Just in time for the gardening season! Lethbridge horticulturalist, June Flanagan, will present a free program on vegetable gardening on Monday, May 14 at 7.00 pm. This event takes place in the Library Theatre, Medicine Hat Public Library.

From planting to picking, June Flanagan presents an illustrated program with plenty of tips to help gardeners grow fresh homegrown food just a few steps away from the kitchen. Her images of prairie-hardy fruits, heirloom salad greens, crisp root vegetables, fresh herbs and edible flowers will inspire gardeners to create gorgeous growing spaces that yield bountiful harvests.

June Flanagan is a botanist, horticultural consultant, author and photographer with a M Sc. in Plant Science and a B. Sc. in Environmental Horticulture. Her professional career of over thirty years includes work as a botanical garden specialist and as a research associate on studies of native plants as well as temperate and tropical food crops. She has cultivated plants in the challenging Chinook zone of southern Alberta for fifteen years. Her fourth and most recentt book, Edible Plants for Prairie Gardens: the best fruits and vegetables, is a comprehensive guide to growing over 100 fruits, vegetables and herbs using organic and sustainable gardening practices in a short-season climate.

Her talk will be followed by book sales, signings and a reception, hosted by the Medicine Hat and District Horticultural Society.

For more information on June Flanagan, go to www.juneflanagan.ca or contact her at june.flanagan@uleth.ca

Or contact Hilary at 403-502-8533 or hilmun@medicinehat.ca

June Flanagan’s visit is cosponsored by Medicine Hat Public Library and the Medicine Hat and District Horticultural Society.

The City of Medicine Hat and Cypress County’s Southern Alberta Summer Games Office is NOW OPEN! We are looking for athletes to compete on Team Medicine Hat and Team Cypress County in Raymond/County of Warner at this year’s games.

The registration deadline for athletes is Monday June 4th, 2012 at 4:00pm.

This year the games will take place from July 4-7th in Raymond/County of Warner with 22 different events to choose from!

The events that athletes can participate in include:

Athletes from Medicine Hat who are interested in participating in the games can contact Jesse Zimmer by phone at (403) 502-8570 or email jeszim@medicinehat.ca.  Athletes from Cypress County and Redcliff can contact Derek Hood by phone at (403) 525-2315 or email derhoo@cypress.ab.ca. We also welcome participants to drop by the Summer Games Office which is located in the Medicine Hat Arena or Cypress County Building.

Check out our website for updates at www.medicinehat.ca

Or http://www.cypress.ab.ca/Special_Events/sasg/games.htm

There are events for ALL ages.  Let’s put together a larger team than last year and celebrate the 43^rd anniversary of the Southern Alberta Summer Games!

Persian Dreams and Canine Themes Rescue Society is hosting a huge indoor garage and craft sale on Saturday, June 16th, 2012.

Kinplex Social Room 2055-21 Ave SE,
10AM to 4PM.

Concessions are available.

This post was submitted by Tracy.

What?: PACE ROTARY DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL 2012

Organizer:  PACE Rotary Club of Medicine Hat

Title Sponsor: Servus Credit Union

When?: Saturday July 21^st & Sunday July 22^nd, 2012

Where?: Elkwater Lake, AB in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

What is Dragon Boating?: Dragon Boating was traditionally performed at Ancient Chinese Festivals, and features a long thin boat equipped with an impressive decorated dragon’s head on the boat’s front.  Today it is a competitive worldwide sport, with 20 paddlers, one drummer to keep time and provide motivation, and one steersperson to keep the boat going in a straight line. The goal is to race across the finish line to win, all while being involved in a sport of cooperation and teamwork. Anyone can participate – there have been participants in their 70’s paddling!

How many are needed?: A Team consists of between 16-22 people

Registration Fees: Early Bird Registration Deadline has been extended to June 1^st, 2012 ($850/ team); Late Registration Deadline is June 30^th, 2012 ($1,000/ team).  Early Bird Registration cost per participant is approximately $45 for two full days of fun!

Details: We have secured sponsorship for the event and are now concentrating our efforts in asking for Community Teams to enter the event, in order to make it a go! You will not need any special training, experience, or equipment to enter this event – all is provided.  In the past, businesses/ organizations/ groups have entered teams into this Festival for Team Building Events, with great success.  There have even been competitions between businesses, such as between different banks!  The weekend consists of: Saturday as a Training day, and Sunday as a Racing day.  There will be fun for the whole family, as well as the opportunity to try out an exciting sport that is growing in popularity worldwide.  Why not make a weekend of it?

