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Swimming with whale sharks: page 5 Read how it’s done Page 15

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Off to Indie awards with six nominations

Gets some flack about being vague

CN Centre April 6 to talk to the departed

Geoff and the Ninja

Canada Food Guide

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Long Island Medium

Prince George’s weekly news

Proud to be Canadian citizens

From the trenches of a war-ravaged country to beautiful Prince George, one couple tells their story Seniors’ Scene Kathy Nadalin

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ungarian refugees Larry (Laurence) and Anna Herbert are still thankful to this day for the opportunity to become naturalized Canadian citizens. Here is a glimpse into how it all happened.

Larry Herbert was born in Kislod, Hungary in 1933. He was engaged to be married to Anna Gazso – a girl who lived down the street. Anna was also born in Kislod in 1938.

It was 62 years ago, that Larry picked up his wages for the last time and in the middle of the night the young couple and eight other young adults fled their county of birth by the light of the moon and headed for Austria to escape the tyranny of communism. They crawled through ditches to escape the guards who, if they caught them, would shoot them from tanks patrolling the borders.

When they arrived at the bridge where their hand drawn map instructed them to cross the river, they found that the bridge had been blown up.

They continued on to a more dangerous area to cross the river and when they arrived on the other side the bullets were flying. They had to crawl in the marsh along the side of the river until they arrived at the border. To their relief, the border guards were asleep on the job so they were able to just walk across to safety.

Once they made it past the border and into Austria, they were housed in a refugee camp for a period of one week.

They left the refugee camp with only the clothes on their backs. They were issued temporary passports and after signing documents agreeing to get jobs and pay back the airfare they were flown to Can-

97/16 photo by Brent Braaten

Larry and Anna Herbert came from Hungary during the war and started their journey to Prince George in Ontario. ada. Larry and Anna and other refugees landed in Toronto, Ont. in December of 1956.

Anna said, “When we arrived in Toronto we were met by officials from the Canadian Red Cross. Larry and I each received $5 and the news that we did not have to pay back the cost of our airfare.

That was great news and the $5 seemed like a fortune. The Canadians and the

Hungarian Canadians were wonderful to us. They shared their food with us and gave us clothing. They helped us send the news back home that we made it safely to Canada. We felt that we were lucky to be alive.

“We could not speak English but we did speak German so that was a start.

We moved to Sarnia, Ont. because I had an aunt and some cousins living there.

The first thing we did was get a marriage license and we had a church wedding.

We found work and started to learn the English language.

“We lived there for 13 years. Larry worked as a millwright at Canadian Oil and I worked in the hotel industry. We saved some money and bought a small house.

“In 1969 we heard that the pulp mills in Prince George were hiring. We took a holiday in July and went to Prince George. We couldn’t believe it but it was snowing in Prince George on Canada Day that year. We liked Prince George because of all the hunting and fishing and the fact that we would have a paid move to Prince George if we accepted a job at Canfor. The drawback was that there was very little housing and we could not find anything that we really liked.

“We returned to Ontario and prepared to move. Larry left for Prince George, I sold the house and sadly said good bye to all my friends and then I followed Larry.”

Anna became a stay at home mom.

They bought some land and had a house built. They sold that house and built another one because they needed a bigger house because their family was growing.

Larry worked at Intercontinental Pulp as a millwright and retired in 1993 after 24 years on the job.

They traveled a bit and then lived at Cluculz Lake for a few years until health issues caused them to move back to Prince George.

They had three children; John (deceased), Larry and Elizabeth. They had two grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. Sadly, their grandchild Ryan passed away.

Anna said, “We are thankful to have lived our lives here in Canada and especially Prince George. I am still in touch on a regular basis with my friends back in Ontario as well as my friends and family here in Prince George. They are all my greatest source of enjoyment.”

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97/16 photo by Brent Braaten

Local author Solomon Goudsward held a book signing at Books & Company and sold out. There’s more copies coming.

Local author pens one book, writing two more Frank peebles 97/16 staff

A Good Death To Self has been given life.

This new book was penned by Prince George writer Solomon Goudsward, the young scribe’s debut novel, and it was launched recently with an event at Books & Company.

Bookstore staff called the new novel “an honest, funny, simple yet contemplative story of friendship, freewill, faith and change in a Northern town.”

Goudsward told The Citizen that it took him three years of intermittent effort to create the book.

“It was just a matter of sticking with it,” he said. “I’ve written other stuff, and some larger projects in the past and did not always stick it through. I don’t know what it was about this project, but I just kept coming back to it.”

Part of the motivation was its underpinnings to his Christian faith, but another part of the motivation was knowing he

was writing something outside the usual Christian literary tropes.

“There’s a lot of swearing and drinking which is often counter to what many in the Christian community consider their lifestyle, but that’s a choice, and it’s not what I wanted to explore with these characters in this setting,” Goudsward said. “I know it will not be popular with certain Christians, I know this is not really bestseller material just because it doesn’t fit into those nice, safe genres, but I think it’s a good read. It’s an indie style I think a certain set of readers will really enjoy.”

He’s aiming the book at the young adult population, but believes it also has wider appeal outside of that.

“It’s not the big coming-of-age adventure. It’s the facing of reality, and that is mild and simple and about the nuances of growing up. There is a climax but it’s not life-and-death stakes on the line,” he said.

Books & Company quickly sold out of their first shipment of A Good Death

To Self, so Goudsward had the pleasant problem of having to order more. It is also available via Amazon, and comes in paperback and ebook platforms.

For Goudsward, it was putting his local education to creative use. He went to Cedars Christian School for his grade school years, and is now in his third year of studies at UNBC. He credits English professor Rob Budde for being a helpful force on his writing aspirations.

“One of the most important things I learned through this is, I’m capable of completing a book, which is important because I’m working on another,” he said. “It also played a part as my own therapy and working through my youth mentality. I was a year out of high school and trying to navigate the questions about what are we doing here? Free will, what does that all mean? Who do I get to be in my life? I wasn’t writing from a place of understanding the answers; I was writing from a place of being caught up in these questions myself. Answers are

not always the answer.”

What he did know for certain was the setting in which he was steeped. The most common writer’s axiom is “write what you know” and a big part of that could be restated “write where you know.”

Goudsward said being born and raised in Prince George “had a big influence on my writing and although it’s not called that in the book, the setting is totally a fictionalized version of Prince George.”

He said he has a pair of primary works underway next.

One he calls “a very ambitious novel” inspired by Tolstoy “in vague terms – inspired by history and desire and some big ideas we sometimes have about other people.”

The other is something completely different, “a comedic collaboration” he is doing with his dad Ken Goudsward who is also a noted local writer and musician.

To think of what they might come up with together is a tantalizing page-turner of an idea.

News

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Questioning ‘the best a man can get’

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or 30 years, the Gillette Corporation has used the term, “The best a man can get” as its tagline. It sounded good, and it appealed to the cultural standard of competition, the idea that to be a real man, one needed to be the best, even if it meant to win at all costs.

Gillette advertisements showed how men shaving with their razors attracted the most beautiful models or had the most dominant athletic careers. The question arises, however, as to how well that ideal has served us. How realistic are these goals for the majority of the male population? Even if a man did attain those goals, was his life more satisfying?

Was Gillette simply pointing us toward the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in order to sell its product?

Albert Einstein tells us, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

It seems that the decision makers at Gillette have been asking themselves these difficult questions. What does “The best a man can get” really mean?

A recently released extended Gillette commercial thus begins by playing audio news headlines and asks, “Is this the best a man can get?”

It seems that the decision makers at Gillette have been asking themselves difficult questions. A recently released extended Gillette commercial thus begins by playing audio news headlines and asks, “Is this the best a man can get?”

Along with greater instances of certain stress related illnesses, men tend to have much higher incarceration rates than women, and global statistics show that men are much more likely to commit criminal acts of violence. Data such as

Lessons in learning Gerry Chidiac

this usually indicates that there are problems which need to be addressed.

Asking questions about the way we do things tends to make us uncomfortable.

Perhaps this explains the overwhelming

... asking ourselves difficult questions and challeging ourselves to be our best is a characteristic of those who live the happiest and most peaceful lives. initial backlash to the new turn in Gillette advertising. There are twice as many “dislikes” as “likes” for the commercial on YouTube, and comments are extremely critical. The media is also filled with editorials reflecting this backlash, with British commentator Piers Morgan leading the way.

What is interesting is that asking ourselves difficult questions and challenging ourselves to be our best is a characteristic of those who live the happiest and most peaceful lives. Effective people recognize their value and do not find these types of questions to be a threat. Perhaps that is where we need to begin.

We are born with a gender, and all genders are good. I am a male. I have a certain body type. Certain hormones are more prevalent and others are less prevalent in my blood. I have facial hair.

Though I am taught certain standards by my culture, what I do with my maleness is my choice.

Gillette makes shaving products which they want men to buy.

Perhaps all that Gillette is asking is whether or not their advertisements in the past have helped or hindered men in embracing what it means to be male. It is admirable to publicly question oneself, and it can also be good business.

What does it mean to be the best that I can be? I value effort and determination, but the people I admire also practice compassion, understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, kindness and love.

Some of the men I see as the “best a man can get” are Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Jesus of Nazareth.

It should be noted the qualities which made these men great have nothing to do with their maleness, and great women like Mother Teresa, Mary of Nazareth, Dorothy Day, Angela Merkel and Oprah Winfrey display similar qualities.

