Maven Lane grand opening a cause for celebration

Wednesday, June 25 at 3pm the North Okanagan Child Care Society will celebrate the Grand Opening of Maven Lane, the former West Vernon Elementary purchased from School District 22 in December 2013.

The not-profit, parent led society has operated child care and early learning facilities since 1994, first in the basement of Bearsto Elementary, and now permanently located in their own building.

The society is at forefront of early childhood education as it has learned from researchers such as Dr. Clyde Hertzman, UBC and Dr. Fraser Mustard, University of Toronto.

Their research shows that quality child care and early learning allow children to become ready for school, measured by their physical health, social abilities and mental skills. Children who are ready for learning when they enter primary school have an advantage, and that they tend to keep that advantage into their adult years shown by the massive NCDS study which is still following members the same group of 17,500 babies all born the same week in 1958.

We have a treasure, an icon, a monument to the power of what a small group of committed people can achieve in only twenty years. This Grand Opening provides an opportunity to celebrate the enormous achievements of this wonderful organization, and I hope to see you there.

Candidates declare interest in seeking NDP nomination

Three candidates so far have declared interest in seeking the local nomination for the 2015 federal election. Others may soon join, but the time for making a decision is closing in.

If you are interested in being the candidate, please contact the president of the riding association. The requirements are fairly straightforward:

1. You must be a member of the NDP (sign up at here)
2. An application, accepted by the federal party. Those forms available through the riding association president..

Candidates for the nomination to date:

Jacqui Gingras (blog)

Richard Smiley

Richard Smiley, Askews Armstrong

Janet McInnis


An executive meeting will be held to determine the nomination convention date shortly.

The "Take Back Our Coast" tour led by Skeena MP and Opposition finance critic Nathan Cullen visits the Vernon Rec Centre at 12 noon Thursday, May 22nd.

Cullen also visits Kamloops the same evening at St. Andrews on the Square at 7:30 pm.

"The Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline risks our environment, threatens thousands of good jobs in the Skeena and is opposed by over 60% of British Columbians", states NDP MP Nathan Cullen.

More info available at http://takebackourcoast.ca/

Tickets (free) are at http://eventbrite.ca/event/11566801615?utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=new_eventv2&utm_term=eventname_text

Only 100 seats are available.

The presentation is a multi-media event and talk about the risks and costs of oil tanker traffic and spills. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

Thomas Mulcair to visit Vernon Feb 19, 2014

As a sign that the NDP is preparing for an election, note that Thomas Mulcair will be at the Vernon Rec Centre at noon on February 19th. This is a public event so bring your skepticism and evaluate very likely the next Prime Minister of Canada.

At the same time there will be an opportunity to meet with several potential local NDP candidates for the 2015 (?) election.

Information will be available for those who wish to become members and participate in the candidate selection process. If you are interested in becoming a candidate, please talk to a member of the current executive.

2011 local federal election results - another look

In 2011 there was a federal election with the results reflected in our parliament today. 2015 is not so far away, so it's time to look at what really happened way back then.

The first order of business is to thank the 14,955 people in this riding who voted NDP. An especially warm thank you goes to those living in the polls the NDP won.

Polling Station Number/Numéro du bureau de scrutin	Polling Station Name/Nom du bureau de scrutin	NDP %	Description
96	Six Mile Creek	45%	Parker Cove, Beau Park Road
132	Vernon	45%	Downtown east of Hwy 97, north of 30th Ave to 39th Ave
156	Vernon	44%	Hwy 97S west to 20th Crescent
50A	Salmon Arm	43%	South of TCH across from Mcquire Lake Park
130A	Vernon	42%	Vernon, downtown west of Hwy 97 north of 30th Ave to 43 Ave
152-1	Vernon	41%	15th Ave north to 21st Ave.West to Valleyview Place. East to 39th Street
142-1	Vernon	40%
153-1	Vernon	40%
48	Salmon Arm	39%
122	Vernon	38%
68	Enderby 2--Salmon River 1	38%
24-1	Tappen	38%
158	Vernon	34%

National Aboriginal Day - June 21, 2013

After raining most of the week prior, the sun peeked out and gave us a beautiful morning to enjoy our pancake breakfast and exhibits at Quilakwa Park in Enderby. The excitement was high at the starting line for the 5 km fun run that some were calling a health challenge. Students from Highland Elementary joined in, which made the event that much more amazing and energizing. This event was hosted by the Splats’in pronounced “spla cheen” Tsm7aksaltn (Splatsin Teaching Centre). Splats’in refers to the large flat prairie beside the river, which is the beautiful land we ran through on our health challenge.

 (more photos here )

According to http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Splatsin, the Splats’in are the most southern tribe of the 17 Shuswap First Nations who make up the Secwepemc pronounced “She-whep-m” Nation, the largest Interior Salish speaking First Nation in Canada. The Secwepemc territory stretches from the BC/Alberta border near the Yellowhead Pass to the plateau west of the Fraser River, southeast to the Arrow Lakes and to the upper reaches of the Columbia River. This tribe has been involved in language revitalitzation projects since the early 1970's. Every Monday since 1998, they have met to speak our language, document and teach. Their method is simple as told by their elder Marie David “wrap the language around the babies”.

We were encouraged by Splats’in Chief Wayne Christian to celebrate the day, honour each other, and really take in the meaning of being a community. We were moved when Chief Christian spoke in the traditional Splats’in language, which also garnered a wave of applause from those gathered. Chief Christian joked that speaking in the traditional language was the only time the elders listened to him.

The Splats’in Tsm7aksaltn (Splats’in Teaching Centre) is a First Nation non-profit organization. Their mandate is to be a teaching centre for early learning that incorporates the Splatsin language, culture and history into their programming for children aged 0-12 years old, parents, family, and community. This is a strong and vibrant organization sharing so much with the region. Thank you for hosting a truly memorable day!

Please share with us what you did to celebrate National Aboriginal Day. Remember, the First Nations Friendship Centre in Vernon is hosting their previously rained out celebrations on July 5^th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Polson Park Stage. The theme is Peace and Prayer. We hope to see you there.

Lumby Days 2013

Lumby Days was magnificient - food, fun & lots to see and do. Jacqui Gingras took some photos during the parade which will help bring back memories for those who were there and provide a small taste for those who weren't.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111309373654869573228/albums/5890690448466267409