Mural No. 2

Another mural was completed for the Egmont Heritage Centre on July 3 by Davyd Oram. The theme for this 4' x 8' mural was "fishing". This time Dave painted at the Centre. The end result was a brightly colored picture of a fishing boat next to the dock. There was music, bbq and a beer garden. Thank goodness the weather turned out nice. The next day was cool and rainy. Once again we lucked out with the weather.

A great group of musicians donated their time and talents to make the day even better. Katie and the Cornpones, Joe Stanton and Gordon Birtch were excellent. Over 100 people enjoyed the day, while around 50 stayed for the seafood bbq of salmon, shrimp, salads and fry bread! Yum!

The proceeds go to the Centre and the totem pole. There will be limited edition prints signed by the artist available in the fall.

Aboriginal Art Show - Egmont Heritage Centre

Some beautiful work has been submitted by local Native artists to the art show at the Egmont Heritage Centre. This includes beadwork, carvings, baskets and other cedar weavings, drawings, clothing and felt art.

A reception for the artists was held on Aboriginal Day, June 21. Take a look at some of the work.

Russ Silvey             

                                                                                                             Jessica Casey

First Saturday Murals

A great artist and all-round nice guy, Davyd Oram from Sechelt, BC is painting four murals for the Egmont Heritage Centre. Each mural will be painted on the first Saturday of each month with a theme reflecting Egmont history. They will eventually be incorporated into the museum's outdoor display.

The first painting was done on Egmont Day, June 5.
It was facinating to watch Dave create a 4' x 8' mural in only a few hours. People loved it.

The next mural painting is going to be on July 3 at the Egmont Heritage Centre. While Dave creates there will be music, a bbq and beer garden.

We are busy planning the seafood menu and getting organized.
The plan is to produce limited edition prints signed by the artist to raise funds for the museum.

Will keep you posted!
                                                                                                  Artist Dave and brother George (left)

Egmont Day 2010

After a lot of worrying about the weather and rain, the sun came out and Egmont Day was beautiful. Lots of extra work this year for the volunteers, as the entire event was held in Egmont Park. Spent Friday carrying tables, chairs, canopies, supplies out of hall.It rained for two weeks straight, but Saturday, June 1 was beautiful and sunny. Kids had lots of fun with fishing derby, relay races, cake walk and games.

The Egmont Community Club served over 100 hamburgers, 60 smokies, at least that many hot dogs for lunch and dinner for 75 that evening. There was also the Skookum Burger eating contest, canoe races, a parade and a scavenger hunt. Lots of fun.

What a super group of volunteers, board members and supporters.

But it's one of those things, now I am glad it is over! Whew!

Whistler, Zero Waste and the Sunshine Coast

A very busy week last week! Attended the Recycling Council of British Columbia conference in Whistler last week.
The trip started off with sightings of a variety of animals along the highway. Leaving Egmont we had what looked to be a barred owl fly out of the woods and land on a tree branch and watch us drive by. A short time later we slowed as 3 deer made their way alongside the highway. Later on the way up to Whistler, we saw two bears. One was trying to cross the busy highway. Hope he was okay. Did I take any pictures? No! But we did see them.

Stayed in a WorldMark condo with a super view from the balconey. But most of the time was spent at the conference in Whistler. Many excellent speakers on the environment, Zero Waste, etc. I was covering the conference for the online magazine I edit, sustainablecoast.ca. So check it out for stories and information from the conference coming up in the next issue.

                                                                                       Richard & Jim "Two Old Farts with Ponytails"

There was another Zero Waste workshop on the Sunshine Coast over the weekend sponsored by the group SuCESS. Great speakers and it was an excellent learning experience for many attendees. One of the founders of the Zero Waste International Alliance, Richard Anthony, was the featured speaker. We hosted him for a couple of nights at our place. What a super person. He has been an activist since the '60's and it was fun re-telling stories from "back in the day".
With his guidance we hope to bring the Sunshine Coast to Zero Waste by 2020 or sooner. He is a wealth of information, ideas and energy. He travels all over the world helping other communities realize this Zero Waste goal. Visit his websites: richardanthonyassociates.com or zwia.org.

Now it is time to get ready for the annual Egmont Day celebration this Saturday. Please no more rain!

The Joys of Waterfront Living

Usually it is paradise out here on the Inlet. But the other day a storm rolled in and after SE winds came over the mountain and threw the tops of the trees around, it changed to NW. That is trouble for us as the waves build and it slams into our dock.

The winds howled all night and when we got up in the morning the deck was littered with fir cones, branches and leaves. The dock ramp had broken loose at the top and the poor Expat, our boat, was damaged from hitting against the dock repeatedly.

The boat will have to be re-fiberglassed and the rubber trim replaced. Today a landing barge, The Inlet Raider, came in to lift the ramp and get it reattached. They also delivered our new wood stove which was great.

But as things can go wrong, they did. As they were leaving the Raider's prop caught on a submerged anchor rope. Not knowing this, they pulled away taking the dock with them. They stopped but not until the ramp was moved over and one of the stiff legs came off it's hinges! It took a while, the rope was disengaged from the prop and the ramp had to be realligned. We now have more work to do on the stiff leg.

The guys asked us if that was okay and I teasingly told them "That's all the damage I can afford today!" Everyone kept in good spirits and the guys went off to see the hockey game.

Not everything goes smoothly and you just gotta go with the flow.

Back in Egmont

Well, we finally made it back to BC! The usual cramped plane ride back to Seattle. The next morning our car wouldn't start. Had to have it towed to the GM dealer and the fuel pump replaced. Did you know that the fuel pump in a Yukon is in the gas tank?! After all day in the dealer's lounge (thank goodness we had our computer) and the cost of more than our trip, we got back on the road to Bellingham around 4 pm.
I had reserved us a 2 bedroom at the WorldMark in Birch Bay so Mason and Krystal could join us. So we spent two days there and had a very nice visit with the kids.
It was nice to get back to Egmont and the Inlet. The weather hadn't improved that much however. Still cold and rainy, but some sunshine to encourage us.

Then the big storm hit on Friday, April 2. We were having an event at the hall when the electricity went out. No clam chowder for the guests. I boated home in very choppy waters until I got around Egmont Point. Jim and friends Laurie and Rick were listening on the marine radio in case I needed help. Once around the point it was fine. Got home just at dark.

Back to Egmont the next day for the Easter Hat Tea. Everyone dressed warm as the electricity was still out in Egmont, so there was no heat. But we had a good time and many people wore decorated hats. This is such a fun, traditional event in Egmont.