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Village Vibe

news and views from the heart of Fernwood

www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca

october 2006

Neighbourhood Expert Stops in Fernwood

Volunteer Painters Needed

Expert at wielding a brush? Wanna put the last few touches on the Cornerstone restoration project?

On his way to Victoria City Hall to deliver a workshop entitled, “Energizing Your Neighbourhood,” Jim Diers – founder and 14 year veteran of Seattle’s Department of Neighbourhoods – stopped by the Cornerstone building for a tour of the affordable housing suites and soon-tobe Cornerstone Cafe.

Join us every Wednesday 11-5 and Sunday 10-4 in October!

Magical Pumpkin Yard Festival Turns Ten

by Sheryl Shermak

Every Halloween for the past nine years 2527 Fernwood Road has become illuminated with magical works of pumpkin art.

Part of Fernwood’s long cultural and arts tradition, the Pumpkin Yard: Festival of Jack O’Lanterns boasts local artisan-created pumpkin masterpieces and bewitching backdrops. This free festival is family-oriented, but not just for the kids. The festival offers a safe place where Halloween can be celebrated as a community.

The festival began as a humble

we’re calling all aspiring pumpkin artists and traditional jack o’lantern carvers to help light up the night. Part of the festival’s magic is the coming together of diverse individual carving styles, and even the humblest Jack brings a real shine to the show.

Think of it as Fernwood’s little Luminara. The more light the merrier!

The Pumpkin Yard is open yard display and has grown into a community event attracting peo- October 30: 5pm-9pm and ple from all over the Greater October 31: 4pm to 10pm. The festival is located at 2527 Victoria area.

As part of our 10th Anniversary, Fernwood Road.

Village Vibe

Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group (FernwoodNRG) Declaration of Principles and Values

1. WE are committed to creating a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable neighbourhood; 2. WE are committed to ensuring neighbourhood control or ownership of neighbourhood institutions and assets; 3. WE are committed to using our resources prudently and to becoming financially self-reliant; 4. WE are committed to the creation and support of neighbourhood employment; 5. WE are committed to engaging the dreams, resources, and talents of our neighbours and to fostering new links between them; 6. WE are committed to taking action in response to neighbourhood issues, ideas, and initiatives; 7. WE are committed to governing our organization and serving our neighbourhood democratically with a maximum of openness, inclusivity, and kindness; 8. WE are committed to developing the skills, capacity, selfworth, and excellence of our neighbours and ourselves; 9. WE are committed to focusing on the future while preserving our neighbourhood's heritage and diversity; 10. WE are committed to creating neighbourhood places that are vibrant, beautiful, healthy, and alive; 11. AND, most of all, WE are committed to having fun!

To subscribe, contact, submit to or advertise in the Vibe, head to www.villagevibe.ca 2

“Theft� on Chambers Street

by Trish Richards

Block Watch is working well for the Chambers Street group in Fernwood. Perhaps too well!

Recently we almost lost our Block Watch Captain, Blanche Black, to nefarious goings on.

Blanche had arranged to borrow a plastic basket ball hoop & stand from a neighbour for use in her weekly exercise class at the MS Society. The neighbour was not at home when Blanche arrived to pick up the hoop so Blanche left a note with her name, phone number and address, just in case.

She propped the brightly coloured hoop in her wheelbarrow and headed off down the street the few blocks to the MS Society on North Park. Upon returning home after a successful class, Blanche discovered that the police had been by looking for her in connection with a missing basketball hoop!

They appreciated her thoughtfulness in leaving her name and address so that she could be so readily tracked.

Further discussion revealed that a second neighbour, upon glancing out her window that morning, had seen the top of the basketball hoop passing by and, knowing that the

people next door were at work, assumed, reasonably enough, that a theft was in progress. So, she called the police. Whether or not she followed protocol and called the Block Watch Captain as well we don't know as the Block Watch Captain was not at home. She was merrily wandering down the street with the missing basket ball hoop in tow!

The story has, of course, a happy ending. Blanche was easily vindicated, the basketball hoop is now a standard item at the Tuesday morning MS exercise classes, and we are certain that Block Watch is working well on Chambers St.

Gardening Help Is Close to Home!

by Margaret Hantiuk

Last issue, we did a virtual gardening tour to gardens and gardening sites all over the world. Here are gardening websites, organizations and teaching gardens right here in Victoria: Victoria Horticultural Society A broad group of gardening enthusiasts ranging from newcomers to

life-long gardeners to professionals! They have meetings once a month (first Tuesday) in the Garth Homer Society Hall (813 Darwin) up by the Saanich Municipal Building. The meetings always have a good guest speaker, refreshments, plant sales and delightful camaraderie. continued on pg 3

Village Vibe

Truckloads of Metal Recycled at Budget Steel

by An Attentive Neighbour

Fernwood has always been a neighbourhood of give and take.