Perhaps the question we need to be asking ourselves is not “What is the best a man can get?” It is simply, “What is the best that I can be as a human being?”

Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com.

97/16 news service photo by Diane Bondareff

Gillette announced its new razor, Gillette SkinGuard, designed for men with sensitive skin in November 2018 in New York. Perhaps this razor reflects the changing role of their age-old slogan of “the best a man can get.”

End of in-days, hopefully Home Again Megan kuklIs

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hen inclement weather hits Prince George, everyone shudders with horror, bundles up in all of their winter clothes and starts their car thirty minutes before they have to leave the house in order not to freeze.

Most people will vigorously complain about the cold, head to work and rush home and stay there until they absolutely have to leave the house.

It is cozy, hyyge weather. It should be lovely and crisp and full of book reading and warm blankets.

But parents of school-aged children know the darkside of wintery weather: in-days at school.

Let me explain: when the school district dictates (as it should) that it is too cold for children to safely be outside, an in-day is scheduled.

The kids are excited because a) it is bloody cold outside and 2) they get to play inside games.

What happens is that the jittery ants in the kids’ pants that are normally released at recess and lunch when the kids can play, run and burn off some pent up school energy are all contained in the classroom and then are released all at once when the children return home. Our children’s school (as with other schools) does its best to help with excessive energy (sometimes the kids

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Sun streams through the trees as steam rises from the Fraser River as recent temperatures plummeted. have to run up and down stairs) but it is never enough. After two in-days in a row, teachers, parents and kids are climbing the walls. Homes (my home, at least) get fractious and cranky.

It is terrible.

But when the sun comes out again and the wind dies down and the temperatures warms a fraction, it is like a poem opens up inside of you – the kids go outside again. They get fresh air, they run around in snow pants (which is fairly hard work) and they laugh and play – again – out of the house.

Once the door shuts, the echo of the slam reverberates into your silent home.

For five whole minutes, there is blessed silence and peace and no one is fighting… until the door opens again because someone pushed someone or threw their sibling’s mittens in the snow.

It is a short-lived peace but it is welcome.

travel

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Swimming with the whale shark steve MacNaull Kelowna Daily Courier

In my periphery vision, slowly and steadily, a hulking, dark and indeterminate shadow appears.

My heart quickens and there’s an involuntarily sharp intake of breath on my snorkel mouthpiece.

I first focus on an elaborate pattern of white dots on a glossy black background.

Huge gills below flutter in the water. A pectoral fin appears, working like a lazy pendulum, and five metres behind a massive tail sweeps.

I work the flippers on my feet harder to speed up and get closer, and suddenly, I’m eye to eye with a whale shark, the largest fish on the planet. Given his size, eight-metres and counting, it’s a surprise this shark’s eyes are no bigger than mine.

As such, the stare down is startlingly intimate and initially frightening.

After all, this is a massive fish of the shark species.

But not to fear.

While this gentle giant has a gaping mouth, his teeth are miniscule and he’s interested only in feasting only on plankton.

Therefore, he is completely indifferent to my presence. So, as long as I follow the rules – keep a one metre distance and stay away from the tail – he and I are ideal swimming partners.

We establish a rhythm, him languidly propelling himself through the planktonrich sea feeding and me keeping pace.

It’s mesmerizing, it’s intoxicating, it’s

97/16 photo Courtesy of Baja Charters

Baja Charters takes groups out to swim with whale sharks, the largest fish on the planet, in the Sea of Cortez. one of those bucket list activities that can only be believed when experienced.

After 10 minutes, guide Leo Ramirez

taps my shoulder to return to the group, which includes my wife, Kerry, to watch two other whale sharks feed while sus-

pended vertically in the water.

Continued on page 6

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97/16 photos by Steve MacNaull

Baja Charters’ 54- foot catamaran, Island Cat, ferries tourists out on the Sea of Cortez to swim with whale sharks.

Lazy days and Divine dinners in Baja Continued from page 5

Again, I’m fascinated.

But nothing can match my first time coming eye-to-eye with a magnificent whale shark.

Back on the boat, everyone is excitedly peppering Leo and marine biologist Mariana Padilla with questions.

I find out my one-on-one buddy has been nicknamed Diggy Diggy by the crew of Baja Charters, the tour operator we’ve booked for this once-in-a-lifetime thrill.

He has a scar on his dorsal fin and is about 20 years old, a youngster, considering these creatures live up to 120 years and grow to 18 metres. Whale sharks, aren’t whales at all, but sharks.

They earned the whale adjective due to their impressive size. Every winter, these docile and harmless sharks winter in the Bay of Cortez near La Paz, Mexico at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. And they’ve become a tourism spectacle. Several companies offer tours to interact with

these incredible beasts under strict government guidelines.

We chose Baja Charters because it has a stellar reputation and is the most luxurious of the operators.

After our whale shark fun, we return on the Island Kitty tender to the five-metre Island Cat catamaran for warm showers and more animated conversation over margaritas and steak-and-chicken tacos in the sunshine on deck. The whale shark encounter is the highlight of our getaway to the Los Cabos region of the Baja, which seamlessly blends a Southern California aesthetic with Mexican authenticity.

We enjoy that vibe and completely unwind at two of Los Cabo’s most luxurious hotels, both in the five-star Auberge Resorts Collection.

At Chileno Bay Resort we switch it up between lounging in a cabana beside the three-tier infinity pools and swimming and snorkelling in a protected cove of the Sea of Cortez. Our sumptuous room

provides the type of no-alarm sleep-ins that perfect vacations are made of.

We dine by candlelight clifftop at the al fresco Comal on blackened tuna and Sauvignon Blanc. Speaking of nouveau Mexican cuisine, after moving to the area’s second Auberge resort, Esperanza, we perch ourselves on the promontory that is Cocina del Mar restaurant for totoaba fish for two paired with Mexican sparkling wine.

With waves crashing below, it’s the most romantic and atmospheric dinner we’ve ever had.

Otherwise, we only leave our casita with the disappearing glass wall for couple time in the white hammock at the beach and quick plunges in yet another infinity pool.

Air Canada flies between San Jose del Cabo and Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto with the airline’s comfortable, new, quiet and fuel- efficient 737 Max jets.

Check out BajaCharters.com, AubergeResorts.com and AirCanada.com.

Marine biologist Mariana Padilla primed us for swimming with whale sharks during a demonstration with Freddie the plush toy replica.

millenials

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97/16 news service pshoto by Stacy Zarin Goldberg

These wines show that high-quality cabernet sauvignon isn’t out of reach.

Five things to know about wine dave mcintyre 97/16 wire service

Wine appreciation can be a snobbish hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. We can love wine without being obsessed by it, and we can be knowledgeable about it without lording our superiority over others.

A basic knowledge of wine can keep us conversant in snobbish company and help us sort through the multitude of selections on the retail shelf, while still having a life. Most importantly, it can enhance our experience at the dinner table, where it matters most.

So with that being said, I introduce an occasional feature on wine’s basics, with five things I think you should know about a wine grape or a region, or some aspect of wine we may take for granted (corks, or corkscrews, for example).

My hope is to enhance your enjoyment of wine, which is, after all, the only wine appreciation that matters. And if this helps you score a point or two in conversation at wine tastings, so much the better.

Our first subject is cabernet sauvignon, perhaps the world’s most popular red wine grape.

1. Where it’s from: Cabernet sauvignon is the progeny of cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc, two grapes still prominent today. It originated, probably spontaneously, in Bordeaux in France, in the mid-1700s. Or thereabouts. For wine romanticists, that means the Bordeaux that Thomas Jefferson enjoyed on his visits to the region in the 1780s were probably not primarily cabernet.

2. Where it grows: To be honest, almost

97/16 news service photo by Katherine Frey

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at a Maryland vineyard in 2016. everywhere wine grapes are planted, because it is so popular. But that doesn’t mean it performs well everywhere. It favours a temperate “Goldilocks” climate: Not too hot, not too cold. In its homeland of Bordeaux, cabernet dominates the red wine blends in the Médoc and Graves, two areas on the Left Bank of the Gironde Estuary, closer to the maritime influence of the Atlantic. Wines labeled St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien, Margaux, Graves, Médoc or Haut-Médoc are likely to be at least 50 percent cabernet sauvignon. On the warmer, inland Right Bank, merlot and cabernet franc dominate the blends.

In California, cab is king. This is especially true in Napa Valley, which has become almost synonymous with the variety. It was the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars cabernet, from Napa, that dethroned top Bordeaux at the famous Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976, proving that

world-class wine could be made outside of France. Over the past two decades, Napa’s “cult cabs” have come to symbolize wine mania and helped (along with other factors) drive the price of Napa cabernet into the stratosphere.

Other regions produce cabernets that are downright cheap compared with Napa Valley. Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley are prime examples, and farther south, Paso Robles grows some top-notch cabernet. So does Washington state’s Columbia Valley.

Other regions: Chile makes noteworthy cabs, from $ to $$$ (Colchagua, Aconcagua, Apalta), as does Argentina (Mendoza) and Australia (Coonawarra, Barossa).

3. What it tastes like: Cab sauv is known for dark fruit flavours: black cherry, blackberry, black currant (cassis).

There may also be baking spice – anise, clove, nutmeg. Graphite is a common de-

scriptor, especially in Bordeaux; think of those No. 2 pencils you used to sharpen as a kid.

