Sunday April 25, 2010
Doors open at 5:30, dinner at 6pm
520D Seymour St, Interior Community Services, beside Moviemart

Please bring:
A Vegetarian or Vegan dish** for about 8 people
Eggs and dairy are ok
Recipe or list of ingredients is mandatory
Your own plate, cutlery, and cup
A suggested $3 donation
Your own creative Nametag

**Prizes for Best Dish, Best Dessert**

After dinner: “Incorporating edible plants within the ornamental landscape” by Elaine Sedgeman

Earthcare Kamloops is a non-profit group of caring citizens who promote a plant-based diet, and support sustainable, local farming practices. We strive to create a healthier, more connected community by discussing environmental and health issues at our monthly Vegetarian potlucks. (last Sunday of month, Sept-May)
contact email: earthcarekamloops@yahoo.ca

The Shuswap Watershed Project has lined up an impressive list of speakers for its upcoming Watershed Conference to be held on April 23rd from 2 to 11 pm. at the Sullivan Campus of Salmon Arm Secondary School . Conference participants will have an opportunity to listen to and question speakers representing conservation organizations and all levels of government. The objective for this event will be to examine how best to conserve, protect and restore the Shuswap watershed.

Salmon Arm Secondary – Sullivan Campus
This conference is free thanks to the sponsorship of the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union and Shuswap-North Okanagan School District #83

DRAFT AGENDA

1:00-2:30 pm Poster Session
The conference begins with a poster session, where participants have an opportunity to view the posters and displays set up by government agencies, conservation groups, and students, as well as meet with representatives from these groups. After the opening welcoming addresses by a local First Nation leader and Salmon Arm Mayor Marty Bootsma, students will read their winning essays about what they can do to help protect the watershed. Mayor Bootsma will also be speaking about the work of the Fraser Basin Council, which works to promote environmental and economic sustainability throughout the region.

2:30 pm – Welcoming address by a local First Nation leader, followed by a welcome from Salmon Arm Mayor Marty Bootsma

2:40 – 2:45 Brief talk by Jim Cooperman about the Shuswap Watershed Project

2:45 – 3:15 Essay contest winners read their essays, hosted by Kim Fulton, Shuswap Watershed Project Education Coordinator

3:15 – 3:20 – Mayor Marty Bootsma will talk about the work of the Fraser Basin Council

3:20 – 3:50 – Keynote speech by Craig Orr, Exec Director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, titled “Water, salmon and resilience: maintaining healthy watersheds in the face of climate change” followed by Michelle Walsh, with the Secwepemc Fisheries Commission, who will talk about their work on the connection between groundwater and salmon.

3:50 – 4:00 A song by Old Man’s Beard guitarist Jesse Cooke and short break

4:00 – 4:05 – Hiking, biking, canoeing and kayaking the Shuswap to experience the watershed first hand by Shuswap Trail Alliance Executive Director Phil McIntyre-Paul

4:05 – 5:30 – Panel discussion “What needs to be done to best protect, preserve and restore the watershed?” Five minute talk by each panelist, followed by a question period (using written questions submitted by conference participants and allowing for discussion between panelists)
Conference participants will then have an opportunity to pose questions to a panel comprised of staff from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Ministries of Environment and Forests, the CSRD and King Campbell with Ducks Unlimited Canada, who will provide their perspectives on what actions are needed to protect the watershed. The conference will end with a summary talk by Dr. Warren Bell about what was learned from the presentations and what needs to be done in the future.

Panelists:
Carol Danyluk, Environmental Protection Officer, Ministry of Environment
Bruce Runciman, Habitat Management Biologist, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Jan Thingsted, Planner, Columbia-Shuswap Regional District
Kimm Magill-Hofmann, Forest Technician, Ministry of Forests and Range
King Campbell, Agricultural Program Head, Ducks Unlimited Canada

5:30 – 5:40 Warren Bell, Conference summary by Dr. Warren Bell and “Where do we go from here?”

5:40 – 6:15 free networking time (tables set up for dinner)

6:15 – 7:15 dinner by Cookshack Creations
A low cost dinner comprised mostly of food sourced locally from Shuswap farmers and prepared by Cookshack Creations will be served to conference participants after the talks. The event will finish with a concert that begins with the Song for the Shuswap songwriting contest winners followed by an all-ages dance to Old Man’s Beard sponsored by Askews.

7:15 – 7:30 networking time (tables down and chairs set up)

7:30 – 8:30 concert beginning with “A Song for the Shuswap” winners

8:30 – 8:45 break (chairs moved to make room for dancing)

9 – 11 dance to Old Man’s Beard

The conference will be free thanks to the sponsorship of the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union, but early pre-registration is recommended as seating will be limited. Registration forms are available at Wickett Business Services, Salmon Arm Observer and Bookingham Palace and participants can also register online at www.shuswapwatershed.ca.

For more information, contact:
Jim Cooperman, Project Leader, 679-3693
Kim Fulton, Project Educational Coordinator, 546-3644
Monica Gail Kriese, “Celebrate the Shuswap” Event Coordinator, 833-6100

March 27, 2010 – 8:30 pm

During Earth Hour, hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

The Earth Run is a grassroots run that will launch for the first time in Kamloops this Spring on April 24th at Riverside Park Bandshell. Other runs were held last year, for the first time, in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Kamloops is one of only six official Earth Run locations in 2010.

