Tag: Kitchener

Animate the Trail, Sunday, 2 June 2013

Animate the Trail, the Kitchener community party along the Iron Horse Trail, is back for its second year:

On Sunday, June 2nd, from 1-5pm, the Iron Horse Trail will come alive! Join us and neighbours from across the city, as we turn the trail into a cultural pot-pourri.

This event is a natural evolution from the original “Car Free Sundays” event, moving it to a well loved and yet often forgotten urban trail, which already has all the infrastructure required to welcome active transportation of all sorts: walking, jogging, biking, skateboarding.

Last year’s event saw an acoustic stage and artisan bazaar at the Henry Sturm Green, art displays from local artists, buskers, school groups, and more. And this year will be even bigger and better.

There’s much more info on the Animate the Trail web site.

–Bob.

Two new actions and events

Two actions, two events: Petition against tax evaders, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Israeli settlements, Dorothy Day documentary

Here’s the latest newsletter from Eleanor Grant:

Hello KW peace and justice supporters.

Two Events and two Actions:

ACTION 1 on Tax Evaders:

The G8 meeting this week in Northern Ireland will discuss a public registry to prevent individuals or corporations hiding their income or profits behind shell companies. But to implement this much-needed plan, the G8 needs unanimity. CANADA can either be the reason it fails, dooming us all to billions in extra taxes, or it can be the champion that ensures the deal passes.

Tell PM Harper you want Canada to be a backer not a blocker:
Avaaz – Harper: End the great tax scam

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ACTION 2 on Climate:

In early May we passed the milestone of 400 parts per million of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere. This trend must be reversed if there’s to be a sustainable future on this planet.

A local chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby is being formed. Read more at We Generate Political Will for a Livable World

There will be an initial meeting, at the organizer’s home, on Sat June 1, with lots more to follow. If you’d like to get involved in this, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch.

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EVENT 1 on Israeli Settlements:

Thurs May 30, 7 to 9 pm,
UW Student Life Centre, Multi-Purpose Room:

A CHALLENGE TO JUSTICE: a PowerPoint presentation by Omar Ramahi, on Israel’s policy of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Omar was a 1948 refugee. Read more at Israeli Settlements: A Challenge to Justice | Waterloo Public Interest Research Group

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EVENT 2 on Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement:

Tues June 4 at 7 pm,
Queen St Commons (43 Queen S Kit):

Documentary Screening: DON’T CALL ME A SAINT

Local sponsor Isaiah Boronka writes:
Dorothy Day’s life and the movement she founded exemplify an approach to issues surrounding peace and justice that place an equal emphasis on personal commitment & change as on social change – her remarkable life and the movement she helped start has had a profound influence on many, including KW’s own Working Centre.

Read more at: Dorothy Day: Don’t Call Me a Saint

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Hope to see you at these events.

And please sign the Avaaz petition at the top of this msg.

Eleanor Grant

Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

Multicultural Festival and Non-Violence Festival

From Eleanor Grant’s newsletter:

And looking ahead:

MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL

Sat June 22 and Sun June 23
Victoria Park map 1
more at:
http://www.kwmc.on.ca/content/multicultural-festival

Nonviolence Festival’s 9th annual
DAY IN THE PARK

Sat July 13 from noon to 5
on Victoria Park Island map 2
Read more, or request a table for your group, at
http://www.nonviolencefestival.com/

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Thanks to all the good folks who are working to organize these events.

Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes – Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Eleanor Grant writes:

MEN WANTED to WALK A MILE IN HER SHOES !!

On Wed June 5, the men in our community will combine their big hearts and big feet at the 3rd annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, in support of YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo.

The walk begins at the Waterloo Public Square map at 11:30. Walk (in red high-heeled shoes!) to Kitchener City Hall, where a lunch is provided. Event ends by 1 pm.

Get your pledge form at: Walk A Mile In Her Shoes – KW YWCA

Photograph of a similar event:

Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

March Against Monsanto Everywhere – Saturday, 25 May 2013

In her e-mail newsletter Eleanor Grant tells us:

Marches are planned in over 250 cities around the world, to take back our food supply from the growing use of genetically modified crops (GMOs).

Marchers will meet in front of the KITCHENER MARKET map at 2 pm, and peacefully walk to Kitchener City Hall, where great speakers are planned. WEAR A RED T-SHIRT – and bring a sign if you like! Contact <misslissa.m@gmail.com>

For more info on the world-wide movement, please visit March Against Monsanto. If you click on the drop box in the “Home” bar, there’s a Links tab with informative articles on GMOs. For example, Der Spiegel on-line reports that German scientists are investigating suspected links between GMOs and Colony Collapse Disorder in bees – but can’t get funding to continue their research.

And view for free the feature-length documentary The World According to Monsanto (YouTube video, 1h49m)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=N6_DbVdVo-k

Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

tri-Pride Live Music Festival, Saturday, 1 June 2013

It seems the tri-Pride Week started today:

tri-Pride is the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer) Pride Festival celebration in Cambridge, Kitchener & Waterloo, Ontario. Join us this year May 22-June 2 for tri-Pride Week, including the tri-Pride Live Music Festival on Saturday June 1 at Kitchener Civic Square, King Street & Victoria Park’s Clock Tower.

What: tri-Pride Live Music Festival
When: 22 May to 2 June, 2013
Where: Kitchener Civic Square map1, Victoria Park Clock Tower map2
Also: Saturday, 1 June 2103 from 12:00noon to 8:00pm iCal
Register: Eventbrite: tri-Pride Live Music Festival

Suubi Youth Dance and Drum Troupe, 22 and 30 May 2013

Eleanor Grant writes:

An exciting upcoming event on Thurs May 30:

In conjunction with Dream for Uganda, Neruda Productions is pleased to present the Suubi Youth Dance and Drum Troupe from the Cambridge Secondary School in Eastern Uganda on May 22 at Gallery Momo in St Jacobs, and on May 30 in the Rotunda Gallery at Kitchener City Hall.

