Peace River African Descendants Society Event: February 20, 2010

The Peace River African Descendants Society (PRADS) is celebrating Black History Month with a great event on February 20 at the Belle Petroleum Centre. There will be a dinner and then entertainment by Ezeadi Onukwulu and One Human Race. Tickets are $30 and available at Java Domain and the Belle Petroleum Centre or by emailing prad.society@gmail.com. See you there!

Local Energy and Environmental Citizenship Videoconference: March 12, 2010

Peace River and area residents have the opportunity to attend this event sponsored by Alberta Acts on Climate Change either by videoconference or simultaneous webcast on March 12, 2010. The Peace River site is at Northern Lakes College. The event is free and refreshments will be provided. 

For more details (including a list of the 30 videoconference sites around the province and the days' agenda) or to register, visit http://www.albertaacts.ca/LocalEnergyVC 

This across-Alberta event will help participants from rural Alberta better understand how they can take action on climate change by mitigating or adapting. The organizers, Bill Fricker and Andy Blundell, planned and successfully implemented the 2008 Communities Without Boundaries virtual conference, which I helped organize in Peace River (there were over 20 sites around the province). We had great attendance and the day was very worthwhile. I'm sorry that I'll be missing this one, but hope that the VC room at the college is full on March 12!

Four keynote speakers will provide content and panelists and moderators will be drawn from Alberta universities and colleges and from more than a dozen rural communities. The speakers include:

• Dave Sauchyn, University of Regina Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative
• Rick Kool, Royal Roads University School of Environment and Sustainability
• Gary Holden, CEO Enmax Corporation
• Michael Walters, Greater Edmonton Alliance

At lunchtime, excerpts will be shown from the video "In Transition: From oil dependence to local resilience" developed by TransitionTowns.org in the UK.

Grand Opening Today (June 11): Horizon Learning Centre

Come tour the new Horizon Learning Centre today between 4:30 and 7:30 and find out what it's all about. The Centre is located on Main Street at 9807-100 Street (tucked between the Horizon Credit Union and Domino's Pizza).

There will be music, munchies and mingling and a short program (where I'll be speaking briefly) from 5:30 to 5:45.

See you there!

Aboriginal Gathering & Pow Wow: June 13-14

It looks like there will be great weather this weekend for the Aboriginal Gathering & Pow Wow, being held in its new location--the Twelve Foot Davis Ball Park--on Saturday and Sunday.

Peace River and area residents will want to take advantage of the scenic location to come and watch the wonderful dancers, singers, drummers, and Metis fiddlers and jiggers. There are also children's activities, food booths, and displays.

This is one of only a few off-reserve events on the Pow Wow Trail and a great opportunity to learn about Aboriginal culture.

Aboriginal Gathering & Pow Wow: Honoring Our Elders

Once again the Peace Region Aboriginal Interagency Committee is hosting the Aboriginal Gathering and Pow Wow. It's being held on June 13 and 14 in Peace River at a new location--the Twelve Foot Davis Ball Park.

With the move to this new location, we expect a few growing pains but are hopeful that this beautiful natural amphitheatre will be a great location for this year's event and those in the future.

I encourage everyone to come and see the wonderful dancing, singing, drumming, Metis fiddling and jigging, displays, food and more. It's a full two days of celebration of Aboriginal culture.

This is an alcohol and drug free event that is very family-oriented and includes children's activities coordinated by the Town's Community Services Department.

One of the aspects that I especially enjoy is the presentation of blankets and feathers to people of Aboriginal heritage who have graduated from high school in the past year. And this year, graduates from college and universities are also being honoured. As well, Northlands School Division is celebrating its 25th anniversary and this milestone is being celebrated.

The AIC is seeking volunteers to help with a variety of tasks to make the event go smoothly. If you can contribute a few hours, contact Dianne Lavoie at 780-618-9268 (diannelavoie@telusplanet.net) or Tracy Zweifel at 780-624-2443 (tracy-sagitawa@telus.net) to find out where your help is most needed.

For more information about the Gathering and Pow Wow, contact Christina Hogaboam at 780-624-6316 (christina.hogaboam@gov.ab.ca) or Dennis Whitford at 780-624-6367 (dennis.whitford@gov.ab.ca)

Big Peace Country Events Coming Up

February 12-15 will keep residents in the Peace River-St. Isidore-Grimshaw area (and beyond) busy and with lots of choices for entertainment.

Our part of the province will be hosting two huge events, both of which rely on legions of volunteers, donors, financial and in-kind contributions, and lots of collaborative effort--hallmarks of the Peace Country.

The oldest of the two is the 27th annual St. Isidore Carnaval, one of the largest francophone parties in Alberta. There is snow sculpting, hay rides, poutine and pattes de lynx, maple snow taffy, log sawing, and snow volleyball to mention just a few of the activities and food offerings. And of course, lots of francophone music and dance, including local and "imported"talent.

This year I'm finally going to attend and my bilingual and unilingual friends assure me that language is no barrier to having a great time!

Alberta Pond Hockey at Lac Cardinal is in its 3rd year and just gets bigger and better, with 80 teams (including one made up of Edmonton Oilers) registered this year. Check out the 2008 photo gallery to get an idea of what pond hockey looks like.

This year there will be around 400 players playing over 300 games of hockey on 19 natural ice rinks that are now being built by what the Pond Hockey website calls an "army of volunteers."

I'll be taking in the Gala on Saturday night as well as the Sunday pancake breakfast at the Lac Cardinal Regional Pioneer Village Museum (click on the museum link for a 360 view), great entertainment and of course, some hockey games.

See you there!

Peace River Hosting Northwest Corridor Development Corporation (NCDC) Conference: "Take Ten in the Corridor"

There are lots of visitors to Peace River this week with delegates to the NCDC "Take Ten in the Corridor” Conference and Annual General Meeting today until Thursday at the Belle Petroleum Centre. Welcome to them all!

The news release about the event noted that the speaker line-up represents "a wealth of talent and knowledge." Further, Don Zurowski, Chair of the NCDC Board said that “They’ll cover a good cross section of issues affecting transportation, trade and tourism in the Corridor, adding that “All this is in keeping with our mission of advancing what’s needed to enhance and sustain the economy and trade potential of Canada’s Northwest Corridor.”

Peace River Deputy Mayor Berry Heinen sits on the NCDC board and will be addressing the conference tomorrow morning at the breakfast session. Northern Sunrise County Councillor Carolyn Kolebaba also represents this region on the NCDC board.

For more information on NCDC, visit the website.

Council Open House: December 14

I should have written this post days ago to give readers some notice--my apologies. This afternoon (Friday) from 3:00 to 6:00 is Council's seasonal open house in the Council Chambers. We're hoping to see many community members drop in to say hello and have some refreshments.