The Earth Run Foundation ( the parent/national organization) is committed to raising funds to be used for local, regional and national environmental issues. The Earth Run is a new annual awareness and fund raising initiative that will help bring people together to build green communities and promote sustainable lifestyles.

The Earth Run is centered on a 5K community run/walk fund raising event with the two major elements of Education and Fund raising. National charities are the David Suzuki Foundations and the Earth Run Foundation. Locally, the Organizing Committee has chosen to support the Grasslands Conservation Council.

We will have a mini-expo of sponsors and other environmental initiatives on site for the participants to enjoy before and after the run. The idea is for the event to be zero (or minimal) impact. We are not handing out paper materials of any type and have asked our exhibitors to minimize waste and use only recyclable or compostable materials. We’d like our “carbon footprint” to be as small as possible.

We are hoping for between 100 and 200 participants and their families. Registration will mainly be done online but we will have some promotion of the event in the media and a couple of on-site registration opportunities at Nature’s Fare, our major local sponsor. We are also hoping to set up for one day at the Farmer’s Market.

Registration Tables will be set up at 8:30am and the run will start at 10:00am.
With the event wrapping up around 12:30pm, perhaps sooner if the weather is uncooperative.

On Saturday, April 17th 2010, the City of Kamloops will be hosting a public forum on planning for sustainability in the community. It will run from 9am to 5pm at the Interior Savings Centre. I hope many people will attend to share their thoughts and to converse with other citizens.

Training and Support for the BC Community Development Movement
Monday, May 17 to Wednesday 19, 2010
First Nations Longhouse, UBC

This conference is for anyone involved in building community in BC who wants to develop knowledge and skills, network with others, and help shape the future of the community development movement in BC.
Frontline community developers to organization decision-makers, from across the province, wanted themes on community learning, capacity building and governance.

Here is a taste of what is included:

• Collaboration and Partnership Building
• Theatre and Community
• Change (Headlines Theatre)
• Peer Led Learning (PeerNet BC)
• Learning for Change (Storyteller’s Foundation)
• Cooperatives and Community Economic Development (SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development)
• and a highlight will be an evening film and discussion featuring Finding our Way: The Journey for Colonialism to Partnership (Leonie Sandercock, School of Community and Regional Planning, UBC)

Challenges for this movement will be discussed: Thinking Like a Network (Community Foundations of Canada), What have we Learned about Putting Population Health into Practice, Putting Fun and Evaluation in the Same Sentence (Rock, Paper, Scissors), Future of funding for Community Development in BC (Panel Discussion).

Time for highly valued networking is built into the conference and the following groups are taking up that opportunity: Community Social Planning Network of BC, population health practitioners in BC, Youth Activities Network, and your group can as well.
After March 16th, for more information, go to: www.sparc.bc.ca/community-developers-conference-2010
Presented by the Capacity Development Consortium and the Community Social Planning Network of BC, with support from the Community Capacity Building Strategy led by the Canadian Cancer Society, an initiative of the BC Healthy Living Alliance, and SPARC BC

The Aboriginal Agricultural Education Society of British Columbia (AAESBC) is hosting the second annual 100 Mile Diet, Health & Wellness Show being held in Kamloops at the Norkam High school.
730-12th Street, Kamloops,
from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
on Saturday, April 10, 2010.

This year we will be offering education sessions on grass fed beef and the carbon foot print, natural pest control, creating local community food systems, and much more!

An evening dinner will also be hosted at the same location from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm. Local Chefs will prepare dishes based seasonal produce. Dinner tickets are $25 or 2 for $40.

Our goal is to keep BC agriculture strong and thriving and to raise consumer awareness of products grown close to home, to reduce our carbon footprint.

The AAESBC is a registered charity promoting the development of local food systems among Aboriginal peoples residing in BC. The activities include hands on agricultural training programs to promote food security and sustainability on and off reserve in agricultural production, from field to plate – beef and produce.

We will be showcasing local food, health and wellness exhibits while creating community awareness of the programs offered by the Aboriginal Agricultural Education Society of British Columbia (AAESBC)

• Promoting Aboriginal agricultural and agri-food business opportunities
• Promoting Nutrition, local food systems, healthy living and food security
• Creating community awareness of the programs offered by the Aboriginal Agricultural Education Society and others in our region.

The first of the annual 100 Mile Diet, Health & Wellness Show, held March 26, 2009 attracted participants from many surrounding communities throughout the Thompson Nicola Region including producers, ranchers and farmers displaying vegetables, grass fed beef, locally made products, and services from Kamloops, Barriere, Salmon Arm, north to Clinton and Canim Lake. Also attending were local government, neighbouring First Nations bands, interested members of the public, backyard gardeners, and small businesses, as well as numerous local societies involved in food security, community gardens, and agri projects.

Please contact Lesley at (250) 314-6804 or (250)571-7048 if you have any questions and we are looking forward to seeing you at Norkam Highschool to celebrate local food on Saturday, April 10, 2010.

Must have at least Level 1 Reiki

316-141 Victoria St
250.372.1424
Please call for times and to confirm you are coming

3rd Monday of every month.

It’s Love Month and I loooooove my bicycle! Do you?

Friday is Critical Mass! Bring your loved ones and your bikes and lets get our ride on.

We meet at 4:00pm in Riverside Park by the tennis courts, you got any questions or concerns feel free to contact me. Need a bike for the ride? We’ll find one for you. Happy riding folks, see you on Friday!

First Monday of every month at The Art We Are

Every month people with an interest in environmental conservation meet up for a beer at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

It’s a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts.