News Leader News
ARTS COUNCIL REVIEWS SUCCESS
Princeton Community Arts Council members met April 26 and celebrated a success. Member groups had participated in an Open House at Riverside Wellness Centre which drew a huge attendance from the community. As a first-time event, members had begun with some trepidation, but felt rewarded by the public's positive response. They will do it again next year during Arts & Culture Week.
Joan Kelly and Dell Hall were presented with certificates of appreciation for their fine work in organizing the Open House. Paul Huycke was awarded a certificate for his work in preparing the facility for the event, and Dave and Rosemary Woodruff were awarded a certificate for their work constructing the Arts Council room.
Arts Council President Dawn Johnson expressed pride in the achievements of all of the participants in the Open House event.
The BC Arts Council grant has been received. Member groups will be given $300 per group. The Arts Council will develop a policy for a group seeking this grant in the future. The policy will specify the group must state their community benefit objective for use of the funds.
Garden winners
Norma Kraetor said the Garden Club had received three gift certificates from Don & Anna's Greenhouses for a draw at the Garden Club display at the Open House. Winners were Maria Sadegur, Harry Toews and Tina Machin.Sunshine artists
Vermilion Artists hope to have an outdoor watercolour painting class during the warm weather. The class would be day-long and lunch included. Mary Bedford is looking for participants.Generous quilters
Bunchgrass Quilters received a lot of praise for their outstanding display of quilts at Open House, and for their donation of 32 quilts to RCMP Victim Services. These small quilts are given to children who have witnessed violence and to victims of vehicle collisions. The recipients find comfort in the gift. Children immediately wrap themselves in the quilts and cling to them. Bunchgrass Quilters have donated their work to this cause in previous years.Youth talent
The Community Band received a lot of praise for talent as they played at the Open House. Joan Kelly said she felt the public began to recognize how many talented youngsters are in Princeton and hoped to see more attend the band's school concerts.Have paint, will travel?
Some of the facility shortcomings were identified, and work will be done to rectify the problems. Paul Huycke is working with Lyle Thomas on this, but money is scarce. Right now, Paul is looking for latex paint. He is hoping people will donate partially used cans of light-coloured paint, as he needs about 40 gallons.Performers learn more
Princeton Performing Arts Group had their first show of talent at the Open House, and were thrilled with how well it went. Paul Huycke said the Ridgewood group was excellent. Performing Arts has had two workshops, and will have another on May 13 with Randy Lesley of Actors Showcase in Kelowna. The workshops are preparing the Performing Arts Group to create a sustainable structure of skilled people in order for Princeton to have an ongoing company of performers to do shows, plays and tourist attraction events in future years. The workshops have been a success.Taking a break
There will be no May meeting of the Arts Council. The next regular meeting will be held June 14, at 7:00 p.m. at Riverside Wellness Centre. This meeting will focus on preparing for the annual general meeting on July 19. This will be followed by a recess until September.PUBLIC SEES THE NEWS RIVERSIDE
Tenants of Riverside Wellness Centre discovered the community is very interested in what is happening at the former school. Hundreds of people attended the Open House held at Riverside on April 23, to mark the beginning of Arts & Culture Week.
Organizers Joan Kelly and Dell Hall, and major worker Paul Huycke, deserve a lot of credit for what people saw when they entered the building.
Although the many groups belonging to the Community Arts Council were the main features of the Open House, other tenants, such as the Christian Academy, the acupuncture clinic and the potter/painter studio enthusiastically participated in the event.
Art work was displayed everywhere, from the entrance display of Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists' banners to the paintings hung in the former school principal's office.
Princeton Community Band occupied the lounge area and performed a number of musical pieces for an appreciative audience. Princeton Performing Arts Group entertained in the gym (future theatre) with comedy and skits. They drew a good crowd during their performances.
The gym was the location of Princeton Garden Club, who displayed seed catalogues. Princeton Writers Group promoted their authors and local books in the gym, and a quilt display and more art kept everyone interested. These quilts, made by Bunchgrass Quilters, were donated to RCMP Victims Services.
Bunchgrass Quilters had their main display in the Arts Council rooms, where the array of quilts dazzled the eye. Quilters worked on patches or stitching to show people what their group could do.
To feed the hungry, Community Band members and supporters had a booth set up for snacks and coffee or juice.
There was almost too much to take in, but there was no doubt the new use of the former school met with the public's approval. Remarks such as, "This is just great!" and "How nice to see the community using this building" could be heard as one walked through the crowded hallways.
MIND GRIND RESULTS
This year's Terasen Gas Environmental Mind Grind was a noisy and enthusiastic success! On April 22nd the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen, held the 5th annual South Okanagan-Similkameen Environmental Mind Grind.Eighteen teams participated in the 2006 competition, with fourteen teams in the elementary category and four middle school competitors. Participants vied for great prizes in this environmental quiz show-style contest.
When the dust finally cleared in this rousing celebration of Earth Day, two teams from each category emerged victorious. In the Elementary competition Wiltse Elementary took away first prize, and the Home Learners group experienced success as runners-up. They accomplished this by beating twelve other great teams to attain Mind Grind supremacy!
At the middle school level, Princeton Secondary and Skaha Lake Middle School took first and second place respectively. It was a tight race that was only decided in the final question, and interestingly resulted in a duplication of last year's results.
First place teams in each category have won a pizza party for their school and fleece vests made from recycled pop bottles, while second place teams will receive a pizza party for their class and Mind Grind hats.
Winners have also earned the opportunity to move to the next level. The four triumphant teams, along with the High School teams from Osoyoos Secondary and South Okanagan Secondary School, will be competing May 6th in the Interregional Finals in Kelowna.
There they will attempt to beat out winners from the local competitions in the Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, Kootenay-Boundary and Kamloops, to bring home the coveted Mind Grind Trophy, and a prize of $1,000.00 for their school!
Prizes of ice cream for the most enthusiastic schools will also be awarded to McNicoll Park School and KVR Middle School. The judges had a difficult time choosing winners for this as a result of the creativity that teams showed with lots of special cheers, costumes, songs, audience participation, and even a team mascot!
Regional District Solid Waste Management Coordinator Beth Cavers was impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm displayed by all the teams at the Penticton event.
"All the teams competing did extremely well," said Cavers. "All the kids showed that they had studied the environmental packages closely and it looked like they had a lot of fun too!"
