January 2014 - Revelstoke Community Social Development

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All together now:
Revelstoke as a diverse and
welcoming mountain community
January 2014
Resources, events and information about immigrant settlement and diversity appreciation in Revelstoke
Photo above: Jim Smith paints calligraphy with Susy Huang at 2013
Carousel of Nations. Courtesy of Revelstoke Current, David Rooney
Inside
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Book review: Elegy for Iris – Kendra Runnalls, ORL community
librarian
Foods of the world celebrated in community multicultural potluck
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The Carousel of Nations kicks off Spirit Fest on February 1
Carousel of Nations seeks travel artifacts – Lisa Moore
Settlement news: Czechs no longer need visa
Parent and grandparent sponsorships to re-open in New Year
Where are the people – Michelle Cole
Des nouvelles de la francophonie à Revelstoke – Caroline Grenier
La piste de ski de fond pour chien est appréciée! - Julie Laverdière
New, merged settlement & diversity newsletter
January 1st
New Year’s Day
January 6th
Epiphany (Christian)
January 7th
Orthodox Christmas
January 14th Orthodox New Year
January 14th Prophet Muhammed’s
birthday (Muslim)
January 15th Tu B’Shevat (Tu Bishvat)
(Jewish)
January 25th Robbie Burns Day
(Scottish)
January 31st
Chinese New Year
For a full list of Canadian holidays and celebrations see:
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/2014
The Settlement Assistance and Embrace BC programs, based
at Okanagan College, have merged our newsletters. Now,
readers can find news and information about support for new
immigrants and efforts to celebrate diversity and challenge
prejudice and discrimination in Revelstoke all in one place. We
also include articles in French because we value the growing
francophone population in Revelstoke.
We are always looking for news, stories and events. Tell us
what you and your group are doing to welcome and support
new immigrants or to make Revelstoke a welcoming place for
all. Articles should be two to three paragraphs.
Editorial contacts:
Jill Pratt, Settlement Services
(immigrant assistance):
[email protected]
250-837-4235 x 6502
Laura Stovel, Embrace BC (Diversity
program):
[email protected]
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Elegy for Iris
by John Bayley
reviewed by
Kendra Rendall
Community librarian
Okanagan Regional Library
Elegy for Iris describes the life, love and ultimate
struggle with Alzheimer’s disease of the renowned
Irish-born British writer. The book is written from the
very personal perspective of Murdoch’s loving husband
of 42 years: the eminent literary critic, John Bayley. No
matter whether you have read Iris Murdoch’s
celebrated novels or philosophical works, you will
enjoy this absorbing biography.
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, Iris and John's
lives were immersed, separately and then as a couple,
in the academic society of Oxford, England where they
taught university. Without children, pets or any of the
usual domestic comforts, they lived entirely for their
academic work, with only each other and a few literary
friends for support. In Elegy for Iris, John Bayley gives
the reader a rare glimpse of the person that Iris
Murdoch was beneath her writing persona. At the end
of this beautifully written short book, I felt there was
much more Mr. Bayley could have revealed about his
fascinating wife, who died in February 1999, just
before the biography was published.
The book is divided into a mere two chapters:
"Then" and "Now". "Then" lasts more than 200 pages;
"Now" is only 54 pages. The reader is left feeling
slightly abandoned, although for the best of reasons.
John Bayley cared for Iris on his own, in their house,
while in his early 70s. He had just turned 70 when Iris
was diagnosed in 1995 at the age of 76. She had shown
small signs of the disease over the previous year and
deteriorated rapidly from 1995 until Christmas 1997.
Bayley ends with a touching description of this last
Christmas before he realized he could not care for Iris
alone. He was finally convinced to place her in a care
facility in 1998 – a year before her death.
Bayley's love and admiration for Iris are apparent
in every sentence of this work. By turns a diary,
biography, and work of literary criticism, Elegy for Iris
will appeal to readers who enjoy any of these genres.
And if you have admired Iris Murdoch’s novels, as I
have, this biography will be impossible to put down
and will leave you wishing that John Bayley would
write another volume.