When underripe or overcropped (too much fruit on the vine, diluting flavour), cab can taste green and vegetal. Herbal flavours, such as mint or sage, can be good, and a hint of bell pepper is fine.

Same with black tea or olive. Any flavour that just says “vegetables,” not so much.

If it tastes like dried fruit – prunes, raisins – the grapes were overripe, and the alcohol is probably higher (15 percent or up). This is usually a stylistic choice by the winemaker; it’s up to you to decide whether you like it.

4. What to eat with it: Cabernet sauvignon is high in tannins, which make your teeth itch after you swallow the wine.

Tannins are a status symbol for red wine, because they give it longevity in the cellar for long aging. For food pairing, just remember three words: fat cuts tannin.

That’s why cab sauv is your ideal partner for grilled steaks, hamburgers, braised short ribs or any Flintstonian slabs of beef.

5. Cabernet doesn’t match our lifestyle anymore: See No. 4. As we move away from our “meat and three” menu toward a lower-fat diet, do we need such big wines? Yes, there are lighter expressions of cabernet, but there are also other grapes that are more versatile with the wide range of cuisines we enjoy today, and more appropriate with a less meatcentric diet. I am not predicting the end of cabernet, by any means, but perhaps other wines, such as cabernet franc, malbec, gamay, barbera and pinot noir, with their softer tannins and palate-friendly fruit, are more appropriate for today.

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97/16 photo by Brent Braaten

Athletes at the The Prince George 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships get some unofficial practice in on the biathlon range Thursday at Otway Nordic Centre. A variety of events are being held until Feb. 24.

athletics, live music and the coldest night The Occupation of Heather Rose Until Sunday, Feb. 24 at Theatre NorthWest, #36-556 North Nechako Rd., The Occupation of Heather Rose will be presented. It’s the first play ever staged

by Theatre NorthWest. Twenty-five years later the theatre is bringing it back. It’s

a beautiful heartwarming and inspiring play that charts the growth in the understanding of a naïve nurse working on the Snake Lake Reserve in Northern Ontario.

For more information call 250-614-0039 or email FOH@theatrenorthwest.com.

World Para Nordic Skiing Championships

Prince George Cougars Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at CN Centre, 2187 Ospika Blvd., come support the Cougars in their regular season on their way to the championship. For more information visit www.pgcougars. com.

Chris Goodwin Live

Until Sunday, February 24 at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, 8141 Otway Rd., the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships see para Nordic athletes who are grouped into three classes for competition (sitting, standing, and visually impaired) and will compete in four cross-country skiing and four biathlon medal events over a period of 10 days.

There will be about 140 athletes from 20 different nations, more than 200 coaches and officials at the event.

For more information visit www.caledonianordic.com.

Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Oakroom Grill, 104-1023 Central St. West, Chris Goodwin, a newcomer to the local music scene will perform country, folk, pop and rock. As a solo musician, Chris brings his unique voice and love of all music to his performances. Enjoy an evening of music suited for everyone. For more information call 250-277-1882 or email oakroomgrill@hotmail.com.

Spruce Kings

Friday at 8 p.m. at the Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St., Lyle Bats and The Alkemist present an all ages show.

Lyle Bats is a new musical projection from Williams Lake featuring Brent Morton. For more infomration call 250-5520826 or email info@ominecaartscentre. com. Entry is $10 at the door.

Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. come on down to the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena and watch the action close up as the Spruce King play on the road to the RBC cup. For more information visit www. sprucekings.bc.ca.

Lyle Bats and The Alkemist

Live Music at Northern Lights Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Northern Lights Estate Winery, 745 Prince George Pulpmill Rd., there are local entertainers presenting live music.

This week will feature a performance

by Red Wyne. For more information call 250-564-1112 or email nlewhabanga@ gmail.com.

Coldest Night of the Year

Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 1500 Edmonton St., AWAC, Association Advocating for Women and Community, is hosting the Coldest Night of the Year, a two, five or 10 km family-friendly winter walk-a-thon

hosted in more than 125 cities across Canada to support individuals experiencing homelessness, hunger and other barriers by raising funds and awareness.

All proceeds will go to AWAC’s various housing programs to support individuals in securing and maintaining housing.

To register contact Alanna Le Cerf at 250-617-3037 or email programmanager@awacshelter.org.

Afro Fusion Dinner

Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the College of New Caledonia, 3330-22nd Ave., CNC Black History committee is hosting an Afro Fusion Cuisine Dinner and entertainment where proceeds will go to an endowment bursary.

Tickets for age 13 and up are $25 each, age 7 to 12 are $10, six and under are free. Tickets are at CNC Bookstore, UNBC Bookstore, DJ Afro Superstore and Books & Company. For more information call 778-349-1317 or email yangy7@cnc. bc.ca.

Mulled Wine Festival

Saturday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Northern Lights Estate Winery, 745 Prince George Pulpmill Rd., the winery is hosting its fourth Annual Winter Wine Festival. Tickets are $25, which includes a tasting mug and five to six 1.5 oz samples. Guests are asked to vote for their favourite. For more information call 250-564-1112 or email info@northernlightswinery.ca.

Miracle Theatre

Thursday, Feb. 28 until Wednesday, March 20 at 8 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on March 3, 19 and 17 at ArtSpace, above Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave., Halfway There is a professional theatre production with actors hired from across Canada.

This comedy is about friends for life and the surprises that arise when a new doctor comes to town.

This year’s beneficiary is the Community Foundation and all net proceeds will start the new Children of Prince George Fund. Tickets are $33 at Books & Co. or call 250-563-6637.

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Sports

O’Rourke behind Team B.C. bench ted clarke 97/16 staff

Steve O’Rourke has ditched his role as associate coach of the Prince George Cougars, to take on a new role as a head coach.

But that’s only for a couple of weeks.

The 44-year-old Summerland native is coaching Team B.C. this week in Red Deer at the Canada Winter Games, following up on a group of under-16 players he first started working with at the WHL Cup tournament in Calgary in October 2017.

This is O’Rourke’s second Canada Winter Games experience. In 1991, when he was 15, he played as a defenceman for Team Saskatchewan in the Canada Games tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., while enrolled at a hockey academy in Notre Dame.

“This is such a unique experience, the Canada Winter Games, it’s such a massive event, it’s a mini Olympics and I was fortunate to be in it as a player,” said O’Rourke. “For the majority of us who play hockey, we’ll never be in the Olympics and this is like that. To go through the accreditations, to be there with other athletes from the other sports, and to go somewhere and be part of an athlete village and all the experiences you have, it’s an amazing thing.”

Having the Games in Red Deer is like a homecoming for O’Rourke, whose daughter Sophie was born there while he was an associate coach with the WHL Red Deer Rebels.

B.C. lost its first game 4-2 Sunday to Manitoba. Tyler Brennan of Winnipeg, the Cougars’ 21st overall pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, stopped 37 of 39 B.C. shots. The boys from B.C. rebounded Sunday with a 4-3 win over Saskatchewan. Ontario and Alberta, the finalists in 2015, are the favourites again this time to make it to Saturday’s final.

“We have to play a good structured game right from start to finish and the big thing is just buying in,” said O’Rourke. “Our last group (in the WHL Cup), we kind of peaked at the right time and we were fortunate enough to beat Alberta in the gold-medal game.

“It’s the same philosophy we’ll put together, everyone will have a role and everyone will play a lot of minutes throughout it. No one’s going to be a star player

97/16 photo provided by Prince George Cougars

Steve O’Rourke, an associate coach for the Prince George Cougars, is Team B.C.’s head coach during the Canada Winter Games held in Red Deer. for us and everyone will be contributing right through the lineup.”

Brian Pellerin of the Tri-City Americans and former Cougar assistant Jason Becker of the Penticton Vees are O’Rourke’s assistant coaches. Brent Arsenault, a former assistant for the Cougars and Spruce Kings who now lives in Kamloops, is the team manager.

In 2015, at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, O’Rourke’s son Ethan, now a member of the Swift Current Broncos, played as a centre for Team B.C. Following that tournament, the manager of the team, Cariboo Cougars GM Trevor Sprague, asked O’Rourke if he’d like to get involved as a coach in the under-16 provincial program and O’Rourke signed a two-year commitment.

The B.C. team in Red Deer is made up of eight players who are with B.C. Hockey Major Midget League teams and 12 from hockey academies. Fischer O’Brien of Prince George was part of the summer camp and his Cariboo Cougars teammate Matthew Magrath was invited to the Team BC tryouts two summers ago, but there are no local players from north central interior playing on the team.

Logan Stankhoven of Kamloops, a Kamloops Blazers pick, is playing for B.C., as is Kelowna Rockets prospect Trevor Wong. Fin Williams, a forward from North Vancouver, was picked as the flag bearer for Team B.C. for the Canada Games opening ceremonies.

“It’s a huge step for these guys to make that final 20,” said O’Rourke. “I know last year Alberta had 11 (WHL draft) firstrounders on their team.”

Winger Craig Armstrong of Airdrie, Alta., drafted ninth overall last year by the Cougars, is playing this week for Team Alberta, while Cougars’ defence prospect Hudson Thornton is part of Team Manitoba.

“We want to win but I want those kids to have a great experience and that’s why they all have a role on the team, we’re not going to ride one line,” said O’Rourke. “For me, we’re all part of the win or all part of the loss. The parents put a lot of money into all these steps and these kids deserve to play.

