Market Fun and the Jog for the Bog

On July 28^th, Isabelle and I loaded up the car and travelled up-island to attend the Errington Farmer’s Market. Because we attend so many of them, we have come to see ourselves as market aficionados, and we can safely say that of all the markets we have attended this summer, the Errington Market definitely wins the ribbon for best venue. With vendors’ booths situated along forest winding paths, a beautifully crafted stage featuring great local talent, and a concession shack wafting the smell of freshly-baked cinnamon buns throughout the crowd, it is definitely the place to be on a mid-island Saturday.

We don't travel light!

Unsurprisingly, given the current media buzz surrounding the pipeline controversy, oil tankers and the Trans-Mountain and Enbridge pipelines were on everyone’s minds. We had a number of stimulating conversations on the subject with well informed locals, met some interested tourists, and collected lots of signatures for our oil tanker petition as well.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Hain, the artist behind Crazy Duck Pottery and the beautiful hand-crafted Garden Lantern featured in our summer raffle! His creations are gorgeous. Isabelle and I were very impressed with a number of the kids who came to visit our resident octopus and mermaid; I think there may be some budding marine biologists among them! A big thanks to Suzanne for welcoming us to the market. It was good fun, and I can personally attest to the tastiness of the cinnamon buns!

After the market, Isabelle and I took a quick, two block detour to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre. The centre’s staff and volunteers work hard to care for and rehabilitate ill or injured wildlife from around Vancouver Island. It was interesting to tour the Centre’s grounds and say hello to their many resident unreleasable wildlife rescues. The bald eagles, owls and black bear were especially memorable, and we enjoyed supporting another of the Island’s hard working conservation groups!

On Sunday, we woke up to 4am alarms (Ungh.) and caught the first ferry to Tsawwassen on our way to Delta for International Bog Day. The event, hosted by the Burns Bog Conservation Society featured a 5 and 10km “Jog for the Bog”, a pancake breakfast, kids’ activities, music and more! The race attracted people from all age groups and fitness levels, and many who came for the run, stayed for the fun. Thanks to the Burns Bog Conservation Society for organizing the event and for all the work they do to protect “the lungs of the lower mainland”. Here’s hoping for an even bigger and better event next year! Also, a big thank you to everyone who supported GSA by buying raffle tickets this weekend!

Though Sunday’s event was fun, the highlight of my day occurred as we were nearing the Duke Point Ferry Terminal, when some of the Strait’s resident orcas decided to put on a show! It was a lovely way to end the weekend, and an affirmation of what we’re working for!

Until next time,

                          -Deanna

From bathtubs to super tankers: A busy weekend of street fairs in the Mid-Island

Nanaimo Bathtub Days Street Fair
Photo credit: Deanna McGillivray

As we were booking our summer outreach events in June, Deanna and I realized that we would have to start practicing teleportation if we wanted to attend all of the action taking place around the Strait on July 21st. As GSA’s main quarters are located in Nanaimo, we registered early on to be part of the Bathtub Days Street Fair. The bathtub competition, where locals race their motorized tubs from Nanaimo harbour to Departure Bay, is a real tradition in Nanaimo with the first event dating back in the 1960s. For somebody from Southern Quebec, where summer festivals mostly revolve around agriculture and music, this event is quite exotic to say the least. Preceding the bathtub race which took place on Sunday morning, the weekend was filled with community entertainment. Deanna was part of the lively market on Commercial Street Friday and Saturday where she promoted GSA’s programs while listening to tunes played by local artists just a few steps from our office door. Deanna had many discussions on species at risk, more particularly on the status of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. With the sun beaming, tourists and locals alike are out and about on the Strait to get a closer look at the whales and other sea creatures.

Another high profile island event that was not to be missed was the Courtenay Market Day held on Saturday July 21st. With over 100 vendors occupying 5th Street, the venue was swarmed with people from as early as 9AM to close to 7PM. It was one of the busiest summer events I have attended thus far. With mounting pressure on political parties to take position on the proposed twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline, Kinder Morgan’s project is increasingly in the spotlight. As weeks pass, Deanna and I have noticed that event goers are more and more aware of the issue, and drawn to our table to voice their opposition and fears surrounding the oil tanker increase in the Strait. On Saturday, more than one hundred people who attended the Market Day in downtown Courtenay signed the petition. I had laid down CPAWS’s map of the proposed national marine conservation area in Southern Strait of Georgia next to the petition and Oil Tanker FAQs to emphasize what is at stake.

Thank you to Robyn from DNBIA for organising the lively Bathtub Street Fair and to Kim Stubblefield for putting together an amazing Courtenay Market Day. We also want to thank the vendors and event goers who supported GSA’s work by buying raffle tickets.

This weekend Deanna and I will be at the Errington Farmers Market on Saturday July 28 and back in the lower mainland for International Bog Day on Sunday July 29. For more information on those venues and on the other events we will be attending in August, check out the events page of our website.

À plus!

              -Isabelle

More paddling action in the Lower Mainland and good local food on the Island

Paddling action on the beach near Jericho Sailing Centre
Photo credit: Deanna McGillivray

After a couple of days spent in the office in Nanaimo, Deanna and I were eager to get out for more outreach action. I think that the more you get involved in discussing environmental issues with the public, the more passionate you get about the causes. On Saturday July 7 we thus navigated across the Strait to attend the Vancouver venue of MEC Paddlefest.  The weather was perfect and the venue’s location was great! Our booth was placed along the path to Jericho Beach in the midst of other environmental non-profits fighting for great causes, such as Fraser Riverkeeper, CPAWS and Shark Truth.  Even though most of the paddling action was taking place on the beach, a lot of the passersby and paddlers, curious to know what the colorful tents were about, stopped by our booth. They took the time to share their concerns about oil tankers in the Strait and open-net salmon farming and to learn more about how they can get involved in our Community Atlas project. Once again we would like to thank Adam Hoogeveen for organizing another great MEC event.

