Below you will find full information on the Grandmother Gathering/Conference in Vancouver on March 11 and 12: Reflection and Renewal.  This is the event that Joyce was presenting in our meeting this morning. It will be held at John Oliver Secondary School, 530 East 41st Avenue in Vancouver.  Organized by the Greater Van Gogos, it is a provincial gathering of all interested Grandmother groups in BC.

It’s just plain bad luck that this gathering falls on the same weekend as our fabric sale, where many of us will be involved.  If you choose to attend the Vancouver Gathering/Conference, though, you may want to coordinate with others for transportation and accommodation.  To be put in touch with others, give your name to Joyce Eilers at fjeil52@shaw.ca  You are asked to have your registration form posted to arrive to the Vancouver group by February 22, 2016.

Eileen Dombrowski for Joyce Eilers

ACCESSING INFORMATION

QUICK SUMMARY OF EVENTS: On Friday evening,  Stephen Lewis and Ilana Landsberg-Lewis will be speaking, and a Marketplace will run except during their talk. On Saturday morning, a keynote speech will be given by visiting African grandmothers.  On Saturday afternoon, people attending the Gathering will be able to choose two workshops to attend out of a menu of ten.  Details of these events and others, plus information on transportation and accommodation, are laid out in the Reflection and Renewal Information Package and Registration form, accessible on our own Oceanside Grandmothers website.

To access this information:  Go to the Members Only section (with your Oceanside g2g password), to the temporary event page.  Click on the links there.

FURTHER NOTES FROM VAN GOGOS

The information package contains:

• Information about the conference
• Conference schedule
• Workshop information
• Marketplace information
• Accommodation information

The registration package contains:

• Registration form to be completed by each attendee
• Information on where to send your group’s forms
• Costs and payment information

Please note the following highlights:

• To register, print out and complete one Registration Form for each conference attendee and then mail it with payment by cheque or money order, made out to Greater Van Gogos, to the event registrar, as indicated on the form.
• Pre-registration is required and the registration deadline is Monday, February 22, as we must have time to give final numbers to the caterer and organize the Saturday workshops.
• You may register for Friday evening only for $20; Saturday only for $35 or both days for $50.  Only grandmothers group members may attend on Saturday.
• You may invite guests for Friday evening, but you have to register and pay for them on your registration form, including their names and payment with your registration.  This event will not be advertised to the public.
• There will not be tickets issued for either of these events, but there will be a list of paid attendees at the event registration desk.
• We are covering the costs for Friday evening with sponsorships and registration.  We are covering the costs for Saturday with our New Horizons for Seniors grant and registration.
• You will notice the empty “ placeholders” for African grandmothers in the information package.  We are incredibly excited that the SLF is bringing six women from Africa for our event, but we can’t announce their names until their visas are approved.  Other aspects of this gathering are still in the planning stages, and as they are decided, an updated info package will be posted.

If you have any questions about the information package or registration, please contact judyjohnson@telus.net or info@greatervangogos.org.

Craft market 

If your group wants to participate in the Friday evening marketplace, please let Arlene Racicot at aracicot2@yahoo.com know as soon as possible, if you haven’t already done so.

Travel Subsidy

We know that those travelling from across the province face travel costs including but not limited to the cost of ferries. Our New Horizons for Seniors grant included a small amount to provide some support for those travelling. No final decisions have been made on how this amount will be shared. If members of your group would like to apply to share in this subsidy, please email me at judyjohnson@telus.net . Please indicate in your email how many members will be travelling and how (car pooling, ferries, bus, etc). Our committee will decide based on the number of requests, costs and distances how the subsidy will be shared. Thank you for your patience while we work through this process in an attempt to be as fair as possible. Please let me know if there are any questions.

Group photos 

There will be a digital photo show of BC grandmothers groups as well as photo books produced for gifts for the African grandmothers. Please send good quality digital photos of your group, with your group name indicated in the file name, to Hannah Diamond at hannahdiamond@shaw.ca as soon as possible.  You might want to bring a camera to your next meeting so you can show us your smiling faces!

In Solidarity,

Judy Johnson and Diane Walker, Greater Van Gogos Co-chairs