December 2016 Village Vibe

December 2016

villagevibe News and views from the heart of Fernwood

A year long gift of good food Good food is needed not just at Christmas, but all year long

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December Events: Winter Greenery Workshop Dec 3

Fairfield Gonzales Community Association, 1330 Fairfield Rd, 10am, $25

Alex Harned

D

ecember has arr ived and it’s finally time to engage in the bounty of holiday cheer! Frosted snowflakes and Rudolph sightings are commonplace in shop windows and glowing strings of lights line neighbourhood streets. The season of giving compels local businesses and communities to open their wallets and hearts, giving perishable food and monetary donations to various holiday hamper initiatives.

Yet for many lower income or marginalized families, the task of purchasing holiday gifts can become an overwhelming financial burden, compounded by the cost of living, including rent, hydro, child-care and even food. It is a staggering realization that one in seven families are food insecure within the Capital Regional District. From Sooke to Saanich, there are families who struggle to provide their children with proper nutrition and a well-rounded diet.

Shonna Bell, the Family Programs Coordinator at Fernwood NRG, is acutely aware of a need that is often rendered invisible within our communities: “Most of us take for granted the fact that we can stop at the grocery store on the way home and buy what we need for dinner. It’s something that families especially keep to themselves.

You don’t want to advertise to people that you don’t have what your kid needs for their lunches.”

Although the holidays bring about a spirit of seasonal giving, the barriers to inclusive food access are more complex than picking up a hamper. Trends show that more people are opting out of established food assistance programs as they do not always provide a framework to reach those needing support for a year-round supply of healthy food. And, when the warm glow of festive lights fades from our memories, so too will our seasonal generosity. It is important to sustain our support beyond

Bingo Night! - Dec 4

Fernwoood Inn, 1302 Gladstone Ave, 7pm, $5/bingo card Dead or Alive Art Show - Dec 9

Bully Design Co., 1271 Pandora Ave, 6:30pm, Free, drink sales support the Gift of Good Food Community Sit-a-Thon - Dec 11

Victoria Shambhala Meditation Centre, #1-2033 Belmont Ave Movie Night! - Dec 14

ALIVE MindBody, #301-1821 Cook St, 7pm, Free, drink sales support the Gift of Good Food Benji’s Pub Quiz - Dec 21

Northern Quarter, 724 Douglas St, 8:15pm, $10, supports Bridges for Women More at thegiftofgoodfood.ca/ donate/ways-to-support The Gift of Good Food fundraiser runs now until December 31st, 2016. We need your help!

the holidays and choose to provide access to healthy food sources all year round.

Fernwood NRG’s Gift of Good Food program is one such initiative that supports families across Greater Victoria with fresh fruit and veggies for an entire year. Every $500 raised supports a family on a biweekly basis with a Good Food Box, full of fresh seasonal produce, from kale to carrots, cucumber to potatoes, and many other local garden treats in between.

Donated funds are distributed amongst eleven participating community centres and transition houses from Sooke to Saanich. Donors are given the choice as to which communities they want to support,

or to distribute their donation evenly across them. Last year, The Gift of Good Food raised nearly $50,000 and supported around 100 families until the end of this year. In the words of Teresa Norquay, the Family Programs Coordinator at Sooke Family Resource Society, noted, this service has proven to be “simply invaluable.”

Fernwood NRG hopes to expand its service to 200 families through raising $100,000. As one recipient has expressed, the program has been an ongoing source of health and happiness well past the holidays: “I get that Good Food Box and I see healthy eating for my children.

Basically it’s a gift, it’s a little Christmas gift

Buzz

Mark Your Calendar

Artist’s Aside

Good Food Box going weekly page 3

Would you like to buy a match? page 4

Cate Webb & Black Cat Tattoo page 5

every two weeks for my family.” Her family is still receiving Good Food Boxes from last year’s fundraiser.

How to get involved:

Check out the Gift of Good Food event calendar above for some of the public champion fundraising events happening in the community, or sign up to start your own!

