ISLAND NEWS Canyon game with Bowen athletes available to livestream

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All dozen players have been part of the Canyon club program since its inception in 2022 But co-ed play with the club is a new experience for all of them So the team has been practicing at indoor and outdoor sites in North Vancouver for the past two months to help everyone familiarize themselves with each other and develop their strategies for the tournament

A group of Bowen demonstrators took part in a province-wide organized day of banner raising and poster hanging on Monday, voicing their opposition to the drilling process known as fracking which is used to extract natural gas from below the ground The“End Fracking”campaign saw about 100 groups take part in around 40 B.C. communities. Here on Bowen, in lieu of an overpass to hang their message from, the group hoisted their banner along Bowen Island Trunk Road during commuter sailings in the morning and afternoon. / Alex Kurial photo

Threshold Choir marks 10 years

Lorraine Ashdown

Threshold Choir

Ten years ago, something special and unique began on Bowen Island. It all started with Angie Bosworth, a long time Islander, who had heard about the practice of Threshold Singing from her sister in the States.

Angie brought the idea of starting a Threshold Choir here on Bowen to a handful of us and we were intrigued. But to begin with, what is a Threshold Choir?

In 1990, in California, singer and composer Kate Munger was at her friend’s bedside. He was dying of HIV/AIDS and Kate was afraid and nervous and not quite sure how to comfort him. So she did what she does best. She sang to him for two and a half hours.

It was in these moments when she realized the power and presence of song at a loved one ’ s bedside. From that experience, Kate went on to gather some like-minded women and on March 21 - the Spring Equinox - of 2000, the first Threshold Choir was formed at the home of a friend of Kate’s in El Cerritos, California.

Fast forward to 2012 when Angie brought the concept of Threshold Singing to a handful of us on Bowen. We were intrigued but we needed someone with the musical skills and chops to lead us.

Enter our beloved leader Shasta Martinuk who has now moved off-island but was with us for almost a decade. By gathering at Shasta’s yurt twice a month, we learned some of the vast repertoire of the Threshold Choir.

These are beautiful songs, mostly writ- ten and sung in three part harmony, at the bedside of those who are ill, or dying, or lonely, or simply in need of a “songbath ” We like to make it crystal clear that you do not need to be dying in order for us to sing to you!

With our new leaders Suzanne Allan and Liz Watson, we gathered on March 4 at Collins Hall to celebrate our 10 year anniversary here on Bowen We were also blessed by the presence of some of the men ’ s choir, Crossing Over, originally founded by Brian Hoover who passed away in 2021 Sadly, the men have also recently lost Islander Bawn Campbell and both Brian and Bawn were remembered in our songs that evening, and always

There is a beauty and a magic that happens when we join our voices together in harmony and offer our songs as a healing gift Something inside the recipient shifts, settles and they often feel deep peace And, the same may happen to us, the singers There is a lot of reciprocity in what we do

We are ready and available to sing for anyone on Bowen We have sung regularly at a hospice in North Van and hope to start that up again soon If you would like us to sing to you or a loved one, please know, we don’t all come at once! We train and practice in a larger group, but when it comes to actual bedside singing, we arrive only as a trio

If you have any questions, or would like to arrange a visit from us, please contact Suzanne Allan at sooz@allanfinancial com or Liz Watson at lizian@shaw ca

For more information on the Threshold Choir, please take a look at Thresholdchoir org

Hubbard especially commended the participants who ferry in for practices –McDonald, Morissette, and Callewaert, as well as the Gibsons duo of Jonah and Lizzy Mani from the Sunshine Coast Hubbard says for now he’s less focused on the final result of the trip, and more interested in creating a positive experience “The biggest thing here is that even though it’s Nationals – and Nationals is a big, scary word for a lot of people – the goal of our program and just in general, even though it’s a very high level, is for everyone to have fun and to make that a great time,” he says Hubbard and two other coaches will accompany the kids on the trip east, with games taking place at Durham College Three teams from Ontario, one each from Quebec, Manitoba, and Newfoundland, and the other B C team round out the competitors

Canyon’s first match is on Saturday, April 1 at 1 pm against the Quebec team, with their next tilt right after at 1:50 against Team Manitoba They finish group stage play later that afternoon at 4:20 against one of the Ontario squads The middle game is available for livestreaming on Ultimate Canada’s YouTube page (*All times Eastern)

“No matter if we win or lose or come top spot, it’s just that everyone has had the opportunity to have a lot of fun, feel like they improved as a player, and then are able to go back to their school team and say that they had a great experience, and bring that experience to the school season also,” says Hubbard

Knockout matches will be played on Sunday, April 2, and may be livestreamed through the same Ultimate Canada page as Canyon’s Saturday afternoon game