“We test these kids and interview them and push our agenda all the time about being a good person. We do individual talks with these guys and tell them

where they’re at and what they need to improve on. We had one guy, I won’t mention names, who was a fringe guy for us and we challenged him to be a better guy, a better person and the kid’s been unbelievable. He was a great player at (the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge) and he’s got a (college) scholarship. The point is to get to them before they get to a junior level and they’re not coachable or don’t play the right way.”

O’Rourke’s Saskatchewan team finished fifth in 1991. He went on to play defence in the WHL’s Tri-City and Moose Jaw, was picked in the seventh round by the New York Islanders, later playing at the University of Lethbridge and as a pro in the ECHL, UHL and England.

“Fifth place was pretty decent for us as a small province, and we actually ended up in a line brawl in the final game against P.E.I – a bunch of Saskatchewan thugs,” laughed O’Rourke. “It was a great event and I think they’ve improved it and it’s become bigger and bigger.”

The Canada Games men’s hockey tournament ends Saturday and O’Rourke will be back when the Cougars host the Spokane Chiefs, Feb. 25 at CN Centre.

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Games using new gender inclusion policy lori ewing 97/16 wire service

Athletes at the 2019 Canada Winter Games can live and compete as the gender they identify with.

It’s another groundbreaking initiative for a Canadian multi-sport event that prides itself on being ahead of the curve.

“Inclusiveness is something we’ve done since Day 1, and so this is an extension of that,” said David Patterson, president and CEO of the Canada Games Council.

The Canada Games board adopted its gender inclusion policy in December, and it has been implemented for the Winter Games that are happening now through March 3 in Red Deer, Alta.

“The CGC recognizes that sex and gender are not the same thing, and that individuals are born with different combinations of sex and gender as part of their identity,” the policy states. “This policy aims to set the conditions by which the CGC and its Host Societies will create a safe and welcoming environment for transgender or intersex participants at the Canada Games.”

The initiative comes after U Sports, the governing body of university athletics in Canada, announced a new transgender policy in September that allows athletes to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identity.

Patterson said the policy was put into place after about a year of research, and that they borrowed from U Sports, along with other Canadian sport organizations, such as Ringette Canada, that have strong trans-inclusion policies.

9716 image provided by Canada Winter Games

Here is the logo for the Red Deer Canada Winter Games. The games are on now and continue until March 3.

More than 100,000 athletes have competed in the Games since their inaugural year in 1967.

The Games are a stepping stone onto the international scene not only for athletes, but coaches and officials, and a catalyst, said Patterson, for other Canadian sport organizations right down to the grassroots level.

“As we make changes to how we do sport, we’re hoping that those changes become a catalyst to where that change happens at (other sports) events as well,” Patterson said.

Because athletes aren’t asked to provide their gender – only which gender they’ll be competing as – Patterson doesn’t know how many athletes the new policy will benefit.

“We’re confident that it’s more than zero, and that athletes who might not have been welcome are going to be more

welcomed,” he said.

The new policy, he said, will allow athletes to feel more welcome. Previous Games saw some athletes stay in hotels with their parents rather than in the athletes’ village.

“We’re in a good place in Red Deer where if an athlete identifies as trans, or identifies as non-binary, we’ll be able to make sure they can have a good experience here. Everything is built around the athlete’s best interest, and the athlete’s experience here at the Games,” he said.

“As with any other athlete here, when they have a need, we should be the ones doing the accommodating, not the other way around.”

The Canada Games achieved gender equity -– equal number of female athletes as male – back in the late 1980s. It’s also the only multi-sport event that includes able-bodied, para, and Special Olympic

athletes, Patterson said. He feels that makes the Canada Games the most integrated multi-sport event in the world.

Athletes all compete for one team.

“If you’re Team Ontario, you’re Team Ontario,” Patterson said. “So that level of integration is quite unique, and so that notion and bias towards inclusiveness, this fits that. This is continuing the way we’ve approached sport.

“The big thing is we want athletes to be themselves here, because the joy and the beauty of the Canada Games is seeing athletes being themselves and doing great things.”

Gender inclusion signage has been posted in Canada Games venues in Red Deer that was similar to what greeted athletes at Canada Olympic House at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang last winter.

“Within these walls, you are welcomed, accepted and respected,” it reads. “Here, no matter who you are or where you come from, you are at home, regardless of your sex, sexual orientation, race, marital or family status, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, age, colour, disability, political or religious belief or non-belief. All that we ask is that you be ethical, excellent and inclusive in all you do.”

The Canada Games have seen a who’s who of the country’s sports stars compete, from Sidney Crosby to Hayley Wickenheiser to Catriona Le May Doan and Andre De Grasse.

More than 3,600 athletes and coaches are participating in 19 sports at the Red Deer Games, which opened on Friday.

News

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Two B.C. authors reflect on success denise ryan Vancouver Sun

After emerging in 2018 with bestselling, critically acclaimed memoirs, Darrel McLeod and Terese Mailhot reflect on the limitations of being labelled part of a new “native American literary renaissance.”

Although their books are rooted in personal experience, their storytelling transcends the particular to express the experience of loss and trauma with artistic integrity and profound universality.

••• Nehiyaw: Darrel McLeod on being proud When Darrel McLeod set out for Yekooche, an isolated community 75 kilometres north of Fort St. James, to interview for a job, he was also on a quest to find himself. It was 1989.

McLeod, raised in Smith, Alta., in a large Cree family, was teaching French immersion in an affluent Vancouver neighbourhood.

But the loss of his sister Debbie to suicide and the death of his mother, Bertha, had changed everything.

“I was desperate. My mother was my connection to my culture. I was losing my culture.”

McLeod sent resumes “to every Indian reservation I could.”

He landed the job in Yekooche where, during an orientation meeting led by the school superintendent, he met Dakelh elder Catherine Bird.

“Catherine turned to me and said, ‘So, you’re Cree. You’re our traditional enemy. You Cree men used to steal our horses and our women. For centuries.

You’re our enemy. I don’t know what you’re doing here.’ ” The school superintendent froze. “She turned white, trying to figure out how to deal with the situation.”

Suddenly, said McLeod, Bird slapped her knee and burst into laughter.

McLeod and Bird became fast friends, and shared many stories: McLeod’s childhood growing up “nehiyaw,” or Cree, in the Lesser Slave Lake area of Alberta, and Bird’s reflections on raising 11 children on her own, hunting, trapping and later working to preserve traditional languages.

It was Bird who told McLeod to preserve his own stories by writing them down.

“They will help people,” she said.

McLeod says, “I knew it wasn’t just Catherine talking. It was the universe. It was direction, through this elder.”

McLeod, who lives in Sooke on southwestern Vancouver Island, became a chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations, before he began to write seriously.

Six years ago, in his first writing class with mentor Betsy Warland, he wrote about how his mother and sister Debbie had secreted him in a basket to hide him from social services authorities.

Over the next year, 26 short stories poured out.

His memoir, Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age, (Douglas & McIntyre) tells of growing up in a fierce, loving family touched by violence, cultural displacement, sexual abuse, religious indoctrination, inter-generational trauma, queer and trans realities.

McLeod has been “deeply humbled” by its reception: Mamaskatch won the

Governor General’s Award for non-fiction in 2018 and is a finalist for the upcoming $30,000 RBC Taylor Prize.

He just landed a U.S. publishing deal.

Mamaskatch has also placed McLeod among what some literary critics call a new “native renaissance.”

For McLeod, now working on a novel, it would be more accurate to see this moment more as “an upsurge, or a burgeoning” of “new and renewed voices,” rather than a renaissance, which implies something has disappeared or declined before a rebirth.

“We’ve always been here.”

Among authors he admires who happen to be Indigenous, McLeod cites Eden Robinson, Joshua Whitehead, Billy Rae Belcourt, Cherie Demaline, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Katherena Vermette and Terese Mailhot.

McLeod says he was influenced by traditional storytelling, although his family didn’t call it that.

“My great grandfather’s trapping cabin was a place with no electricity, no running water, so we’d all sit around and the adults would tell stories about things that had happened to them, historical things, new things. It was quite an art to be a storyteller.”

McLeod says the storytelling was “bicultural.”

His uncles would hook up an old wooden radio to the car battery and the whole family would listen, mesmerized

by Story Hour on mainstream radio.

He credits his mentors Warland, Shaena Lambert and Douglas Glover, who published McLeod’s first story in his journal Numero Cinq, as well as the ancestors he connects to through ceremony.

“Since I published this book, ceremony has become even more important because I feel a responsibility to support the people who are reading my book while they are reading it, to ask that my ancestors be vigilant and to look out for them, too.”

McLeod says one of the most powerful outcomes of sharing his story has been renewed relationships with his family and other survivors of trauma.

“My mother always lectured us to remember who we were. You’re nehiyaw.

Be proud. Never let anyone else feel that they are more than you or that they are better than you. I was always crystal clear about where I was from and who I was, in my mind and heart and I never felt the desire or need to be anything else.”

••• Transcending labels: Terese Mailhot’s storytelling When author Roxane Gay announced the syllabus for her upcoming Yale University writing class, Heart Berries,

by B.C.-raised Terese Mailhot, was on the list.

In an email to Postmedia, Gay said, “I chose to teach Heart Berries, because it is a gorgeously written memoir that demonstrates exceptional complexity and craft. I am teaching a class on writing trauma and there is so much my students will learn from this book about how to effectively and ethically write about trauma.”