The goal is to raise $100,000 to support 200 families with fresh fruits and veggies for all of 2017.

The campaign runs until December 31st at midnight, please give generously at thegiftofgoodfood.ca/donate.

in this issue To get the Vibe digitally, sign up at fernwoodnrg.ca

editorial:

villagevibe

10 years of social enterprise

Published by Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group Editorial Committee

Lee Herrin Nick Poole

Matt Takach Mila Czemerys Founding Editor Lisa Helps Contributors

Alex Harned Kathryn Juricic Carina Foran Ross Currie Laura Burki Hazel Lyder

Lee Herrin Dorothy Field Erin Macklem Tina Price Margaret Hantiuk Tania Wegwitz

Art

Axel

Dorothy Field Jo-Ann Richards Jeff Kulak

Cate Webb Allieren Ward Liz Rubincam

Production Mila Czemerys Contact us

1310 Gladstone Avenue Victoria, BC V8R 1S1 T 250.381.1552 F 250.381.1509 info@fernwoodnrg.ca www.villagevibe.ca To enquire about advertising in the Village Vibe, please contact ads@fernwoodnrg.ca The views expressed in the Village Vibe do not necessarily reflect the views of Fernwood NRG.

declaration of principles & values ››

a socially, environmentally, neighbourhood; We are committed to ensuring neighbourhood control or ownership of neighbourhood institutions and assets;

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We are committed to using our resources prudently and to becoming financially self-reliant;

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We are committed to the creation and support of neighbourhood employment;

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We are committed to engaging the dreams, resources, and talents of our neighbours and to fostering new links between them;

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We are committed to taking action in response to neighbourhood issues, ideas, and initiatives;

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Fernwood NRG has hit a number of milestones in the past few years: the organization turned 35 in 2014, FernFest turned 20 in 2015, and both the Village Vibe and the Cornerstone building (in neighbourhood hands) turned 10, also in 2015.

And just this past month, the Cornerstone Café hit the 10 year mark—we opened just after Remembrance Day in 2006.

Back then, we were busy putting the Cornerstone building back together. We were focused on fitting out the upstairs apartments for affordable family housing, and we were also looking for tenants for the ground floor. At the Board table, we debated the merits of opening our own business versus just leasing the space to the highest bidder.

In those days, “social enterprise” was

an unconventional strategy for non-profit organizations, and was seen as adventurous, even risky. Some folks were doing it, but there were few examples of profitable enterprises that contributed to the broader organizational mission. We weighed the pros and cons, and ultimately decided that we needed not just rent, but also income, in order to make the building purchase work financially. And, we knew that the neighbourhood needed a gathering place.

We settled on a café as a business that we could run and that would succeed.

I remember asking a friend who didn’t know I was involved what she thought of a café opening in Fernwood that would be operated by a non-profit. Her response was telling: “What, will I have to make my own coffee?” I explained that it would be a neighbourhood business like any other, just that the profits would flow

into an organization that would invest them in programs and services for the neighbourhood. She seemed skeptical.

Ten years later, social enterprise is more widely accepted, and Fernwood is seen as a successful pioneer. We moved the café into a separate company in 2012 (to comply with tax regulations), and added the hair salon, Studio 1313, in 2013. Fernwood residents who patronize our businesses not only get a great coffee or a fantastic haircut, but also support the provision of childcare, affordable housing, and family programs in Fernwood just as surely as if they had made a charitable donation.

If it weren’t for our social enterprises, we wouldn’t be nearly as successful an organization as we are. So, a big thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey for the past 10 years. We’ll see you soon for an Americano!

buzz:

Affordable, adorable kids clothing ›› Kathryn Juricic

We are committed to creating and economically sustainable

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›› Lee Herrin

We are committed to governing our organization and serving our

There’s more behind the doors of Thistle and Wren than children’s consignment.

While the walls are adorned with cute and affordable clothes for your kiddos aged new born to twelve years old, it’s the community focus and exceptional skills of owner Candace Negm that offer the depth to her retail shop.