Suubi Youth are the stars of the drama club at the Cambridge Secondary School which provides refuge, counseling, and an education free of cost to 400 children impacted by war, poverty and AIDS.

“The enthusiasm and joy of these young people who have faced such great adversity has a lot to teach us about the healing power of dance and music,” explains Isabel Cisterna, Neruda Productions’ Artistic Director. “Their music and their joy is inspirational.”

Suubi Youth will spend time with students at Rockway Mennonite School in Kitchener and will also visit high school students in Tobermory and Lion’s Head between performances in Waterloo, Toronto and London.

In Uganda, education is not free so the Cambridge school motto, “nothing without struggle,” applies not only to its students, but also to those who founded and operate the school.

Suubi Youth are touring Southern Ontario on a cultural exchange from May 18 to June 1, visiting schools, performing, and raising funds to purchase a biofuel stove for their school in Kyengera, just outside the capital, Kampala. The biofuel system will provide enough clean burning gas to power stoves and eventually lights, making the school more self-sufficient and able to give up the dirty charcoal brazier that requires cutting down trees to fuel.

Performances by Suubi Youth in Waterloo are by donation, or ‘pay what you can’ (PWYC, suggested $10).

For more information or an interview contact Isabel Cisterna, Artistic Director, Neruda Productions at: isabel@nerudaproductions.com or +1-519-502-9677

Dream for Uganda: Suubi Youth
When: May 22, 2013 – 4:00pm
Where: Gallery Momo – The Mill, 1441 King St. North, St. Jacobs, ON

Dream for Uganda: Suubi Youth
When: May 30, 2013 – 6:00pm
Where: Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener City Hall

For more information visit:
nerudaproductions.com
dreamforuganda.com
www.cacoskyengera.org/
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Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

Homelessness Awareness Week (5 – 11 May 2013)

Eleanor Grant writes:

  • Sun May 5 at 10:20 a.m: First United Church, Waterloo (King & Wm) – Outreach church service focussed on homelessness in our community.
  • Sun May 5 at 7 pm AND Mon May 6 at 9:15 pm: Princess Twin – Movie: HIT ‘N STRUM, a drama about a homeless musician in Vancouver.
  • Stepping Up: Monday May 6th 2013, 11:30am -1:00pm: Join us for a silent walk with masks, from Waterloo Square to Kitchener City Hall, to raise awareness of homelessness in the Waterloo Region.
    RSVP to Mike Savage by Phone: (519-579-5268) or by email : msavage@golden.net
  • Speaking Up: Tuesday, May 7th, 1:00- 2:30pm at Kitchener City Hall Rotunda: Speakers from all walks of life will discuss personal experiences of homelessness as well as challenges of service provision in the Waterloo Region. Light Refreshments will be served.
  • Tues May 7 at 7 pm: First United Church – Discussion of Hit ‘n Strum movie. (This is not a screening of the movie.) Please RSVP to Mike at msavage@golden.net
  • Thurs May 9 at 5:30 pm at Kitchener City Hall: free BBQ sponsored by Downtown Kitchener Community Health Centre – followed by Kindred Spirit awards.

For more information:
http://www.homelessawarenessweek.org/

 
Eleanor Grant writes a semi-regular e-mail newsletter on social justice issues. You can contact Eleanor at eleanor7000@gmail.com

Sustainability forum focuses on collaboration

City of Kitchener logoThis is a media release from the City of Kitchener

KITCHENER – Collaboration and commitment are on the agenda for the Sustainability Networking Forum on Saturday, April 20 at Kitchener City Hall in the rotunda from 9 a.m. until noon.

Hosted by the City of Kitchener councillor, Yvonne Fernandes, and the environmental advisory committee, the forum highlights the need to work together and also identifies the values and principles that underscore collaboration. During the morning there will be a guided presentation for attendees to work together on a variety of activities.

Grassroots environmental groups have a wide variety of reasons for organizing; this forum will be an opportunity for them to connect with each other, find common threads and perhaps pool resources in a wider effort to get their message out to the public. The hope is that a bigger annual event can be planned so that the public will be able to attend in the future.

Participation in the forum is open to community environmental organizations by registration. Contact Brian Scott, City of Kitchener, at brian.scott@kitchener.ca.

What: Environmental sustainability networking forum
Who: Councillor Fernandes and the environmental advisory committee
When: Saturday, April 20, 9 a.m. to noon.
Where: City hall rotunda

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The Kitchener City Hall Rotunda is at 200 King St. W., Kitchener, Ontario (map)

Have Your Say on Casinos

Waterloo:

Web comment form: Take Survey: Casino Feedback
Phone: +1-519-957-9727
E-mail: casinofeedback@waterloo.ca

The deadline to submit feedback is April 30, 2013

Notice: City of Waterloo seeks input on casino

Kitchener:

CasiNO – Kitchener Public Consultations –
When: Tuesday, 23 and 30 April 2013 starting at 6:00pm with a presentation from OLG; public consultations for those who have registered to speak will follow. A second session will be held April 30. Pre-registration for the 30 April session is not mandatory but is strongly recommended and can be done on the City of Kitchener’s Casino web page or by calling Linda Korabo at +1-519-741-2200;ext=7591

Location: Kitchener City Hall Council Chambers, 200 King St. W., Kitchener, Ontario (map)

Notice: Public Consultation on a Casino in Kitchener

News release: Council votes in favour of public consultation on casino

An online survey will be available from April 15 – May 1, 2013.