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On January 12 and 28, Great Gatsby! It’s Murder is coming to Kanata, and on February 18 it will be performed in Smith Falls at The Station Theatre. Rachel Paul’s acclaimed comedic play, set in a fantasy flapper era, is filled with glitz, glamour and murder. This absurd whodunnit will have you roaring in your seats and accusing your favourite characters of crimes.
Directed by award-winning Canadian actress Shannon Lawson, this theatrical event is a fundraiser for Operation Come Home’s Homeless Youth Hot Breakfast program and has partnered with the Kanata Legion to raise money for local veterans. Enjoy an evening of laughs and help make your community a better place over the holiday season.
Set in a secret (not-so-secret) speakeasy during the era of underground enterprises, you’ll experience a night of scandals, mystery, and the Charleston. No one is safe at the Shanghai Club, and everyone just stopped by for a glass of Giggle Water.
This incredible show is filled with a star-studded local cast with talents from Kanata, Stittsville, Almonte, Constance Bay, Orleans, Gatineau and Montreal. Paper Picture Productions opened their office door this year, and paired award-winning screenwriter, actress, comedienne and army veteran Rachel Paul to sprinkle a little laughter throughout the community this holiday season.
Will Moxie finally join the mob? Will Sal snatch her man? Will Tony outrun the dames? And will Trixie be able to wrangle her bunch of loveable loons to ultimately save the club from Guido Maroni? Come join the fun and find out!
Premiering at the National Arts Centre, the show sold out its night at the Fourth Stage and will be touring in Smith Falls, Kemptville and Brockville. This production has been a labor of love for all those involved and was honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate with April Pierrot as movement coach, and Steve Vesely as music consultant for the production.
“I believe that art is the connective tissue of community”, says Arya Landers, Artistic Director of Paper Picture Productions and co-producer of Great Gatsby! It’s Murder. “We thrive both individually and collectively when we come together to celebrate, commune and discover the beauty of our stories, both past and present. That is why I love the theatre. It is the heart of our community that reflects the challenges, the hopes and the dreams that we all carry. That belief is at the core of Paper Picture Productions’ theatrical shows. Each is to be a fundraiser for our neighbours who need a little extra helping hand this season and the next.”
Rachel Paul, writer and co-producer, explains: “My grandfather (a vaudevillian performer and fundraiser showman) inspires me, and is why I created these benefit shows.”
Tickets are available at Eventbrite and also from <paperpictureproductions.com>. Limited and exclusive VIP passes are also available for each show. Come dressed in flapper attire and ring in the New Year with the hottest show in town that will leave you and your loved ones saying “Wowza!”
Take a step in your lifelong learning journey and check out the Carleton Place Toastmasters Club. Our next Open House is scheduled for Thursday, January 26 at 7pm on Zoom. For more information, contact <carletonplacetoastmasters@gmail.com> or visit our Facebook page.
The Christmas parties are over and you stumbled through a toast to a co-worker; you thought you could have done better. It’s a new year now — a fresh start — and perhaps one of your New Year’s resolutions is self-improvement.
Now is a good time to sit in on a Toastmaster’s meeting to learn more about the bene?ts to improving your public speaking and leadership skills.
A non-pro?t educational organization, Toastmasters teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Carleton Place Toastmasters is just one club, nestled in the Ottawa Valley, and is open to anyone in the region and beyond.
A signi?cant bene?t of the Toastmasters experience is its educational program. Pathways learning experience is a multi-language online learning tool allowing members to leverage over 300 practical workplace skills including interview preparation, online meeting management, leadership development, project management and con?ict resolution.
Members of the Carleton Place Toastmasters Club meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, currently on Zoom, making it accessible to anyone with a computer. Also, the fact that it is a small club makes it a great introduction to Toastmasters for those with the common phobia of public speaking.
Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more con?dent speakers, communicators and leaders. Peers helping peers. We are all learning from one-another through valuable and constructive feedback and by helping to run the meetings.
It is free to attend up to three meetings, then there is a small annual fee to be a member and bene?t from the Pathways program and events. Skills developed in Toastmasters can bene?t all areas of our lives.
Perth Community Choir is thrilled that their fall 2022 production is finally going it hit the stage — if a little later than expected! The cast and orchestra have been working since September, and unfortunately had to reschedule due to circumstances beyond their control.
Anne of Green Gables, The Musical is a retelling of the classic Lucy Maude Mongomery novel of the same name. The story centres on orphan Anne (with an “e”) who ends up placed with siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. The only problem is that the Cuthberts are looking for a boy… Anne manages to entertain, concern, and finally charm both the Cuthberts and the small community of Avonlea.
Perth Community Choir veteran Willow Hanlon is playing the title role of Anne in the production, and will be sharing the stage with Vicki Bassett (Marilla) and Mike Fletcher (Matthew). The cast of approximately 60 ranges in age from 7 to a cast member who has been performing with the group since their first shows in the early 1980s.
Alex Guerin (musical director) heads the orchestra of 12 talented local musicians. Chris Angel and Ron Cosens are co-directing, and Kristen Widenmaier is acting as both the choreographer and choral director.
The cast and crew look forward to seeing you at the Mason Auditorium at Perth and District Collegiate Institute from January 26–29. Performances with be at 7pm Thursday through Saturday, with 2pm matinées on both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available through Tickets Please (ticketsplease.ca or by calling 485–6434) and limited numbers may be available at the door. Purchasing tickets ahead is strongly recommended as the last three PCC productions sold out quickly!
So there I sat in December trying to write scintillating messages in Christmas cards (yes, I still do that, but not the fifty or so I did at one time), and it all sounded pretty trite. Except for the chainsaw course, still a highlight, all I had to add was that I took up basket weaving in the summer. Lordy, that caused so much excitement you should all sit down and have tea. “Basket weaving? Really??” I’m sure my far-off friends will think I’ve tipped over the edge.
I’m going to make a concerted effort this year to have significant events to write in those cards. Already the birdhouse auction is gearing up. After raising considerable funds for the Land Trust last year, we’re eager to try it again. I’ve got a house ready to go right now. That could be Event Number One covered.
If I can pull myself away from the allure of the snow shovel for a while, I am going to document our woods in winter. We walk there daily, but often forget the seasonal beauty. We have a glorious video of our woods in the fall, a half-hour walk filmed for the Ontario Woodlot Owners Association, and it would be fun to retrace those trails in winter. Maybe I could even learn how to edit the thing when it’s done. Event Two.
That should get us to spring. Our dear old lawn tractor died in November, a testament to quality equipment that gave out after only 28 years. So we’ll have to hit the garden centres and kick tires to buy a new one. It’s a bigger deal that a simple purchase, because every new piece of equipment comes with a learning curve on operation. I consider manuals excellent bedtime reading, so it’ll take me a while to absorb every nuance of a new machine. By the time I get it all in order, Alan will have jumped on it, turned the key and have half the lawn mown. Event Three.
Wouldn’t it be grand to plan a summer trip farther afield than Kinburn? There could be research, hotel reservations, and even a few days away from our fur babies to go to theatres, restaurants and more. Oh, I mustn’t get carried away here. But wouldn’t it make fodder for those cards?