Candace is a mom, wife, and professional whose portfolio spans from business owner and consultant, to a child and youth care practitioner who has run large child care facilities. After she had two children, whom inspire the namesake of the shop in Fernwood Square, Candace opted out of heading back to work. But one day, she was running through the square, saw a space was up for lease, and signed the papers the next day! “Fernwood chose me,” Negm explained.

While the lease was signed spontaneously, the shop came to fruition through careful planning and lots of time ruminating over

Candace Negm, owner of Thistle & Wren Children’s Consignment Boutique, in her new shop located in Fernwood Sqaure. Photo: Kathryn Juricic

a retail space that highlights the ideals of Candace and her family in their stage of life. Candace’s reasons behind opening her doors include being a part of the green movement, the social aspect of being surrounded by moms and families, and the opportunity to offer employment and even a rotating space for creative “mompreneurs” who shape our local economy.

With a generous outpour from our community, Thistle & Wren is filling a niche and offering much needed services to families throughout the ‘hood. Candace reflected, “It’s a safe, happy place to be.”

Thistle & Wren accepts high quality pre-loved fashion, shoes and educational toys the first two weeks of each month. Find our more details at thistleandwren.com.

neighbourhood democratically with a maximum of openness, inclusivity and kindness;

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We are committed to developing the skills, capacity, self-worth, and excellence of our neighbours and ourselves;

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We are committed to focusing on the future while preserving our neighbourhood’s heritage and diversity;

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We are committed to creating neighbourhood places that are vibrant, beautiful, healthy, and alive;

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and, most of all, We are committed to having fun!

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villagevibe

December 2016

News and views from the heart of Fernwood

buzz:

buzz:

Long Lost Creek

The Good Food Box is growing Our favourite community-based food access program in Victoria will be offered every week starting in February 2017

›› Carina Foran

Charlayne Thornton-Joe looking down into one of the storm drains where you can see and hear Rock Bay Creek gurgling in its culvert. Photo: Dorothy Field

›› Dorothy Field Did you know there was once a small lake called Harris Pond in the low spot at Vining and Stanley? And that a creek drained the pond, running through Fernwood, Hillside Quadra, and Burnside Gorge, before it emptied into Rock Bay? If you put your ear to one of the storm drains, you can hear it gurgling in its culvert.

In the late 1800s, rivers and creeks in towns and cities around the world had become polluted dumping grounds and carriers of cholera and other diseases.

The initial solution was to put them underground and forget about them, but that didn’t solve the problem of storm water and flooded streets and basements.

Those of you who live along our creek may know this all too well.

Another question: are you aware of the great work of daylighting and cleaning up Bowker, Cecelia, and Colquitz Creeks? Well, daylighting is coming to a neighbourhood near you! The Rock Bay Creek Revival has received a My Great Neighbourhood Grant to lay the groundwork for daylighting bits of our creek. Besides daylighting, we hope to add bioswales and rain gardens along the creek’s route. The grant will support community engagement, art making activities, and

community celebrations featuring music, art and drama. We will also be installing permanent signs to identify the spots where daylighting will occur.

The city agrees that daylighting our creek is do-able at Alexander Park in Fernwood and at Blackwood Park and Wark Park in Hillside-Quadra, though it will take some years to complete the project. These spaces remain green because they were too swampy to build on.

The idea of connecting the neighbourhoods that share the watershed is a holistic way of acknowledging our underlying earth and water systems. Besides the three neighbourhoods mentioned, the creek also drains North Park and Oaklands, and our liquid connection to the Gorge Waterway makes us part of an aquatic network amazingly rich in bird and sea life.

The Rock Bay Creek Revival group continues to lead stream walks along the path of the creek, pointing out water-loving trees and low spots in the pavement that indicate the creek’s unseen presence. We’ll also be hosting film showings, talks, and activities that promise to be fun for all ages.

If you’d like to know what’s happening, or if you’d like take part in a small or large way with this project, email Dorothy at dotter@seaside.net. We’d love to have you join us.

