On Sunday March 18, the Northern Lights Chamber Choir gave the community of Sorrento an afternoon of choral singing at a concert at St. Mary’s Church.
The music of changing seasons took the audience on a journey of light, hope, happiness and wanderlust.
This recently formed local choir shines brilliantly under the direction of Steve Guidone.
Jim Johnston is one of the finest collaborative pianists and supports the choir with his artful playing.
Dari Graham and Andrea Roberts mesmerized the audience with their duet, Oiseau des Bois. Cellist, Barbara Ennis filled the church with the rich music of Spring Song and Meditation by Frank Bridge.
To find out more about the Northern Lights Chamber Choir go to www.northernlightschamberchoir.ca.
Musings
In my work, my reporting is restricted to certain geographical boundaries, and every article written must have some connection to the community within that area.
This would be the case with most job descriptions in defining area of responsibility.
Public servants must also pay attention to their ‘territory.’ It is important that specific needs of citizens be a focal point for our fearless leaders.
It is also part of my job to keep abreast of public representative activity, at whatever level, in areas that concern the South Shuswap. And it really is quite amazing how many of them are in our midst.
Our tax dollars are employing quite a few public servants provincially, federally, municipally, with branches of governance in nearly every faction of our lives.
Our federal representation for Okanagan Shuswap is Colin Mayes, who we often see out and about with his family, mixing in with the community at many events.
Mayes is a Progressive Conservative so that means he has a special connection to current government. That should give us an advantage with better lines of communication.
I am grateful to read Mayes’ website, where there is much information available for anyone interested. I have learned a lot from this resource at www.colinmayes.ca.
One recent article was regarding the Enbridge Northern Gateway project. Mayes cites economic benefits to British Columbians over a 25-year period into the future.
In the end, most of the jobs building the pipeline will end on completion in 2015.
The actual jobs created at the docks in Kitimat, and maintaining the pipeline from there to Bruderheim, Alta., numbers around 105. None of those jobs are in the Okanagan Shuswap area.
With no call for immigration officers in the Shuswap, although I suppose our courts and the RCMP might be involved in deporting illegal immigrants, this is not an employment possibility in the Shuswap for sure. More burden on the taxpayer is what this brings to mind, and that our increased high-tech border security isn’t working in addition to the cost of ‘bogus refugee claims.’
Mayes writes that this is urgent. Really?
Are the slave-labour jobs that immigrants are willing to take on really worth the expense to protect.
Is illegal immigration really a problem in the Okanagan Shuswap? Mayes says in his article, he is receiving much email from citizens on the issue.
Mayes is a regular contributor to the Shuswap Market News, most recently with a column regarding a private members bill in Quebec, the subject abortion.
Not sure how getting in this wrangle will improve lives in the Okanagan Shuswap. Though I can appreciate the altruism of defining a human being for the pro-life sector in the Okanagan Shuswap area, evidence of surplus time or resources to undertake this time escapes me.
Mayes is an articulate writer and I enjoy reading his work, but I would like to read about what our Okanagan-Shuswap government representative is doing for his constituents in a time of economic uncertainty.
Jobs are scarce; private sector businesses are having a tough go and expenses are going up, largely due to public sector demands.
Mayes may not be aware of the challenges of his Okanagan Shuswap constituents.If you would like to send him a message, email him at Mayes.C@parl.gc.ca.
Cedar Heights
Karate
Four members of the shorei-kan karate training out of Cedar Heights Community Hall are going to Okinawa, Japan for 10 days of training and will also compete in a large tournament while there.
They will be joined by students from sister club members from Princeton and Langley.
Shihan (master) Vic Hargitt has been practising shorei-kan karate since 1980 and is the chief shorei-kan instructor in Canada and the U.S. He is also holds the office of president in the Shorei-Kan Canada Karate Association.
Hargitt spends his time travelling to the member dojos in Canada as well as corresponding and travelling to Japan and other International centres.
For more information on this form of karate see the web site at www.shorei-kancanada.ca.