Club Programs

6 04, 2022

The Magnitude of All Things

By |2022-04-14T15:44:35-07:00April 6th, 2022|Categories: Cinema Galiano|0 Comments

Join filmmaker Jennifer Abbott for a screening of her latest film hosted by Galiano Club/Cinema Galiano and Galiano Library.

When Jennifer Abbott lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown. Abbott’s new documentary The Magnitude of All Things draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief—both personal and planetary. Stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is everything.

For the people featured, climate change is not happening in the distant future: it is kicking down the front door. Battles waged, lamentations of loss, and raw testimony coalesce into an extraordinary tapestry, woven together with raw emotion and staggering beauty that transform darkness into light, grief into action.

1 04, 2021

Active Page Article April, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:33:41-07:00April 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Programs, Galiano Players|0 Comments

Galiano Club Update, April 2021

Making it through a pandemic winter is no small feat. Hope seems more tangible now, as the earth fills in with colour and warmth, and we hear optimistic news of vaccines and re-opening plans. Recent health regulations have relaxed to allow groups of 10 to gather outdoors, and the trails and parks in the Heritage Forest, Mt Galiano and the Bluffs are great places to gather in small groups and experience the beauty of spring on the island.

This spring also marks a year since the beginning of the pandemic, and it has been a difficult year for many. The Community Hall has been empty for much of the time, without the usual busy schedule of classes, workshops and events that make it such a treasured place. Everyone has risen to the challenge of finding creative ways to get things done remotely, but it’s not the same as sharing space together, and we miss it deeply.

Easter Chocolates

With Hall rentals being one of the mainstays of Galiano Club fundraising, one of the fun alternatives we have come up with is selling chocolates! The Christmas and Valentine’s Day sales were very popular, so we are planning an Easter chocolate sale on Saturday, April 3rd from 11-3 in front of the hall. There will be Almond Roca $6, Chocolate bark $6, Turtles $6, vanilla cream filled chocolates $7 and of course, Truffles $7. We are going to offer a box with a variety of chocolates for $15. If you would like to pre-order please send an email to galianoclub@gmail.com and put chocolates in the subject line. We will confirm your order and then you can pay by e-transfer. Pre ordering is recommended, we sold out quickly at our Christmas and Valentine’s Day sales.

Galiano Club Arts and Culture

Something to look forward to as the days grow longer, the Galiano Players will be presenting a series of short plays this summer, in outdoor garden venues around the island. Each performance will also be paired with some outdoor music. The events will be COVID safe, with small casts and limited audience capacity, and each will be an intimate and unique artistic experience. To make the plays more widely accessible, each one will also be recorded and broadcasted online as a “radio play”. Stay tuned for the dates, and more info on each play.

These will be the first initiatives of the newly expanded Arts and Culture mandate of the Galiano Club. We hope that, similar to the many branches of the Food Program, the Club can support a wide variety of creative and cultural programming. Let us know if you have ideas, and would like to volunteer in this area.

Don’t forget to renew your Galiano Club membership for 2021! It only costs $10, which can be e-transfered to galianoclub@gmail.com with “2021 Membership” in the subject. The Membership form can be found on the Galiano Club website. Members can help shape the many exciting opportunities the Galiano Club offers on the island, and help make the community beautiful and strong.

1 03, 2021

Active Page Article March, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:27:33-07:00March 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Programs, Galiano Players|0 Comments

Galiano Club Update, March 2021

By Jack Garton

Sitting in the kitchen, watching icicles drip off the roof: as if we needed another reason to stay inside at home. Ok, going outside in the snow can be fun. Usually, once the effort is made to bundle up and venture out into the unreasonably picturesque forest, the cold air feels invigorating, the soft lines of the snowscape feel gentle on the spirit, and the pace of the slowly swirling flakes is refreshing, and sort of mesmerizing.

It always seems a bit unfair, though, when a cold snap comes after spring has already been promised. (But the snowdrops!) Winter can be isolating, especially on Galiano, and many folks are looking forward to the longer, warmer days coming when we can spend more time outdoors, in contact with nature and with other humans.

As the pandemic lockdown continues, social events at the South End Hall are still on hold for the time being. However, the Galiano Club board is working hard behind the scenes to keep its many community initiatives alive. The walking trails are all open, and work is always being done to make them easier to use and more accessible. At the top of the Wildfire Loop in the Community Forest, a plugged culvert is being repaired by Galiano Excavating, who also did a great job grading the access road to the Bluffs recently.

Many of you may have noticed more space and light (!) around the Hall. A huge rotting cedar was recently taken down. That tree was on board members’ minds every time a strong wind started to blow. Thank you Gord Palmberg, for all your work falling, bucking and chipping the tree. We’ll all sleep better, thanks to your work. We’d also like to thank Lief for his heavy equipment work, and our supportive neighbour for allowing much of the work to be done on his property.

Our Valentine’s Day Chocolate Fundraiser was a big success. Thank you to the volunteers who participated in several days of chocolate making leading up to sales on February 12th and 13th. Many braved the snow on Saturday to pick up their pre-orders and a few were able to purchase at the door. Apologies to those who arrived to find us sold out. We’d better make even more next time; clearly Galiano loves chocolate.