The Good Food Box is Fernwood’s own alternative fruit and veggie distribution program. We buy produce in bulk and work with an amazing team of volunteers to create beautiful, fresh, full Good Food Boxes for our clients. Thanks to our volunteers, lower bulk pricing, and buying seasonally, we proudly offer Victoria’s most affordable produce box.

With the program going weekly, Wednesdays will be a Good Food Box pick-up day and the order deadline for the following week’s delivery. No need to supplement those Good Food Boxes with in-between trips to the grocery store anymore, we’ve got you covered every week!

A new offering will also be launched in January, the much anticipated “Staples Box” featuring a consistent selection of long-lasting fruits and veggies. You can count on always getting much used favourites such as carrots, onions, potatoes, select fruit, and garlic to keep your fridge full with what you need when you need it. This selection was informed by Good Food Box clients who participated in a survey and let us know what they wanted to see in the new box.

Wanting to simplify the Good Food Box offerings, the Small Box will no longer be offered. While it is a sad farewell, the Large Box still remains the most economical choice for fruit and veggie aficionados.

If you are really missing the Small Box, the Snack Box is a great alternative with a mix of 6 fruits and vegetables for smaller appetites.

Fernwood NRG is so proud and

honoured to coordinate The Good Food Box. In 2016, we will have distributed almost 6,000 boxes of fresh, affordable produce across southern Vancouver Island.

Partnered with over 10 agencies, clients can pick-up their boxes in neighbourhoods ranging from Sooke to Saanich.

New pick-up locations for 2017 include the Fosters Senior Centre at Esquimalt Neighbourhood House and Olive the Senses in the Hudson building downtown.

According to the “Good Food 2025 Primer” developed by CRFair, only 10% of fruits and veggies consumed in the Capital Region are locally grown. In one Good Food Box, over 25% of the fruits and veggies are Island grown. When you include the mainland, Oregon and Washington, it’s almost 50%. Last year, the Good Food Box invested over $20,000 in our Vancouver Island farms and our local Island food economy. Our goal for 2017 is to buy half of our produce from Vancouver Island farmers.

What started as a bulk buying club of savvy moms has grown into a regional alternative fruit and vegetable distribution system, and it’s still growing. We want to thank all our amazing volunteers for their energy and time in making this program possible. If you haven’t already, please support the work of Fernwood NRG and our local farms by purchasing your fresh fruits and veggies through the Good Food Box. Learn more at thegoodfoodbox.ca.

NEW Good Food Box 2017 Schedule:

January 4, 2017: Order deadline January 11, 2017: Box pick-up January 18,2017: Order deadline January 25, 2017: Box pick-up & order deadline February 1, 2017: Box pick-up & order deadline every Wednesday going forward

Wishing you a joyous holiday season!

Please join me at my

Holiday Open House Monday, December 5, 4–6 pm at my Community Office Everyone welcome. Light refreshments.

Non-perishable food and personal care items will be gratefully accepted for the Mustard Seed Food Bank.

Carole James

MLA Victoria – Beacon Hill

Here to serve you at my Community Office 1084 Fort Street, Victoria BC V8V 3K4

www.fernwoodnrg.ca

Phone: 250-952-4211

December 2016

Fax: 250-952-4586

villagevibe

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mark your calendar:

Would you like to buy a match?

Celebrate the season and experience This Little Light, a brand new musical play, written specifically for Victoria and Fernwood

›› Erin Macklem It’s the first day of rehearsal for the This Little Light, the Belfry Theatre’s brand new holiday family musical set right here in Fernwood Square. Brad L’Écuyer, the composer and music director, is teaching students from the Canadian College of Performing Arts their songs and harmonies, and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up in excitement and wonder.

The same thing happened yesterday when we visited George Jay Elementary School and listened to their choir sing one of the closing numbers from the show. When the students learned that this is a song of angels welcoming the Little Match Girl into their heavenly choir, they sang it again with their best angel voices and my knees nearly gave out it was so beautiful.

