Bay Roberts Holdin Ground Festival -July 23-27

Monday, July 23^rd

Model Boat Display The model boat display is continuing every week day from 1-4pm at SUF Lodge #82 on Patterson Street, across the street from the Bay Roberts Fire Hall.  Victoria Smith, Melissa Dawe, and Kalysha Snow from the Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation are guides and offer refreshments and entertainment.

Victoria Smith and Melissa Dawe at SUF Dawe Lodge #82 with Handcrafted Models in Background.

 Tuesday, July 24th

• The model boat display continues at the SUF Lodge from 1-4pm

• The Three Sisters – Traditional Newfoundland Musical Performances sponsored by the Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation.

The performances will be held near the Mad Rock Cafe or at the Three Sisters on fine days. (A sign will be placed near the Mad Rock Cafe telling where the performance will be.) On rainy days the performances will be held at the SUF Dawe Lodge #82 on Patterson Street, across the street from the Bay Roberts Fire Hall on Water Street.

Three Sisters with new telescope on the Shoreline Heritage Walking Trail.

• Family Campfire at the Community Gardens, Crossroads

Weekly campfire at the Community Gardens at the Crossroads takes place, rain or shine, at 7pm. In good weather, it will be at the gazebo; and if there is rain, it will be held in the cookhouse.

Family Campfire at the Community Gardens, Tuesdays at 7:30pm

• Every Tuesday Night, until August 21 – “How’s About A Time?” A Night of Newfoundland Comedy

Written by Nick Mercer and Kim Wiseman
FEATURING The Mad Rock Theatre Troupe, Directed by Michele Gosse Dove (Director of the Award Winning Avion Players of Gander)
Victoria LOL#3 Museum & Playhouse, Patterson Street, Bay Roberts
Starting at 8pm Tickets at the door: $15 Advance Tickets: 683-6377 or email: sroach@pigeoninlet.ca

How’s About a Time? – Out for a Smoke

Wednesday, July 25^th

• Thomas Amusements at the parking lot of the Bay Arena and Bay Roberts Mall.

• The Model Boat Display continues at the SUF Lodge on Patterson Street, across from the Bay Roberts Fire Hall from 1-4pm

• “The Haunting,”  A series of ghost and fairy stories enacted during a walk by the graveyards on Neck Road.

Starting at dusk in the parking lot of Dashing Schomberg, Loyal Orange Lodge No. 45, Neck Road, Coley’s Point. A series of ghost and fairy stories enacted during a walk by the graveyards. Music. Hot chocolate is served. Tickets: $5. Be scared!!

The Haunting – Ghost and Fairy Stories

Thursday, July 26^th

• Communities in Bloom Judges in town.

•  Thomas Amusements at the parking lot of the Bay Arena and Bay Roberts Mall.

• The Model Boat Display continues at the SUF Lodge on Patterson Street, across from the Bay Roberts Fire Hall from 1-4pm

• Walking Tour of Heritage Area from Cable Building National Historic Site to Site of Historic Fish Plants.

Includes tour of the Cable Building including the Road to Yesterday Museum and the Christopher Pratt Gallery, Cable Avenue Municipal Heritage Area, LOL Victoria #3 Museum and Playhouse, SUF Dawe Lodge #82, and the site of Historic Fish Plants on Water Street.

Lois Dawe, Tourism Officer, greets tour member in front of Cable Building.

• Victoria Loyal Orange Lodge #3 Museum and Playhouse

The Victoria Loyal Orange Lodge #3 is the oldest public building in Bay Roberts. Brenda and Jerry Mercer, whose families have historic roots in the town, have preserved the building and many of its historic contents. Open every Thursday from 2-5pm

Victoria LOL #3 Museum and Playhouse

• A Time in Pigeon Inlet

Experience a Traditional Newfoundland “Time” – Complete With Songs, Stories, Fiddle & Accordion Music, Soup Supper & an Old-Fashioned Square Dance.
Newfoundland & Labrador’s First “Tradition Bearer” – Kelly Russell; and his family “Russells in the Corner” Thursday Evenings 7:00 – 9:00, until Aug 16
The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 32, 108 Water Street. From the Conception Bay Highway, turn right at the traffic lights near Jungle Jim’s, across the street from Powell’s Supermarket. Continue to 108 Water Street to the Royal Canadian Legion and the Veterans Quay Marina.
Admission at the Door – $15, Family & Group Discounts
“Soup Supper” $5 and Bar Service Available at Additional Cost

“Running the Goat” – Newfoundland Dance with Tonya Kearley

Friday, July 27^th

• Communities in Bloom Judges in town.

• Thomas Amusements at the parking lot of the Bay Arena and Bay Roberts Mall.