But for now, we need to settle in to enjoy the moments we have in front of us to simply relax by our woodstove, read a few good books, maybe tackle a new knitting project, and reflect on the good year that is behind us. We can watch the squirrels and birds from the comfort of our cozy living room, being on constant door duty letting the dogs in and out. We have given up a few of our old activities in exchange for some new ones, and we find we are content at home, especially in the evenings when the dark descends early. We are grateful for our friends and our neighbours who look out for us, for our reliable snow-plowing farmer who keeps our driveway clear, and for our internet that connects us to everything.
We take none of this for granted, and daily remark on our good fortune to be able to live where we do, in peace and warmth when the news conspires to rain down gloom and doom on our little parade. However, we’ll march forward into the New Year, beating our little drum of Pollyanna happiness, and hope it’s heard loud enough to provide the much needed Christmas card messages next December.
While visiting my parents over the holidays, I was bundled-up and reading in the garage next to a fair-sized stack of books I’d just picked up at a library used book sale. Dad, who doesn’t like clutter on his work bench, said to me, “What are you doing with all those books?
“Readin’ ‘em,” I told him.
He crinkled his brows. “Don’t you think you have enough books?” “No,” I said. “Never.”
I might have added that come the new year I’ll be adding many more to my collection too. But Dad’s not a big reader. He wouldn’t have understood.
Anyhow, that conversation got me thinking about which authors have books coming out in 2023 — and of course, unabashed bibliophile that I am, I got excited about that. So I did a bit of digging, and that got me quite a bit more excited, frankly, because it turns out that — for my fellow book lovers, at least — there’s quite a bit to look forward to in the new year.
I’ll start with a book that comes out in January: Prince Harry’s highly anticipated memoir Spare. Now this is a book that won’t likely appeal to anyone who isn’t a fan of the British Royal family, but for those who are it’s surely a must-read. I wouldn’t normally be interested in any book about the Royal family, frankly, but this one intrigues even me, because here’s the thing: it’s written by a man who clearly wanted nothing to do, in the end, with that family. And by all accounts, he’s told things as they were, and as they are — the book is being talked about for its “raw, unflinching honesty” and its “unsparing glimpse” of life behind castle walls.
That’s where part of my interest in this book lies — with how young Prince Harry grieved the tragic death of his mother, and how he chose (as much as one really can) to live his life after that. In this sense, Spare strikes me as very much the story of a grieving young man, and how he found love in the aftermath. And how this young man managed to stay sane while very publicly breaking free of a life he clearly no longer wanted to be a part of. That’s a story many can relate to. Spare hits bookshelves everywhere on January 10.
Internationally acclaimed Canadian novelist Alissa York returns with her latest book, Far Cry, a meticulously crafted, deeply moving mystery set in a small west coast fishing village. The novel, York’s fifth, has received high praise from other fine writers for immersing its readers in the tumultuous early years of Canada’s west coast fisheries, chronicling the life of days gone by with exacting, convincing and beautiful detail — this seaside story serves as an elegy to the natural world, now so changed. York handles a mystery like the best of them, with a powerful, tragic conclusion revealed only in the novel’s shocking final pages. Now that sounds electrifying — and in the hands of one of Canada’s finest writers, I’ve no doubt it will be. York’s latest is written so beautifully and viscerally, with such authority and magic, one reviewer said, that you could all but smell the sea. That sealed it for me. Far Cry comes out on February 28.
Fans of Margaret Atwood, perhaps Canada’s most visionary writer, will be thrilled to hear she will have a new book out in March. Old Babes in the Wood, it’s called — a collection of fifteen extraordinary short stories (some of which appeared in The New Yorker and New York Magazine) that “explore the full warp and weft of experience, speaking to our unique times with Atwood’s characteristic insight, wit, and intellect.” The short story Old Babes in the Wood was published in the April and May 2021 issues of The New Yorker, and you can hunt that one down if you’re pining for an excellent sample from the collection. This book marks Atwood’s first return to short fiction since her 2014 collection Stone Mattress. You can buy Old Babes in the Wood at your favourite local indie bookstore on March 7. Trust me, they’ll have lots of copies.
It has been said that we have a duty to honour our friends and loved ones who have passed. With that in mind, it is a difficult privilege for me to write that, in April, Biblioasis will be publishing Steven Heighton’s short story collection Instructions for the Drowning. Ginger Pharand, Steve’s partner and literary and music executor, edited the book with John Metcalf and says there are stories in this collection that rank among the best Steve ever produced. That is saying something, since Steve was widely considered to be one of the best short story writers of his generation, by his peers and critics alike. “To say Heighton is an immensely talented writer is true enough but insufficient… Heighton is as good a writer as Canada has ever produced,” author Jeet Heer wrote in the National Post in 2012. Many believed his short stories were as good as the fiction of Alice Munro and Mavis Gallant.
On a personal note: Steve was a good friend of mine, and I miss him dearly. When I buy my copy of Instructions for the Drowning at my local indie, it will be with tremendous gratitude but also with some sadness. Why? Because Steve will not pop by my home to personally inscribe it for me, as with previous books. I would very much like it if he could; I would, of course, give anything for that to happen. Still, Steve truly was a magnificently gifted writer, and it will be an immense privilege to inhabit the worlds of these “new” characters he created — I will be thankful for all the gifts he left for us to savour.
I’m also very much looking forward to reading Maggie Smith’s memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful (April 11), Salman Rushdie’s latest literary fantasy Victory City (February 7), Snow Road Station (April 11) by Elizabeth Hay, and Hang the Moon (March 28), a new novel by Jeanette Walls.
Talk to your local bookseller about all the great new books coming out in 2023. There are many, many more. I wish you all happy reading in the new year!
Art… and Soul
And that’s a good thing at Hounds of The Hood Studio at Carolyne Buchanan’s art-festooned home in Carleton Place. This multitalented artist has a mission — to popularize “dog art” to the status of “real art.” On Carolyne’s canvasses, it definitely is.
Why do we tend to dismiss dog portraits as less “real” than portraits of people? For many wo/men, their dog is easily their best friend. Over time their pets’ expressions communicate as effectively as words, and they are never as hurtful. In her studio Carolyne displays a poster that quotes renowned animal activist and author Roger Caras: “Some of our greatest historical and artistic treasures we place with curators in museums; others we take for walks.”
Carolyne’s dog portraits are so successful that viewers have told her they were inspired to become a dog lover as a result of seeing one of her paintings. She cherishes numerous times when recipients of her commissioned portraits burst into happy tears when they received their painting. One family reported that their children go downstairs to say “goodnight” to the portrait of their recently demised pet.
Even her occasional cow and cat portraits seduce the observer to want to get to know them better. Buchanan creates art “…to record what I love, what I want to remember, and what I want to share. My acrylic paintings explore subjects that evoke happiness. I believe happy art can transplant the viewer into that same mind space. Few things make me as happy as animals, especially dogs. I paint animals for the people who love them and for those who don’t know they do yet.”
The bond between her and her current rescue dog (her second) is obvious both in her art and in her conversation. She assures me that she feels the same way about her wonderful husband and two accomplished daughters, but it is dogs that are her muse and on whose behalf she donates enormous amounts of time, talent and energy.
Those Who Can — Teach!
Buchanan can draw, sculpt, paint, illustrate anything. Her creativity is evident everywhere in her home where her artworks radiate happiness everywhere you look. She has an illustrated book near completion. A tryptic of her dog paintings has just appeared in a movie. Many of her dog paintings adorn the walls at Head Office Ottawa, where pets are welcome to keep their owners company while they work. Her sketch book is bulging with creative concepts waiting their turn to be rendered in acrylics or remain as fast sketches to inspire future art.
