Community Updates (16) – Feb 14, 2014

1) Empty Bowls Fundraiser - Valentine's Day Feb 14th

2) Free Family Skate - Sat Feb 15th1 - 2:30 pm

3) Heritage Silent Auction Fundraiser for the Child Development Centre

4) Backyard Bird Count - Citizen Scientists Wanted - Sunday Feb 16th

5) Environmental  Monitoring  and Reclamation At Mount Polley Mine - Presentation Feb 19th

6) Celebrate Louis Riel day - Dinner & Film Monday, February 17, 2014 6:00pm

7) Project Comeback's - Community Meeting - Feb 24th from 5 - 9 pm

8) Touring Prague with Chris Harris and Rita Giesbrecht

9) Spicing Up the Cariboo - Book Sale & Samples Feb 18th

10) News From The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

11) Reminder Tea & Tissues - Grief recovery group starting Feb 19th
12) The next Social Planning Council Meeting - Monday Feb 24th  at 11:30 am

13) Film Screening - Genetic Roulette - Wed Feb 19th at 7 pm

14) Seniors Activity Centre's Annual General Meeting - Feb 20th

15) 23rd Annual Daybreak Rotary's Used Book Sale - Feb 15 - 22nd

16) Reminder - School District No. 27 - Policy Review - send your feedback online

1) Empty Bowls Fundraiser - Valentine's Day Feb 14th

The Cariboo Potter's Guild will be raising proceeds for the Williams Lake Salvation Army's foodbank with their Empty Bowls Fundraiser on today, Friday Feb 14th from 11 am - 2 pm at the Gibralter Room. For $15 visitors will be served a delicious lunch of soup and bread and get to keep the locally crafted pottery bowl it comes in!

2) Free Family Skate - Sat Feb 15th1 - 2:30 pm

Bring the family this Saturday from 1 - 2:30 pm for the free skate at the Recreation Complex sponsored by Sutton Cariboo Realty.

3) Heritage Silent Auction Fundraiser for the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre

Win four tickets for the 2014 Tim Horton's NHL Heritage Classis March 2nd at BC Place Stadium. Pace your bids at the CDC's front desk at 690 Second Ave. North (250-392-4481). Starting bid $850 and closes Friday Feb 21st at 4pm (winner announced by 4:30pm). All proceeds go towards the Child Development Centre.

4) Backyard Bird Count - Citizen Scientists Wanted - Sunday Feb 16th

Williams Lake Field Naturalists and the Young Naturalists Club's Free Family Event at Scout Island Nature Centre. Julianne Trelenberg will lead a birding walk and the data collected will be added to Cornell University's international checklist. All families are welcom - kinds need to bring an adult. For more info call 250-398-8532 or email J_Trelenberg@hotmail.com.

5) Environmental  Monitoring  and Reclamation At Mount  Polley Mine - Presentation Feb 19th at 7:30 pm

On Wednesday February 19 at 7:30pm there is a free Presentation at Scout Island Nature House presented  by  Colleen  Hughes, EP  environmental  Coordinator  Mt. Polley Mining Corp.

Environmental  Technicians  are  responsible  for  environmental monitoring  and  so  much  more.  This  presentation  will  include  a  review  of  current monitoring methods for surface and groundwater, vegetation, soils, air, climate, and wildlife.   It  also  provides  information  on  employee  education  for  spill  response, wildlife  awareness, and sensitive  habitat  identification.  The  presentation  also includes information on the reclamation research and planning that is ongoing at the mine site. For More information 398 8532 or shemphill@netbistro.com

6) Celebrate Louis Riel day - Dinner & Film Monday, February 17, 2014 6:00pm

Celebrate Louis Riel day with Dinner and the award winning film: GOLD FEVER and Yummy Mexican food by Juanita, Share-back of the Tsilhqot'in Dance Ceremony,  Update on FISH LAKE

Childcare provided - $10 $30 suggested (but no one turned away!!) Money raised goes to Mayan Communities in Guatemala

Gold Fever is a documentary of cinematographic beauty and hard-hitting truths. The film unveils the realities of people in a community where a Vancouver-based mining company comes to operate, and serves an international call to attention in the process. Find this event on face book at https://www.facebook.com/events/600639640004125/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

7) Project Comeback's - Community Meeting - Feb 24th from 5 - 9 pm

Please find attached a poster about the Project Comeback “reporting and Exploring” Community Meeting on Feb. 24 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Cariboo Art Centre (the old fire hall, next to City Hall).

The City of Williams Lake and the BC Rural Network (BCRN) launched Project Comeback in April of 2013. The project is meant to determine barriers to retention of skilled and professional workers, make recommendations for community initiatives and develop a successful local approach to ensure rural communities, specifically Williams Lake, can attract and retain the work force we need to be successful. In the fall of 2013, the City of Williams Lake completed a survey targeting young adults under 35. The results are in and action is required!

We would like to invite you to join other community members at “Project ComeBack Reporting andExploring” on the evening of February 24th, 2014. We encourage you to bring a friend or a co-worker that may be “new” to the community (moved or returned to Williams Lake in the last five years) and under the age of 35! Join us for dinner, share why you love Williams Lake, explore survey results, brainstorm local project ideas and provide input for the initiation of a local project and action plan!

Please see the poster for more information and how to RSVP. For more information, please contact Anne Burrill at aburrill@williamslake.ca or at 250-392-8480.

8) Touring Prague with Chris Harris and Rita Giesbrecht

Williams Lake, BC - The Cariboo Regional District announced today that Chris Harris and Rita Giesbrecht will be making a photographic presentation of their recent trip to Prague at the Williams Lake and 100 Mile Branch libraries.

