$1,000 donation kicks off memorial fundraiser Valley players enjoy historic Vegas Sevens jackpot
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$79K federal grant for theatre setting stage for future LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN
The Cowichan Theatre has received $79,195 to build a stagelevel washroom plus other muchneeded renovations. The money comes in the form of a Canadian Heritage Grant from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. This is the first time the Cowichan Theatre has submitted an application for this grant and there was no way of gauging its chances for success, according to CVRD arts and culture division manager Kirsten Schrader. The idea of having some washrooms at stage level is thrilling, she said, laughing. “That’s probably one of the most popular of the three projects for people that have performed or worked on the stage. It’s a problem not to have a washroom at stage level.” Elderly people as well as the many young performers that make local productions so special will really welcome the addition, she said. “People that have heard about that have really cheered.” But long before the cheering started, there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes. The Cowichan Theatre has never tried for a grant from this
group before or of this magnitude but Schrader wanted to get a Cowichan foot in the door. “I am aware of this from my own background working in Vancouver. Since I came here I’ve always been researching grant opportunities. I’ve applied for some smaller ones that we’ve received but this is the biggest one so far but, you know, it’s a lot of work to get a grant like this from Canadian Heritage,” she said. It’s a national program and that means competing with other eager facilities from across the country. “The application process was quite extensive, too, because they weren’t aware of our theatre. There were probably about three or four months of follow-up questions from the panel reviewing our application as well. “They were getting to know the theatre. They wanted to know that we had a presenting season, that we buy shows, professional shows, and bring them here, that we’re not working solely with community groups. So there was a lot of work done on my part to familiarize them with the work that we do and to assure them that we meet the See More fly lines • page 8
Friday, January 31, 2014
HAGGIS HEADS FOR THE KITCHEN
Haggis bearer Dave Urquhart and whisky bearer Allie Evans chuckle at the enormous size of Haggis 2014 as they prepare to carry it ceremoniously out so it can be served up to diners at the Cowichan Pipes and Drums’ 15th annual Robbie Burns night Saturday in Duncan. For more photos and video from the Robbie Burns dinner, scan this image with the Layar app on your smart phone or go to www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]
Dropping dollar raising trash bill LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN
Looking over their shoulders at the plummeting Canadian dollar, Cowichan Valley Regional District directors approved a boost of $175,000 for garbage management. It bucked their order of zero
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increases, but, unlike many CVRD debates, where the diversity found in each electoral area and municipality causes push and pull, there was clear concern from all around the table as directors listened to Brian Dennison, general manager of engineering services. “This is a $9 million budget and
unexpected things can occur,” he said. “This year for example, we found some contaminated drywall in our transfer station and had to call in the whole enviro team with their suits and everything to remove See Hutchins • page 5
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