For more about Iris’s life we will have to
content ourselves with the critically praised
biography written by the couple’s closest
friend, Peter Conradi; the reviews of
Conradi’s Iris Murdoch: a life promise to
provide us with the richly detailed but also
objective description of Iris’s life from the
point of view of someone who, by all
accounts, was the second most intimately
beloved person in Iris’s life, and I cannot
wait to read it!
Foods of the world celebrated in community
multicultural potluck
More than 35 people from diverse ethnic
backgrounds shared their ethnic foods at a
multicultural Christmas potluck at the United
Church hall on December 8th. New immigrants,
other newcomers and old-time Revelstokians
contributed a wide array of world foods,
including kimchi, a Korean dish made with
fermented vegetables, Scottish shortbread and
an Ecuadorian plantain and meat dish. Holiday
tunes and festive decorations set the mood.
The event was organized by Revelstoke
Settlement Services and the ESLSAP program
at Okanagan College, the Revelstoke
Multicultural Society and the Revelstoke
Museum and Archives.
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Carousel of Nations 2014, February 1
Yuko Fujimura demonstrates origami, 2012 Carousel of Nations. Photo: David Rooney, Revelstoke Current
The Carousel of Nations kicks off Spirit
Fest on February 1st
Revelstoke’s annual multicultural
festival , the Carousel of Nations, will kick
off Spirit Fest, which runs from February 1st
to 9th this year. The main family event
takes place at the Revelstoke Community
Centre from 4-7 pm with other
entertainment extending into the evening.
The event features food samples from
all over the world, this year including
Jamaica, China, Korea, Italy, Aboriginal and
French Canadian, and Eastern Europe,
among others. There will also be exhibits
from the Revelstoke Museum and Archives
and a special exhibit of cultural and travel
artifacts.
The Revelstoke Childcare Society
provides cultural activities for children
throughout the event.
Those interested in volunteering for
the event should contact Jill Pratt at
[email protected]
Carousel of
Nations seeks
travel artifacts
by Lisa Moore
Do you have an interesting item from
your travels or culture that you would like
to display? The Carousel of Nations
organizers are planning a special exhibit as
part of our intercultural event. You could
share items brought back from travels,
homemade cultural items, or family
heirlooms. We will have a
separate, locked room, with someone in
attendance to make sure everything
is safe. We would also like to know a little
about the item - if there is a story, that
would be fabulous! Or possibly a note
about where it is from or how it got to
Revelstoke.
Organizer Lisa Moore is happy to speak
with people to write down their stories, or
to gather their notes. Please contact her at
[email protected].
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Settlement news
New Settlement Services
drop-in hours for 2014:
Monday, Wednesday &
Thursday
10am to 2pm
Articles presented here are taken from
Canadianimmigrant.ca
Czechs no longer need visa
Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration
Minister Chris Alexander announced in
November that, effective immediately,
Czech nationals no longer require a
temporary resident visa to visit Canada.
Czech nationals can now stay in Canada
for up to six months visa-free, which is
consistent with all other visa-exempt
nationals.
For more information see:
http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-andviews/czechs-no-longer-need-visitor-visa
Revelstoke Settlement Services
Okanagan College
1401 West 1st Street
250-837-4235 ext 6502
[email protected]
Parent and grandparent sponsorships to
re-open in New Year
Federal Immigration Minister Chris
Alexander announced on December 19th that
the parent and grandparent (PGP) category of
family reunification will reopen as of Jan. 2,
2014.
Application forms, guides and information
on how to apply to the new PGP program will
be made available online on Dec. 31, 2013.
The program was paused in 2011, after
the backlog of applications was getting out of
control. Instead, the immigration department
focused on processing the applications
already in the system and introduced the
Parent and Grandparent Super Visa for longterm visits. The new program will re-open
with tighter admission criteria and a cap on
applications, which Alexander says will
continue to reduce the backlog.
“The Super Visa will remain an option for
parents and grandparents who want to spend
longer periods of time with their families in
Canada without becoming permanent
residents. To date, approximately 28,000
Super Visas have been issued with an
approval rate of almost 85%.
For more information see:
http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-andviews/parent-and-grandparent-sponsorshipsto-re-open-in-new-year
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Where are the people?
by Michelle Cole
Nipissing, Wendat and Haudenosaunee
Where are the people? Identifying our
Aboriginal community members in Revelstoke is as
hard as finding those who are two spirited (third
gender; LGBT). Our 111 students of Aboriginal
ancestry in School District 19 confirm that we are
here. If you count grandmas, grandpas, moms,
dads, aunties, uncles, and older and younger
brothers and sisters, we are close to 500 people in
Revelstoke, maybe more. Who’s your granny?
