Animal Magnetism- Gabriola ART Fundraiser for GROWLS

There are so many amazing groups and organizations on this Island that really create the community that we all love and want to be part of. One of the groups that I find amazing is GROWLS (Gabriola Rescue of Wildlife Society), take them and team them up with Feedlot Studios and Sylvie Milman and you have a powerhouse team on your hands. I've been watching them as they energetically gather artists and create a fundraiser called "Animal Magnetism", it's a salon style show to help them raise awareness for GROWLS. The show will run from June 11-30 at Feedlot Studios, 800 Valli place. GROWLS is a registered non-profit society whose mandate is the rescue of ill, injured or otherwise disabled wildlife and the preservation of natural wildlife habitat on Gabriola. British Columbia. Their main role is to rescue and transport injured or sick animals to a veterinarian or one of the wildlife recovery facilities on Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island. They also visit the schools and educate to the youth about the wildlife on Gabriola and ways that they can help, even the worms after a rainfall.

Come check out the art at the opening on Saturday June 11th from 1-5 @ Feedlot Studios.

Peter and the Wolf on Gabriola

We are so pleased to have Mara Brenner on Gabriola, she's a fantastic dance teacher and great Pilate's instructor. Currently she's lining up all the dancers (I think about 45 of them) for an upcoming performance of Peter and the Wolf.

She's been busy with the costumes, props, set and teaching them all the steps. We are lucky enough that she is willing to put on two performances this Saturday, May 21 at the Pheonix Auditorium at the Haven, one at 1pm and the other at 5pm.

All the kids are so proud to try on their outfits and are anticipating their moment to shine on stage. The performance is 40 minutes long, the perfect length for those with even the shortest attention span. Entrance is by donation to the PHC.

Sailing the seas around Gabriola Island

As someone that spent their time growing up on the Island, I've always had a strong connection to the ocean. Although, I've mainly enjoyed it from the shorelines, we would often use dinghy's, kayaks and boats to go "exploring". With a husband that is a fisherman, we then got into power boating and have done lots of fishing and prawning in the local waters.

My dad recently bought a 16 foot Nordica sailboat from a friend, which I thought would be great in the summer, the only problem is that I didn't have the slightest knowledge about "sailing". 4 girlfriends and myself decided we should find out more, so we hired a sailing instructor from Gabriola. We’re busy working our way through the reading material (Basic Cruising Skills) and set out for a day at sea this past Sunday. We left Degnen Bay at about 12 and sailed into the Nanaimo Harbour at about 4:30, under the direction of our patient instructor Oliver. Tonight it's a bit of theory work, then we have another 4 days of afloat sailing instruction.

The Gabriola Ambulance Society…

Being on the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department, and a member of the First Responder team for several years, I have had the opportunity to see the valuable services provided by the Gabriola Ambulance Society.

It’s comforting to know that when you are in a situation that causes you to place a “911” call that your membership covers benefits such as equipment loans, reimbursement for ambulance user fees & some home assistance, as it’s one less thing to think about.

The annual fee of $35.00 covers up to a family of five for a calendar year, and is available to all permanent resident of Gabriola Island & Mudge as well as season residents who are property owners of this area.

In addition to the three main benefits, the Society also provides a $2,000 scholarship annually to a School District 68 student entering into the medical field.. As well it helps support; local doctors, emergency services and hospitals by donating funds and equipment and provides a 50% subsidy for registration for first aid training offered by the Recreation Commission on Gabriola.

If you haven’t become a member, but are interested, the application form can be found online at: http://www.gabriolaambulancesociety.org/docs/AmbulanceSocietyMembershipForm.pdf . The membership fee must have been paid a minimum of two weeks prior to the use of any service for which a subsequent reimbursement is requested .

We are fortunate on the Island to have such an extremely valuable Society!

Easter on Gabriola Island

The Easter Bunny has already been around and made his deliveries on Gabriola, the kids have found all the packages of seeds he hid for them and we've just finished dying a batch of hard boiled eggs. Now we have just enough time to visit a friend for lunch before we go to the Commons for the free community Easter egg hunt that starts at 1. Hundreds of kids will come with baskets in hand and will carefully search the grounds for thousands of pieces of candies. The Easter Egg hunt is sponsored by the Gabriola Rod, Gun & Conservation Club.

Coast Realty's Spring Conference

Every year Coast Realty Group hosts a spring conference that is open for the Real Estate Representatives throughout our 12 offices. We enjoy the day, it usually starts with a market update from each location, and then some information from a mortgage broker and an update from our web site staff. It's a great time to connect with other sales representatives in our company and share information on technology and the market. This year our guest speaker was Stephen Jagger, an informative speaker and the writer of "sociable" a book about online marketing tools. Randi, Tina and I were pleased to be the number 2 team in our whole company (of 250 sales representatives) for 2010, and find ourselves surrounded with a great group of Real Estate Representatives from Ladysmith to Powell River. Of course, we wouldn't have made it to number two without the great network of friends, family and clients that we have. Thank You !

Spring into ART on Gabriola!

The Gabriola Arts Council is offering a fantastic opportunity to "try out" some art classes during the weekend of April 9 &10th, 2011. There are a variety of classes to choose from, if you want to make fairy wings, learn acrylics, ballroom dance, try out watercolors or acrylics, juggle, make masks or felt with your child. Check the local Sounder for a list of the events and times, then head on up to the Coffee Bar at Artworks to sign up. Many of the courses are offered either for free or at a nominal cost (I didn't see any over $15), and are taught by our local artists. Last year, I signed up for the two day course with Karen Aaker for the introduction to Mosaic, it got me hooked and shortly after I signed up for one of her courses. During the course that I did with her, I made this fish backdrop for my husband and let me tell you, I really learned how much work goes into mosaics and that they are worth every penny they cost.
It's a great way to spend the weekend, one of the keys to happiness is to learn something new, why not give it a go next weekend.