Mark your calendars for a week of fun, educational and inspiration things to do during the annual NatureCity Festival in May. Visit the site now and make your plans to take your kids, your friends, your students, heck, just go on your own! There’s something for everyone. My friend Dr. Barry Brown will be doing a session for all of you who want the latest buzz on urban beekeeping. He’ll be at Cabela’s Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. There will be prizes!
It’s the Spring Fever celebration in Avalon, Catalina Island, today. Oh my! We love this town. We have some good Mexican and South American restaurants in Saskatoon, but today’s samplings were something transcendent! Alicia, the nice lady we see at Von’s grocery store who always says, “Hola, Jaime!” when we shop, was there making, among other fantastic things, chicken enchiladas. They were fabulous and she was so picturesque. We picked up a huarachas to share; we’d had one from a food booth at the rugby tournament here in Avalon a few years ago and have dreamt about them ever since. We hit the jackpot today. Came home and put away what we had planned for supper.
A wonderful event coming up! A sampling of some outstanding women in our community, feted by the YWCA during a glamorous, glorious evening.
Nothing says good times better than an uncle + a nephew + a big old pan of brownies.
Back again in one of our favourite spots on the planet, Catalina Island. There’s a drought but no shortage of good community cheer. People have been welcoming Jim back by name, including Ric, the guy who gave us all a ride to the ferry in his golf cart in 2013! We’ve been away too long.
This first picture iis a look at what you do when there’s a serious drought and you’re committed to save every drop of grey water you can. That’s Jim with one of our favourite people, Lolo Saldana, who at 85 is still pulling a full week’s worth of hours at his barbershop. Rick saved up and got a haircut the day after we arrived and we caught up on all the Island news.
We’ve been taking multiple hikes every day, and there’s always some interesting spot to throw the football around. No one else should come here; we don’t want too many people to know about it!
Very excited that the YWCA Women of Distinction nominees have been announced and there’s our pal, Amanda Soulodre, standing tall in the Entrepreneurship category. She’s the powerhouse behind Saskatoon HOME magazine. Here’s photographer extraordinaire Heather Fritz and me with Amanda at a little pre-announcement celebration at City Perks last week. Amanda is not only a successful businesswoman, she’s a busy mom, volunteer, business mentor, and a dedicated ambassador for the city and all things Saskatoon. On top of all that, she’s really, really nice! Her hats alone are award winning. Congratulations to all the nominees; the awards banquet will be on May 28 at TCU Place.
Our family was saddened to read today ‘Saskatchewan educator and symphony conductor, David Kaplan, dies at 91.’ Dr. Kaplan presided over the Canadian Citizenship swearing in ceremony when Jim finally achieved his citizenship in late 2011. As Jim proudly crossed the stage and held his certificate, Dr. Kaplan leaned in and told him, “Canada is better with you in it.”
Have a look at this; kids with and without Down syndrome are asked a few questions and we end up with more alike than different. I love the kid who describes his favourite snack, and the young Taylor Swift doppelgänger who loves her family, including herself.
So far, the only problem I have is the weird looks I get from people when I tell them that.
Karin Melberg Schwier 