Online auction to help fire department
The Cache Creek Volunteer Fire Fighters Association is looking for donations of new items or services for an online auction that runs through Dec. 30, 2018. The people at Fraserway RV have pledged to match all money raised by Dec. 30 up to a total of $100,000. The funds will be used to go towards the purchase of a new primary fire engine for the Village of Cache Creek.
Anyone who has items or services to donate to the auction, or who would like more information, can contact Alana or Lindsay at the Cache Creek Village office (250-457-6237, or email admin@cachecreek.info). To view the items in the auction, go to the Facebook page “Cache Creek Fire Department Auction – Help Us Get A Fire Truck!!!!“
A Ford F-250 Super Duty truck is the main item, but many others are on offer, and new items will be added almost every day through Dec. 30.
Unique gifts at Kamloops art show
Looking for small, unique gift items this Christmas season? You can still shop the Old Courthouse in Kamloops for original artworks at the Kamloops Arts Council’s second annual SMALL//works: a great big teeny tiny art show, which is now on daily through Saturday, Dec. 22.
SMALL//works is an excellent chance to snag fresh artwork for gifts, or for your own office or home. More than 400 small, affordable, and original works by area artists are for sale for up to $300, with many under $50; everything from painted wine glasses and photography to landscapes and abstracts.
Art is sold right off the wall. More than $7,000 in art has been sold since the show’s opening on Nov. 23, but there are still lots of treasures left.
All sales are split 50-50 between the artists and the Kamloops Arts Council in support of its community arts programs
SMALL//works is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, visit www.kamloopsarts.ca.
New Year’s Eve at UniTea
Come down to Unitea Café and Lounge in Ashcroft on Monday, Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. to 1 A.m. to ring in the New Year. There’ll be lots of music in a wide variety of genres (disco, R&B, reggae, electronic, 1970s and 1980s rock classics, and more, including requests).
The $10 cost per person covers party favours and champagne, and all are welcome. There will be potluck appetizers, so bring some to savour and share. Anyone who wants to just drop in and visit is welcome; the cost is $5 per person.
For more information drop by UniTea, or call (250) 457-1145.
Brushes Without Booze
Ashcroft artist Jo Petty will be guiding painters through the creation of a unique work of art at a Brushes Without Booze event on Friday, Jan. 11 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Ashcroft HUB.
The cost is $40 per person, and pre-registration is required. All the necessary materials are supplied. To register, call the HUB at (250) 453-9177, or email ashcrofthub@gmail.com.
Building manager sought for Ashcroft HUB
The Ashcroft HUB is looking for a full-time building manager, who will have supervisory, maintenance, custodial, and other responsibilities. The hours are 3 to 10 p.m. weekdays (some weekend days are possible).
The position is a salaried one, and applications will be taken until Jan. 11, 2019. For more information about the position, go to the HUB’s Facebook page (The Ashcroft HUB Society).
Lottery tickets aren’t for kids
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) reminds parents and adults that lottery products such as Scratch & Win tickets are a form of gambling, and not suitable gifts for children and minors.
This year’s #GiftSmart campaign encourages responsible play and responsible gift giving. Lottery products make great stocking stuffers, but not for children and youth.
It is important that parents and adults understand the impacts associated with underage gambling and the effects that exposure can have at a young age.
Research has shown a correlation between the introduction of gambling products to those who are underage and potential problem gambling behaviour later in life. In fact, kids are more likely to gamble than to do drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol, yet it is a topic that parents discuss less.
Year round, BCLC encourages parents to start a conversation with their children about the risks of gambling, but during the holiday season they are reminding everyone to make a conscious decision not to give lottery products as gifts to kids and youth.
Additional information is available on www.gamesense.com about the comprehensive programs in place to help players make informed choices about gambling.
Christmas fun fact
Many families have a Christmas Eve tradition that they have observed for many years, but in Sweden there is a longstanding tradition on Dec. 24 that as many as 40 per cent of the country’s population—close to four million people—observe.
Every year since 1959, at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, a 1958 special called Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul airs on Sweden’s main public television channel, TV1. It might surprise people to learn what the hour-long special consists of: Disney cartoons. The title of the show translates into English as Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas; the actual English title of the show is From All of Us To All of You.
The show is hosted by Jiminy Cricket, who leads viewers through about a dozen “Christmas cards” that open to reveal shorts, film clips, and other cartoons dating from the 1930s through the 1960s. The reason for the show’s popularity in Sweden is ascribed to the fact that for many years the country only had two TV channels, and Dec. 24 was the only time of year when people could watch Disney animation or American cartoons on television.
The tradition shows no sign of dying out, and its cultural significance is profound. Everything halts while the special airs: no one eats or prepares meals, cellphone use plummets by close to 30 per cent, and calls to emergency services sharply decline. People do not record it to watch later; the show is always watched as it airs. And while the show is on there is silence from everyone watching.
“It’s not really that the films are so good,” Charlotte Hagstrom, a professor of ethnology at Lund University, explains. “It’s more like it’s a ritual to sit down with your family every year at the same time watching the same films.”
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