Although she paints with her dominant left hand, she starts her fast sketches with her right hand. She astonishes me when she shows me how she challenges students in her artistic creativity classes. By splattering several dots on a blank sheet of paper, or dabbing a few spots on a page with a brush, or dropping a string onto a page, she demonstrates how she can visualize a dog face or form from the random splotches. It was amazing to watch, and I felt a real urge to test my own creative spontaneity.
Originally from Ottawa, when they started their family Carolyne and her husband chose their house in Carleton Place because it had a three-car garage and a yard suitable for gardening. Once her two daughters were in school, she accepted an invitation to teach French in a primary school as an educational assistant. Her English-speaking father had insisted his children learn their mother’s first language. Eventually she spent twelve years teaching French at Kanata Montessori school where she thoroughly enjoyed the academic atmosphere of respect, positivity and creativity.
Creativity is her hallmark, and combined with her energetic approach to everything (she ran in the Toronto Marathon at the age of 47), it’s hardly surprising that five years ago she decided to acquire a Fine Arts Diploma from the Ottawa School of Art. She had her first solo show in September of 2021, and her works are currently on display until January 17 at the OSA’s Lee Matasi Gallery in the ByWard Market in Ottawa. Her comment about her experience at OSA pays an enormous tribute to her mentors: “I went in a painter, and I came out an artist.”
Once the family inherited their first dog, Miss Flossy, from her daughter’s cello teacher, dogs became even more entrenched as her favourite subject. She now pampers and adores Jolene, another rescue dog who won her heart in spite of starting out as an insanely active pointer puppy. Some of Carolyne’s time is spent contributing to activities that raise awareness and support for needy dogs. In the summer of 2019 she organized and executed a fundraising campaign and show called the Dog Days of Summer. A quarter of the proceeds were donated to dog rescue organizations in the area. Last month she did live painting at Santapaws, a show and fundraiser for Sit With Me Dog Rescue, and she has done live sketches at Barket, a dog day celebration in September in the ByWard Market, for three years in a row.
If you suffer from the post-holiday winter blahs, consider Carolyne’s invitation to “Come pursue and collect creative inspiration and techniques for a fearless creative practice! Come find the creative child you grew out of!” Check out her Sketchbook Hound creativity classes at <carolynebuchananart.com/upcoming-classes> — it will be a stimulating way to recharge your motor in a fun and safe atmosphere. And if your dog is a cherished member of your family, consider immortalizing your happy memories with a heartwarming portrait. You can find Carolyne Buchanan’s coordinates on the back of her Artist Trading Card at the top of this page.
Artist Trading Card
WHO Carolyne Buchanan
WHAT Acrylics Artist, Dog Portraits, Author and Illustrator, Art Instructor
WHERE Taste Blooms Pastry Shop & Eatery, Carleton Place <tasteblooms.com>; Surrounding Memories, <downtowncarletonplace.com/surrounding-memories>; <facebook.com/carolynebuchananart>; <instagram.com/carolynebuchananart>; <carolynebuchananart.com>
WHEN Jan. 3-17, Lee Matasi Art Gallery at Ottawa School of Art; home studio by appointment <carolyne.buchanan.art@gmail.com>
WHY “I create to record what I love, what I want to remember, and what I want to share.”
In a historic move, Lanark County Council became the first county in Ontario to declare Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) an epidemic in accordance with the Culleton, Kuzyk and Warmerdam Inquest’s jury recommendations. The resolution was formally passed at the County Council meeting on December 14.
The five-person jury presented 86 recommendations as a result of the inquest, which took place in June of this year. The first recommendation is for the province to formally declare IPV as an epidemic. “We have to see it, name it, change it. This is the naming part, that’s the easy part. The hard part is changing it,” Warden Peter McLaren said at the meeting on December 14. “That’s what we really have to start focusing on, and that’s for everybody.”
“We can’t understate the fact that Lanark County is the first to make a move on IPV in Ontario,” said Lanark County Interval House’s Executive Director Erin Lee. “We should be incrediblyproud of our community for making this happen and, of course, of our Council for listening and taking steps toward change. The county is already doing the work.” Speaking at the recent What Now Lanark County event, activist and witness in the Inquest Julie S. Lalonde emphasised that rural communities are the ones putting in the work and making tangible changes to end violence, and implored urban centres across the province to participate.
It is Lanark County Interval House’s hope that neighbouring communities across Ontario will also start to implement Recommendation #1. “The best show of support for the victims of violence is for this declaration to be made,” Lee stated. “52 women in 52 weeks were taken by femicide in Ontario. This declaration is frankly overdue.”
Lanark County Interval House has been sharing and explaining an inquest recommendation each week on their social media to engage the community, and the information is also available on Lake 88’s website under the “Local News” heading. The agency relaunched their See It, Name It, Change It campaign in September, hoping that it will help community members become as familiar with what to do when they see violence as they are with “stop, drop and roll” when there is a fire. Interval House hopes that with the community on side to change violence, inquests into gender-based violence and femicides will be a thing of the past.
Thick glossy catalogues from the purveyors of “garden porn” fuel fantasies of the most amazingly productive vegetable garden imaginable. But rather than being seduced by the seed catalogue descriptions of the merits of different varieties, it is time to get practical. Am I going to have a successful tomato crop with the best-tasting heritage tomato variety, or should I pick the new hybrid variety with all kinds of disease resistance? Perhaps compromise and grow some of each!
Why go to all the effort of ordering seeds and then growing tender little seedlings under lights?
For hard-core gardeners (you know who you are) this is a silly question. They sent off their seed order in December and are salivating as they resist starting their seedlings too early. The madness begins in February with onions and leeks followed by peppers and brassicas (such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage) in mid-March and tomatoes in early April.
For the rest of us it is really a matter of choice. Last gardening season I was determined to grow a successful crop of red cabbages. (Why red you ask? Apparently, they are much less attractive to the cabbage moth.) I ordered seed for a medium-size early cabbage, started seedlings under lights, and transplanted them into the garden in mid-May. I was rewarded with a beautiful crop of cabbages as advertised. I had also wanted to grow a larger late cabbage crop. I had not ordered seed, thinking I could pick up plants at a garden centre. However, the only plants I could find were simply labelled “Red Cabbage”. These were a major disappointment, growing only to baseball-size.
So, time to be decisive and complete that seed order. Not an easy task as I am reviewing the merits of 57 varieties of tomatoes and am determined to grow only one variety of large slicers, one variety of paste tomatoes, a well-behaved cherry tomato and perhaps one or two heritage varieties…
In the depths of winter my thoughts often wander to visions of gardens — productive veggie gardens in every front and back yard, a community vegetable and pollinator garden in every park, at every school, on the grounds of every faith community and service club with gardening lectures and workshops at every library and community centre, gardens that help grapple with the exploding demand facing food banks.
If we are dreaming of a world where food security is attainable for everyone, preferably food that is fresh, safe, healthy, nutritious, affordable and local, why would we try to grow it ourselves? Can we not rely on global supply chains for our food security? I spent a large part of my career helping to develop transportation policy, but increasingly I feel that the system is very vulnerable to factors such as water shortages and fuel prices.