• The Model Boat Display continues at the SUF Lodge on Patterson Street, across from the Bay Roberts Fire Hall from 1-4pm

•  Toutons and Tunes” – Guided Hike with Musical Performance

Shoreline Heritage Walking Trail in Bay Roberts East. Hike starts from the Crane’s Hill Access Point to the Trail at 1:30pm. It includes description and music, and… toutons.

Mr. Herb Badcock tells stories to hikers.

Bryan Borzykowski’s Blunders

The Demise of Traditional Journalism

Last week, tiny town Bay Roberts, Newfoundland and Labrador, was a victim of the demise of traditional journalism. The highly congested world of traditional reporting has 1000s of reporters seeking the attention of a public (with a short attention span) which is bombarded with information.

What is the obvious solution? Write a short, memorable headline (with catchy words if possible) and make it controversial and/ or sensational.

Best Places to Live 2010

Worst Place to Live in Canada – WRONG

So what did Bryan do? He took the last town on a list of the BEST places to live in Canada and called it the worst place to live in Canada. Just think about it. You are number 10 of the top ten in your graduating class… quite an honour. However, according to Bryan’s logic being number 10 makes you the WORST in your class! Our town was on the MoneySense list of “Best Places to Live 2010.” That was a tremendous achievement!! Of all the cities and towns in Canada, including Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Saint John, St. John’s… our community with a population of only 5300 made the list!

So the town was NOT on a list of the Worst Places to live in Canada … it was the last town to make the cut in the BEST PLACES to live in Canada.

Crime Rate – WRONG

But the errors did not stop there. He states that the Bay Roberts has a high crime rate! People living in the town know that is absurd. Overall, Newfoundland and Labrador has one of the lowest crime rates in Canada.

Population Dropping – WRONG

He says the population is dropping, while according to the 2006 Canadian census, it rose by 3.4%. Also, according to the Canadian census 91.1 % of people live in single-detached houses, and 85% of families own their own homes. In 2008 and 2009, there were a total of 157 new housing starts.

No Cultural Activity – WRONG

Perhaps, in his most offensive statement, he says there is “no cultural activity.”

Road to Yesterday Museum Photo: Bay Roberts Heritage Society.

Christopher Pratt Art Gallery Photo: Bay Roberts Heritage Society

The Cable Building is both a Provincial Heritage Structure and a National Historic Site. The Building has been restored and contains the award winning Road to Yesterday Museum and the Christopher Pratt Art Gallery. The town has one of the finest town museums in the province. Hilary Cass, a respected visual artist, was a consultant on the design and layout. The Christopher Pratt Art Gallery is acclimatized and is designed to display a permanent collection of art work, including works by Christopher Pratt. In addition, it hosts the works of well known local artists and visiting art collections.

The town has two summer theatre productions. This summer “A Time in Pigeon Inlet” begins its third season on June 26th. The production features musician and storyteller, Kelly Russell (recognized by the provincial government as Newfoundland and Labrador’s first tradition bearer earlier this year). The June 26^th performance will be a tribute to Kelly. In July and August, Victoria LOL #3 Museum and Playhouse will be featuring a production of “Saltwater Moon” by award winning Canadian playwright David French (who was born on Coley’s Point.) Last summer, they produced his play “Soldier’s Heart.”

A Time in Pigeon Inlet

There will be weekly outdoor musical concerts and sketches during our 2010 “Holdin’ Ground Festival,” starting on July 6^th.

Peter Tiefenbach, Gordon King, Wendy Nielsen, Deanne Hiscock Photo: Dennis Flynn

Many students from our schools are members of the Cantare Youth Choir under the direction of Deanne Delahunty Hiscock, accompanied on piano by Gordon King (both of whom are music teachers in Bay Roberts.) The Cantare Youth Choir performed with Canadian Opera star, Wendy Nielson last month and are performing in Carnage Hall in New York this month. Each year, schools run “Art Smart Programs.” In addition to school music and art programs, there are a number of teachers who offer private lessons in voice, instruments, dance, and art, and we have our own dance school in town – Catherine’s Dance Studio.

On a small scale, we are carrying out many activities that help to preserve traditional Newfoundland culture.

Community Spirit

What makes the town of Bay Roberts exceptional is its community spirit. In the past year alone, the town has won four major awards.

For Winter Lights Celebrations, it won the National WinterLights Celebration Mentoring Award and Circle of Excellence 5 Star Award for Residential Lighting. During the summer, it won the 2009 Tidy Towns Award – Population category of over 3500 and the 2009 Torngat Municipal Achievement Award in the category of Environmental Sustainability with the Town of Spaniard’s Bay – won for their joint efforts on the Shearstown Estuary.

Although we make no pretenses to grandeur, Bay Roberts deserved to be on the list of Best Places to Live 2010.

