The Oceanside Grandmothers to Grandmothers Bottle Brigade is taking on some new activities.  We can all give them support in fundraising for our cause — by taking part in the Bottle Drive and by expanding our own recycling.  No need to double our consumption of Coke or Shiraz!

1.  Bottle Drive April 12

The Bottle Brigade is organizing a Drive scheduled for April 12 at Encorp Return-It, 611 Alberni Highway, Parksville.   Please mark your calendars and start collecting beverage bottles, cans, juice boxes etc. from your friends and neighbours!

We are looking for volunteers to work on April 12 collecting recyclables from the areas we select or helping to sort the items collected.  Please contact lornareid@shaw.ca  or cadodd@shaw.ca if you are willing to help.   (Lorna will be away from February 21 to March 9.)   If you volunteer please let us know the street & area in which you live.

There will be an organizational meeting for volunteers on March 11. Please contact Carolyn at cadodd@shaw.ca for time and location details.

2. Bottle Brigade Expanded Operation

You can help us by:

• asking your neighbours to bring their refundable beverage containers to your place and taking them with yours when you go to Return-It either on a routine trip or just for the Drive on April 12.   Remember we’re willing to do the pick-up and sorting if you can’t!

• spreading the word by word-of-mouth, e-mail or social media that we’re collecting aluminum pop beer cans, plastic soft drink, water, cooler and spirit bottles, PVC juice bottles, glass beer, wine spirits and cooler bottles, gable topped drink containers (except milk)  and juice boxes.

If you are unable to take your collection to the Return-It Depot please let Lorna or Carolyn know and they’ll arrange pick-up. You can also give them your returnables at the regular g2g meetings.

Thanks from the Bottle Brigade!

For now, just note this for your calendar:  Wednesday afternoon, March 12 from 1:30 to 3:30, Knox United Church.  “Refresh, Re-energize, Respond” will be an afternoon of information and uplift.  This Open House will be for our own Oceanside Grandmothers members, with a welcome extended to supporters and anyone else interested in what we’re all about.

We will be doing no fundraising on this afternoon and charging no admission. This is a time for ourselves!

In part, the afternoon will ensure that we all know what our g2g work is for and where the money goes: it will focus on the lives of AIDS-affected grandmothers in subSaharan Africa and the work of the Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. In part, too, the afternoon will give us a chance to connect with each other in discussion and reflection around our own motivation and contribution.

And that’s all for now.  The planning group just met this morning for the first time, and we’ll be back to you with more information later.

G2G Meeting Agenda (21.01.14)

Tomorrow’s g2g meeting is at Knox Church at 10am as usual, with the social time in advance starting at 9:30am.  Please click on the link above to download the agenda.  Please print it out to bring to the meeting.

See you there!

The Royal City Gogos will conclude the tour of their art display entitled “Celebrating African Grandmothers, Heroes of the Continent” with the auction finale on March 7, 2014.   Oceanside Grandmothers are invited to join them in Westminster, BC for the event.  Many of us have seen the juried artwork as our group sponsored its local display at the MAC in Parksville at the end of June.  To bid online (until February 28) or to find more information about the auction finale, check their website:  Art Auction. 

Happy New Year!?*  Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!  It’s too good to be true, but…with the holidays now behind us, it’s time to begin our collective efforts as the Oceanside Grandmothers once again.  The first meeting for 2014 is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21st at Knox United Church, 345 Pym St., Parksville.  As usual, we will start with a noisy, energetic social time beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by the actual meeting beginning at 10:00 a.m.

If you have an item for inclusion on this meeting’s agenda, please e-mail the item, along with the time you expect you will need to share with the group, to Kathy @ gkgrand@shaw.ca no later than Friday, January 17th.  Thank you!

Crafting, stitching, working with wood — the grandmothers and grandothers (our families, friends, supporters) are actively working on products for the upcoming Extravaganza. Ann Tardiff reminds us to bring to the meeting November 19 (9:30am, Knox United Church) a sample of crafts that we’re contributing, and to pick up from her the g2g logo price tags to attach.  She’ll also be circulating a sign-up sheet to help with the Extravaganza as we set up the market and host the public.

Behind all of our creative efforts lie awareness and a strong sense of our purpose — to help the African grandmothers assisted by the Stephen Lewis Foundation to raise their orphaned grandchildren.  A Santa to decorate the Christmas table, a beautiful and sturdy tote bag, a finely woodworked nutcracker, a plate of home baking, a crafted wreath — all of these seem so far away from the school fees of a child half a world away. But they’re not.

Please remind everyone you know about the Extravaganza Friday November 29 (2-7) and Saturday November 30 (10-4) at the Quality Inn Bayside in Parksville.

The following message comes from Jacquie and is for those grandmothers who are making angels and gingerbread houses.

Angels:  Thanks to all the angel ladies who have offered to make angels for the Extravaganza.  I have started to receive many very beautiful  angels. Elaine has made up new cards so we will be using them instead of the cards we have been using up until now.  I will bring the sheets of them to the meeting on Tuesday for you to attach to your angels.  I am trying to keep an inventory of all the angels, so could you please bring them to the Bayside on Friday Nov 29 so I can set them up for the Extravaganza or bring them to my place on Thursday. If you would still like to make more, I have materials, heads and bodies and jewellery.  For the ladies who are making the stand-up angels,  I have the larger head ready, along with the dowels.  And for the huge angels – I have huge heads also ready for pick up. Just let me know what you would like.

Gingerbread houses:  Four ladies have shown an interest in making the gingerbread houses.  My plans for this workshop are:

• Tomorrow (Thursday) I will email out a couple of recipes for the dough and also patterns for the houses.
• I would like the ladies to make and cut out the houses at home. (All instructions will be included in the email) They must be stored in a cool, dry place (not the fridge)
• Early next week (Monday or Wednesday)  we will gather at my place and have a decorating party!!!
• You should bring the candies, etc that you would like to decorate your house with and maybe share some of your goodies.
• I will make the Royal icing and supply the icing bags and tips.
• Ann T. was kind enough to supply poster boards to place your creations on as these boards aresturdy and can hold the weight of a house.

If you have any questions for Jacquie, you can contact her on email.  Best wishes to all of you creative folks.