Harris and Giesbrecht visited Prague during the carnival season. Harris is a renowned local photographer who has published several books of photography of the Cariboo Chilcotin including Flyover : British Columbia's Cariboo Chilcotin Coast: an aviation legacy (2012) and Motherstone : British Columbia's volcanic plateau (2010).

The couple wanted a unique trip experience; something completely different than their usual travel as wilderness photographers and back-country trekkers.

“Along with the artistic richness of Old World Europe, Prague overwhelms the senses as one of the most intact and protected cities architecturally and physically,” stated Harris. “Having survived destruction and razing by invading armies from the beginnings of human history, through the glory days of the Roman Empire and the Hapsburg regime, Prague is a glorious feast of rare Gothic, Baroque, and every other kind of building right up to its most recent history as a Soviet-dominated communist country.” 

The evening will include a slideshow presentation, with commentary from Harris and Giesbrecht as well as a Question and Answer segment. Admission for this event is free, but patrons should arrive early as seating is limited.

The dates of the presentations include: Friday, Feb. 14, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Williams Lake Branch. Call 250-392-3630 or email wl@cariboordbc.ca for more information.

9) Spicing Up the Cariboo - Book Sale & Samples Feb 18th

The authors of Spicing up the Cariboo: Characters, Cultures & Cuisines of the Cariboo Chilcotin will be at the library selling cookbooks on February 18th from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Cindy from the Bean Counter will also be cooking up a full lunch of recipes from the book, so be sure to stop by.

10) News From The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

BC's provincial government recently announced that they will host the Increasing Accessibility for People with Disabilities Consultations (http://engage.gov.bc.ca/disabilitywhitepaper/) a series of public sessions to hear from communities about the challenges people with disabilities face, in preparation for issuing a "white paper," a report that will serve as the basis for a provincial summit on the issue later in the year.

Please join us in calling for a raise of PWD benefits to $1200 and establishing a shelter allowance like the seniors SAFER program.

For more information, check out the report "Overdue: The case for increasing the Person with Disabilities (PWD) Benefit in BC" (http://www.bccpd.bc.ca/dwpnetwork.htm) that the BCCPD published in partnership with SPARC BC, Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), Inclusion BC and Canada Mental Health Association (BC Division).

BC's current disability benefit rate of $906/month (in red on the graph below) is completely inadequate and falls short of all poverty measures, including the most stringent possible. In comparison, Alberta's PWD rate is now $1588.

Please also join us in calling for an end to the clawback of child support payments from PWD benefits. 

Again, we're partnering with the BCCPD and BC ACORN on this issue, as well as First Call, WestCoast LEAF, and CLAS Currently, child support is taken off dollar for dollar from the income assistance benefit. The provincial government is depriving children of their right to child support by taking that money away from children who live in lone-parent families on assistance – some of the most vulnerable children in the province.

You can make your voice heard by submitting your comments at http://engage.gov.bc.ca/disabilitywhitepaper/participate/ or attend one of the community consultations running until February 26, 2014.

11) Reminder Tea & Tissues - Grief recovery group starting Feb 19th
Bring life back into focus with the grief recovery group, "Tea and Tissues"  on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month in the Fireside Room, 782 9th Ave North, (starting February 19th) at 5:30 pm for 1 hour.  For more information call John 398-5642.

12) The next Social Planning Council Meeting - Monday Feb 24th  at 11:30 am

The next Social Planning Council meeting is on Monday February 24th from 11:30 - 1:00 pm at The new Academy of Learning Facility with a presentation by the Regional Employment Coordinator for Community Living BC. Light lunch will be served (donations appreciated but not required). Another reminder and agenda will be send out next week (as well as directions).

13) Film Screening - Genetic Roulette - Wed Feb 19th at 7 pm

A film by Jeffrey M. Smith and a production of the Institute for Responsible Technology: Never before seen evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to raising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Showing is taking place at the Williams Lake Regional Library at 7 pm.

14) Seniors Activity Centre's Annual General Meeting - Feb 20th

The AGM for the Seniors Activity Centre is taking place on Feb 20th at 1:30 pm at the Centre (176 Fourth Ave. North). For more information contact Glenda at 250-392-7946.

15) 23rd Annual Daybreak Rotary's Used Book Sale - Feb 15 - 22nd

Between Feb 15th and the 22nd on the upper level of Boitanio Mall find the annual giant used book sale. Donations are also accepted. Call 250-392-4498 for more information. All proceeds will be used to support Daybreak Rotary and it's community projects.

16) Reminder - School District No. 27 - Policy Review - send your feedback online

At its December meeting, the SD 27 Board of Education made a motion to adopt the revised policy at the 25 February 2014 open meeting of the Board.  The Board is seeking public input or comment on the proposed policy.  Feedback is open until the 17 February 2014.  Revisions to this policy are extensive, and will affect all users of school facilities.  One of the major changes is that the Board is looking at charging every user group, except those directly linked to the school, a rental rate that will be based on an average of market rates in OMH, WL, and rural communities.

There are concerns this policy will create barriers to families and the community accessing positive, healthy, and skill building activities and programs that take place after school.  User groups will have to pass on these additional costs to families, and this will definitely limit the participation of many families, particularly our low income families.  Schools directly benefit when children and families have opportunities to engage in positive activities. Individuals are encouraged to follow the link and complete the survey: http://www.sd27.bc.ca/board-education/policies-and-bylaws