villagevibe Photo: Clayton Daum
June 2008 : News and views from the heart of Fernwood
Photos: Shoshana Scott
When the shoe fits >> by Trish Richards
Plant sale a success >> by Angela Moran The Fifth Annual Organic Plant sale at the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre was a huge success! On May 10th, almost 900 people visited the Centre to purchase perennial and annual plants from local organic growers, including rare and heirloom varieties. This market-style event was a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of locally grown, pesticide-free plant propagation and production. It also provides the Centre with a valuable fundraising opportunity and increases our exposure. Visitors to the Centre enjoyed free site tours and took in the music of Last Train, a local bluegrass band. They performed throughout the plant sale, and they were a hit! The overwhelming media interest this year could account for the dramatic increase in numbers. It was our biggest turnout ever. The CRD’s pesticide
ban might also be starting to have an impact in encouraging residents to find ecological and ethical solutions for their own backyards. Overall, as awareness grows around the current global food crisis, so does the movement toward sustainable home-scale food production. We would like to send a special thank you to all of the vendors that participated in this year’s event. It is your tireless dedication to local food security that makes this event possible. Offering people the means to provide food for themselves is brings us one step closer to a local, participatory, ecological food system in Victoria. Thank also to Victoria High School, Island Displays, Last Train, our volunteers, and our neighbours for their support and assistance with the plant sale.
The Vic High Rugby Team recently won a trophy of a different sort: a glittery, golden high heel shoe, replete with decorative flowers! And it’s a trophy that they are justifiably proud of. On Saturday, April 26th most of the Rugby guys of Vic High, along with their coaches, Clayton Daum and Matt Staples, slipped on some pretty snazzy high heel shoes and walked down Government Street in the second annual ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes’ event. The walk is sponsored by the Victoria Women’s Sexual Assault Center (VWSAC). It is an invitation to men to experience the joy of teetering along in high heels in an effort both to draw attention to sexualized violence and the attitudes that underlie it and to shift perspective through experience. It’s that old adage at work: “Look at it through my eyes. It looks a lot different from here.” Joining in the walk is not something you might expect of a group of teenage guys whose first love is rugby. So why did they do it? Coach Daum explains that the idea came from students in his Leadership class, some of whom are involved with Project Respect, another VWSAC initiative.
– continued on page 6 The Compost Ed Centre will be selling more organic veggie starts at the Centre. Call 386-9676 for more information.
Membership renewal
in this issue Live from Cornerstone Café Page 3 Feature: Your guide to Fern Fest 2008 Page 4
It’s the time again. Renew your Fernwood NRG membership in time for our Annual General Meeting in late September. Membership forms can
be picked up at the Fernwood Community Centre at 1240 Gladstone Ave between 9am and 5pm and dropped off at the same place.
Space to place charrette Page 7