Mercury Players reprise Mending Fences to get to provincial festival
The Mercury Players are reprising their production of Norm Foster’s Mending Fences this week at the Mercury Theatre in Duncan, with the goal of making it to TheatreBC’s provincial festival.
The cast will be the same as during last November’s successful run of the comedy-drama which impressed the Citizen’s reviewer, who described the acting as “masterful”.
The show will be publicly adjudicated on Friday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m., which will decide if they will head to the provincial festival in Vernon in July.
Then on Saturday, May 27 at 10 a.m. there will be a Coffee Critique that Mercury Players President Marinus Vesseur says will be of particular interest to theatre lovers. It is at the Mercury Theatre in Duncan.
It will take the form of a three-hour discussion and workshop-like session with Keith Digby, the adjudicator. The critique is free for members and ticket holders. Membership is $15.
There will also be a performance of the show on Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets for the shows are $15 for seniors and students and $20 for general admission. They are available at Ten Old Books and First Chiropractic Clinic in Duncan and online at mendingfence2.eventbrite.ca/
Count the critters, clean the beach this Saturday at Cowichan Bay
On the Saturday in May with the lowest tide, volunteers clean the beaches of Cowichan Bay while families learn about the creatures in the water and the mud.
This is Low Tide Day, which will be held this Saturday, May 27, beginning at 10 a.m. at Kil-pah-las Beach.
Everyone is welcome at this free event which combines science education, food, music, and environmental stewardship. Low Tide Day is an opportunity to have fun while learning about, celebrating, and caring for the shore and the intertidal world.
The action begins at 10:30 a.m. with a beach cleanup and family science activities at Kil-pah-las Beach, just east of Cowichan Bay Village. Volunteer biologists will use a seine net to collect creatures from the near offshore environment, then other volunteer biologists will lead Dr. Bill Austin’s “critter count”, a quadrant survey of the animals in the mud.
After the cleanup and the citizen science, everyone gathers at 12:30 p.m. for music provided by Dennis Atkins and food provided by the Cowichan Bay community.
International Low Tide Day began in 1995 with an “Eco Fayre” in Brighton, England, celebrating “One tide on one day around the world.” In 1999 Cowichan Bay became the first Canadian community to join and the event has been held every May since then, sponsored by the Cowichan Land Trust, the Cowichan Valley Naturalists, the Cowichan Bay Improvement Association, Cowichan Tribes, and the Cowichan Valley Regional District, with support from many other local groups and businesses. The motto of the event is “One tide, on one day, around the world, because we all live downstream.”
For more information, visit www.cowichanestuary.ca, email lowtide@cowichanestuary.ca, or call John at 250-746-6141 or Jeff at 250-252-1400.
See what Crofton Seniors Society has to offer at open house
The Crofton Seniors Society is holding an Open House on Saturday, May 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their Centre located at the foot of Joan Avenue in Crofton, beneath the Old School Museum.
Everyone is invited to come and check out the programs and activities ongoing at the Centre, including carpet bowling, Tai Chi, fun and games afternoons, the arts group, the Crofton Quilters, bonsai art and more.
Come and try a game of pool and see a Tai Chi demonstration. There will be information tables and members to answer any questions you have.
“We even have a ‘Seniors in Training’ category for those under 55 who would like to join in on our activities” said Carol Donnelly of the Crofton Seniors Society.
There will also be free finger food refreshments.
Participants hit the track in Duncan for Scotiabank MS Walk
The Duncan Scotiabank MS Walk is taking place at the Cowichan Sportsplex in Duncan on Sunday, May 28.
The Scotiabank MS Walk is a family-oriented, community supported event that raises funds in support of the fight to end MS. Participants can choose from varying route lengths, including a wheelchair accessible route for those who need it.
The event begins at 9:30 a.m. for check-in, with the walk starting at 11 a.m.
Funds from the MS Walk support research into the cause, treatment and cure of MS as well as services, programs and advocacy for Canadians affected by the disease.
For more information, see mswalks.ca
Kim Greenwood headlines jazz in Crofton on Sunday
Victoria vocalist Kim Greenwood promises “an eclectic mix of jazz, American songbook and old pop with a little bit of R&B and funk mixed in” when she brings her quintet to Pat’s House of Jazz in Crofton on Sunday, May 28.
“We’ve had some fun putting these sets together,” she said.
Greenwood will be backed by guitarist Jim Burns, bassist Bill Kent, drummer Barry Casson and multi-instrumentalist Doug Farr, who plays vibes, piano and Latin percussion.
The band, Kim Greenwood and Company, was formed just last year and is gradually finding an audience on the south Island.
Greenwood has also been the lead singer in Victoria’s 17-piece The Commodores big band for the past five years.
She is head of the voice department at the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria and has taught privately since 2000.
The Jazz at Crofton series runs every Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Crofton Hotel Pub, 1534 Joan Ave. in Crofton, a stone’s throw from the Salt Spring Island ferry terminal.
Musicians are invited to join in a jam session in the final hour of the afternoon.
Admission is $15. For information, phone 250-324-2245 or visit http://croftonhotel/ca.
Consort Orchestra, Choir get ready for May concert
Small ensembles from the Consort Orchestra is rehearsing Vivaldi’s music for the Monday Night Chamber Music Evening at Sylvan United Church on May 29.
Beginning at 7:30 p.m. different trios, quartets, octets, etc. will perform a variety of styles including six Nocturnes written by Mozart featuring 18 members from the Consort Choir, with soloists Valorie Masuda, Judit Kabath, and Robert Weston.
Another feature is the Brahms trio of horn, piano and violin with Kate Rhodes, Margaret St Cyr, and Ron Kilian performing.
The group promises a lovely way to spend a May evening with music by Shostakovitch, Mozart, Haydn, Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Vivaldi, and Brahms.
Admission is $10 at the door for all.
Chemainus Residents Association holds AGM
Priority setting for Chemainus Residents Association and a visit with newly-re-elected Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley and North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure will provide the focus of the organization’s May 29 Annual General Meeting.
The meeting will take place at the Chemainus Seniors Drop-In Centre from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
CRA members will have the opportunity to identify what they would like CRA to work on during the coming year and then vote on priorities. The second feature of the meeting will be Lefebure and Routley commenting on and reacting to the priority list.
Also on the AGM agenda will be annual reports from the chair and the treasurer and election of the board. Nominations from the floor will be welcome.
Free cancer workshop coming to Duncan
InspireHealth is hosting a free one-day cancer care workshop in Duncan on Tuesday, May 30.
InspireHealth is a non-profit, supportive cancer care centre with locations in Victoria, Vancouver, and Kelowna. Services include lifestyle support (exercise, nutrition, stress reduction, self-care and immune support) for those with a current or past diagnosis of cancer as well as their support networks.
They are a Ministry of Health approved program.
As part of an initiative to extend their reach across B.C., they are hosting the Duncan event from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Canadian Cancer Society offices (100–394 Duncan St., Duncan).
The program will be led by physician Dr. Lori McFarlane and will provide tools and information to empower each individual to take charge of their health and optimize overall health and well-being. Participants learn about current scientific research and the many benefits of a whole-person approach to cancer care. The program is open to anyone with a current or previous cancer diagnosis, their support persons and local healthcare providers at no cost.
For more information call 250-595-7125.