The next day Deanna and I eagerly headed for yet another of the island’s fine markets, the new South Cowichan farmers market. Sunday’s venue was very special as it was the grand opening of the Market. Located right next to the highway after Whippletree Junction, and offering ample parking space for cars and bicycles alike, the venue was well chosen, possibly by someone with a strong marketing brain. The weather was excellent (it was one of those burning hot days that makes any excuse to get out of your hot motorized box a good one!) and the turn out was great. Market goers considered us as one of the vendors and most of them made a point to stop by our booth and find out what we were about. Deanna and I had some lively discussions with well informed South Cowichan residents and sampled some excellent baked goods and local produce.  A big thank you to the market manager Keith Lefevre for welcoming us to the market and for working hard to build local food systems. Good luck with your market, we wish you every success!

All in all it was a superbe weekend full of sun and engaging discussions. Thank you to all of the outreach staff, market vendors and people who attended our weekend events for supporting our summer raffle. We will be back in Vancouver this weekend for the Folk Festival in Jericho Park. Come listen to some good tunes and participate in our free draw!

À la prochaine!

                           - Isabelle

A trek to MEC Bikefest and a tasting of Vancouver Island’s Farmers Markets

 

BMX performer Travis Collier at MEC Bikefest
Photo credit: Isabelle Gendron-Lemieux

Deanna and I departed for Vancouver last Friday night to attend MEC Bikefest. Feeling ambitious and in the spirit of alternative transportation, we decided to go car-less. We thus embarked on the ferry rolling our tent and our display material on a trolley. After braving the pouring rain and some technical difficulties (obviously!), we finally made it to our final destination. The next morning when we arrived in Athlete’s Plaza and the sun was shining on the exhibitors setting up for Bikefest, we looked at each other and smiled. The ring layout of the event was great and stimulated an engaging atmosphere-- it also meant that we got to watch the bicycle demonstrations from our booth! A lot of bike enthusiasts, interested in knowing what a marine conservation organization was doing at a celebration of land-based activities, gathered around our booth to learn more about our new online communities atlas. We also had great discussions about oil tankers in the Strait and alternative energy sources, salmon aquaculture and wild salmon conservation issues, and sustainability in general. Thank you to Adam Hoogeveen from MEC Vancouver for organizing this "superbe" event!

Our new raffle whale tail poster!

After a good night’s rest, we packed the car and headed to the Cedar Farmers Market on Yellow Point Road in Nanaimo. Following a great experience at the Bowen Road Farmers Market earlier in the week, we were ready to discover another of Vancouver Island’s fine markets. With approximately 50 vendors, the market had a wealth of delicious local food and exciting artisan wares. In the midst of this celebration of local goods, our booth attracted market-goers interested in learning more about us, as well as current GSA members looking for the latest news about environmental issues in the Strait. The sunshine and the great music made for a very festive Farmers Market. Thank you George for welcoming us to the market! We hope to be back later this summer! 

Thank you to everybody who bought raffle tickets this weekend! Our new raffle whale tail poster proved successful! 

Au revoir et à la prochaine!

                                            - Isabelle

Breezy BC Shellfish Fest, and a care-free Car-Free Day




Isabelle and Deanna enjoying the novelty of lying
 in the street at Car-Free.

 

Isabelle and I attended BC ‘s largest Shellfish Fest in the lovely town of Comox last Saturday. My, but it was a blustery day! We got a workout chasing after brochures and foiling our crafty tent’s repeated escape attempts. However, the wind rather added to the seaside ambiance of the festival, and in no way hampered the enthusiasm of attending shellfish lovers. We enjoyed the delicious smells wafting from the food vendors’ booths and from the cups of contest-winning chowder everyone was carrying around. What a great way to celebrate and appreciate what our coastal waters have to offer, and to bring awareness to how much is at stake! We also really appreciated talking with and learning from the Comox Sierra Club, and the group from Coal Watch about the proposed Raven Coal Mine, and environmental activism. Keep up the great work everyone!

Our dedicated and enthusiastic selves then jumped in the car, zoomed down island, and caught the last ferry to Vancouver (the trip across the Strait was spent performing emergency surgery on our very special Octopus friend).  After a few hours sleep, we were off to Car-Free Vancouver on Main St. Despite some VERY ominous looking clouds at the start of the day, we had a fairly nice afternoon (especially by Juneuary standards!). I don’t know about the other Car-Free venues, but the Main St. crowd was vibrant, diverse and absolutely FULL of energy! It was interesting to discover which issues in the Strait were of most concern to Lower Mainlanders. Not surprisingly, Oil Tankers topped the bill, but ecosystem health, farmed salmon, and toxin reduction were high on the list as well. The day marked the official launch of our Octopus (who is yet to be officially named), and our most successful display to date. Thanks to everyone who came out to chat, participate and buy raffle tickets!

We hope to see you at MEC Bike fest in Vancouver and Cedar Farmer’s Market this weekend. Tourlou/Toodle-oo, until next time!  

                                          -Deanna