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 @ 7.00 pm, Medicine Hat Public Library

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, has long been known as a city of culture. A slide presentation highlighting some of its attractions will be shown at Medicine Hat Public Library on Tuesday, May 1 at 7.00 pm.

Buenos Aires, with a population of close to 3 million, is the second largest city in South America, second only to Brazil’s Sao Paulo. Its renowned opera house, the Teatro Colon, is one of the five top international venues and has welcomed the world’s performers since 1912. Buenos Aires is known for its many bookstores and houses the largest and best bookstore, El Ateneo, in South America. The city is host to the annual La Noche de Librerias, a night dedicated to celebrating bookstores, with street closures for performances, author readings, entertainment and crowded bookstores. Museums and art galleries abound, the legacy of a wealthy upper class from the 1880s to the 1920s.

The slide presentation will include a side trip to the mighty Iguazu Falls on the borders of Argentina and Brazil.

The presentation will be made by Hilary Munro who spent November in the city and environs.

For more information, contact Hilary at 403-502-8533.

Special Deliveries Doula Services presents an informational evening on the vaccine controversy featuring the PBS Frontline documentary The Vaccine War. This will be followed by a discussion of the pros and cons of vaccination by two local health practitioners. Dr. Jason Schneider, a naturopathic doctor, will speak against vaccination and suggest alternatives. Dr. Vivien Suttorp, South Zone Medical Officer of Health, will speak in support of vaccination.

Free admission. Co-sponsored by Medicine Hat Public Library.

For more information, please contact:

Sheila Drummond
Head, Reference Services
Medicine Hat Public Library
(403)502-8531
shedru@medicinehat.ca

The Esplanade Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of two new exhibitions, School Art 2012 and Tracy Bultje: Remnant, on display until June 10.

School Art 2012

School Art 2012 is here! The latest crop of art work from over 40 Medicine Hat and area schools is a rich and vibrant display of students’ talent and effort, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. It’s also a testament to the skill and dedication of teachers of art throughout the region. Come and enjoy the exuberance and artistic exploration in over 700 works in an astounding array of media.

Joanne Ellis, School Art organizer at the Esplanade Art Gallery, comments, “The annual School Art exhibition is only possible with the continued support of all the sponsors, presenters and jurors, and especially the students, teachers, and school administrators who nurture visual arts in our schools.”

The School Art 2012 reception takes place on Sunday May 6 at 1pm in the Gallery Foyer, followed at 1.30pm by the Awards Ceremony in the main Theatre Hall. Admission is free. Refreshments are a courtesy of Medicine Hat Catholic Separate Regional Division #20. Presentation materials are a courtesy of Medicine Hat School District #76.

Admission to the galleries is free during School Art 2012 thanks to Cenovus Energy.

Tracy Bultje Remnant

Tracy Bultje’s recent paintings are large and dramatic, evoking the colourful and ground-breaking early 20th century Canadian Group of Seven. But where the Group of Seven celebrated the Canadian ‘wilderness’ of their time, Tracy Bultje brings to vivid life the remnants of that landscape – the slivers of trees along the river near her home, treed fencerows, property lines and windbreaks. These are slender curtains of landscape with no depth which Tracy Bultje has rendered rich, complex and strikingly intense, defying their flatness with intricate patterning.

As writer and painter Jordan Broadworth comments: “Bultje’s paintings argue that in spite of its fragile state, the natural world is still capable of offering communion with something greater than ourselves. And landscape painting can still offer what Emily Carr once described as “a glimpse of God interrupted by the soul.”

Tracy Bultje was born and resides in Chatham, Ontario where she continues to work in her home studio as a contemporary landscape painter. She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows in Ontario and is currently an artist in residence at ARTspace, Chatham, Ontario.

Over 800 Medicine Hat High School students will spend a day immersed in Canadian films on Thursday, April 5, 2012 as the travelling REEL CANADA film festival screens a variety of films and gives students a chance to meet either the filmmakers or the actors who brought the films to life.

The films, programmed by the students themselves, include How She Move, Wild Life, The Rocket, Fido, Passchendaele, and Inside Hana’s Suitcase. Wherever possible, actors or filmmakers will conduct Q+A sessions with students via Skype.

