Our TS working group, the Sooke Region Multi-Belief Initiative, is hosting a summer solstice celebration on Sat. June 23 in the apple orchard at InishOge Organic Farm, 6698 Helgeson Road just east of Otter Point Rd. All welcome, no charge. Bring a picnic lunch, whatever you need to be comfortable and your playful spirit. It promises to be a fun, communal and meaningful afternoon in the heart of the idyllic Sooke farmbelt.

Get to the farm at 11 am to participate in an hour-long work party involving lightweight chores as we offer some help to our hosts, Steve, Mary, Finn and Chloe.

Or arrive at Noon for the lighting of the fire pit and the start of festivities. On the afternoon’s relaxed schedule will be a circle dance led by Vivi Curutchet; a witness circle led by Hum (Eric Anderson); a multi-faith singalong with Phil Rossner; and, if we’re all so moved, a drum circle (bring your own drums, rhythm instruments and noisemakers).

As InishOge’s Mary Coll will tell us, the longest days of the year signal the start of mid-summer and the time when, metaphorically and literally, the fruit of another growing season is ripening and ready to be picked. What might that bounty be in your own life? How can whatever it is be of service to yourself, your circles and the community at large? Thoughts to ponder and perhaps share during Hum’s witness circle.

By the way, the summer solstice is exact at 3:07 am Pacific Time on Thursday.

Also upcoming: 

* Tues. June 19: Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure Open House, 4 to 8 pm, in the lobby at Edward Milne Community School. Drop-in anytime to talk to Ministry officials and share your ideas and frustrations about the winding road home as MOTI planning proceeds for phase two improvements to Highway 14. Slow-car pullovers and signage? Passing lanes? Roundabouts? Stop lights? Speed enforcement? More crosswalks? Now’s your chance to weigh in. If you can’t make it in person, feedback can be offered via email. More info on the current improvement program here.

* Wed., June 20: Zero Waste Sooke‘s regular third-Wednesday monthly meeting at the Sooke Library on Anna Maria Rd. Everyone welcome. 6:30 to 8 pm. Topics to be discussed include the next ZWS delegation to council (July 9), the Earth Day legacy fund, and early planning for the next Sooke Repair Cafe in October.

* Thurs., June 21: National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. Local events are scheduled for the Victoria Native Friendship Centre (10 am to 3 pm), Royal Roads University (10 to 3 pm), the Royal BC Museum (starting at 10:30 am) and West Shore Parks & Recreation(11 to 3 pm). (shared on from the T’Sou-ke/Sooke Reconciliation Group.)

* Sat., June 23: Drop by and visit with Zero Waste’s Jo Phillips at the Sooke Country Market from 10 am to 2 pm. Corner of Eustace and Otter Pt.

* Sun., July 1:  Sooke Canada Day at the flats  www.canadadaysooke.com

* Sat. July 7: Afternoon Tea in a Metchosin Country Garden.  Rolling Justice Bus presents a fundraiser for Site C dam legal challenges.  Featuring Sarah Cox, author of “Breaching the Peace”, hand-crafted eats and live music. 4856 Jelkinek Place. Recommended: $50/person, otherwise pay-what-you-can. To reserve a ticket: GardenParty@sitecsummit.ca

*Thurs/Fri/Sat, July 12, 13, 14: TS presents  Caravan Stage Company at the Sooke Government Wharf.  A world-travelling troubador group that originated in Sooke in 1970 performs from the deck and rigging of their ship the Amara Zee. Presenting “Nomadic Tempest” a Cirque de Soleil type production that is a cautionary tale about climate change. 9:00 p.m.  Tickets by donation.

* Sat., July 28: Compost Education Centre will be at the Sooke Saturday Market as guests of Zero Waste Sooke.  They will bring some demo composters and answer questions about the art of making compost no matter what your circumstances. 10-2

Closing with a few links from our social media streams: 

* Sooke residents are wanted for a new District of Sooke Affordable Housing committee led by Councillor Ebony Logins. Apply here. Deadline: June 29.

* High five to Sooke council for unanimously affirming the Charter for Compassion  following the June 11 presentation by the Sooke Region Multi-Belief Initiative’s Mark Ziegler. The SRMBI emerged from Mayor Tait’s 2016 Health Summit as one among other ways Sooke can evolve into even more of a caring community than is already the case. We’re planning a workshop in the fall as the local campaign continues. If you’ve not done so yet, please affirm the Charter online.

* Download the District of Sooke’s 2017 Annual Report. Offer feedback in person at the Mon. June 25 Committee of the Whole meeting at the Municipal Hall starting at 6 pm.

* BC’s new Wild Salmon Advisory Council: x-month of public process vs this short-cut to solutions (aka the Cohen Commission) and action on its recommendations regarding fish farms.

* Years of Living Dangerously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk8izVrznFk. David Letterman investigates India’s solar revolution and SNL’s Cecily Strong learns how US utility companies are blocking renewables in many states.  Sound somewhat familiar?

* The CRD seeks public input regarding its new EV and E-bike Infrastructure Planning Project. Deadline for survey submissions is July 8.

* Become a Witness for the Peace and support the Treaty 8 legal challenge to the Site C dam.

* Andrew Coyne takes five minutes to explain why Canada’s electoral system is broken (recorded before Doug Ford’s victory in Ontario, where 17 percent of eligible votes delivered 100 percent of the power). Click here for a PDF of BC Attorney General David Eby’s How We Vote electoral-reform referendum report.

* Next on our speaker wish list: Dr. Peter Carter, founder of the Climate Emergency Institute and co-author of Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival. The Pender Island resident delivered a fascinating talk in Metchosin last month and we’d like to bring him here for a Sooke audience in the fall. A few (among many) reasons we need to hear from Dr. Carter: Exhibits A … B … C … D … E … F.

* A proposal for tiny home villages from Practical Utopian Guy Dauncey

* A wonderfully close encounter with a pair of Sooke’s wild things captured by a Project HOWL trailcam last month. Fast forward to 3:50 for a sniff and muzzle of the camera.

* A fab and timely closing song … and one Phil might play by request on June 23 at InishOge Farm. Please join us 🙂