Mailhot’s spare, poetic memoir of breakdown and, ultimately, breakthrough, was a New York Times bestseller and has garnered international acclaim.

Continued on page 12

97/16 photo by Nick Procaylo via Vancouver Sun

Cree author Darrel McLeod at English Bay in Vancouver.

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Bestselling book is no ‘artifact,’ author says Continued from page 11

Vancouver Sun photo courtesy Terese Mailhot

Terese Marie Mailhot and her son Isaiah. Mailhot is a reknowned best selling author.

In interviews that took place in Vermont and by phone, Mailhot reflected on the changes success has brought, and her complicated feelings about her work being labelled as part of a new “native American literary renaissance.”

“The terminology of the native literary renaissance services those who need it.

It’s difficult to talk about without being somewhat resentful. I don’t use that term unless I’m talking to someone outside the culture,” said Mailhot, a postdoctoral fellow at Purdue University. “There were periods of time in which native people were always seen in the light of someVancouver Sun photo courtesy Terese Mailhot thing stagnant and old.”

Indigenous B.C. writer Terese Mailhot (The term “native American renaissance” was coined by American academic as a young child.

Kenneth Lincoln in response to a wave ing up “weird and bookish and bullied” of important native American authors in on the Seabird Island reservation near the 1960s.)

Mailhot, 35, said she “perpetuated” the Chilliwack doesn’t necessarily reflect the experience of others in her community. term occasionally when Heart Berries Pregnant at 19, she married in her first came out because it made the book band office, and lost custody of her son marketable, and in some ways was both soon afterward when the marriage “true and false.” ended. Heart Berries details the unspar“I knew it would be marketable and ing agony of that loss, her subsequent would appeal to people who were breakdown and her interested in native reclamation of self literature as an as a writer. artifact.”

You can look at a text and “In order to break There was truth see it in historical context, through as an artist, to it, too: When but you should not look at first I had to deal she and Cheyenne/ with my life,” said Arapaho author that text as a representative Mailhot. Part of that Tommy Orange of that culture. process was the (There, There) were students at the Therese Mailhot memoir.

Mailhot said Institute of Amerishe has long been can Indian Arts in fascinated with the New Mexico writing “Lifetime Movie, SVU, Oprah” formula of their breakout books, Mailhot said, “We women who triumph over trauma. knew we were doing something new. We “I wanted to subvert that and let people really were a renaissance, there really know that it’s OK not to be OK at the was discovery and pulling away from old end of the story, that you still could be ideas on native literature and the tropes transcendent, and from an artistic standwithin it.” point I wanted a book that didn’t give the But she sees the term as weighted with reader everything they wanted.” “inherent racism.”

“I wanted to ascend to something “If I were a white guy, having a cool transcendent,” said Mailhot. “I debated new book would be enough,” said Mailevery word.” hot, who is now working on a novel.

She didn’t want to explain her culture Although Mailhot prefers to be seen in the book — or have it “colonized as as a “single self,” it doesn’t mean she is insight.” pulling away from her culture: “How “I didn’t want to look at being native.

I quantify success is through what I’ve I wanted to look through being native. I been able to do for others, helping other wanted to make it art.” native writers is really important to me.

Her success has allowed the mother It’s the one good thing I can do within of three to strengthen the relationship the community as a literary citizen.” with her eldest son, who still lives with It’s important to Mailhot that her his father, but her outspokenness made it work is not read “as artifact” or difficult to live in her own community. through a socio-cultural or anthropo“I’m doing a better service as an advological lens. cate for people I love there by not being “You can look at a text and see it in there. In order to be critical and compashistorical context, but you should not sionate, I can’t be close. It’s sad, but a lot look at that text as representative of that of people understand that sometimes culture. I don’t want my book taught as a you have to leave home in order to make book about First Nations experience.” something better.”

Mailhot says her experience grow-

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Health

NASA handout photo by Bill Ingalls

NASA Astronauts Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin brother Mark Kelly, pose for a photograph in 2015 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Mars trip considered a possibility joel achenbach 97/16 wire service

Long-duration spaceflight does weird things to the human body, even at the molecular level, but so far there’s no reason to think humans couldn’t survive a two-and-a-half-year round-trip journey to Mars.

That was the recent bottom-line message from a NASA official and two scientists as they revealed more results from the agency’s Twins Study, which examined physiological changes in astronaut Scott Kelly during his nearly year-long sojourn in space while his twin brother, Mark Kelly, stayed on Earth.

The full report has not yet been published, but reporters got a summary at a news conference at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington.

Among the highlights: Scott Kelly’s bloodwork showed that his immune system quickly ramped up when he went into space, as if, at the cellular level, his body felt under attack.

“It’s almost as if the body’s on high alert,” said Christopher Mason, associate professor of computational genomics at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Some of the physiological effects of microgravity have long been known, such as impaired vision, bone loss, muscle loss and disruption to the wake-sleep cycle.

The new research shows changes at the cellular level, including changes in gene expression.

“It’s mostly really good news,” Mason said. “The body has extraordinary plasticity and adaptation to being in zero gravity, at least for a year.”

That was echoed by Craig Kundrot, director of NASA’s space life and physical sciences division. He said so far the NASA research has found nothing that would make a Mars mission impossible.

The biggest concern is radiation: Such a mission would expose astronauts to levels of radiation greater than permitted under current guidelines. That wouldn’t necessarily prevent a mission, but it remains a concern.

He cautioned that the twins study has a very small study sample – two people.

“We don’t regard any of this as conclusive, but on the whole it’s encouraging,” he said. “There are no new major warning signs.”

NASA under President Donald Trump has renewed its vow to put human beings on the moon again, and on Thursday produced a provisional plan that envisioned astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028 as part of an international effort that would include commercial partners.

The agency says that, unlike the Apollo program, the new moon program would be sustained and not merely a “flags and footprints” mission.

Any human mission beyond low Earth orbit presents a suite of health risks for astronauts because of the radiation in deep space.

The technological challenges associated with a human mission to Mars are obvious, but the physiological challenges are potentially just as significant.

Kundrot said Friday that NASA envisions

a Mars mission that would require a 6-month flight each way plus 18 months on the Martian surface.

Such a mission might involve four to six astronauts, likely an international team. The psychological stresses of such a mission would be considerable.

“It’s the ICE conditions – isolated, confined, extreme,” said Steve Kozlowski, a professor of organizational psychology at Michigan State University who will make a presentation at the AAAS convention on Sunday.

Kozlowski has been researching technologies that could help astronauts monitor the quality of team dynamics.

“You’re going to be in a little tiny space, you’re not going to have virtually any privacy,” he said.

The time delay in communication across millions of miles of space will make conversations with people back home essentially impossible, he said.

“Your social world is going to be you and this small group of people for a really, really long time.”

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Criticism follows release of Canada’s Food Guide Food for thought

Kelsey Leckovic

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elease of the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide has been followed by many opinion pieces and press releases from the food industry, healthcare professionals and the public on what should, or should not have been included.

There have been a few common themes in criticising the new Food Guide including that it does not provide specific-enough recommendations, it does not take into account the individual needs of all Canadians and it is not culturally and socially inclusive.

One unmentioned point in each opinion piece I read was in regards to the public consultations.

Health Canada held several public consultations to gain feedback on what’s most important to Canadians when it comes to diet, nutrition and health.

Although some seem quick to criticize the new Food Guide, I have not seen any mention of their suggestions being disregarded in these open forums; possibly because those who are criticizing did not participate. The reports from these consultations can be found at www. canada.ca by searching Canada’s Food Guide Consultation.

There have also been several misconceptions regarding the new Food Guide including that a dinner plate is replacing the rainbow and dairy has been eliminated as a component of a healthy diet. While the rainbow visual has been removed, it has not necessarily been replaced. The new Food Guide includes food photography and a picture of a plate which depicts real foods divided into three portions to represent examples of the foods that can be eaten in a day.

The plate is not meant to be the Food Guide, only a representation of the variety of foods that can be eaten in a day.

You don’t need to eat every item on that plate, every day.

The 2019 Food Guide has also not eliminated dairy, but has included it into the newly-named “protein foods” category.

It’s important to keep in mind the previous Food Guide was developed in 2007 and in the 12 years since, a wealth of evidence has shown the benefits of a plantbased diet and plant-based proteins.

Still, dairy can be a part of a healthy diet and does not need to be eliminated from the diet for most people.

So why have so many “experts” been quick to criticize?

It may be because we live in a diet-

9716 photo provided by Canada’s Food Guide

This image is only a guideline as to what to eat offering several food options. focused culture in which anyone can call themselves an expert in nutrition as long as they have internet access. Food and diet are personal and polarizing topics and those with more extreme views are often the ones with the loudest voice.

The Food Guide is not meant to provide a meal plan for the perfect diet. The Guide is just that, a guide, to help you develop the skills and behaviours that are important to having a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food.

One common question I receive from patients when providing diet education is: “Can you just tell me what to eat?”

There are multiple reasons why I, and many other Dietitians, will not provide meals plans and instead choose to work

with patients in developing the skills and knowledge required for them to be independent, active participants in their own health.

Meal plans do not encourage an individual to gain the knowledge and skills they need to make the best choices for themselves. Likewise, the new Food Guide, unlike the previous version, does not provide meal plans, instead focusing on behaviour change and knowledge development.

