July 20, 2005
Vancouver Island Marmot goes to the Folk Festival
With the help of my trusty co-workers Sue Fox and JP I made my way this past weekend to the Vancouver Folk Festival at Jericho Beach. I'd been bagged up in the Wilderness Committee office since my last appearances on Earth Day. That day was busy for me; first I was at the Wilderness Committee’s Rainforest Store in Gastown and made a special guest appearance at Capers’ Sustainable Living Eco Fair on Robson Street. This past weekend, I was really looking forward to being outside by the beach with the most spectacular view of the North Shore Mountains. My performance at the Rainforest Store on Earth Day had not been stellar, as I’m never too happy to stand up all day on cement in a parking zone. Capers had been better, lots of people and of course the food was fantastic. It had been a little weird hanging out with one of that new hybrid car things (I'm still bigger).
Well on the first evening at the Folk Festival Sue Fox felt it was raining too hard to make the big blow up splash so I stayed in the bag until Saturday morning when the sun appeared and the place started steaming. I enjoyed being among some of the most amazing musicians, singers and songwriters from around the world. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival has established itself as a major event on the world folk and roots music circuit. Some of the old time folks were back. Utah Phillips was there to sing about a century of solidarity of the IWW and of course some of those crazy girls with guitars had to say a few things about the shape of out planet. No one could miss Attila the Stockbroker’s rant about American politics, and seeing the mix of personalities of Third Eye Tribe was very energizing. International guests included artists Eivřr Pálsdóttir from the Faroe Islands, Karen Casey from Ireland, Haugaard and Hoirup from Denmark, Fruit from Australia, and the Jaipur Kawa Brass Bands from India. There were so many more musicians and so much more to see I got tired and just hung out at the booth.
Sue Fox had help at the Wilderness Committee booth from JP (distribution and printing), Tammy (canvasser and web mistress), Kathryn Colby (volunteer co ordinator and store window designer), Louise (campaign assistant) and Lady Diana (wholesale, yoga master and super Mom) with her very special kids Ainsley and Fiona. (Thanks to everyone!). Some of the campaigns on the table were the Squamish Wild Spirit Places, Caribou Nation, endangered species, banning toxics, our proposed conservation vision for Vancouver Island and of course our wild salmon campaign, always a hot topic here on the coast. I could see everyone checking out the Elaho Valley map, which is always a big hit. People really want to get out there and camp between those big trees. I could see from afar there was a lot of chatting and debating going on and of course there was all the hugging. I became a bit jealous because most of my visitors on Saturday were boys wanting to punch me up.
Sunday turned out to be a glorious day so Sue Fox decided to put me right out front on the hill. Pretty bold I'd say but I had a better view of stage four and I could see the sailboats, black market vendors and I was right in view for everyone to see me. I was decked out with my Canada flag apron and a special sign about my endangered species status. I felt very proud to be standing there in the wind representing all the Vancouver Island marmots and the Wilderness Committee of course. We had some very special guests come by to sign the petitions and chat with me too. Visitors included City of Vancouver councilor Ellen Woodsworth and her partner Jo, Dan and Bonnie from Tofino kayaking, Valerie Langer and Nicole from Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Wayne Soroka and his wife from Shared Vision, Will Koop of BC Tap Water Alliance, long time campaigner Ocean Hellman, friends from Better Environmental Sound Transportation, The Tyee, EYA, Amnesty International, Pivot, BALLE, David Williams, a past canvasser and many more…
The most special guest to visit me was Evelyn Roth, my creator. She hugged me and had her picture taken with me. She also introduced me to all her friends and even came back to see if I needed anything and checked my juice supply. You should take a look at her new creations on her web site at www.evelynroth.com.
Well, after 70 hours of non-stop music on eight outdoor stages -- three evenings of main stage concerts and two full days of performances and workshops throughout the park I was ready to go home. Everyone was still dancing around me and the main stage music was just getting going when I had one last visitor before being bagged up and taken home. A little girl named Sarah came by with a baby Vancouver Island marmot. Sarah came right up to hug me and asked in a very quiet voice, "I'd like to give you $5.00 to go towards more food and can I have my picture taken with you?" Well the tears started to flow. I had to have Sue Fox hold me up for one last photo and hug. Then I was whisked away to feast on wild salmon at Fox Manor.
The tally: 300 signatures on petitions, heaps of interest in the BC Day Weekend Elaho Camp Out Event, lots of more informed people and I can't even count the number of hugs.
Love to everyone,
"Marmie"
Written with help from my partner Sue Fox.
(PS: Marmie's next performance will be at the Rainforest Store at 227 Abbott Street during the BC Day long weekend.)
July 04, 2005
Staff Planning Retreat in Whistler - Planning our Wilderness Defending Victories
One of the great things about planning for the future is when some of what you set out to do actually go as planned and create the anticipated outcomes. At the Wilderness Committee we have now for many years undertaken annual strategic planning session to guide activities for the following year in terms of setting priorities, goals, tactics and lead indicators for our campaign, research, fundraising and product teams.
The way we usually do this is to leave town for a few days, ask friends with spacious cabins outside Vancouver if they can house the Wilderness Committee staff and then pack up some flip chart paper, pens and yummy food. This year’s planning retreat happened just over a week ago. A friend of the Wilderness Committee generously offered his Whistler condo for us to use during the three days the retreat went on for. It was a super duper setting - it had ample space, a view of Blackcomb Mountain, the gentle roaring of Fitzsimmons Creek right behind the backyard and – the entertainment – a hot tub that quickly became hugely popular during our free time. Hey, planning retreats have to be fun too!
What was particularly wonderful about this year’s staff retreat was the fact that Shaine from our Toronto office and Ron from the Winnipeg office came out to the West Coast to join us, the staff from Vancouver along with Ken and Cassbreea from the Victoria office. Telephone calls and emails can never replace real life contact between people. Getaways like this one are good for connecting with new additions to the staff and reconnecting with people that have been around for longer.
To balance off the many hours of sitting in meetings we also got to spend a bit of time outside. Some of us decided to explore Cheakamus Lake, which is located 15 km south of Whistler and within the popular Garibaldi Provincial Park. Cheakamus Lake is a beautiful glacier fed lake at 915 m elevation and the lake and the rest of the upper Cheakamus is designated by the Squamish Nation as one of their Wild Sprit Places in their land use plan. The Squamish Nation has five such areas in the Squamish-Whistler area and they all serve to protect areas that are ecologically and culturally important to the Nation. Just on that note, you should check out our latest educational report - it is on the Squamish Nation’s Wild Spirit Places and can be found online at our front-page.
On the last day I think we all left Whistler feeling upbeat and that we had accomplished a lot. I guess next year at this time it is to be seen if what we anticipated we would do actually ended up happening. In any case, it is going to be a great year.