Three Sisters - Shoreline Heritage Walk

Research, Reference and the Press

Bryan’s article is the perfect example of what I have been talking about in my ongoing series on the media.

He took an attention-getting headline and half-truths combined with misinformation, and spun both to suit his purpose which was to get hits on his website. In this case, his actions were annoying, but not devastating.

However,  many times have we observed the same type of reporting about other places when the consequences tip the balance between life and death. In this age, when reporters are no longer journalists, and most are unethical and unscrupulous about what they write and what they print, we must all be slow to believe what is shown and what is written.

In the case of the misinformation about our town, it was hurtful and annoying – but not threatening to life, property and community social structures. In other cases, this type of un-researched, half-truths in media writing can have a bandwagon effect. Un-truths have the potential to build the type of prejudice and hatred which can eventually lead to the destruction of all we love and value as a society.

About the Town of Bay Roberts:

Understanding Content – THE OTHERS – In honour of the last season of LOST

When the LOST series began, I was intrigued, especially with the concept of  THE OTHERS.  Listening to news reports and conversations today, the implication is always that “we” are “good and correct,” while THE OTHERS are always “wrong and evil.”  If you are an American who supports the “left,” those on the “right” are fanatic fundamentalists.  If you are an American who supports the “right,” those on the “left” are subversive communists.  If you are a North American who supports the current NATO fighting in Afghanistan, THE OTHERS are ruthless, fundamentalist, Islamofascist, murdering cowards who hate North Americans for their freedom and democracy.  If you are a person in Afghanistan who supports the Taliban or al-Qaeda, THE OTHERS are new crusaders who are attempting to convert everyone to Christianity and set up their puppets as government leaders who will give unquestioning support to establishing an Afghani state for the benefit of people of the West.

The Evil Others

People are willing to believe any evil of THE OTHERS.  If the “good people” happen to do something that may be questionable, it was because THE OTHERS forced the situation upon them, and they were defending themselves or their family or friends. .. and, of course, there are hundreds of examples of incomprehensible “evil” that THE OTHERS have done. The evil deeds of THE OTHERS are far greater and far more widespread and more heinous than anything the “good people” could do.  For example, I have seen reporters on CNN defend American soldiers who have shot unarmed civilians dead – because the soldiers had just seen their friends and comrades blown up by improvised explosive devices that were set by people who looked similar to the ones they killed.  On the hand, people in Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Occupied Territories say that people plant these devices because they have seen husbands, wives, friends, brothers, sisters, children, parents, or grandparents, killed mercilessly by people who look similar to those they are trying to blow up.

The Others – the Epitome of Evil

At the beginning of LOST, I thought (maybe hoped) that THE OTHERS would turn out to be enlightened beings who had reached some higher plane of consciousness or at the very worst were much like the Lost “survivors” and the rest of us – mixtures of good and evil.  As a result, a theme of the show would be that evil exists everywhere in all groups in society, just as good exists everywhere in all groups in society.

Then…

Benjamin “Ben” Linus was revealed in all his evilness. For anyone who has not seen LOST, Benjamin Linus is the embodiment of the supreme evil of THE OTHERS.  He is an angry, bitter, blood-thirsty, boastful butcher of people; a cold, corrupt liar; a ferocious, hostile, mean conspirator; a menacing, merciless murder; a treacherous, vain plotter; a renegade, ruthless schemer, and a selfish, violent slaughterer  … and to top it all off he is what my mother used to call plámásaí , which in Irish Gaelic literally means an ”insincere flatterer.” He is totally deceptive in his behaviour; he smiles and lies through his teeth.

Are There Any “Reliable Sources”?

What does this have to do with “understanding content”?  We can only “hate” and “fight against” and even go so far as “to kill” ideas, people and actions we believe are “evil.”  As a result, a great deal of propaganda in mass media and in social media focuses on making people despise those who “our side” or the “good people” want us to oppose.

At a school level, children carry on hate campaigns of “bullying” against THE OTHERS.  At a community level, people carry on campaigns of gossiping against THE OTHERS.    At a national level, people carry on political campaigns of propaganda against THE OTHERS.    At an international level, people carry on wars against THE OTHERS.

“Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see” is a quote which is attributed to Benjamin Franklin.  However, that was written before Photoshop and video tools enabled the manipulation of images, before mass media allowed careful selection and censorship of what is seen and heard. In the not too distant future, psychologists will study your interest patterns and social grouping, tailoring messages to your particular mind set though social media such as Facebook or Twitter.

How do we know that what we are seeing and reading every day is not manipulated?

We cannot.

Do we have any tools that can help us to become more aware of manipulation? What can we do and assist other to do?  Are there any “unbiased” sources that we can use to find “true” information?

What are your opinions?  What can we do?