The Garden House Foundation Fund charity used book sale, held last weekend in Mill Bay, was a great success, raising more than $14,000. This was the 12th year of the annual event.
“More and more people are coming to the sale from the Victoria area,” said Jackie Barker, who organizes the sale with her husband, Jim. “We also had dealers arrive from Victoria, Nanaimo and even Vancouver, which was a pleasant surprise.”
Proceeds from the two-day sale will benefit families and animals in crisis. The money will go into a permanent fund (held by the Victoria Foundation) to help the community through annual grants.
For information on next year’s sale, call 250-743-4627 or go to gardenhousefoundation.wordpress.com.
Requiem Eucharist for All Souls’ Day
Mark All Souls’ Day with Requiem Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday.
All Souls’ Day in the Christian calendar calls people to come together to remember their deceased loved ones.
Christ Church Cathedral will mark the occasion with the playing of Requiem by Maurice Duruflé, along with seeing the names of their loved ones in a visual display.
Duruflé’s 1948 Requiem is considered the pinnacle of 20th-century French composition. Rooted deeply in Duruflé’s own spirituality and love of plainsong, this work sets texts from the Mass for the Dead.
“A requiem, which translates roughly as ‘remember’ or ‘memory,’ is a piece of music that honours the dead,” said Donald Hunt, director of music at Christ Church Cathedral.
“As human beings, for ages we’ve been compelled to ritualize our sorrows, and a cathedral filled with beautiful music is a fitting atmosphere to listen, contemplate and bring those feelings together as one.”
The piece will be offered liturgically by the Cathedral Choir (Donald Hunt, director) and organist Mark McDonald, assistant director of music at the cathedral.
People can submit names of the departed to be included in the display. Calligraphers and artists will write each name to create a collage.
Admission to the recital is free (a collection will be taken during the service). The event starts at 6 p.m. Saturday at the cathedral, 930 Burdett Ave.
To submit names for the collage, email [email protected], or drop by the cathedral before Tuesday, where you’ll find a form set up just inside the main sanctuary.
For more information, go to christchurchcathedral.bc.ca.
Valdy helps community kitchen fundraiser
Nobody complained when musical legend Valdy sang beyond his allotted time at a recent Jazz Vespers fundraising concert at St. Philip Anglican Church.
“The church was full and the evening went on for close to two hours. I had expected about one and a half hours, but Valdy kept singing,” said Barb Prescott, the church’s communications co-ordinator. “It was a fantastic night of music in support of the Shelbourne Community Kitchen.”
The church raised almost $17,000 with all the donations and a special donor’s matching donation.
Honour veterans at St. Luke’s on Nov. 10
A service of remembrance to honour veterans buried in St. Luke’s Cemetery will be held on Nov. 10.
The names of the veterans interred will be read out when the congregation gathers in the cemetery.
If you would like to add the name of a relative or friend who is a veteran whose name isn’t on the list, please contact St. Luke’s office at 250-477-6741 or email [email protected].
This service is also for the community, so everyone is welcome to attend and take part.
The service runs 10:30 to noon Sunday, Nov. 10, St. Luke’s Church (at the corner of Cedar Hill Cross Road and Cedar Hill Road). The service will start in the church before moving to the cemetery.
For more information, including a list of the names that will be read, go to stlukesvictoria.ca.
Duncan church seeks donations to aid homeless
Members of the Duncan United Church are asking for donations of tarps, tents and sleeping bags as part of their response to the needs of people living without housing.
They recently hosted a day of services that saw more than 100 people turn up to devour 50 quarts of chili. People who attended asked for tents and outdoor equipment, and all the church had to give were three tents and a dozen tarps.
“There are many people in need in our valley, and the tents, tarps and sleeping gear quickly disappeared on Wednesday. We’ve pretty much exhausted our own resources,” said Linda Evans, the church’s outreach co-ordinator.
“With no housing solutions on the horizon, we have to do something to help folk who are out there in the cold winter rains.”
Items most in demand include one-, two- or three-person tents with flies, six-by-eight or eight-by-10-foot tarps, and sleeping bags. Please drop off donations between 9 a.m. and noon weekdays or Sundays at 246 Ingram St., Duncan. You can also arrange for items to be picked up by calling 250-746-6043.
Gallery fills backpacks for hungry kids
There will be no candy at the Avenue Gallery at this year’s Oak Bay Village Trick or Treat event — but some children will still come away happy.
In lieu of handing out candy, the gallery will support Backpack Buddies, a charity fighting child hunger by delivering food to hungry children at five Victoria-area schools.