I can’t quite believe this is all really happening. Brad and I have been working on this play for over two years, and now our words and music are leaping off the page under the direction of Toronto’s Jane Johanson. It’s thrilling. It’s Christmas Eve and the Little Match Girl is teaching a

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villagevibe

newspaper delivery boy how to sing in harmony. Anthropomorphized salt and pepper shakers are leading a parade to a neighbourhood potluck – “It’s the foodie event of the year!” they exclaim as they kick up their heels and list off all the Fernwoodians who will be in attendance.

The opening number is an explosion of Christmas shopping and decorating with neighbours egging each other on – “I love Christmas more than you, there’s thirty thousand LEDs outside as proof!” It’s a riot of singing and dancing and merry-making mayhem.

What’s that you say? This doesn’t sound like the Hans Christian Andersen story you know and love? Okay – so we haven’t started working on the end of the play yet, there’s more somber themes to come.

Last night, I sang one of the songs from the show to my four-year-old daughter at bedtime. As I tucked her in she asked me “Mommy, why didn’t anyone let the Little Match Girl into their house so she could warm up?”

“I don’t know sweetie,” I said to her, “It’s a really good question.”

It’s the same question I asked myself when my elementary school librarian read the story to my grade one class over thirty years ago. It’s the kind of question that inspired me to become a playwright.

Our play invites you to see this timeless tale with fresh eyes. We hope that you will join us in our cozy theatre as we celebrate music, community and light in these dark days of winter.

December 2016

This Little Light is showing at the Belfry Theatre, December 10-23. Book & Lyrics by Erin Macklem (left) / Music & Lyrics by Brad L’Écuyer (right). Photo: Jo-Ann Richards, Works Photography

News and views from the heart of Fernwood

artist’s aside:

Cate Webb and Black Cat Tattoo Have you seen the

MARGARET HANTIUK GARDEN SERVICE

Black Cat around Fernwood?

SUSTAINABLE GARDENING

›› Ross Currie It takes the form of a hand-poke tattoo studio and community art space that opened up in August, owned and operated

by Cate Webb.

Webb got into hand poke tattooing by way of stick and poke. “I got into stick and poking about seven years ago when I was 21, and I messed around with that for a while,” says Webb. “And then Instagram came around and I got to see a whole community of hand pokers beginning.”

Around 2012 – 2013, Webb got more serious about her craft. “Hand poking as a trade and an art form has really taken off; and I started accessing the proper supplies, focusing on technique and making a good tattoo,” says Webb.

She’s no stranger to Fernwood, having worked at the Cornerstone Café for three years. “Coming back to Fernwood and having my own space and being a part of the business community as an independent business owner is really neat,” says Webb.

Webb points to the connections she makes as the best part of tattooing. “With hand-poking it’s all about these connections and making sure people are comfortable, it’s more of a spiritual experience,” says Webb.

She describes her style as being influenced

www.fernwoodnrg.ca

Pruning. Bedwork. Designs. Consults.

Senior-friendly

Email: mmhantiuk@shaw.ca Phone: 250.595.1684 Cell: 250.882.1929

(Top left) Cate Webb tattooing a client. (Top right & bottom) Photos of Webb’s stunning work from her Instagram feed; check her out at @catewebb.

by painting and drawing, memories from her childhood, imagery of the occult, witches and ghosts, and usually focuses on strong figures (predominantly androgynous or feminine), animals, and the relationships between them. Humility is an important aspect in Webb’s work, remembering that tattooing is “a really old tradition and there’s

a lot of respect behind it.”

“People shouldn’t be afraid to come by and say hi and check out the space,” she says. The Black Cat will host art shows and feature guest tattoo artists (both machine and hand poke) throughout the year.

Black Cat Tattoo is located at 2005 Fernwood Road.

December 2016

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mark your calendar:

Welcome to winter in Fernwood Keep warm, active, and

NEW! Out of School Care nature and art based programming

social this winter at the

We are happy to announce that we have a new program for the kids in the Out of School Care Program designed to expose them to natural world in our neighbourhood and community.