In reading many critiques of the Food Guide, it seems evident that it would have been impossible for the Guide to appease all.

One columnist wrote how the Food Guide lacks innovation by encourag-

ing Canadians to “cook, eat with other people, and consider water as their drink of choice” and is “quite condescending, with trite advice only an idealistic health professional would give ‘Enjoy your food,’ or, ‘Be mindful of eating habits,’ or the patronizing, ‘Be aware of food marketing’.”

Dietary advice and guidance does not need to be provocative to be valuable and recommendations do not need to be overcomplicated to be helpful. Behaviours and developed habits contribute to a healthy diet and lifestyle far more than restrictive meal plans.

Kelsey Leckovic is a Registered Dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.

Study finds bacterial profile of breast milk differs when pumped first cassandra szklarski 97/16 wire service

A new study offers possible clues to why babies who drink pumped breast milk are at greater risk of asthma, allergies and obesity than those who get breastmilk straight from the breast.

Senior author Meghan Azad, a re-

searcher at Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, says the bacterial content differs between milk that was pumped first and milk delivered straight from the breast.

Pumped milk was associated with less oral bacteria and more potential pathogens.

Researchers considered many po-

tential reasons , including whether the mother delivered vaginally or by caesarean section, if she had previous babies, was overweight, and her age, diet, and ethnicity.

Azad says the one factor that was consistently associated with differences in the milk’s bacterial profile was whether or not the mom fed the baby only at the

breast or sometimes using a pump.

The findings were published recently in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

“In our other research we’ve shown it’s certainly better than formula, but it’s not equivalent to feeding at the breast,” said Azad. “So I think we still have more research to do before we know what impact it has on infant health.”

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Scene

Local tV series gets the nod

Geoff and The Ninja is nominated for six international Indie Series awards frank peebles 97/16 staff

Geoff & The Ninja made history when it became the first TV series to ever film all its episodes in Prince George.

It makes more history on April 3 when it becomes the biggest awards contender this city’s screen arts industry has ever had in a single awards show. Geoff & The Ninja (G&TN) was nominated in six categories at the 10th Annual Indie Series Awards.

The show is on the shortlist for: Best Directing – Comedy, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

“In all, there are 45 nominated series from around the globe: United States, Canada, Australia, Indie and the United Kingdom,” said the awards show organizers. “Crystal trophies will be presented to the winners during a gala ceremony on April 3 at The Colony Theatre in Los Angeles.

The two-day celebration includes a launch party, red carpet reception, press walk, presentation ceremony and official after party.”

Jon Chuby, the series co-creator and co-star (he plays Geoff while fellow cocreator Jeremy Abbott plays the eponymous ninja) said he and several others associated with the show would personally attend the ceremonies.

“This is a Hollywood-level event. We’re not going to miss it,” Chuby said. “Realistically, I didn’t expect us to get to any level like this. These nominations were really unexpected, so that’s great. We’re pretty stoked.”

He noted that some of the other projects in the running for an Indie Series Award included shows involving James Franco, Lou Diamond Phillips, Marina Sirtis, and many other seasoned professionals of the screen arts industry.

Alongside Chuby and Abbott on the G&TN nominee sheet include Prince George musician Curtis Abriel for his original score, Cori Ramsay and Caitlin Bennett for their costume design work, and Sabrina Mori for makeup.

G&TN can be seen online via the show’s official website or the OptikTV

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Jeremy Abbot and Jon Chuby, seen here at last year’s Northern FanCon, are local film makers whose project Geoff and the Ninja is up for several Indie Series awards. The pair will attend the international gala on April 3 in Los Angeles.

YouTube channel.

After getting initial development opportunities through the CBC Comedy Coup incubator program and the StoryHive indie development program, Chuby and Abbott gradually worked their concept into a fully functional series. It was shown on the Telus television network OptikTV, making it the one and only series ever conceived of in Prince George to make it to full production while still based within the city.

The show has also become an official

participant in three screen arts festivals around the world.

Now, with the first set of episodes complete and out in the world, it is time for the production team to attempt new life for G&TN. That is partially why they are attending the Indie Series Awards in person.

“We’re trying to get the show picked up by a larger network, and extend the show,” Chuby said. “If you get into these rooms, hopefully you get interest from people with money to invest in making

more episodes, and picked up for distribution so more people see the show. We are getting our pitches ready.”

Anyone wishing to help can do so by simply watching each episode and sharing them on social media, so the production team can show ever stronger audience numbers to potential executive producers and distributors.

To check out the episodes and for more information visit www.geoffandtheninja. com or visit their Facebook page called Geoff & the Ninja.

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Symphony offers shining performance Guest review sean farrell

T

he PGSO had another big success on Saturday, Feb. 9 with their mainstage concert German Masters featuring guest violinist Jasper Wood.

The concert had a lively start with the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances, which was a replacement for a previously billed work

by American composer Adam Hill. I can’t help but think that Bartok might roll in his grave with the insinuation of being German, particularly with his emphasis on the musical folk traditions of the peasant class, as Hungary moved out of the Hapsburg era and was embracing modernistic and patriotic expressions.

But nonetheless this was a suitable opening for the program and gave everyone in the audience a dancey way to warm up from the frigid temperatures having just made their way inside from the packed Playhouse parking lot.

Next, we were treated to a stellar performance of the Violin Concerto in E minor of Felix Mendelssohn, with Wood as guest soloist. Soon into the opening, I pondered if perhaps Maestro Hall might tend to take unnecessarily safe and overly measured approaches to tempo when performing Romantic era concerti.

I felt this earlier in the season during the performance of the Chopin piano concerto. But this is also a matter of personal taste and interpretation.

Jasper Wood is such a technically accomplished soloist. He is an athletic performer, with an impeccable emotional vocabulary. His approach to the Mendelssohn, which truly is one of the four great violin compositions of the entire 19th century, was both playful and humourous, yet consistently elegant and refined, which is the perfect fit for Mendelssohn.

In this composition, there are many passages where the violinist is actually accompanying the orchestra and I wasn’t quite sure that the ensemble was fully coming to the forefront when the opportunity availed itself, but it was an absolutely delightful performance and was the perfect lead-up to the real highlight of the night, Symphony No. 7 in A Major

by Ludwig van Beethoven.

This piece is potentially one of the most

97/16 file photo

Maestro Michael Hall leads the Prince George Symphony Orchestra during their annual Pops in the Park concert last fall at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. Hall led the symphony in another delightful show earlier this month. famous classical compositions of all time – its combination of highly memorable melodies meshed with near-pyrotechnical playing, makes it a perennial audience favourite.

I was impressed with the very polished ensemble work of the orchestra and it really felt like there has been a different approach taken to rehearsals in order to produce such a high-quality presentation of this example of Classical era virtuosity.

Maestro Hall really shines in his role of conductor/performer in these big pieces and what a huge impact his passion and physicality has on elevating the finesse of the orchestra.

Flora Camuzet lead her cello section in the hauntingly beautiful opening of the Allegretto 2nd movement, and really captured the profound blend of tenderness and melancholy of this classic.

I also want to give kudos to percussionist Barb Parker. People so often underappreciate the vital role that the timpanist plays in Beethoven’s symphonies. In these works, the timpanist is very much the gas pedal of the orchestra and Barb really did a great job in keeping everyone bouncing along with dramatic, Napoleonic beats.

I know I have written this before, but it needs to be said again how much Maestro Hall has completely changed our local symphony orchestra, with such consistently professional quality playing, solid ensemble work, and great repertoire selections – almost a 180 degree change just over the past two seasons. It is to the point that I think the orchestra could now focus on some of the little details that mark a truly exceptional performance experience. Perhaps the

attire of some of the musicians may need a second look or, we could avoid having purses or backpacks on stage during the performance. I know these are nit picky items, but I’d like to think it’s a bit of a back-handed compliment to say that the visual now needs to come up to par with the high-quality performances that audiences are now enjoying with the PGSO. And, I do hope that with continued sell-out performances, we will get to build the business case for a bigger and better concert hall in our city. So, I encourage everyone to get their tickets to the next PGSO concert early – Sea Stories on March 9 – which includes masterworks by Faure, Smetna and Handel, and will feature the vocal stylings of Prince George’s Nove Voce choir.

Tickets are available at Central Interior Tickets.

Alexa Chung shows quirky classics 97/16 wire service

Model and TV presenter Alexa Chung has a loyal fan base and her many admirers flocked to Saturday’s show in London’s redeveloped King’s Cross neighbourhood. They weren’t disappointed as Chung offered a new collection featuring her quirky, feminine take on classic designs.

For her second London Fashion Week show, called Off the Grid, the designer announced she had lost all interest in “prettiness” and was imagining a “gaggle of women” who have retreated to California’s Big Sur coastal wilder-

ness to reflect and regroup.

There’s an independence to the collection, even as some of the models wear long coats with matching head scarves that are evocative of the American prairie. Many of the deceptively simple dresses emphasize the shoulders, giving the women an outline of physical strength, and much of the outerwear is masculine in style, particularly a forest green suit.

Chung showed an easy, eclectic touch in a collection that included long black coats, several sexy gold dresses, and a few beautiful green midi dresses, including one that Chung wore to the show.

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The satanic panic

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sidebars to history willow arune

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eriodically people seem to need villains to target and a form of hysteria develops from an alleged evil.