(Resident skeptics will claim that it has been more of the former, but that’s another article.)

Fernwood NRG’s give and take was most evident this past summer.

Great attention was paid to the placing of metal casings into two large pits behind the Cornerstone Building. These wells had been dug 360 feet deep and were then shrouded with metal casings and filled with circulation loops – total weight, 1552 pounds in each shaft.

The end result was a geothermal heating system that will provide 60% to 75% percent of the building's domestic heat and hot water and save 13 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

In keeping with the Fernwood philosophy, Fernwood NRG continues to give back.

Proven recyclers, Fernwood NRG has been collecting more than mere plastics and paper/cardboard.

The group has dispatched some twelve truckloads of neighbourhood metal to Budget Steel.

This was done for the purpose of

recycling, but also to raise money for the Cornerstone project.

These scrap metals have included: hot water tanks (stripped of insulation); stoves and fridges (the Freon was removed at Budget Steel); bathtubs; cast iron pipes and various other construction metals.

For those skeptics who believe that Fernwood is always getting the shaft, Fernwood NRG has reversed things – they have excavated their own pit and collected enough metal to fill it with.

The VHS has many sub-groups, a wonderful monthly newsletter, discounts at most gardening shops, a large lending library, and free garden tours of willing members' gardens every Sunday throughout the warm months of the year.

(Membership is $25.00/year and worth it!) www.vichortsociety.org.

Membership info: h3.brown@shaw.ca.

Glendale Gardens and Woodland A teaching garden and a conserved wetland. It is well worth a visit. There is a lovely Japanese garden as well as a great 'Winter Garden' that displays beautifully how much we can grow in the shade and also in the winter. They have recently created a new Grass garden and a Hardy Fuschia garden. There is a Heather garden and lots of projects that the gardening students undertake. They have a tea room

and sell plants as well. There are now walks into the wetlands beyond the cultivated areas. In the gardens, plants are identified so you can take note what the name is of the shrub, tree or perennial that you have been admiring around town. Members receive a bimonthly newsletter, discounts on their plant sales and at participating retailers, and can sign up for great and inexpensive minicourses taught onsite throughout the year by gardening professionals.

Open daily 8:00 to 8:00, Sat/Sun 8:00-6:00. Members free. (479-6162) 505 Quayle Rd. between Interurban & W. Saanich) www.hcp.bc.ca Abkhazi Garden A garden bought by The Land Conservancy (TLC) just as it was about to be bulldozed a few years ago. It is primarily a Rhodo garden that was lovingly created by a cou-

ple of Europeans who ended up here after the Second World War. It is open from March to October and there is an admission. There is a tearoom in the Abkhazi's home that has a stone patio to die for with a view of the Garry Oaks to the southwest. It's one of my favorite places to have tea with a friend. There is also a Gift Shop and all proceeds to to TLC. 1964 Fairfield Rd., near Foul Bay and Fairfield. Admission: Adults: $10.00 Students: $7.50 Seniors (60 and over): $7.50. Children 12 and under are Free.

Government House Gardens These gardens are on Rockland between Moss Street and St. Charles Street They are free and open to the public between dawn and dusk. 'Friends of the Gardens' (volunteers) have been gardening here intensively for the past 10 years or so and have created

G a r d e n G l e a n i n g s (cont.)

news and views from the heart of Fernwood

continued on pg 4 3

Fernwood What’s On: October 2006

A monthly roundup of neighbourhood shindigs. Head to www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca/events for more listings or to submit your event.

Make Yer Neighbourhood Nicer

Total Plastics Recycling Day: Sat, Oct. 14th, Back of FCC 10am - Noon. (Every 2 Sat of Month) Recycle plastics of all kinds (Styr ofoam packing, soft plastics and bags, and ALL hard/rigid plastics) plus old electronics. By donation to cove r transportation. Support this handy neighbourhood service or we might lose it. nd

Special Events

Grand Ope ning of the Cornerstone Café: Thanks t o the hard work of many, th e Cornerstone building is ready to welcome four new families into its upstairs suites.

Downstairs in the café on the corner, the place is starting to look spiffy, and the espresso machine is getting ready to rev. Come have a coffee in the new café—operated by Fernwood NRG--to help build neighbourhood from the grounds up. Fernwood folk music duo Lemonshifter will be on hand for the Grand Opening event. Watch for an announcement of the Grand Opening Date in October in the café windows or become a member of Fernwood NRG t o get an emailed update. ( www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca/getinvolved.html) The 10th Pumpkin Yard: Festival of Jack O_Lanterns: Mon, Oc t 30, 5pm- 9pm & Tue, Oc t 31, 4:30pm10pm, at 2527 Fernwood Rd. Scores of spooktacular works of pumpkin art, using 100% real pumpkins.