The new program will have kids playing, creating, and exploring the garden, the trees, and the field, and will include nature games, planting native plants, using maps & compasses, taking nature photographs, relaxing in the garden and taking nature walks. Let’s connect kids to nature!

To learn more, visit fernwoodnrg.ca/

Fernwood Community Centre

›› Tina Price & Laura Burki January marks the start of Term 1 for the Recreation Programs at the Fernwood Community Centre. Keep warm, active and social this Winter by getting involved in our diverse array of activities such as mind-body practices Kyudo, Qi Gong, Karma Yoga and Capoeira. New to the program for the upcoming term is Seniors Yoga, Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga and Youth Basketball. Keep an eye on our website and the Fernwood Community Centre noticeboards for schedule and more details.

Vegan Curious Cooking Class on Sunday, December 18, 12-2pm

Use easy to find and affordable ingredients to make nourishing dishes including Pumpkin Pie, Avocado Alfredo sauce, Minestrone, Orange Cashew Cream, Crispy Breaded Tofu, and more. The cost is $25; class size is limited. Payment in advance

fernwood-nrg-programs/child-care/outof-school-care/.

(Top) The Fernwood Community Centre is located at 1240 Gladstone Avenue. Come in and say hi.

Photo: Alexandra Stephanson (Bottom) New Out of School Care nature and art based program will

NEW! Youth Basketball Drop In

include lots of outside time. Photo: Laura Burki

The Fernwood Community Centre helps coordinate youth drop in programs year-round in the City of Victoria, providing youth in our community with safe places to have some fun with their peers and learn new skills.

Check out our new Youth Basketball Drop In starting in January 2017. Stay tuned for our once a month drop in schedule for youth ages 10-18. Drop in fee is $5. Stay tuned for more info.

is required to reserve your place. A hearty buffet style lunch and recipe booklet are provided. Register by December 14, 2016 by calling 250-381-1552 or email info@fernwoodnrg.ca. For more info visit facebook.com/vegancuriouscooking.

Check out the Fernwood Community Centre Winter Programs on the bottom left of this page.

Keeping Fernwood Community Healthy Physiotherapy/IMS Naturopathy Acupuncture Chiropractor Pelvic Floor Health Vestibular Rehab Stress Management Workshops Pilates & Yoga* RMT Massage *Therapeutic one-on-one or small group session available

Ph: 250-381-7473 *referrals not required

www.risehealth.ca

1275 Bay Street

*online booking available

(at Fernwood Rd) *free parking

RISE TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

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villagevibe

December 2016

News and views from the heart of Fernwood

garden gleanings:

10 ways to reach your garden’s potential ›› Margaret Hantiuk 1. Measure your plot and make a sketch to scale. You will have a better idea of how much space you have to plant larger trees, shrubs, hedges, and where to put things.

2. Check your elevation levels and slopes. This makes a difference for drainage and for any hardscape you may install including irrigation.

3. Identify existing features: storage, trees and large shrubs, beds and borders, rock outcroppings, water ways, irrigation systems, utilities, paths, patios, decks, fences, etc.

4. Find out what kind of soil you have.

There are various tests, from rolling it into a ball in your hand, to the jar of water test—let soil settle in it for 3 days and check the layers of sand, clay and silt—or having it tested in a lab. Find out the pH. Other than adding compost—always a good strategy—it is best to test your soil before adding amendments.

5. Are there any contaminants in your soil or yard? Contaminants can come from past construction, pavement, parked vehicles, or the use of chemical sprays, so you will need to know your yard’s history.

oaklands:

6. Identify the character of your garden. What do you like and what do you not like? What can you enhance and what do you want to downplay or remove? Make a list and a plan of action.

7. Do a plant audit. Identify all the plants, trees, shrubs that you want to keep. Map them and make plant profiles to identify them (photos!) and how to take care of them (pruning, life span, mature size, disease, and pest vulnerabilities). What do they feature? If some should be moved— to thrive, or for more room—make a note to do so at a good time.

