The Community Arts Council is still seeking artisans and crafters for a Christmas craft market.
The Rollin Art Centre’s annual Mistletoe Market begins next week on Dec. 1. Due to COVID-19, all craft markets on the Island have been cancelled for this year, but not us! With safety protocols in place, we will still be holding our annual market.
If you are interested in joining us this year, please call 250-724-3412 or stop by the Rollin Art Centre for more info.
Beginning Dec. 1, the Rollin Art Centre gardens and grounds will be transformed into a winter wonderland. Come and stroll the magically-lit gardens, then pop upstairs to the gallery (with COVID-19 safety protocols in place) and visit Mistletoe Market, where you will find hundreds of gift items for all your shopping needs. You will find something for everyone on your list: pottery, jewellery, scarves, photographs, original paintings, glass works, quilted stockings, holiday cards, ornaments and much more!
Mistletoe Market runs until Dec. 23. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with special late nights every Friday). We are located at the corner of Argyle Street and Eighth Avenue. We are also wheelchair accessible.
HOLIDAY EXTENDED HOURS
The Rollin Art Centre and decorated grounds will remain open late on Friday, Dec. 4, Friday, Dec. 11 and Friday, Dec. 18 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for you to wander the beautifully-decorated grounds and enjoy some holiday shopping in our gift shop and gallery.
MEMBERSHIP APPRECIATION DAYS
The Community Arts Council is holding its annual membership appreciation days with two days of savings! If you are a current member, join us in the gallery on Friday, Dec. 4 (open late, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and Saturday, Dec. 5 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) to receive 20 percent off all items in the gift shop and gallery, excluding ticket sales.
This is also a great time to renew your 2021 membership—don’t forget!
MYSTERY BAG OF BOOKS
Surprise!
For just $20 you will get 10 books in one bag, all in the same genre!
By purchasing a bag of books, you will also be helping Rollin Art Centre during this difficult time. Choose from fiction, travel, gardening, cooking, home improvements, art, spiritual, romance, fantasy, mystery, pre-teen chapter books (e.g. Nancy Drew), children’s books and so much more.
These make great Christmas gifts! Bags are now available at the Rollin Art Centre. Get yours now, because they sell out fast.
CALLING ALL ARTISTS
The Community Arts Council is designing a new Alberni Valley Artist and Studio Guide.
If you are interested in being included in this brochure/guide, please call the Rollin Art Centre for more information. The guide will include local artists and a map. Five thousand guides will be printed and distributed to the tourist information centre and local hot spots.
The extended deadline is Nov. 30. Call today for more info: 250-724-3412.
CELTIC CHAOS TICKET HOLDERS
The Community Arts Council is very sad to announce that our Celtic Chaos for the Highlanders fundraiser has now been officially cancelled due to COVID-19.
This was a fundraiser for us, with the goal to raise much-needed funding. If you would like to return your ticket for a full refund, you may do so at the Rollin Art Centre. However, if you would like to donate that amount, we would like to offer you a special tax receipt for that donation.
It has been a struggle for us, and we are hopeful you will donate your ticket cost back to us.
Melissa Martin is the Arts Administrator for the Community Arts Council, at the Rollin Art Centre and writes for the Alberni Valley News. Call 250-724-3412. Email: communityarts@shaw.ca.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