It may be local or national, even worldwide. Almost unknown to our younger generation, the 1980s will forever be remembered for the Satanic Panic.

The panic started with a book that described satanic rites that supposedly occurred in Victoria. The next decade saw accusations that swept the United States and eventually surfaced in many countries. It ended, not with a bang but a whimper after the lives of those accused and others had been ruined. Some of those jailed were later exonerated; others received financial awards for the misery they had endured. Most simply tried to get on with their lives.

Michelle Remembers was co-written by a Victoria psychiatrist and his patient. In it, “Michelle” tells of the abuse she said she suffered as a child at the hands of satanists.

In lurid detail, she tells of rituals involving sexual abuse of children, often taking place in graveyards at night.

Many of these tales were obtained under hypnosis. No proof of these events was ever found. Years later, after involvement in more than 1,000 cases, the psychiatrist, now married to “Michelle”, stated that the events did not have to be true “as long as Michelle believed them to be true.”

The book was a bestseller.

It was at a time when fundamental Christianity was on the rise as was a growing awareness of child abuse generally. Thanks in large measure to the book, “recovered memories” were assumed to be valid and many professionals adopted the viewpoint that “children never lie” about such matters.

In California, the 1983 McMartin preschool case, based on allegations of satanic rites, was fodder for the media.

Coverage was sensational and largely uncritical and negative. After seven years and $17 million, the case ended with no convictions. Over the next years, more than 100 preschools would confront similar accusations. A variant arose in Seattle where a newly hired daycare worker accused a child’s parents of abusing their child.

The Love case saw the parents convicted and sentenced to long terms in jail. The prosecutors failed to medically test the accusations of penetration; on a trip to her family doctor after the trial

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Michelle Remembers was a bestseller that talks about child abuse based satanic rituals. concluded, the girl was found to be a virgin and the parents exonerated.

A similar case arose in Martensville, Sask. Prompted by a complaint that was assigned to an inexperienced investigator, operators of a daycare found themselves accused of heinous crimes. A group calling itself Believe the Children formed to urge the prosecutor forward, advocates of the “children don’t lie” concept. Finally, the charges were dropped and three of those accused were compensated financially.

Most of the satanic panic lies in the past. Over 100 childcare workers faced accusations and twenty or more were convicted.

In 1992, a couple running a small day care were changed, convicted, imprisoned and not released until 2017.

Declared innocent after almost two decades in prison, the couple received $3.7 million in compensation from the state.

While law enforcement has changed in respect of such cases, many strongly believe that the evil of Satan walks amongst us. It is part of their religious beliefs.

Many sermons are preached against the evil of a very real Satan. Satanic rites are depicted in popular movies and on television causing those without any belief in God to believe in the evil of Satan.

So we remain on the cusp of further such accusations while mocking the witch trials of the 1600s.

Gucci to step up diversity hiring after ‘blackface’ uproar 97/16 wire service

NEW YORK — Italian fashion designer Gucci is announcing a major push to step up its diversity hiring following an uproar over an $890 sweater that resembled blackface.

The company also says it will hire a global director for diversity and inclusion, a newly created role.

Gucci also is promising to launch a

scholarship program to cultivate diverse design talent.

The announcement Friday came after Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri met in New York City’s Harlem neighbourhood with Dapper Dan, a well-known AfricanAmerican designer, and other community members to hear their perspectives.

Bizzarri says Gucci has spent the past days conducting a “thorough review of the circumstances that led to this.”

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Population armageddon

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his week I write a truly “Thinking Aloud” kind of column.

I would love to write about the whole unfolding irony of our selfdeclared feminist prime minister being taken down by a “gasp” strong woman, but that will have to wait for a later date when we have more details.

Instead, I will write a bit of my own story, and my own effort for “empowerment.”

When I was a young mom in the 90s with plans of having up to six children, the Population Armageddon people were expounding the dangers of an everincreasing population.

These dear folks never seemed willing to reduce the exponential harm of their own existence, but they were very eager to tell everyone else that they needed to be unselfish and either not have any children or just one or at most two.

To have any more was just considered vulgar.

The folks were especially happy to tell those in developing nations to reduce their populations, which I always found a strangely colonialist idea in those professing great enlightenment.

So here I was, in the sophisticated metropolis of PG, (compared to my home community where a family of six children was considered small) traipsing about town on business supply runs, banking, and parts pickup, with my three, four and then six kids in tow.

Our wedding ceremony had not included an exchange of rings.

At about four kids I looked down at my bare ring finger, at my gaggle of cuties, at the fact that I was nearly always in town alone with my kids as Daddy worked in a logging camp, and came to a conclusion; I needed a wedding band.

My obliging hubby got me one, which I

Thinking aloud Trudy klassen

proudly wear.

But that didn’t mitigate the fact that I had six kids. At least now strangers knew that there was at least a “present” father to these kids, but still, the gall!

Sometimes I thought maybe I could explain it away and say I was a daycare worker, but then why the age gap?

I didn’t quite have the guts to go up to teachers or daycare workers in charge of 8 to 30 kids to ask them what made them crazy enough to want to spend their entire day with other people’s kids!

And all at the same age!

Cue to 2019 and this interesting study co-authored by a Warren Sanderson, a professor of economics and history at State University of New York at Stonybrook and written about in an article by Amanda Onion on ABC News.

The study apparently shows, lo and behold, not only will the population peak at nine billion in 2070, but that may be a generous estimate. Now instead of too many people, we might actually be in danger of having too few.

My rallying cry may become “Women of the world, unite, we must have babies!”

I am hoping that my kids will, if not fight over who gets to take care of us in our old age, at least not have to purchase a robot to be my friend and caregiver when I am old and infirm.

He who laughs last, laughs best.

Hopefully that will be me you hear cackling with joy in my wheelchair.

Anesthesia safe for baby’s brain if limited, study says carla k. johnson 97/16 wire service

Anesthesia during a short surgery doesn’t harm a baby’s brain development, according to an experiment involving hundreds of infants in seven countries.

While the study can’t answer broader safety questions about repeated or prolonged anesthesia, it may ease the worries of millions of parents whose children have been put to sleep for common procedures.

“These findings should be reassuring,” said Dr. Mary Ellen McCann of Boston Children’s Hospital. An hour of surgery with general anesthesia “is safe for your child in early infancy.” She helped lead the study published last week in the medical journal Lancet.

It involved 447 babies needing hernia repairs. The babies, mostly boys, were randomly assigned to get either anesthesia with gas, or an injection that blocks sensation below the waist.

Since both techniques are commonly used, it was ethical for the researchers to set up an experiment.

They found no evidence of harm to brain development when they tested the children at age two.

Finally at age five the children took IQ tests and both groups’ average scores were in the normal range. There were no

differences in parent-reported problems such as autism, attention deficit disorder or speech delays.

“The level of evidence is strong,” said Dr. Santhanam Suresh of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, who wasn’t involved in the research. The findings mean doctors “should not shy away from using general anesthesia in children undergoing simple pediatric procedures.”

Since 84 per cent of the babies in the study were boys, it’s unclear how the results apply to girls.

In the study, the anesthesia lasted less than an hour on average. Longer exposure could be more dangerous, as could anesthesia for multiple surgeries, McCann said, so it’s unlikely the Food and Drug Administration will change existing warning labels on anesthesia drugs for children.

Uncertainty about the drugs stems from studies showing brain damage in baby animals. Figuring out how these drugs affect children has been difficult, though, because very sick kids who get the most anesthesia also have other problems that can cause trouble with learning.

That makes it tough for scientists to sort out what causes problems.

Funding came from government and scientific groups in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

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Long Island Medium in P.g. April 6 christine hinzmann 97/16 staff

The Long Island Medium, Theresa Caputo, who has a long-running TLC reality television series, said during a phone interview that it doesn’t matter if she’s doing a reading for one person or five thousand, the message heard will impact everyone.

Caputo will be making an appearance at CN Centre Saturday, April 6.

“Yes, of course it is different having a one-on-one than having a group reading but how I look at these large groups is they are all the same,” Caputo said, who made her first appearance in Prince George in 2016. “There’s only so many souls that I can channel in a two-hour period and I know that the souls who are going to speak that night are going to deliver and heal so many people at one time - not just the person I am standing in front of and that’s the incredible thing about spirit.”

When she’s getting ready to do a reading she just starts sensing and feeling things that don’t mean anything to her but are life-changing to those with which she will soon be connecting.

Caputo said she doesn’t want anyone to be discouraged about not getting a reading during the public forum.

“Honestly, I find when spirit is in large groups, especially in an arena, spirit is able to move me around that space because I’m not on that stage, I will be down in the crowd because spirit is going to guide me around the arena and have me stop and deliver messages right in front of you,” Caputo said. “You’re going to feel as if you were in my home or your home reconnecting you with the souls of your loved ones.”

There will be big screens set up so everyone can watch her in action and there will be a camera that will follow her around just like on her show, the Long Island Medium said.

“It’s displayed so you’re able to see, feel and be a part of the amazing experience and witness everything up close and personal,” Caputo said.

People often take to social media after a show and best describe the experience as life changing, even if they hadn’t been read personally, she added.

“They say they realize that others needed to hear from their loved ones more than they did,” she added. “And to me, that is absolutely incredible and to realize that is beautiful. The reason so many people are affected is that there

is going to be so many things said that night that you’re going to be able to connect with.”

