Fireworks are in the air!

We have absolutely loved the tradition of going to the Gabriola Sands Provincial Park (the “twin beaches”) on Halloween to watch the Fireworks since Jennifer and I were about 4 years old. This is a great community event, where the kids can get some treats, the firefighters serve hot chocolate, there is a large bonfire (well under control), and a fantastic display of fireworks to delight the eyes. The Gabriola Volunteer Firefighters have been treating islanders to this event for over 30 years. It’s always been a strong family tradition for us to attend, and with youngsters in the family we will surely continue to attend for years to come. If you’re looking for Jen on Halloween, she’ll be “dressed up” in her firefighting gear helping out at the Fireworks.Saturday, October 31. Fireworks start at 7pm.

Working with Glass

I had the opportunity of taking a fantastic Mosaic workshop offered by Karen Aaker (www.purpledoormosaics.com ) through Artstart on the weekend. She had the supplies & equipment well organized, and taught two classes with 12 in attendance. I choose a fairly simple design, and became excited about the possibilities of this art form. Well, I'm now hooked, I'm signed up for one of her courses that she's offering on Sundays from 11-1, November 8-29. My goal is to make my Christmas gifts this year, and this will help me take one off the list.

350.org

Gabriola Elementary School took part today for 350.org, an international day of climate action. Students of all ages had been preparing with letters, power point presentations, a song, & coming up with ways that each of us can reduce our carbon footprint, which they presented in a very powerful assembly that the community was invited to.

The teachers, students, parents & volunteers did an amazing job in pulling this together… It provoked thinking about our environment and the effects of climate change.

The 350.org website shows 4457 actions taken in over 172 countries to take a stand for a safe climate future. It’s also a great resource to help fascilitate conversations with kids, with activities that they can do. We chose to do a project on “Icelandic Butterflies” which we created with the kids and submitted on the 350.org website. The Butterflies created will be in the display gallery as of October 24, 2009 – the International Day of Climate Action. Mor-more, kept busy this week painting 3 kids shirt with the 350 logo - they looked fabulous...

The embracing of 350.org in our community, and especially by the school just shows that there is hope!

The Marathon.

It's now been almost two weeks since I ran my first marathon, a goal I've held for as long as I can remember. This year, I knew that this would be the year for me to do it. I've realized over the past few years that life can change in an instant, and I knew that I was in a time of my life when I had the physical ability to complete it.

I joined the Running Room in Nanaimo and completed my first half marathon in the Spring of 2009 and continued the training for the Victoria Marathon.

Some weeks of training went better than others, and there were a few little challenges that would pop up (limited sleep,work,young children, sunshine, camping, life, etc). I really enjoyed the process, and for me the nerves built as October 11 drew nearer, I was lucky enough to have the pressure of creating enough paintings for the Gallery Tour to distract me. On Saturday night, Lesley Standerwick, Keli Stapp and I packed up the car, left Gabriola and headed for Victoria.

My anxiety hit as we we're driving and I realized that I was in the car with two personal trainers- what was I thinking ? I started to relax as they brought out a two pound bag of jelly beans for the drive and told me that we we're going to have dinner at 9 when we got to Victoria, this was more my style.

The three of us completed our first marathons on October 11th. I couldn't imagine going through the process on my own and was so pleased to share this experience with such supportive and knowledgeable friends. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, there was no wind, and we had friends and family there to cheer us on along the way. (Submitted by: Tina Lynch)

Art Start: Fairy Wings Worshop

Perfect timing… Halloween being just around the corner and the Art Start weekend featured a “fairy wing” workshop. For those who haven’t seen the stunning wings around the island, at many events, the wings are hand crafted by a very talented young group of ladies on the island or participants of their workshops.

From start to finish Hayden & Genny, (wing creators extraordinaire), led the workshop with 12 eager participant of all ages. In three hours, the wire frames that sat at the tables to start were hand shaped, covered with nylons, vividly painted on & decorated with glue, flowers, and of course glitter. The results were amazing! Gabriola has 12 more sets of wings, thanks to the Arts Council & everyone for putting on this spectacular workshop.

Coast Realty - Future Focus Group

Last week, Jennifer and I went to Coast Realty's head office in Nanaimo to take part in a future focus group. This group included 17 Coast Realty Representatives from all of our offices. We're looking at helping our company to come up with a strategic plan and a clear vision for the future, and ensuring that we stay up with technology. We feel that by participating in this process we can help to ensure that our company continues to meet the expectations of our clients, and that our company can support us in the level of customer service we strive to provide. If you, as our clients, have any input that you would like us to bring forward, please let us know.

Beauty beneath the waves: Diving on Gabriola

It’s a different view when you explore what lies under the surface, can you believe that another world exists so close to us ? It seems so easy to miss this, until you see photos of the beauty below. Shannon Poirier & Don Knowles came to the Island as dive enthusiasts, quickly they decided to buy property and began building their home. They now have a company called Ocean’s Blue Diving which offers diver training from beginner to Divemaster. As someone that’s a bit reluctant to learn all the technical components of diving, I was excited to see that they offer a discover snorkeling course for $50, for me this is the perfect introduction to the world below. They also offer wreck diving, deep diving, night, navigation, drift diving, dive gear rentals and compressed air. Enjoy life at a different level and gain a new prospective.