News Leader News
ARTS NOW STARTS NOW
Princeton is beginning to take advantage of funds available to communities from the 2010 Olympic Games LegaciesNow program. The ArtsNow Committee is planning a project that will bring arts and culture groups (writers, artists, musicians, dancers, story tellers, quilters, etc) together to design a community art project.The ArtsNow Committee is made up of representatives of the arts community and has about 15 members. Participation on the Committee and in the community art project is open to anyone.
The ArtsNow committee received $4,250 from LegaciesNow. These funds are being matched by Princeton and Area H contributions of cash or in kind support. A consultant who specializes in arts and culture projects will assist the ArtsNow community to create an inventory of community arts and culture resources and design a community arts project.
The Committee intends to survey community and area residents about what they think about arts and culture in the community and what the community arts project should be. They want everyone to participate so that this is truly a community project.
Sandra Kochan, the consultant, will meet with the ArtsNow Committee on Tuesday, May 3 at the Skills Centre. The ArtsNow Committee will have a business meeting at 5:00 PM and community members are welcome at 6:00 PM.
For more information, phone Michael McLaughlin at 295-7260.
CONCERT DETAILS REVEALED AT MEETING
An information meeting was held last Tuesday afternoon at Princeton Skills Centre about the upcoming 'Let's Play Princeton' country music concert.A map of the general layout of the complete staging area at Princeton Airport was reviewed.
John Babiak of Tokn Productions, the concert promoters, indicated he had been meeting with RCMP, Fire, Emergency Services and the Town of Princeton to design the Airport site to address safety and access concerns.
To date ticket sales have been good with a total of 573 two-day passes and 334 one-day passes already being purchased. Of that total, 114 of them have been bought at local ticket outlets.
"A rule of thumb is that eighty percent of tickets are sold in the last week," Babiak explained.
"So wešre gearing for three thousand people at the airport for the weekend."
The schedule for the weekend will be as follows:
Friday, May 13th gates open at 4:00 PM. Princeton's Kristie McIvor will perform from 4:30 to 5:30 PM. Justine Stewart will be on from 5:45 PM for about an hour. At 6:45 PM Daune Steele will take the stage for an hour and then will be joined by Tracie James to perform as a duet until 10:30 PM.
Saturday, May 14th gates open at 4:00 PM with Cruzeros starting at 5:00 PM. Justine Stewart will perform starting at 6:30 PM followed by Ken McCoy at 7:30 PM. Emerson Drive will take the stage at 9:00 PM and perform until 10:30 PM.
All times are approximate with the Saturday night 'Meet and Greet' at Princeton Arena to begin with doors opening at 9:30 PM.
Russell Brewer will perform at this venue from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM with all artists from the weekend to attend at the Arena to meet fans and sign autographs.
There will be food and beverages available at the "Meet and Greet" which will cost $20.00 to attend, separate from the concert.
Babiak says the concert has created a lot of interest with website hits totaling over 700 to date at the News Leader site, 1,100 at the Town of Princeton website and 3,000 at a website at JR Country in Vancouver.
There will be at least ten RCMP members working the whole weekend with more available if needed.
Tickets for the concert are available locally at Dairy Queen, Similkameen News Leader, Billy's Restaurant and Belaire Restaurant.
They are also available online through Ticketmasters.
Two-day passes cost $60.00+ GST with single day passes worth $30.00 + GST.
FORESTRY WEEK (MAY 1-7) OUR FORESTS ARE UNDER ATTACK
At the very same time as environmentalists were fighting the government in order to stop trees being cut, foresters were warning of a possible catastrophic mountain pine beetle attack. That was 1994. Ten years later, the worst fears of foresters came true. The 2003 flight of beetles was huge, and last year saw the worst infestation of mountain pine beetles ever seen in Merritt Timber Supply Area.In Merritt TSA, the lodgepole pine is the leading species at 68 percent of the total forest. Lodgepole pine is a relatively short-lived tree. It grows rapidly, but lives only 80 to 100 years. As a result of a terrible fire in 1894, Merritt TSA had too many lodgepole pines of the same age.
Despite increased harvesting since 2001, it was a case of too little, too late. The beetle was spreading its devastation through the over-mature lodgepole pines.
The mountain pine beetle is a natural part of the ecology of our forests. Those who wanted to save old growth timber did not really understand the difference between coastal forests and BC Interior forests. The mountain pine beetle kills old-growth lodgepole pine.
The 2004 aerial overview surveys for Merritt TSA classified approximately 34,000 hectares of forest as "red attacked". The beetle-killed trees turn red. What had happened was a 3.6 fold increase in the red trees from 2003 to 2004.
Two factors contributed to the expansion of mountain pine beetle infestation: larger numbers of older lodgepole pine and relatively warm weather conditions in recent years.
Here's how the beetle works: all trees are attacked, but young trees have lots of sap, which forces the beetle out. Old trees do not have the large amount of sap, so the beetle digs into the tree and lays eggs. The eggs hatch, and the larvae begin eating the layer of the tree that supplies nutrients brought in from the roots. The tree starves to death.
When the larvae complete their cycle, they emerge from the dead tree and go into a mating flight, and the new beetles go looking for more trees to attack. The warmer the weather, the more beetles there will be. Extreme cold in autumn (-30C) can kill beetles, and a long, cool spring makes flight delayed. Weather plays a significant role.
Summer forest fires have played a part in controlling mountain pine beetle in the past, but fire suppression contributed to increased numbers of old lodgepole pines, giving the beetles an advantage of more host trees.
There is one spin-off to the mountain pine beetle crisis. The dead trees are harvested and "blue denim" pine boards are made from the blue-stained wood. A visit to Lendale Furniture store on Vermilion Avenue shows this unusual pine used for furniture, and many people love the unique look of this wood.
