requesting to be matched with a family. […]
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Choral festival weekend
Voices West was fantastic, even for Fiona and me, who weren’t directly participating. Two hundred and eighty singers, a performance hall packed with a thousand people, meals and billets and sight-seeing and travelling and meeting new people and finally hearing Kokopelli and Coastal Sound sing live … it was a great weekend. We billeted four […]
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Graduating
Noah is graduating from our tiny k-12 public school. He is the only student in his class who is planning post-secondary studies next year: a couple of others may attend college in the future, but they’re taking gap years to work or upgrade first. There were four graduates on stage this past weekend. Two were […]
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Loss
This spring our community lost four young souls. It was a simple canoe trip home from town that went tragically wrong in water a single degree above freezing. Noah’s graduating class was deeply affected, but this is such a small community that everyone was touched by the grief and loss. Everyone knew these kids. It […]
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Sufferfest Weekend
It’s Kootenay Sufferfest weekend. Chuck is away but the girls and I got involved in volunteering the first day. Fiona and Sophie volunteered as marshalling assistants. Fiona was marshalling up-mountain at the halfway First Aid and Marshalling station. She and I sat right at the snow line with slush falling for 7 hours. Plus it […]
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Music Explorers
Fiona has that gene, the one that instinctively attracts her to young children. How tragic that she’s the one of my children with no younger siblings. However, she makes up for it when she’s out and about: she gravitates to young kids, and they gravitate to her. She’s done a little bit of mother’s helpful […]
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Corazón
Corazón, how we love thee! For parents this youth vocal ensemble is like an insurance plan for the souls of their teenagers. Priceless.
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Graduating
We have Erin home for almost four days. She made the trip back from Montreal for her high school graduation weekend. While she’s been living there this year studying violin and playing in an orchestra, she’s officially still been a student within our local school district, earning credit towards her graduation diploma through independent study […]
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Summit Strings Cuba Concert
Summit Strings began in 2008 when our most senior local violin and viola students began playing ensemble music together on a regular basis. It has evolved as students moved away, moved on, graduated or what-have-you. For a couple of years we had a tight group of five, and they anchored the first half of a […]
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Part way to a squillion
Many of the SVI students and parents took up knitting squares for the Knit-a-Squillion project. We ended up with a few dozen, some still needing completion. We’ll continue to work away at this into the fall and then arrange to mail them off.
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Second market and other bits of news
Quick update from the second market. Despite the dreary weather (cool and raining on and off all day) Fiona sold out her teas again quickly (proceeds: $25, initial investment now recouped), and Sophie, who had taken huge quantities of candy with her, sold almost all of it. Just a couple of lollipops left, one gift […]
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First Market
It was a cool day with a little bit of sun and the first Friday Market of the year was fairly slow. The late spring and cool temperatures have kept the tourists away, and the kids are still in school. Still, business was brisk at the Tea & Sweets stall. Fiona sold out of all […]
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Soccer
Sophie is our only soccer player this year. She hadn’t played in a couple of years but was keen to go out this year. Her team has an awesome coach. They’re actually learning strategic skills, and practicing using them in scrimmages. There’s no league per se. Just one local team for Sophie’s age level. The […]
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Holidays
I slept in this morning! We were up late last night, and today had absolutely nothing scheduled. Last night was the community choir concert. Sophie is doing her first season with the ensemble. Unfortunately she was put in the middle riser so that her sense of pitch could help those in the first row. Which […]