In addition, a special animation program will be conducted by Oscar-nominated Alberta filmmakers Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, creators of Wild Life, nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2012.

“We can’t wait to show these films to Medicine Hat students,” says REEL CANADA’s executive director Jack Blum. “The students chose some outstanding movies to watch, and we know they will be totally inspired by the quality of the filmmakers and the stories they are telling – right here in Canada.” Blum will also be in attendance in Medicine Hat.

REEL CANADA is a traveling film festival that has exposed over 100,000 high school students to the incredible achievements of Canadian filmmakers for the past seven years, enhancing their appreciation of our national culture. This year, the festival also includes a Welcome to Canada program, which brings the immersive, dynamic learning experience of REEL CANADA to new Canadians, introducing them to home-grown films and filmmakers.

In the 2012 spring season, the festival is touring the country with 20 events in eight provinces. Cities include Ottawa, ON, Montague, PEI, Montreal, QC, Medicine Hat, AB, Winnipeg MB, Calgary AB, Stonewall, MB, Brampton, ON, Toronto, ON, Fredericton, NB, Saskatoon, SK and Vancouver, BC.

Created by a committee of passionate filmmakers and dedicated educators in 2005, REEL CANADA is designed to foster greater awareness of, and pride in, Canadian films, by bringing the excitement of a film festival experience directly into high schools.

REEL CANADA is supported by an advisory committee of Canada’s most celebrated film professionals: Hussain Amarshi, Denys Arcand, Carl Bessai, Gary Burns, David Cronenberg, Colm Feore, Niv Fichman, Bryan Gliserman, Paul Gross, Norman Jewison, Robert Lantos, Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar, Deepa Mehta, Charlotte Mickie, Geoff Pevere, Marguerite Pigott, Gordon Pinsent, Sarah Polley, Peter Raymont, Patricia Rozema, Mina Shum, Tara Spencer-Nairn, and Jean Marc Vallée.

REEL CANADA is made possible by the generous support of our Founding Sponsor Telefilm Canada, and Premier Corporate Sponsor Cineplex Entertainment. National expansion is supported by a grant under the Youth Take Charge program of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

REEL CANADA’s Website

Another Visual Communications graduation show is upon us! As is the tradition, every year the Visual Communications students throw and end-of-the-year celebration and exhibition to showcase their talent and work. This year’s graduation show, entitled Collect, looks to be very diverse in the work presented and seems to range between all forms of media; from digital, to mixed media, to paintings and drawings, to photography, and much more.

Some of the graduates may already be familiar faces around Medicine Hat, such as Social Threat’s lead singer Kyle Hodgman who has created some cool punk rock designs, Or Gerrit Kat who is a local photographer and the creator of Ginger Kid Studios.

It’s nice to see every year that websites and social media are becoming more popular choices for advertising and sending out invites to the graduation shows. This year the students are advertising their work through Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo. In addition, many graduates have even taken an additional step and created their own websites so they will continue to have a web presence long after the show has run its course.

The show opens the night of April 14th at 7PM and students will be on hand to showcase their work and portfolios and will be available for questions and comments. The show will continue to run until the 22nd. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided followed by an after show party.

More information can be found at the official website: http://www.collectgradshow.com/

The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre is proud to announce the arrival of River Heights School grade 5 classes for a week of learning.

They are participating in the Open Minds Education Concept, and will be taking part in various cultural activities in and around the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre until Friday. The idea behind the concept is to extend the educational experience beyond the school, and engage students in hands-on learning activities relating to the Esplanade’s multi-disciplinary facility.

The theme for the week is storytelling. Some of the activities they will take part in include: uncovering a math trail in the Museum using early Eaton’s catalogues, listening to pioneer oral histories in the Archives, touring brick murals in the downtown with sculptor James Marshall, making video in the Studio Theatre and more.

This program is open to what the teacher can envision using the Esplanade and downtown as a classroom. “ On Monday, the students listened to the Museum Curator talk about Black pioneers in Western Canada. They were very enthusiastic and had numerous questions,” explains Rhonda Wiebe-Batiuk, Education Coordinator at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre. The teacher, Allison Jeal, remarked that the students were very engaged and focused in the Galleries.

Locally, there are several participating organizations. This concept is used in many major centres including Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, London Ontario, and in a variety of locations such as Zoos, Museums, Stampede Grounds, City Halls etc.