I believe that there are many other benefits from growing our own food and learning how to process it. It is one small way to fight the epidemic of obesity, diabetes and other ailments that can, in no small part, be attributed to the processed stuff the food industry feeds us. If we prove to be unable to fight the purveyors of the soda pop and junk food that is poisoning us — either because of libertarian objection to government intervention or through the highly financed lobbying wings of the advertising and sugar industries — then home-grown food may help to get us on a much healthier path.
While growing veggies in our own private spaces is good, I have come to believe that growing food together in public spaces has many additional benefits. There are huge societal benefits to building a sense of community and eliminating some of the loneliness and isolation that feature prominently in our society. Growing food together in a community space can be a very powerful way to bring people of all generations and abilities together.
While this may be an idyllic worldview for some, for others it is going way too far!
I am the first to acknowledge that community gardens achieve a variety of results. Some are ill-conceived, are ill-planned, are ill-governed or ill-maintained, or all of the foregoing! While community gardens help create a sense of community, teach valuable skills and produce healthy nutritious food, they can also be a bit of an eyesore and take over spaces for which neighbours may have a competing vision.
When a community garden is well planned, well constructed, well maintained and has the support of the community, the results are astounding. I have experienced many moments in community gardens that have touched me deeply. People develop bonds and care deeply for their neighbours and their community. Gardeners show off their carefully tended spaces with pride and are happy to share knowledge and a few fresh veggies.
One place I often go to for community gardening advice and for inspiration is Just Food <justfood.ca>, an Ottawa-based not-for-profit community-based organization. Their stated mission is to work towards vibrant, just and sustainable food and farming systems in the Ottawa region. Under their umbrella resides the Community Gardening Network of Ottawa, which provides workshops on starting community gardens. Their webpages contain extensive information and advice that is applicable to gardening in your front yard or in any public space.
So go ahead and dream… and in the spring get out there and garden, but garden responsibly. Exercise caution — gardening can be a gateway activity to a healthy way of life!
Acclaimed guitarist, singer, songwriter, band leader and producer Jack de Keyzer rarely sits still. With 12 records, 1 DVD, 2 Junos and 7 Maple Blues Awards, de Keyzer delivers the goods wherever and whenever he performs. He usually plays over 100 shows a year, and his music is steeped in Chicago blues, London England blues rock, Detroit Motown, Muscle Shoals deep soul, Memphis rock and roll, and Philadelphia’s funky soul jazz. For 46 years — or roughly a couple million miles — de Keyzer has been hitting the road to bring his brand of guitar-driven blues around the globe.
On January 21 and 22, Jack will be playing at The Cove in Westport as part of the 2022-23 Blues on the Rideau series. A perennial BOTR favourite, his shows usually sell out in advance, so reserve yours now by calling 273–3636 or emailing <thecoveinnwestport@gmail.com>.
We’re opening our 2023 Folkus Concert season with a real treat. January 28 will feature Jim Bryson, the piano, and friends. Jim Bryson <jimbryson.org> is a songwriter’s songwriter, producer and player, who has worked with Kathleen Edwards, The Tragically Hip and the Weakerthans, among others. Recently, a number of CFMA-nominated albums have come out of his studio down the road in Stittsville, including Ken Yates, The Skydiggers, Suzie Ungerlieder, Caroline Brooks (Good Lovelies), and recent Folkus player Evangeline Gentle.
Why all the fuss about the piano?
Jim will be taking a rare turn on the piano — yes, the Old Town Hall’s beautiful piano — as well as offering a set with some musical friends. Why are we so chuffed about this? Jim is a lifelong piano player1, but he doesn’t usually play the piano in public2. This piano is a very special Steinway Grand, chosen at the Steinway factory in New York City by renowned classical pianist Jamie Parker. There’s even a little plaque to that effect. The piano is owned by Almonte in Concert3, and we are always immensely grateful that they make it available to us and to the local community. In short, this will be a one-of-a-kind experience.
Who are these friends, anyway?
Jim’s backing band for this show includes long-time bandmates Peter Von Althen, Philippe Charboneau and Jon Chandler (perhaps a couple of guest singers too).
There’s something special about seeing long-time friends settle into a musical groove together — the relaxed naturalness of the playing, the ease of communication, the vibe. Now imagine all that loveliness hanging in the air in the auditorium at the Almonte Old Town Hall. Maybe you’re there with a special friend and a glass of something cold and local and interesting… it’s going to be quite a night.
Who is opening?
Opening for Jim Bryson will be The Broken Bridges <thebrokenbridges.ca>, a local fiddle trio with a 2021 CFMA nomination in the young performer category. Fern and Willow Marwood (ages 18 and 14) were a fiddle/banjo duo that turned into a trio by adding Graham Lindsey (considerably older) on guitar. They began by recording three tracks that became “The Porch Sessions” last year, and have played virtual summer festivals as well as “Hogman-eh!”, the Scottish Society of Ottawa’s Hogmanay celebration, on New Year’s Eve.
Our shows are still held at the Almonte Old Town Hall, third floor, in the Ron Caron Auditorium. There’s an accessible elevator you can reach from the side entrance. Doors open at 7:30, showtime is at 8pm. There will be t-shirts and music at the merch table, and beverages and cookies at the bar. We should have a Square for payment, but cash is never a bad idea.
Season’s Passes are still available through our ticketing partner Tickets Please (online at ticketsplease.ca or by calling 485–6434), and single tickets will be available as of January 1.
Please check our website <folkusalmonte.com> for any last-minute updates! We are looking forward to seeing you at our shows.
Footnotes…
1- The AD’s mother-in-law still ask how Jimmy’s piano playing is coming along because she has such fond memories of his recitals.
2- He did, famously, play keys on tour for The Hip in 2009, but this is not that kind of show.
3- Almonte in Concert fundraised for years, and it’s worth more than my house!
Jeff Mills says that when you see inequities, it’s hard to walk on by. And he never does. Last month, Jeff retired after a long career in community development and 16 years at Carebridge Community Support. But of course, we all know that this isn’t really farewell. Jeff will never stop supporting our community through his caring nature and good work. And we are all thankful for that!
Jeff’s community roots are deep. His father and mentor Stan Mills was a founding member of the Almonte Community Development Cooperation (which evolved into Mills Community Support and then Carebridge). Jeff served on the Board, including as Board Chair for two years, and later joined the Carebridge team.
Community volunteer Lorne Heslop has worked with Jeff on many projects. Lorne says: “Jeff was a student of community development. He discovered and networked with the best leaders in the field. He encouraged as many people as possible around him to learn with him. I was lucky enough to be a student with him and under him.”
“Jeff Mills has touched so many in our community,” adds Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry. “People like Jeff are rare; both a visionary and doer, he dreams of what can be then finds practical ways to make it happen. In so many ways, his leadership, community building and heart has shaped what Mississippi Mills is today.”
Carebridge CEO Rob Eves agrees: “Jeff is there to support everyone who comes through our doors. He truly lives Carebridge’s values, doing whatever he can for each person he meets. We are so grateful to have had him on our team for so many years. He will be missed.”
Jeff has spearheaded many initiatives — too many to mention — including getting NBA support for a new basketball court, creating community gardens and county-wide programs for seniors such as Vial of Life and Get a Grip, and spearheading the Mississippi Mills Together pandemic response. Most recently, he led the planning for the creation of the Almonte Wellness Trail.
Jeff says he is still working on a few projects, including a memorial splash pad. In 1965, there was a devastating fire in a part of Almonte that had no running water and no fire hydrant nearby. Four children died. “We need to tell the story of the fire and those young children,” says Jeff. “It galvanized our community to create awareness and support for investment in safe, affordable housing in Almonte. One can draw a direct line from the origin of Carebridge back to that fire.”
