April 12, 2013 Some April 2013 Dates Worth Noting

Happy Birthday Community Voices 

Community Voices was teenaged on its 13^th birthday on April 7^th. The paper has evolved over the years and   delivers a variety of interesting articles and advertisements to the widest area of any paper in northeastern Ontario.  Dawn Clarke has been the editor for most of the last decade. I marvel at how she puts it together every week especially now that she also has a column of her own each week. 

The paper started with delivery from Temiscaming Quebec to Sundridge and from West Nipissing to Mattawa excluding North Bay – 18,500 mailboxes a week.  More recently it began to be delivered to North Bay addresses that did not have a subscription to the Nugget. When Nugget subscribers got interested they also got a copy. Upwards of 30,000 copies are delivered weekly to thousands of residents of northeastern Ontario. 

Most of the articles are written by volunteer writers who write for the fun of it. Over the years there has been some remarkable reportage on a wide variety of topics. If my math is right that looks like 677 editions of the paper. 

Deb Kurtzer Johnston has written her column from day one where she presents her weekly thoughts on a variety of local interests and lists many of the pending events primarily in the south end of the region. I have also had the pleasure of writing my Heritage Perspectives column from the start. My son Paul who designs and publishes my books has put the columns online. There are over 400 columns there – most with photographs – and they can be printed if desired. Google Heritage Perspectives and you will get an index of titles with the most recent first. Click on the title to get a full copy of the article. The titles are numbered and can be brought up by title or number. Sometimes the titles are too vague and if you want to access a particular topic just add the proper word(s) after you enter Heritage Perspectives. In 2010 I published a book Voices from the Past with 45 sample columns from Community Voices  

Cover of Heritage Perspectives Book

With my interest in art I have also written an Art Scene column over the years  but they are not online. I have not written on the art scene recently but hope to soon. 

Books I have written and other information is available on my website at www.pastforward.ca. I appreciate feedback on my columns but cannot always find the time to reply. My thanks to my neighbour Bernadette Kerr for word processing the columns. She can actually read my handwriting! 

Grey Owl Remembered. 

Englishman Archie Belaney who became the brilliant Grey Owl, author, orator, naturalist, and conservationist  died 75 years ago April 13, 1938 at age 49. His career was celebrated in 2006 in a major event at the WKP Kennedy and in 2007 in Temagami. Archie’s Birth 125 years ago and his demise 75 years ago this week and his work is being remembered at Discovery North Bay this spring and at the Mattawa Museum this fall. Watch for the dates. 

Karsh Photo of Grey Owl

Dermot Wilson and Arlie Hoffman who co-curated the previous exhibitions are working with theDiscovery North Bay Museum staff to mount the new exhibition. . I worked on the previous stories and will on this one. 

Arlie, Dermot, Discovery North Bay  Curator Naomi Rupke and I visited Mattawa recently and met with Museum Chair John Whalen and his board to coordinate our activities and share some artifacts. A new biography on Grey Owl’s muse Anahareo (Mattawa’s Gertrude Bernard) will be available at the events. The emphasis at both events will be on the naturalist/conservationist work Grey Owl did. His best selling books and activities  had a major impact on the movement today. 

Canadian Cancer Society 75th Anniversary 

The Canadian Cancer Society is celebrating 75 years of cancer support with its daffodil campaign and the slogan 75 lives, 75 stories, I Fight For where patients stories are told. A chance to make a difference!!