Come visit the graveyard and the pirate lair. Help us beat our pumpkin record and be part of the festival: bring along a pumpkin creation. Family-friendly.

Donatio ns appr eciated . 886-4691.

Creature Party Mon, Oct 30: Morning com munity play group with pumpkin carving and stories followed by "Stone Soup" and games. Call 381-1552 ext. 22 for details.

Parent & Tot Tue Oct. 31 (Regular time – see below ) Sticker treating with families. Bring stickers to tra de.

Annual Halloween Bonfire, Tue Oct 31, dusk. Come join your neighbours in a l ongstanding Fernwood tradition.

Hot cocoa to follow. At the FCC 1240 Gladstone.

Green Thumbs

Composting Basics Workshop: Sat, Oct 14, Compost Ed. Centre, 11:00am – 1:00pm, Free!

Compost Club Lecture: Greywater Systems, Sat, Oct 21, Compost Ed. Centre, 2:00pm – 4:00pm, members free, non-members $15.

The Fernwood Community Centre is located at 1240 Gladstone Ave. Office hours and public space open: 9am 9pm Monday to Friday.

Kids & Families

Parent & Tot Playgroup: Ongoing Tuesdays & Thursdays.

FCC Gym, 9:30am - 11:30am, $1 per family, snacks provided.

Mother Goose Circle Time: Songs, rhymes & stories; Select Saturdays (Call 381-1552 t o register and for info) FCC Infant & Toddler Centre, 11:30am 12:30pm, Free! ($2 for songbook) Community Day Parent-Run Family Group: Family directed and facilitated program! Ongoing Mondays, 9:30 – 11:30am, FCC Gy m, Free!

Youth, Adults & Seniors

Drop-in Badminton – Ages 12 to Adult, ev eryone welcome. Ongoing Sundays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm, FCC Gym, $2 per person or $5 for a family of 3!

Free Internet and Computer Access: Complete your onetime registration and then get online through the Community Access Program. FCC Community Room, 9:15am to 8:30pm, Monday to Friday, except for 11:00am to 3:00pm on W ednesdays. Free!

Drop-in Floorhockey : Co-ed Adult (18+), all equipment provided. Ongoing Tuesdays and Thursdays, FCC Gym, 7:00pm – 9:30pm, $4, or get a punchcard: $40/11 sessions. No wooden sticks.

Holistic Health & H ealing: Qi Gong exe rcises and meditatio n; Ongoing Mondays, FCC, 10:00–11:30am, Free!

Falun Gong: Peaceful meditation practice. Ongoing Wednesdays, FCC, 5:00pm – 7:00pm, everyone welcome, Free!

Fernwood Autumn Glow (55+): Gentle exercise, lunch & activities; Ongoing Fridays, FCC, 11:00am, $5.50 for lunch.

Music, Art, Theatre, and Entertainment

“I am My Ow n W ife” at the Belfry Theatre: True stor y of an East Berlin celebrated antique collector and transvestite who survives and transcends two of the last century’s most brutal regimes. Sep 19 to Oct 15, for tickets call 385-6815 or head to www.belfry.bc.ca.

Victoria Bluegrass Assoc. Jam: Ongoing Tuesdays Orange Hall, 7:30 – 10:30pm, $2 to play, free to listen. (Last Tuesday of month is open stage/feature night; cost varies).

Live Music at Logan’s: For listings, check out www.loga nspub.com .

G a r d e n G l e a n i n g s (cont.)

lovely gardens all around the property. They have been reclaiming the wild areas behind the Lieutenant-Governor's house and there are now some wonderful benches with south-facing views of the Olympics which are great for sitting and reading or just relaxing.

If you don't have a garden, but would like to learn or get your fingers into the earth, they would love to hear from you!

Village Vibe

Finerty Gardens, University of Victoria At the south end of UVic, along Henderson Rd. lies one of my favorite public gardens. It’s free and open to the public and there are several entrances into the garden from every direction. The best place to park is by the Interfaith Chapel. This is also primarily a Rhodo garden, but there is a marvelous assortment of

trees, shrubs and under-plantings.

It is also a teaching garden with most everything well marked. It is a good garden to see how to plant in layers and how much can grow in light and partial shade. It has a natural, woodsy look that is very relaxing and healing. There are paths, benches to sit and enjoy and a lovely pond.

news and views from the heart of Fernwood