Pearkes Arena, one of six participating community centres across Western Canada, will transform itself into an exhibition for young people, 12 to 18, this Saturday.
The festival, TeenFest Canada, is an expo for youth. It gives them a chance to see what their peers are doing, talk with each other and sample opportunities for enrichment available to them.
This year, TeenFests will occur in Calgary, Edmonton, Kamloops, Prince George, Surrey and Saanich.
At Pearkes, the expo will include a teen talent show, a bungee run, a climbing wall and more than 60 booths offering information for young people and accompanying workshops.
The booths will be staffed by representatives of companies and organizations in areas of interest to teens: life and education, cool stuff (like technology), fashion, health and wellness.
While TeenFest is aimed mostly at young people, parents and families will be allowed to tag along.
TeenFest is on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Pearkes Arena, 3100 Tillicum Rd.
Join the grandmothers and beat a drum
Bring your voices and your hands to Drum Up Your Inner Rhythm and Voice, a fun event by Victoria grandmothers to help their African counterparts.
The event is organized by Victoria Grandmothers for Africa, with about 100 members, all of them moved to offer support to grandmothers in Africa. Grandmothers carry the load of caring for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has gutted so many countries there.
Jocelyn Green, 68 and a grandmother of three, ages seven, five and one, has visited Africa: Ethiopia, Malawi and South Africa. Green said she also visited one orphanage with more than 500 kids, ranging from newborns up to 16-year-olds.
“At the time, I just felt those children would be so much better taken care of by grandparents in their own communities,” she said.
Like the 250 other Grandmothers for Africa groups across Canada, the drumming fundraiser will raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers’ Campaign.
Drum Up Your Inner Rhythm and Voice is on Sunday. Nov. 6, 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University of Victoria’s Phillip T. Young Hall, B Wing, MacLaurin Building. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for 13-to-18-year-olds, $10 for kids six to 12, and children five and under are free.
Also free, for everyone regardless of age, is the loan of a drum. Everyone gets a drum.
Read Local celebrates local authors
Saloons and hotel bars in Victoria made their marks on the urban landscape in ways still sitting in plain sight, says a local historical author.
Yates Street, for example, was named after James Yates, a carpenter who built the first saloon in Victoria, called the Ship Inn. An English suffragette, Patricia Packhurst, was refused a drink in a Douglas Street saloon, went to court and won the right to drink before the right to vote.
“It’s part of social history that is mostly ignored,” said Glen A. Mofford, author of Aqua Vitae, A History of the Saloons and Hotel Bars of Victoria 1851-1917, who will be reading and talking at Bolen Books on Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.
The evening with Mofford will also include Martha Black, author of Treasures of the Royal B.C. Museum, and Nick Russell, author of Victoria Underfoot.
The evening is part of a two-week campaign called Read Local, launched by the Association of Book Publishers of B.C. to celebrate the book writers in the province.
Other events in Victoria include a children’s story-telling afternoon on Sunday, Nov. 6, 1 p.m. at Russell Books. Also at Russell Books will be Secrets and Stories from B.C., Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.
To learn more about Read Local events and B.C. writers, go online to books.bc.ca/read-local-bc.
Oak Bay and Sidney welcome trick-or-treaters
Two small communities are turning down the lights and getting spookily fun for tricksters and treaters on Halloween night.
Oak Bay and Sidney are both outfitting their commercial strips with special treat stations and inviting kids and dressed-up pets to come out.
Oak Bay Avenue will close from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. from Monterey Avenue to Wilmot Place, turning the village into a safer place for strolling Halloweeners. Hula hoopers, stilt walkers and musicians will make for lively fun, and businesses will proclaim their participation with a pumpkin sticker.
At 6 p.m. in Fireman’s Park, Oak Bay firefighters will attend the ceremonial lighting of the annual Halloween bonfire. Little ones can even get behind the firehose to help control the blaze.
Over in Sidney, for the second year in a row, Beacon and Bevan avenues will be equipped with candy stations, and more than 25 town businesses will be participating.
Halloween Howl will include a doggy dress-up contest to be held in front of the Sidney Pier Hotel. Meanwhile, the Mary Winspear Centre and the Panorama Recreation Centre will feature fun, including games, face-painting and an inflatable obstacle course.
To find out more about Oak Bay Halloween, go online to oakbay.ca and click on Trick or Treat on the Avenue. For Sidney information go to distinctlysidney.ca/event/second-annual-treat-street/.
Moustache-growers can earn a free portrait
Movember moustaches will soon be among us, and Victoria photographer Jack Adamson is offering a free portrait shoot for any ’stache man who donates at least $75.
Adamson, of Jack Flash Photography, said he has always enjoyed working with nonprofit groups, and Movember seemed worthwhile even though he has no experience with cancer.
“I’m kind of hoping this will make for some good karma and keep it that way,” he said.
The 46-year-old photographer moved to Victoria with his wife last spring after working in advertising in Toronto and Calgary.
Each Jack Flash photo shoot holds a $275 value, and by donating through mobro.co/jackflashcares, all of the money will go to the Movember Foundation.
The Movember Foundation is committed to addressing some of the health issues that face men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide.
For more information go online to ca.movemember.com.
Salmon will benefit from new grants
Musical tours, education sessions, habitat acquisition and spawning-stream restoration are all projects announced by the Pacific Salmon Foundation on Thursday.
The independent, non-government Pacific Salmon Foundation, announced $55,000 in funding for nine salmonid-enhancement programs in its Community Salmon Project:
• Rock the Salish Sea musical tour;
• école Campus View, Stream of Dream education;
• Friends of Mount Douglas Park, creek restoration;
• Goldstream Salmonid Enhancement, salmonids in the classroom;
• Habitat Acquisition Trust, Ayum Watershed Good Neighbours;
• Swan Creek restoration;
• Streamkeepers training;
• Tod Creek coho;
• Colquitz River salmon habitat.
Most of the money for the Community Salmon Project comes through the sale of the federal salmon-conservation stamp, a $6 decal anglers are required to purchase if they want to catch and keep Pacific salmon. All money raised by the sale of the stamp is returned to B.C.
Donate socks at weekend rugby game
The James Bay Athletic Association and the University of Victoria are inviting everyone to enjoy some rugby this Saturday and warm up some cold feet with warm socks.
The University of Victoria Norsemen will play the James Bay second team. The game will be followed by a game between the two premier rugby teams.
But spectators, along with the $8 admission, are asked to bring a pair of socks, new or gently used, to donate to those in need through Our Place. Any other piece of warm clothing in good shape will also be appreciated.
Simple As Socks is on Saturday, Nov. 5, beginning at 1 p.m. at Macdonald Park, 205 Simcoe St.
Campaign seeks warm blankets
Blanket the Country in Warmth is one week old, but Canadian home-decor store Urban Barn will keep it hot until Nov. 20.
For every $5 in-store donation, Victoria’s Urban Barn will deliver a new fleece blanket to Rock Bay Landing shelter.
It’s part of a national campaign by the company, with 50 stores across Canada, to donate $15,000 worth of blankets to people who could use a little warmth this winter.
Victoria’s Urban Barn can be found at Uptown. To leave a message of warmth go to BlankettheCountry.com.