Jeff stresses that he doesn’t do anything on his own and that a good team makes everything easier. “I think it’s natural to try and leave the world in a better place,” he sums up. “Great people work at Carebridge and it’s nice that we can share a laugh while still doing serious work. I know that will continue.”
So do we — with Jeff always helping nearby. Thanks Jeff!
When Dr. Karen Dover likes an artist’s work, she doesn’t just say so — she puts her financial support, time, and considerable talents into promoting it. Cosmetic and laser physician by day, both artist and art patroness in her “spare” time, Karen draws inspiration from synergies and symbioses. Her own abstract art results from a fearless fusion of influences and life experiences, and she strives to connect diverse people and ideas.
Towards the end of January, Karen Dover Modern Art will play host at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum to an intriguing group show, featuring works by Karen Dover and some of her favourite artists: metal sculptor Jack Stekelenburg, stone sculptor Chaka Chikodzi, and author Jana Begovic. theHumm reached out to Karen to find out more about the Karen & Co. Art Exhibition.
theHumm: Can you tell us about the artists whose work will be featured, the media they work in, and how you came to curate this particular ensemble?
Karen Dover: “If you wish to go fast, go it alone. If you wish to go far, go it together,“ an old African proverb, embodies the philosophy of this exhibition. On the heels of a well-received and very successful solo art show last April, I was in the preliminary phases of imagining my next, and on a whim decided to invite a few artist friends to share the light. These talents have particular challenges finding appropriate venues to display their work, due in part to the sheer size and scope, and I could easily envision the wonderful “conversations” my large modern paintings and ceramic pieces would enjoy with Jack Stekelenburg’s brilliantly-conceived patinated metalwork creations and Chaka Chikodzi’s alluring Zimbabwe-stone sculptures, and so it was…
Jana Begovic, our wordsmith and masterful weaver of tales, was the perfect literary counterpoint, and with her latest novel Dragonfly Slayer just published, in which I have apparently inspired a main character, it was done! Jana will read excerpts and poetry selections each Sunday afternoon.
Although the show itself is multi-faceted, I understand that the vernissage on January 20 will include a veritable symphony for the senses. Would you provide a sneak peek and let people know how they might attend?
With pleasure! It is with fascination that I’ve explored the impact of context in which art is experienced, and I love playing with the creative dance of connection and engagement. Just imagine the scene: the complementary nature of the bold and the sublime in the various modern art forms, with my colourful, abstract expressionist canvases and unique ceramic works floating amongst the white, hand-hewn structural columns of the industrial mill; the islands of raw genius in Jack’s reappropriated metal forgings, contrasted with the soothing, sinuous curves of Chaka’s stone carvings. Couple this with a cornucopia of French culinary delights by chef Jean-Claude Terrettaz, add the rhythms of an African musical ensemble, and tastings of a curated collection by Artizen, a local artisanal Kombucha, all set against the exquisite backdrop of the beautiful historic site on a snowy, midwinter eve…
Everyone is invited and most welcome with an RSVP @ KARENDOVERMODERNART.com/RSVP.
Then on January 21, there will be a talk and ceremony honouring the first new moon of 2023 — exploring the concept of a “blank canvas” both artistically and through movement and ritual. What was the inspiration behind this facet of the show?
The creative process is intriguing to many, and sharing art in unexpected and interactive ways is always a treat, so it seemed we could explore both. This is such a special time of year, having just passed the winter solstice and the holiday season, and as we enter the New Year with a fresh slate, the first new moon marks our very own “blank canvas”. A short artists’ discussion will lead into the Cacao ceremony, an ancient Mayan ritual, a very calming and peaceful interlude involving gentle movement, which will be facilitated by yoga instructor supreme Aleysha Derksen. Specially-prepared warm cacao will be served, as Aleysha’s blend of exquisite beauty, wisdom and insight will help guide us to a new perspective on our creative potential. This all takes place on Saturday, January 21 at 4pm, and is not to be missed!
What do you hope attendees take away from your juxtaposition of these various artists, media and experiences?
Art LOVES company. It is so central to our lives, infusing beauty and richness into the quotidien, and like us, it prefers being amongst those that bring out its best. Celebrate it, champion it, appreciate it, and most importantly, please take care of our artists! One simply has to imagine a world without art, a place I certainly don’t wish to inhabit, and the choice becomes glaringly obvious. Living with intentionality involves investing wisely. Art never disappoints; it rewards you with dividends in all aspects of your life.
Not only have you commissioned works from some of these artists — you are now mounting and enthusiastically promoting this show. What motivates you to be a patron, and why do you think patronage is so important?
Engaging with, learning from, and supporting those who create has been a life-long love, bordering on the sacred. Rarely has an artist crossed my path without a connection budding. Reciprocity in the interaction is critical, with mutual respect, admiration, and inspiration as cornerstones. The triad of championing art first honours the artist and the unique artwork, secondly, supports a way of life (often a family, or a whole village in Chaka’s case), and culminates in a treasured gift to enrich and enhance one’s quality of life in myriad ways. A perfect trifecta!
The show runs weekends from January 21 to February 5 at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte. To attend the vernissage on January 20 from 4-7pm, please RSVP @ KARENDOVERMODERNART.com/RSVP
The prevalence and persistence of femicide is a disturbing reality of Canadian society. Who can forget the country’s harshest awakening to its presence on December 6, 1989, when a man murdered 14 women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique? Decades later and much closer to home, on September 22, 2015, a man murdered three women — Carol Culleton, Nathalie Warmerdam and Anastasia Kuzyk — in our neighbouring Renfrew County, a brutal reminder that the danger continues and that ending it will require massive will and effort.
After my previous column in theHumm, I received an email from a male friend. He wrote, “I am ignorant, unknowing, have no idea. I need to get involved”. Reaching the level of awareness that compels someone to take action is the crucial first step, but where to go after that? What are some practical ways to follow through on that desire? The recent Renfrew County Coroner’s Inquest into the murders of those three women resulted in 86 jury recommendations. Number 25 is especially significant to my friend’s issue. It outlines how education is a key part of making real change.
Julie S. Lalonde was one of the presenters at the What Now Lanark County event on Friday, December 9. For many years Julie has provided Bystander Intervention Training to a multitude of men, women and youth. The idea is to encourage individuals who witness sexual harassment to take a stand by supporting the victim and challenging the abuser. Google Julie’s name and you will find a short course on the subject. Better yet, take one of her in-person courses if the opportunity is available to you.
Consider how language can impact interactions and perceptions. I have a personal example. In conversation one day, while commenting about someone being “less than generous”, I used a word that my co-worker immediately pointed out was racist. Instead of being defensive, I welcomed the favour she did for me. I had often used that word without realizing the negative connotations it holds and the effect it can have.
As further illustration of the importance of language, one day I made lists of the derogatory names women and men are called… and the women’s list was significantly longer. While there are those who disdainfully dismiss this issue as mere “political correctness”, I rather think this dehumanization is the basis of most abuse. In my work at Lanark County Interval House, I learned that the abuser rarely uses his partner’s name, and instead calls her many of the names found on that list.
