News and upcoming events (in lieu of our newsletter, see final item below) 

* We elected the TS 2017 Board of Directors at our sixth AGM on Feb. 17: Paivi Abernathy, Jeff Bateman, Martin Bissig, Stephen Hindrichs, Andrew Moore, Wendy O’Connor, Jo Phillips and Michael Tacon. Sincere thanks to all for either joining the board for the first time (Paivi, Jo and Wendy) or carrying on for another year (everyone else). Jeff will continue as President and Michael has been succeeded as treasurer by Martin. Also, appreciation to our departing board members: Sofie Hagens (stepping down after five years), Kara Middleton and Tony St-Pierre (who’s taking a hiatus to focus on the hard work of homesteading at Cast Iron Farm). They join a TS board alumnus that also includes Darren Alexander, Blake Barton, John Boquist, Yves Boudreau, Yvonne Court, Margaret Critchlow and Mark Ziegler.

* Presenting the top five finishers in the Dotmocracy vote that AGM attendees and all on our email list had the opportunity to vote on. It has helped us determine priorities for the year ahead: 1. Our second Sooke Ecohome Tour (scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14); 2. A community building workshop series (i.e. Non-Violent Communications, conflict resolution, consensus training, etc.); 3. Speakers’ series; 4. Reskilling workshops; 5. A think-tank/strategy session/Pro D day with other Sooke community groups.  We’ll also be promoting Streetbank Sooke more intensively, have plans for a fourth annual TS summer potluck picnic in August, and will be looking at co-hosting a family cycling event in the early fall, perhaps in association with the international CycleHack weekend in September.

* Thanks to the 22 individuals from all walks of spiritual (large and small ‘s’) life locally who attended a March 4 exploratory meeting about a possible new TS multi-belief working group. It has arisen from a suggestion made by Don Brown (Baha’i Community of Sooke) at the Sooke Region Health Summit last spring. TS shapes up as a good potential host given its society status and the fact that the “inner transition” (which posits that real change begins within) is a central part of Transition Network founder Rob Hopkins’ guiding philosophy for the movement. The T’Sou-ke Nation‘s Shirley Alponse and Sooke Mayor Maja Tait gave opening addresses, then the group got busy brainstorming about shared values and potential collaborative actions. Stay tuned for more.

* How safe are our school zones for young pedestrians and cyclists? HASTe (Hub for Active School Travel) has organized two local exploratory walkabouts this month — the first was on Tuesday morning at Journey Middle School; and the second on Thursday, March 16 ((8:15 sharp to 9:45) at the neighbouring Ecole Poirier Elementary. “Anyone invested in active & safe transportation is welcome to join us,” says Ebony Logins, HASTe’s School Travel Planning Facilitator. “Please bring a co-worker or friend.” Email ebony@hastebc.org for more information.

* Our Zero Waste Sooke working group is planning a few events in the months ahead: A roadside clean-up of various neighbourhoods around town to coincide with Earth Day on Saturday, April 22; and our town’s first Repair Cafe on a TBA weekend in May at the EMCS Society‘s new Makerspace. Details to come when firmed up and finalized.

* Tonight’s Awareness Film Night (March 8) presentation is Toad People with all proceeds going to the Wilderness Committee. The film documents grassroots efforts in BC to save the western toad … essential citizen actions given the lack of endangered species legislation in British Columbia. (MLA Andrew Weaver introduced long-overdue draft legislation in Victoria last week.)  As Jo Phillips notes: “This is a film suitable for children, as long as they don’t mind the occasional shot of a toad killed by a vehicle.  But there are lots of children in the film busily saving species at risk.” EMCS, 7 p.m. By donation.

* The Sooke team of Dogwood BC presents “Tankers, Pipelines & Dogwood: What Now? What Next,” an info night on Wednesday, March 15th, 7 p.m. at the St. Rose of Lima Church on Townsend Road.  Featured speakers will be Dogwood’s founding director Will Horter and former federal Environment Minister David Anderson. Dogwood communications coordinator Charles Campbell will outline next steps, notably a canvassing drive for a 90-day HST-style citizen’s action to stop the Kinder Morgan TMX pipeline expansion under BC’s Recall and Initative Act.  Learn more at the Facebook event page, and RSVP here if you’re planning to attend.

* Work has begun on the community food garden at the Sooke Baptist Church on the West Coast Road across from Woodside Farm. All food grown there is earmarked for the Sooke Food Bank and needy families in the region. Foundational work crews are meeting for the next two Saturdays, and help is needed on a variety of fronts. Contact Bernie via email to learn more. Among other things, donations are welcomed for the $600 worth of soil needed for the garden.

* One of Sofie Hagens’ many contributions to TS was our colourful, informative newsletter. In her absence, we are seeking a volunteer designer who can take on the task of translating supplied material into an attractive, reader-friendly newsletter. If you’ve got time, interest and some comfort around designing e-newsletters (we’ve used a MailChimp template to date), please send us an email and we’ll be in touch.