Today, we are actively sharing our culture and
the stories of those who have gone before us. New
Year’s Day 2013 a small gathering spoke to the
spirit of the land, the river and the people in
Revelstoke’s Idle No More Gathering. Since then:
 We have participated in the Carousel of Nations.
 Elders have spoken in the dark of winter at the
Monashee Mandala and the bright sun of Canada
Day.
 This summer at the Revelstoke Museum and
Archives, archaeologists presented findings of
Aboriginal habitation south of Revelstoke that
dates back thousands of years. Their findings
support the history so well told in The geography
of memory: Recovering stories of a landscape’s
First People by Eileen Delehanty Pearkes.
 This fall, John Ralston Saul, author of A fair
country: Telling truths about Canada, spoke of
our country’s need to acknowledge aboriginal
perspectives and philosophies.
 Mountain harvest: Revelstoke’s senior gardeners
share their secrets, a newly published book,
included an interview of Sinixt Elder Marilyn
James.
http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-andAboriginal educator, Jannica Hoskins, shared
aboriginal knowledge with school children at the
top of Mount Revelstoke. Courtesy of David
Rooney, Revelstoke Current, 2010.
2014 holds more. The Revelstoke
Museum and Archives is preparing a
new Aboriginal exhibit highlighting
its recent research. As the days
begin their longer reach we move
towards Aboriginal Day and
dreaming all that is possible for our
community. I would especially like
to thank Embrace BC for bringing
Kathy Camilleri and her workshop
“The Village,” exploring the impact
of residential schools, to
Revelstoke’s service providers and
educators. In closing, I offer up the
words of Joseph Boyden from The
Orenda which speaks to me of my
ancestry, “The past and the future
are present.”
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En français á Revelstoke
Des nouvelles de la francophonie à
Revelstoke
Caroline Grenier
L’école des Glaciers a bien débuté l’année
scolaire 2013-2014 en ajoutant une
deuxième classe à son actif et en souhaitant
la bienvenue à la nouvelle enseignante
Madame Joëlle. L’école compte maintenant
21 élèves de la maternelle à la 3e année.
En novembre, nous avons présenté
l’évènement A French Movie à Revelstoke en
présentant le film « La Grande Séduction »
au Okanagan College.
En décembre, parents, élèves, personnels de
l’école des Glaciers et la communauté
francophone et francophile de Revelstoke
ont participé à un souper « pot luck » de
Noël rassemblant plus de 110 convives. Ce
fut un grand succès et près d’une
quarantaine d’enfants présents ont pu
rencontrer le Père Noël! Madame Joëlle et
Monsieur Philippe en ont profité pour nous
jouer un p’tit air d‘accordéon et violon!
Les parents des élèves, sous la supervision
du chef Dominic Paquin, ont organisé une
levée de fond en confectionnant plus de 150
tourtières. Elles étaient succulentes! Puis,
les élèves ont terminé l’école avant les
vacances de Noël en faisant et décorant des
biscuits de Noël, en participant à un petit
déjeuner en pyjama, et en participant au
concert de Noël de l’école Arrow Heights.
D’autres évènements suivront en 2014… Le
Carrousel des Nations, La Cabane à Sucre…
gardez l’œil ouvert! Bonne Année 2014!
La piste de ski de fond pour chien
est appréciée!
Julie Laverdière
Depuis quelques année, nous avons
l’avantage ici à Revelstoke d’avoir
officiellement une boucle que nous pouvons
skier avec notre chien. En autant que les
propriétaires soient responsables, la piste
est très agréable et sociable.
Je fais aussi du ski touring quelques fois par
année, mais je n’enmène pas mon chien, car
il deviendrait une vraie boule de neige. Le ski
de fond avec mon chien me permait d’aller
à la même vitesse que lui et c`est vraiment
spécial. De plus mes deux filles aiment
beaucoup mieux aller en ski, quand nous
amenons Milou. J’espère continuer ce sport
avec mon chien pour très longtemps.