I have become aware that those names, and even threats of death, can be used by anonymous abusers on social media to target any woman who has a public image; be they a politician of any level, a reporter, a health care professional, etc. Instead of being silent virtual bystanders, I suggest that, as a way to balance this abuse and be a needed force for good on social media, we could take the time to send positive messages to those women whose work we admire and thank them for their dedication to their jobs.
Another way to become involved is by getting to know someone already working to decrease violence in our county, to see why, what and how they contribute to the effort. A good example of a local man making a difference is Bill Janes, who lives near Union Hall. A willing recruit, he started volunteering at Interval House many years ago. Our goal in approaching Bill was to show boys living at the shelter that there are gentle men, a simple but potentially life-changing idea. On a Sunday afternoon he would play with them in the shelter’s backyard, take them for walks in the country, or go to the bowling alley. Most of the boys loved these opportunities.
Bill, at that time a carpenter and now a retired mental health nurse, remains very involved in the community, including with the Stir It Up Collective, a group that offers comprehensive support to women who are recovering from sex trafficking. As sad as it is to contemplate, young women in the area are in great danger from human trafficking — shockingly, the Ottawa area has one of the highest rates of this abuse in Canada.
Bill is also involved with the Moose Hide Campaign, a grassroots movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous men and boys who are standing up against violence towards women and children. Wearing its moose hide tag signifies your commitment to honour, respect and protect the women and children in your life.
Finding and adopting appropriate actions to stop men from assaulting and killing women can feel daunting and difficult to contemplate, but bear in mind that men are also in danger from abusive and violent men. In fact, many more Canadian men than women are murdered each year — almost three times as many. The homicide statistics for 2021 show that 586 men and boys were murdered versus 197 women and girls. Solving the problem of male aggression and violence will have an even broader societal impact than we might have originally imagined.
Related to this, it was heartening to see a number of the world’s men’s soccer teams competing in Qatar use what means they could to protest human rights abuses and show support for LGBTQ2+ rights as well as the safety of women in that region and other parts of the world. Even small gestures can make a difference, especially when the eyes of the world are on us.
My friend who is determined to become part of a positive change in our community will come to learn that there are many ways to gain the awareness, knowledge and tools needed to make a difference. In fact, I must congratulate Lanark County Council for demonstrating its own willingness to effect and encourage change by becoming the first municipality in Ontario to name intimate partner violence as an epidemic, adopting the first recommendation of the previously mentioned Coroner’s Inquest into the triple murders in Renfrew County. Erin Lee, Executive Director of Interval House and Community Support brought the idea of the motion to council and it was wholeheartedly adopted.
One more thing. The What Now Lanark County group is busy organizing a conference to be held at Almonte District High School in May. (It’s not too early to mark your calendars!) The conference will consist of many speakers and workshops on issues facing women and men, including femicide and climate change. Julie S. Lalonde has already been booked to present her Bystander Intervention Training course. You can also look forward to a concert the evening before at the Civitan Hall.
The Naismith Men’s Shed, part of Men’s Sheds Ontario and Men’s Sheds Canada, has been operating in and contributing to Mississippi Mills since the fall of 2017. In that time the Shed has grown from 15 to 50 members. But since most members are retirees, and even though the focus is on living as healthy and happy lives as possible, Shed members are undeniably in their twilight years. Consequently, from time to time a member passes to the great Shed in the Sky.
Being desirous of showing respect for such members and commemorating the service they have given to the community through the Men’s Shed, the Naismith Men’s Shed created the memorial plaque pictured here. The plaque now honours Bob McCook, our first secretary, and Dave Cooper, our second treasurer. In time other names will be added as fellow members pass on. It is the hope of the Naismith Shed that, as the years pass, this plaque will continue to remind us all of the noble purpose behind the Men’s Shed organization: “to enhance the health and wellbeing of all men”.
Twelve members of the Naismith Men’s Shed were in attendance at the ceremony and were honoured to have Dave Cooper’s wife Sue, and Dave’s son Vince, perform the unveiling.
This winter, MERA (McDonalds Corners/Elphin Recreation & Arts) has plenty of fun activities for all ages. Join us at 974 Dalhousie Concession 9A in McDonalds Corners to stay connected to your community.
To welcome the new year, join us for a Lantern Walk and Twelfth Night party. On January 6, meet at 6:30pm at the Highlands Country Store in McDonalds Corners and walk up to MERA. Those who do not wish to walk can meet at the Schoolhouse at 7pm for a sing-along, snacks and games. King’s cake will be served! All are welcome to attend.
Calling all singers! The B Naturals Choir is new to MERA and looking for members. This will be a non-auditioned, a cappella choir taught mainly in the oral tradition, so the ability to read music is not necessary. We’ll sing music from around the world, in a variety of genres, with a focus on making connections, building confidence in our voices, enjoying ourselves and reaping the many health benefits of singing! To register, please contact Faith Hutton at 200–7440 or <faith@dechen.org>.
The Speaker Series returns this year with a new roster of experts in their own fields. Talks are scheduled from January 12 to February 16. Cozy up at home, because the Speakers Series will be held over Zoom on Thursday evenings from 7–8:30pm. Speakers and topics include Stephen Kotze on South Africa’s Past, Roy Van Der Mull on Building Lanark Affordable Housing, Stephen Braithwaite on What’s a Redeveloper, Helga Zimmerman on Running Away to Sea, Heidi Stepanek with Kris Riendeau on Community Theatre, and Nicola Oddy with Jennifer Noxon on Singing for Community. Registration details can be found on our website.
MERA’s regular programming includes an art circle, fibre arts, heritage weaving, pottery and quilting. We always have a lot going on at MERA! Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in touch and learn about our regular programs as well as upcoming events and workshops. Please email our friendly administrator to be added to the newsletter at <meraschoolhouse@gmail.com>.
MERA is committed to facilitating and promoting activities and programs for all ages which help bring this rural community together, and to promoting awareness and understanding of the arts and well-being. For more information, please visit our website at <meraschoolhouse.org>.
Mississippi Mills Youth Centre (MMYC) is proud to announce our January-March 2023 calendar starting Monday, January 9, featuring FREE programs for youth ages 10–18. Located in Almonte, MMYC offers a wide variety of drop-in and structured programs six days a week to support our youth membership’s diverse interests, goals and talents.
MMYC staff — Lilli, Maybe, Joey, Emery, Lena and Karma — have been working hard to maintain our supportive relationships with local youth through our inclusive, low-pressure social groups and skill-based programs. In 2022 MMYC expanded our Drop-In programming to be more accessible to youth during critical hours when they have fewer resources available to them. As always, our drop-in hours provide nutritious snacks and meals, homework help, fun activities and games including air hockey, pool, foosball, ping pong and more.
Our current calendar includes daily after-school Drop-In from 2:30–7:30pm, extended Friday Drop-In hours from 2:30–9pm, and Saturday Drop-In from 1–9pm. Each day our staff, volunteers, and community partners offer structured programs in art, music, science, recreation, sports, life skills and more. Become a member to register for Movie Night (Mondays 5–7pm), Skill Swap (Tuesdays 5–7pm), Digital Art 101 (Wednesdays 5–7pm), Youth Voices Leadership Program (Thursdays 5–7pm), Gym Night (Fridays 7:30–9pm), or Dungeons & Dragons (Saturdays 6–9pm). To register or become a member email <programcoordinator@mmyc.ca> or call 256–5959.