Caputo said there will also be times when some members of the audience will hear what she’s saying and think she’s gone crazy but when she starts describing details others in the audience will be raising their hands as the ymake a connecting with her words.

“People will see how it is changing their life and it’s absolutely incredible,” Caputo said, who said she doesn’t know how she does it but during the show she said she feels like the energizer bunny super charged. Once she’s off the stage and back on the bus it’s a different story.

“Give me five minutes - I take my make up off, I wash my face and I’m passed out,” Caputo laughed.

Caputo gets reflective when talking about the gift she said she’s been given.

“This is my soul’s journey,” she said.

“I’ve learned that I have to take care of myself. I meditate on a regular basis, I learned how to rest my mind, I take care of myself physically. I’m eating right and exercising and you know, just be kinder to myself. We all have to respect ourselves and realize we can’t put ourselves on the back burner.”

After years of sharing her gift of speaking to dead people Caputo is certain about some things.

“I know we’re all placed here on the Earth and each and everyone of us is special and have amazing gifts and it is up to us to find who we are meant to be here in the physical world,” she said. “I say this because since the age of four I always said to my mom I don’t feel right, I feel different than everyone else - I don’t feel like I belong here.”

Caputo said her mom would assure her that she wasn’t adopted and she belonged and it took Caputo until she was in her 20s to find a way to use her gift.

“But I learned that in life in general when things happen we beat ourselves up,” Caputo said. “We don’t respect, love and honour ourselves like we deserve to be and even with the loss of a loved one we beat ourselves up with shoulda, coulda, wouldas and only ifs and all of these emotions do not give us the ability to heal. They serve us no purpose. Spirit acknowledges these negative emotions and are telling us to release them to be able to love, honour and respect ourselves the way we deserve to be and to know that they are still with us.”

Tickets are on sale at www.ticketsnorth.ca.

Whimsy from Peter Mulvey album steven wine 97/16 wire service

Review Peter Mulvey, “There Is Another World” (Righteous Babe) Midway through Peter Mulvey’s new album, he sings about the ravages of time on the tune Nickel and Dime. It lasts 15 seconds.

Mulvey always brings to his work whimsy and a willingness to push folk boundaries, and that’s the case on There Is Another World.

The Wisconsin songwriter-guitarist quotes Yeats, Rilke and Greg Brown, and that’s just in the liner notes. There’s also a literary bent to the lyrics, which can be cryptic or opaque but benefit from imag-

ery that’s vivid and sometimes beautiful.

On the love song Owl, he describes two birds who “both dropped into the air.”

Mulvey pairs his words with inventive arrangements anchored by his fingerpicking and by producer Todd Sickafoose’s standup bass, with further colour provided by violin, pedal steel, accordion, clarinet and wine glass rims.

Unusual chord progressions lend further unpredictability to the proceedings.

Mulvey celebrates nature on The Fox, mourns war casualties on To Your Joy, echoes Brown on Henry’s Only Daughter and gets his Irish up on Beckett Was a Bird of Prey. The 13-song, 34-minute set goes quickly, and not just because of Nickel and Dime.

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Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium, will appear at CN Centre April 6.

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Ethereal sound featured by the Alchemist frank peebles 97/16 staff

The wild chemistry of music has been fused with the natural elements of backwoods farm life. The reaction is slowly boiling in the form of The Alkemist, the magical one-man-band act of Jay Myers.

Prince George was growing intoxicated with the aromatic music concocted in Myers’ lab.

He was a 10-year resident of this city when he followed the whispers compelling him towards the Haida Gwaii islands of the northern B.C. coast. He was there for the past three years.

But Myers is back in the area, living on a communal farm north of Fort Fraser (about two hours’ drive west of P.G.) where the songwriting inspirations and instrument rehearsals run deep. He will be back for a concert in his old hometown Friday to reveal the amalgam.

“We are very fortunate out here because basically all of our farm members are musicians, so almost every single day we are playing together, writing songs, jamming, forming bands, experimenting with all kinds of instruments,” Myers said. “You name (the instrument), we’ve probably got it. There’s something magical about stepping outside and hearing the bagpipes off in the distance. Everyday, there’s something musically interesting happening.”

The peace, quiet and support of the farm has allowed him to devote blocks of time to new skills on the various instruments he plays. He is noticing in his songwriting that finger-picking is becom-

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Jay Myers will perform at the Omineca Arts Centre downtown Friday. ing more common as he gets comfortable with that technique. He is also trying out alternative tunings so he is more assured of sounding original and fresh.

Also, giving lessons helps teach the instructor, as well as the student, and he has been giving private tutelage around the area.

“I’ve been definitely inspired by the landscape, as of late, inspired to use more metaphor just by observing my surroundings and seeing how they relate to the human psyche,” Myers said. “The farm has definitely been influencing my writing. And living in nature, and that goes back to Haida Gwaii too, has inspired my music to go in an atmospheric, ethereal direction as well, trying to catch

emotion with instrumentation. Even further to that, I find that I don’t have to sit down and work as hard at melody, it just flows out of me now much better than before. I’ve heard from other musicians that melody is already out there, song is already out there in the world, already formed, and its the musician’s job to just let it happen through them. I’m finding some truth in that lately.”

There’s a lot of truth to that, apparently. The Alkemist is just one of many platforms Myers is working from these days. He is also active with an Irish-styled folk duo and two punk bands.

He has been busy in the past – distant and recent – with acts like Canadian Waste, alongside Scotty Dunbar, playing

fiddle with Hujune, doing duo work with Sabina Dennis and Jessiquita Madrid, and he has been popping up at regional events like the MOM Festival in Fort St. James, ArtsWells in Wells, a Murray Ridge Ski Hill gig, and a fundraiser in Burns Lake for the victims of the summer’s wildfires. The Shovel Lake blaze came within three kilometres of his own home.

“We were on evac for a couple of weeks,” he said. “We got really lucky. It’s the third time in the past two years we’ve been on evacuation order or alert.”

The last time he put out an album as The Alkemist was about a year ago, and he has enough material written up that he’s contemplating the construction of the next disc. He and his partner are expecting their first baby this spring, so he knows he might have some competing forces for his time.

The Alkemist has performed at the Coldsnap Festival, as a supporting act for Saltwater Hank, in tandem with Sober Becky, and most recently with Corbin Spensley.

When The Alkemist performs Friday at the Omineca Arts Centre (at Third Ave. and Victoria St.) he will also have some on-stage collaboration to offer the audience.

“I’m playing with one of my musical heroes and someone I’ve been hugely inspired by, that’s Brent Morton of Drum & Bell Tower, who now goes by the name Lyle Bats,” Myers said.

It’s an all-ages show with doors opening at 7:30 p.m., showtime at 8 p.m. for $10 at the door.

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Hootstock graduates to Homestock frank peebles 97/16 staff

Hootstock has come in to roost.

The annual eclectic music festival near 100 Mile House is not shutting the gate, but it is getting closer to home. The show was having success, so much so that the handmade event needed to settle down or risk flying the coop.

“Well Hootstock 2018 was an incredible success. The artists performances were exceptional as always, with 30-plus acts on five stages over the weekend,” said Steve Roy, one of the main organizers.

“Unfortunately as with a lot of small festivals we struggle with the ‘commercial’ success of Hootstock,” Roy continued. “Our family and friends have always subsidized the event by supplying the sound equipment, countless hours of labour and much in-kind support as well as thousands of dollars each year.”

If the family and friends put in a lot of time, supplies and money, Roy and his wife Astrid Hensey lived and breathed it, almost year-round. Roy said there was a lot of love for the Hootstock event, but there was also a lot of apathy around their town, and it was taking the fun out of the experience.

“Astrid personally spent so much time and effort before the event on advertising, community outreach, social media, and during the event making sure everyone was happy and fed that she mostly missed the performances and visiting with friends that we see on an infrequent basis,” he said. “For myself personally, and my buddies, we spent a week before setting up and a week after breaking down. So needless to say we get fairly burnt out. Coupled with the lack of commercial success as far as getting folks out to the event and the total lack of local support, we have decided to change things up.”

The festival will go on, but it will be simplified. Instead of the spacious Forest Grove community grounds, the show will go on with a new name reflecting the new location.

“For 2019 and beyond it will be called Homestock and it will be held at our farm in Forest Grove the same weekend, third one in July,” Roy said. “This event will be word-of-mouth only with invitations sent out to previous supporters of Hootstock. The event will not technically be a public event. The performances will not be as intense, so only one main performance stage, with a jam stage, so a little more casual.”

That’s not to say there won’t be effort put into the presentation. Roy, Hensey and festival friends will be building a new mainstage plus a community kitchen “and some artwork in the forest, something I’ve wanted to do for years.”

The farm already has ample camping, drinking water, outhouses and those basic amenities.

Musicians are invited to perform, but there is now a formula for payment in lieu of contractual guarantees. Acts will get remuneration based on a combination of their playing time in balance with attendance revenues.

The shows will also be set up for acts to record their sets either by video or audio feeds through the sound board.

“We are encouraging anyone that would like to perform to contact us and we will see if we can fit you in. I’m sure we can,” said Roy. “We have already had much interest, so get a hold of us sooner than later. We are super stoked for what is to come and we didn’t want the idea of Hootstock to become extinct, so we have just evolved into another form. I am looking forward to what will be.”

Anyone with an interest in attending Homestock or performing there can reach out at hootstockfestival@gmail. com.

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