8. Identify and tackle weeds and invasive plants. The sooner the better. And be thorough.

9. Do an inventory of your hardscape items and materials. Check the status: what needs to be restored, repaired or removed? What is available, what could be repurposed and what is needed? Prioritize and make a wish list.

10. Consider what you want to be visible from the yard. Is there anything you want to be framed and visible, or screened and hidden? Is there a need for barriers? Could something be removed to include more light?

george jay:

Hey, lighten up a little Sounds of the holidays

Enjoy the sounds of George Jay’s choir in This Little Light at the Belfry Theatre. Illustration: Jeff Kulak

›› Tania Wegwitz Breakfast with Santa at the Oaklands Community Centre is happening on Saturday, December 17 from 9am to 11am. Photo: Allieren Ward

Many of us have so much

›› Hazel Lyder So much that we feel somehow vaguely or overtly oppressed by it all: our stuff a burden that anchors us uncomfortably in a place, or in the past, something to trip over, to dust.

And now we find ourselves once again at the Season of Giving. How many of us worry about giving an unwanted gift? How many of us fake delight in the face of one?

Yet we are so steeped in a culture that holds Stuff up as the Answer. We’re often unsure how to wean ourselves away.

I have a little tip to help: whenever you give something up, at the same time start something new. When you choose to not respond to the chirp of your cellphone, pick up Steven Heighton’s Workbook or Lorna Crozier’s The Blue Hour of the Day instead. Likewise, rather than buy That Thing Auntie Hazel may or may not want,

www.fernwoodnrg.ca

go instead to your local community group and volunteer. Send her an email and tell her what fun you had.

We here at Oaklands accept the willing labour, freely given, of volunteers all year ‘round. And at this time of year especially so. Those who volunteer at our Seniors’ Christmas Dinner, for example, give a gift that lightens both giver and receiver: smiles, handshakes, a listening ear or a funny joke. It is the same at our Breakfast with Santa, where volunteers demonstrate to our children that beyond the walls of home and the arms of loved ones, there is a community who supports and cherishes them.

Join Oaklands this year, “lighten up” and give the gift of yourself. Really, it’s the best ‘thing’ ever! A thousand thank you’s to all our volunteers!

For info about the Oaklands Community Association and about volunteering contact Hazel Lyder, Community Development Coordinator community@oaklandsca. com or 250-370-9101.

Music and the sounds of winter festivals from around the globe are cascading through the hallways of École George Jay Elementary this time of year.

Encouraged and led by teacher Annie Shum, the students are finding joy in weekly music classes. From younger students trying their hands at rhythm instruments and xylophones generously donated by Oak Bay Rotary, to older siblings on recorder and ukulele, kids of all ages are preparing for their annual winter concert.

Building on the school music program that has been growing since her arrival in 2012, Shum and her students have taken on an even larger musical project, the musical This Little Light—designer and playwright Erin Macklem’s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl.

This month the George Jay choir is collaborating with the Belfry Theatre, community members, and student choirs from Central Middle and Victoria High Schools to help stage This Little Light, and will be showing at the Belfry from December 10-23, 2016.

Commissioned by the Belfry and

featuring beautiful music by Brad L’Ecuyer and lyrics by both he and Macklem, this play promises to fill the heart of Fernwood “with gorgeous music at this family time of the year.”

For their part, over 40 George Jay students in grades three to five have been hard at work since September practicing for the show. To learn more and come see and hear this amazing community undertaking, head to belfry.bc.ca/this-little-light/.

However, This Little Light is not the only holiday event going on at George Jay. While a holiday play is a new endeavor, George Jay’s Holiday Emporium is very much a school tradition. Each year the school collects gently used items from families and the community. These items are then put up for sale on tables in the gym for students to purchase as gifts for their family members.

At $1 per gift, the Emporium gives students a way to choose something nice for their loved ones while also reusing community items and raising funds for the school.

Have items, wrapping paper, small boxes or ribbon you could donate? George Jay welcomes them from now to December 13 via the office at 1118 Princess Ave during school hours.

December 2016

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Scene in Fernwood : Fernwood Lights

Photos: Liz Rubincam