MMYC offers intergenerational programs to support connections between youth, seniors, and the community groups that serve them. Skill Swap is a program for youth ages 10-18 and for adults aged 55+. Youth and senior participants will be meeting at MMYC or joining online via Google Meet on Tuesdays for nine weeks. Participants will share in learning from guest speakers, field trips, planned events and activities, and build connections with one another and their community. Youth volunteers will have the opportunity to earn volunteer hours, to plan and attend awesome field trips, to host a monthly café night for youth and seniors to connect, and to learn and teach skills including art, sports, recreation, science, technology and cooking!
We would like to thank everyone who has donated, volunteered or participated in our programs over the past few years as we continue to grow and adapt to keep our youth, our staff and our community safe. We couldn’t do it without you all.
Stay tuned to our website <mmyc.ca> and Facebook page for news about upcoming free and low-cost programs including March Break Camp (March 13–17), theatre programming with Youth Infringement Festival (April 2023), Skill Swap field trips and fundraising events!
If you have any questions about MMYC, feel free to contact Maybe McInnis at <programcoordinator@mmyc.ca> or Lillian Nothnagel at <executivedirector@mmyc.ca>.
Learning Again In Almonte offers two courses that explore the power of communication in unique ways.
Every aspect of our lives is impacted by our interpretation of the communication we receive and the effectiveness of the communication we deliver. This winter, Learning Again in Almonte is offering two very different courses that will open your eyes to what lies behind successful conversations.
Over the holidays, did political chats with your opinionated uncle get a little testy? Are you struggling to come to some resolution to the pesticide vs weed debate with your neighbour? Do you worry in silence over a misunderstanding with a friend because you are unsure how to start the uncomfortable dialogue? Everyone has, at some time, experienced awkward and sometimes painful interactions within their families, at work or even at the grocery store, where those Covid arrows did routinely generate a whole new brand of road rage! The first offering in the new year is a course called The Practice of Difficult Conversations, which will help you to navigate those interactions and better understand the underlying dynamics.
This six-week course will help to identify conflict types, explore how our personal experience impacts our approach to dealing with conflict, and introduce skills that can support our attempts at resolution.
Deborah Conners, a professor in Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, offers a dynamic, “learning together” approach. The course is offered on Thursday afternoons from 1–3pm from January 12 through February 16.
It has often been said that the best public speakers and the best dinner party guests are those who suffuse their conversation with stories. Whether you aspire to public performance or just want to record your stories for family history, our second winter lecture, called Finding Your Story and Learning to Tell It, will guide you through a fascinating and fun process of finding the stories in your life that lend insight into something bigger. Participants will work from creative prompts to accumulate material, and learn storytelling structure and techniques to help them deliver their own story with a sense of confidence and play.
Instructor Emily Pearlman, a theatre professional and educator at the University of Ottawa, delights in bringing together intergenerational groups to learn with and from each other. Recognizing that it can be intimidating to explore these ideas in a public setting, Emily strives to create a safe non-judgmental environment for all participants, where humour and connection are the guiding principles. It is for this reason also that enrollment in this six-week course is limited to 14 people. The course is offered on Wednesday afternoons from 1–3pm from February 1 through March 8.
For further information and registration, go to <learningagainalmonte.ca>.
In 2023, Almonte’s Sivarulrasa Gallery will continue presenting curated, rotating exhibitions in our three distinct exhibition spaces: Galleries I, II and III. We are delighted to showcase original Canadian art from all across the country. Our first exhibition in Gallery I, starting in mid-February, will feature a new body of works by Gatineau-based artist Louis Thériault. The Gallery’s regular hours will resume on January 4 — we will be open for in-person viewing Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Our Virtual Gallery also continues to grow, with video clips and installation photos of exhibitions and artworks.
The Gallery is also delighted to partner with community groups and business organizations in our region. On Friday, January 20 from 6–9pm, we will partner with Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization (OHTO) for a members’ networking event at the Gallery — a memorable evening of music, food, wine and networking. On Thursday, May 18, the Gallery will partner with the Carleton Place and District Chamber of Commerce to present a member’s mixer event — another opportunity to get to know fellow business owners from Almonte, Carleton Place and the surrounding region.
On Friday September 29, we will partner with Mississippi Mills All My Relations (MMAMR) to present an Artists Talk/Meet the Artists Reception at the Gallery for the Seven Gifts Sculpture — an important new public art installation in Mississippi Mills about reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. From September 22 to October 27, MMAMR and Sivarulrasa Gallery will also jointly present an exhibition at the Gallery of the seven original wood carvings by Indigenous artist Nish Nabie. These important events will also be part of Mississippi Mills’ bicentennial celebration!
We are also thrilled to resume our Culture22 series of concerts in 2023 in our intimate art gallery setting. This series of musical events had been “paused” for more than two years due to the pandemic, so we are grateful that we can once again welcome into the Gallery professional musicians from Canada as well as around the globe. We have two concerts confirmed so far: Duo Hybla, an incredibly talented classical guitar duo from Italy, will perform on the evening of Saturday, June 10; and on Thursday, July 6, the traditional Irish trio Music in the Glen will delight us with their authentic acoustic sound. We limit seating for our concerts to 22 seats only, so these events tend to sell out quickly.
Stay tuned to <sivarulrasa.com> for more information about all of these exhibitions and events, or drop by the Gallery in person — we are located at 34 Mill Street in Almonte.
There once was a planet that was inhabited by caterpillars. It was a dazzling planet of jade and emerald greens, and sapphire and turquoise blues. Leafy, textured and abundant. In their short creeping lives the caterpillars ate, and ate, and then ate some more. Periodically their expanding bodies needed more room and they’d trade their old skins for new skins that could accommodate their expansion. This happened five times throughout the course of each of their lives. And one day, finally sated and the compulsion to consume the leaves that supported them having abruptly ended, they rippled themselves off to find out-of-the-way places where they could rest, dangling upside-down from delicate silk cups of their own making. And as they dangled there by their toes, the envelope of fleshy, green-striped skins that had housed their long bodies morphed one final time into capsules of gold-speckled jade in which they dreamed.
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On the same planet a baby was conceived, gestated, birthed and cared for by a mother. The baby ate and ate. She grew into and out of clothing. She learned to stand, to move, to play. She became a child and then a youth. She learned to talk, to want, to relate, to wonder, to create. As she grew into a woman she hungered for the experiences of life and feasted on its many flavours — some bitter and some sweet. Her world expanded — at times so much so that she felt she was sure to burst through the boundaries of her own skin. Her encounters were many and her path meandered, but it always followed the faint pheromone of her spirit.
As the seasons of her life passed, the woman noticed that she had begun at times to feel disoriented; for the scent of her spirit, which had once been clear to her, had waned and she could not discern it any longer from all the other scents around her that had crowded in. As much as she wandered this way and that, searching for her scent, the essence of her Self had vanished. At last, tired from the hapless effort of searching, she stopped her wanderings. Her striving ceased and she withdrew to a grove in the forest. She tended to the embers of a small fire for many years, collecting fallen sticks each day with which she fed her fire. In return, the fire gave her warmth, light and beauty to behold. It kept her company with its quiet crackles and sizzles, its varying moods and animated flames. The days passed, the Sun rose and fell, and the Moon waxed and waned over the woman in the grove who was warmed by the glow of the fire that she tended.