The charity provides backpacks filled with food to 153 local children in need on Friday afternoons. The backpacks are filled with easy-to-make meals and snacks for the kids to eat over the weekend.
“Hunger doesn’t take the weekend off, and children shouldn’t have to suffer,” said Heather Wheeler, owner of the art gallery.
For more information, or to donate, contact Heather Wheeler at [email protected] or Emily-anne King at Backpack Buddies at [email protected].
Volunteer society kicks off annual appeal
Saanich Volunteer Services Society is inviting the public for a morning coffee as the organization kicks off its President’s Appeal campaign at McRae House on Friday.
This will be an opportunity to meet the dedicated volunteer drivers and hear their stories.
Also present will be Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes and the society’s board president Peter Argast, as well as partners within the community.
The society provides services to help community residents live independently.
For more than 27 years, the society has supported Saanich residents through co-ordinated volunteer services and connection to community resources — a community of neighbours helping neighbours.
As with many small volunteer organizations, the society depends on the generosity of neighbours. Donations pay for the services they offer.
The meet-and-greet runs from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at McRae House, the society’s headquarters, 1445 Ocean View Rd. (Cedar Hill Golf Course).
For more information, go to saanichvolunteers.org.
Vintage jewelry sale to benefit refugees
The Lutheran Church of the Cross is holding a Vintage Jewelry Sale to raise funds for their Refugee Sponsorship Fund at its church hall on Saturday.
Choose from a selection of vintage jewelry, clothing, accessories, scarves and more.
Coffee, tea and cookies available by donation.
The church has been welcoming refugees with open arms for a number of years. Together with the church’s Social Justice Committee and Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, the congregation helps refugees build relationships and support networks in the community.
The fundraiser runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the church hall, 3787 Cedar Hill Rd. Parking is available in the lot off Cedar Hill Road. For more information, go to lutheranvictoria.ca/ outreach-ministries/refugee-sponsorship.
Student wins award for novel drive-thru idea
A Grade 12 student at St. Michaels University School has been named one of the winners of a provincewide contest for his idea of using traffic to raise money for homeless people in Victoria.
The student, Mark Finamore, was one of four B.C. winners of the Coast Capital Savings Power of Youth Contest, which invited youth to share stories of how they want to make a difference.
Finamore impressed the judges for his idea of turning a road used by parents to drop off their children at school into a coffee/baked goods drive-thru.
He reasoned that the hundreds of parents who use the one-way road presented a captive audience for his venture.
Last year, he held three drive-thru events throughout the year and was able to present the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homeless Coalition with a cheque for $1,100.
For his efforts, Coast Capital Savings presented him with a $2,500 cheque.
Waterfront park dedicated to former mayor Pollen
The City of Victoria honoured the memory of former mayor Peter Pollen with a park dedication ceremony and a sign to remember his vision that the harbour should be accessible for all residents.
Mayor Lisa Helps, members of council, representatives of First Nations, the Pollen family and invited guests gathered at the west end of Laurel Point on Saturday to unveil a Peter Pollen Waterfront Park sign.
Laurel Point Park was established by Pollen and council after a paint company closed and moved from the location in 1975.
The three-acre waterfront park will bear Pollen’s name and commemorate his desire for Victorians to be always able to enjoy the vistas and views of their harbour.
The area also has important cultural significance to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. The city has been working with representatives of the Songhees Nation to learn more about the land around the harbour.
In recognition, the Lekwungen name for the land will also be incorporated as part of the park signage.
The sign is located at the west end of Laurel Point (access from the Coast Hotel, walk along the David Foster Harbour Pathway).
Art gallery launches historic Yukon exhibit
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is hosting a open house to celebrate the opening of To Talk With Others, a look at a pivotal but often forgotten moment in Yukon and Canadian history.
The pieces responds to the minutes of a meeting held in August 1977 between prime minister Pierre Trudeau and five Yukon First Nations leaders regarding the Mackenzie Pipeline.
Held in the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in archives, this document illustrates the ongoing dichotomy of two opposing cultures and ways of understanding economic, social and cultural development with the land and its inhabitants.
Through a diverse range of media, including sculpture, carving, painting and video, Yukon artists activate this archival document and continue the conversation surrounding self-determination in the face of federal and corporate agendas.
Also included in the exhibit are beaded portraits of the meeting attendees, created by traditional Yukon beaders.
The project is organized by the Yukon Arts Centre and co-ordinated by Mary Bradshaw and Valerie Salez. The exhibition runs through Feb. 23, 2020.
Admission is by donation. The open house runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Ker and Centennial Galleries at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1040 Moss St. For more information, go to aggv.ca.