By the time this update reaches readers, it will be March, and there’s hope that nettles will have begun poking up, and the sound of frogs will be serenading us as the sun sets on warm (or just not-freezing) days. Making it through a pandemic winter is no small achievement. Social connection has always been necessary to coping through the long dark season, and this year we were unable to warm each other with hugs, laughter, stories, food and songs in the way we usually do. The Galiano Club will keep working hard this year to find opportunities for connection and community, come what may. Don’t forget to renew your membership for 2021 if you haven’t already! It only costs $10 for the year, can be done easily on the Galiano Club website, and includes the opportunity to vote at the AGM on important issues facing the island.

Galiano Players

By Sonia Baker

The players haven’t been doing much in the last year because of COVID-19, but we did manage to put on the play in the garden last summer and this year we will be hosting Shakespeare in the garden probably the end of June beginning of July with the hopes that the Covid restrictions will be lifted so we will be able to get more people and as it’s outside that will work fine. And if all is well this November, we will put be putting on the much-loved Pantomine again. Stay tuned to see what else the Galiano players have in store for you!

12 04, 2020

COVID-19 Update

By |2022-03-20T21:09:11-07:00April 12th, 2020|Categories: Club News, Club Parks, Club Programs, Food Bank, Food Program, Frozen Meals|0 Comments

In response to the pandemic, the Food Program has adapted our regular programs. It’s clear that when it comes to food security, some people are more affected by the pandemic than others.

We are partnering with St. Margaret’s of Scotland church to run the Galiano Food Bank, which re-opened in February. There are a number of people on the island who rely on the Food Bank and the demand has increased during the pandemic as many community members are facing financial insecurity. We are very grateful for the swell of donations we’ve received from the community, including the CRD, and from the volunteers who have been doing grocery runs to make sure we have enough – thank you very much for your support. And a big thanks also to Daystar, the Corner Store and Galiano Trading for your support making sure we can bring in groceries.

To meet the needs of people who are self-isolating or in quarantine, and who are struggling to afford groceries, we have begun a new service in partnership with the Better at Home program, delivering over a dozen hampers of food each week. This program relies on over a dozen superstar volunteers who have stepped up to help out, cooking, driving, and doing outreach – thank you all!

As a result of both of these programs, we’re facing a pretty steep grocery bill each week, and we’ve lost the revenue of our Soup & Bread lunches, so again, we’re very grateful for the generous wave of donations from the community, as well as from the United Way.

We are exploring other avenues for financial support including announcements from the Federal Government about support for organizations and Food Banks.

If you’re able to contribute, we need your support to keep our programs going and feed vulnerable islanders.

24 10, 2019

Community Forest Work Party

By |2019-10-24T13:45:55-07:00October 24th, 2019|Categories: Club Programs|0 Comments

Volunteers Needed!!! There will be a work party on Saturday, October 26 to relocate the Shorepine trail in the Community Forest.  We will also be doing some trail maintenance on that trail.  Please join us if you can.

Meet at  10am on the 26th, on Georgia View extension where the trail meets the end of Sticks Allison road. Bring hand tools and gloves.

22 07, 2019

Charcoal Making

By |2019-07-22T11:20:41-07:00July 22nd, 2019|Categories: Club Programs|0 Comments

Charcoal making is an ancient art dating from 6000-8000 BCE.

In a carefully controlled process known as pyrolysis, all moisture and most of the volatile materials contained in wood are removed, leaving almost pure carbon. The resultant charcoal burns at 600 to 1200 degrees Celsius, producing an even, smokeless heat.

Preparation

To prepare the kiln on this site for firing, a crib floor was laid over cedar logs set lengthwise above a subfloor,with channels for the air to flow from the entrance to the flues. On top of the crib was packed a floor of sand and dirt.

Loading

20cm diameter logs of alder (sometimes fir or maple) were stacked vertically side  by side, reducing in diameter toward the front opening.

Capping

Once the kiln was filled, a thick layer of sticks and branches were placed over the logs. These were covered using a sand-clay-soil mixture, packed firmly to make a dome of 20cm thick.

Protection

The kiln would also have had a framed roof to protect the firing process from rain, as charcoal making was mostly done in autumn

Air Flow

This pit kiln has a typical teardrop design, dug out of the slope and forming an earthen mound lined with stone. Two flues are built half-way up into the walls and a metre away on each side of a central outlet chimney; all help regulate the flow of air, and control the heat.

Insulation and Drainage

15cm below the floor, a hidden subfloor of split cedar logs was laid across the width of the pit. This subfloor had two purposes: to act as an insulator for the ground heat, and to drain moisture and volatile acids toward the central chimney in order to be burned out.

The Process

The charcoal maker would light the fire at the narrow front opening, and then give his full attention to the burning. At the beginning white smoke would pour out the flues and it would take the day to get the kiln going.

A large tub of water would have been kept nearby in the event that a fire broke through the dome. If it did,water and more sand-clay mixture would be used to repair the leak. As the temperature in the kiln rose, moisture and volatile acids would be released from the logs, and the entrance way would be closed except for a small air intake.

The charcoal maker would judge the conditions in the kiln by observing the four stages of carbonization, revealed by the colour of the gases coming out the flues: white, yellow-white, blue and finally translucent. A slight odour of alder wood – not smoke – would be the sign to end the smoldering by covering the air intake and the three flues.

With all oxygen cut off to the kiln, carbonization would be complete. After one or two days’ wait to make sure the fire was out, the kiln was ready to be opened. The charcoal would then be removed, packed into rice sacks for market and taken down the hill to be loaded onto boats in Active Pass.

A century later, charcoal is still widely used, for barbecues, filtration, odour removal, art materials, smelting, soil enhancement and even as an ingredient in cosmetic products.

 

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