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Winter Solstice dawns. I’m sitting on a hill watching our star — a ball of fire 93 million miles away — rise on the south-east horizon. Light delivers the winter landscape out of darkness like watercolour seeping across the surface of paper. Later, as our star falls behind the horizon to the west, sparks from the circle of flames near me lift off like small celebrations that disappear into the gathering indigo ocean above me. Wood is morphed by heat into ether and ash as the north begins to bend towards the light.
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There is a certain peace that comes with surrender. And surrender is useful in weathering transitions. Without a degree of disorientation and dissolution, what can be dreamed has little chance of becoming. We must, in these urgent times, find ways to surrender our outgrown skins and to offer those skins — be they individual or collective — to the flame.
Can we embrace the chrysalis, retreat to the cave, to the forest, the fireside; to pause in dark times and listen for intuition to speak of how and what we can become? What would it take to surrender to the seasonal pause, the hormonal pause, the global pause that viral-induced illness has pressed upon us? What would it take to become comfortable with a period of naked, un-becoming stillness — a time of profound porosity in which we might catch the scent of our next becoming? What does it take for the caterpillar to become the butterfly? For the woman to become the wise crone? For the acorn to become the oak?
And what will it take for humanity to exchange its skin of hubris for one of humility? For our creative capacities to become attuned to, and in service to, Life?
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On the dazzling planet, myriad tightly folded packets of patterns are stirring, stretching against the confines of old skins. After five instars, complete dissolutions, and inspired re-assemblages directed by imaginal cells upholding the creatures’ original instructions, metamorphosis has taken place. Everywhere butterflies begin to emerge and stretch their beautiful wings. They are poised to fly.
In the forest glade, next to where the embers have been tended, stands Old Oak. Her hair is shaped wide and wild, bleached grey by the wind and weather. Her skin is fissured, her ankles thick, and her roots sink deep and weave wide. Still in her place, Old Oak shelters the birds and feeds the animals and insects of the forest. She shades the soil, and she tends to Fire with her fallen twigs and branches. Sun rises and falls. Moon waxes and wanes. Fire keeps Old Oak company with its quiet crackles and sizzles, its varying moods and animated flames. And between Old Oak and Fire rests a small pile — where a tattered wool cloak is re-membering itself back to the Earth.
In Lanark County, Climate Network Lanark is working to provide leadership on the various issues that we can control to look after our precious land, water and air to ensure this place we love will support us and our grandkids, and theirs. Literally millions of folks all over the planet are doing the same. Citizens are working hard to keep the focus on how little time we have to stop runaway climate chaos, where there will be no turning back from the fires, droughts and floods we are now beginning to witness everywhere.
“We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned recently. “Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.” Or more succinctly: “We’re on a highway to climate hell.”
Global and national polling shows citizens of every corner of the planet overwhelmingly support controlling the factors that are causing Earth’s ecosystems to break down. More than 70% of Canadians want serious action taken on the climate crisis.
However, governments still are slow to enact the bold leadership that is needed. This is a conundrum for sure with our current political system. The Ontario government is in fact enacting climate-damaging policies as fast as possible! It has the wherewithal to do this because of its false majority that doesn’t truly represent the will of most citizens. As Kurt Vonnegut put it: “We will go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost-effective.”
That would be so ironic, as we know the fall-out from climate chaos events is proving really expensive; but we can do better and be far more prosperous! So much evidence is out there: saving our planet is really the best economic bet.
Luckily, all over the earth activist groups are working locally to hold governments to account and help guide them with the best solid facts and research on how to make things work well for both our economy and our environment. This is inspiring.
Throughout 2022, the folks at CNL have been working hard on a County-wide Climate Action Plan and getting some local projects going. Unfortunately, their efforts were interrupted with the introduction of Bill 23 and its associated actions. Everyone in CNL wants to move forward, developing the actions to improve things — now time and energy are being consumed by defending actions that were achieved not just a few years ago, but decades ago. There is a special push on to confront the ridiculous plans in Bill 23. The galling duplicity and deceptions in this bill around gutting hard-won protections of our precious wetlands, farms and forests for the benefit of a few developers ought to outrage every one of us!
CNL has many concerns with Bill 23, including the provisions that reduce the capacity of local municipalities to enact Green Building Standards. But the biggest issue for CNL is the outright attack on wetlands. Wetlands excel at sequestering carbon — sequestering two to five times as much as forests — and Lanark County happens to be home to some of the last large remaining tracts of wetlands in all of Southern Ontario. Not only should wetlands here not be developed, if they were that would release enormous volumes of methane and carbon — other sectors would then have to cut an equivalent amount at huge expense. And the government’s talking points about the Conservation Authorities and the Wetlands Evaluation system still being there are misleading. If they’re not mandated or resourced, they aren’t there.
Building more highways to develop more wasteful housing that requires more cars for more commuting is the opposite of how we ought to be planning for growth and housing that supports healthy communities. The cities of Ottawa and Hamilton showed this in their plans, developed carefully with input from residents, yet these plans that would have developed housing within current green boundaries were cast out by the Provincial Government and replaced with incursions into green space.
That’s why CNL helped organize a protest in Smiths Falls on November 26, met with MPP John Jordan to explain what the local climate issues are with Bill 23, and made submissions on the Bill. To see these, go to CNL’s December newsletter under “Our News” at <climatenetworklanark.ca>.
Meanwhile, CNL keeps trying to move forward. Through its various Working Groups, the organization has made enormous contributions to the County’s Action Tables, essentially the core of climate action. To know what is in store here in the next short while, have a read. Scroll down to the Corporate Action Table and the Community Action Table at <lanarkcounty.ca/en/environmental-initiatives/climate.aspx>. These tables have been passed by County Council. They form the core of the County’s Climate Action Plan, which will be brought forward later in 2023.
CNL is proud to have played a role in spreading the word locally. Perth was going to undo its Climate committee but reversed that decision. And Smiths Falls is in the process of developing a committee that will oversee a plan for that community. Every lower-tier municipality should at the very least have its own Corporate Climate Action Plan and be planning to coordinate with the County on the Community plan.
CNL is also developing other projects. A quick summary is available in the workshop presentations when they are posted here at <lanarkcounty.ca/en/environmental-initiatives/climate.aspx>.
As always, CNL could not do what it is doing without the involvement of people across Lanark County. The group now has the support of about 1,000 people within the County. But we need more. To get involved, simply sign up for the newsletter through the website: <climatenetworklanark.ca>.
The holidays are behind us, and it’s time to start working on your entry for the Backyard Beauties 2023 Auction! If the snow shovel has lost its appeal, birdhouse builders and artists can turn their attention to the return of the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust birdhouse auction, slated for May 2023.
Coordinators Barbara Carroll and Glenda Jones have listened to previous entrants and are broadening the scope this year to include all things “bird” — houses, bird baths, feeders and garden art — anything that relates to avian activity in the garden. Last year’s entries ranged from a duck house to a tiny stained-glass birdhouse, with artists going to great lengths to create something fanciful and useful at the same time. Further, some builders couldn’t resist creating gigantic butterflies and flowers, paintings, and even a paper structure of the Almonte Old Town Hall, the favourite roosting place for pigeons (yes, still bird-related).
So this year, the sky’s the limit for artists of all ages to come up with unique entries to support the Land Trust in raising funds to acquire more protected land in this area and maintain the trails and natural environs so many people enjoy.
Watch theHumm next month for more details, but if you need inspiration or advice in the meantime please contact Barb Carroll at <barbaracarroll493@gmail.com> or Glenda Jones at <aljones@xplornet.com>.