As caretaker at Cougar Annie’s Garden, in its spectacular setting of coastal rainforest in Clayoquot Sound, Katrina has in some ways inhabited the persona of Cougar Annie since she arrived there almost 3 years ago. She has connected with the land in a reflective way to Annie, and has a personal experience to what it might have felt like to be a young woman, in a remote place, with all the work, in all kinds of weather. Her show will provide a deeper sense of both the land and the pioneers who lived there.

The stories of Cougar Annie, who survived in the wilderness by her wily ways, having arrived on these forbidding shores almost 100 years ago, have been the subject of a huge repository of folklore. Katrina has drawn upon many sources as she composed her more than 30 songs and narrative about this colourful character and her unconventional life.

Having won a Rotary Music youth vocalist scholarship at age 9, Katrina has since become a skilled guitarist, songwriter, and has studied piano and banjo to accompany many years of vocal training, which include jazz, musical theater and opera. Her voice has been described as powerful, sweet, and unapologetic. Her debut CD of original songs, Whirlpools, was recorded in Calgary, AB and released independently in 1998. She has since performed in Canada, the USA, Ireland, and England.

Katrina is also working toward producing a recording of the songs on CD entitled Pioneer ballads and Cougar Annie’s tales.

Cougar Annie’s Garden is now owned by the charitable organization, Boat Basin Foundation. The Foundation works to maintain the heritage site where Annie eked out an existence for herself and her family, and stewards the surrounding 117 acres of remote west coast forest that has become the site of an educational retreat facility.

As well as drawing from her more than 30 original songs on this topic, Katrina will show a series of slides, both new and old, of the area, accompanied by narrative drawn from her considerable research on the area and Cougar Annie.

For more about Katrina, see her website at katrinakadoski.com, or her myspace page.

Event details: Location: Agi Hall. The evening’s schedule: 6:30 pm: set-up and jam. 7:00 pm: open stage. 9-10pm: feature. Admission is $5.00.

Here are more details from the Islands Trust:

Join Kate Emmings, Ecosystem Protection Specialist, as she leads a journey into the world of ecosystem mapping. A diversity of plants and animals – many of them rare and endangered – make the ecosystems of the Gulf Islands unique in the world. The natural landscapes that support this diversity are fragmented and in urgent need of conservation. For example, less than 1% of the region’s old forests remain. The Islands Trust and Islands Trust Fund have partnered to identify and map these fragile ecosystems to meet conservation goals.

In collaboration with Parks Canada and the Province of British Columbia, ecosystem maps are being created for the entire Islands Trust Area using the most recent aerial photography and field data collection. These maps are the foundation of the Islands Trust Fund’s 2010-2015 Regional Conservation Plan. The new five-year plan will focus staff and volunteer attention on the most at-risk ecosystems and on identifying a possible network of protected areas. The ecosystem mapping will also be available to local trust committees for land use planning. (…)

Drop by at the start of your island’s open house for an introductory presentation to learn how and why the maps were created and how they might be used by your community. Stay to interact with the digital mapping displays and 3-D air photo viewing that will enable you to dive into the many layers of ecosystem mapping. Kate will be available during these times to answer questions and receive community feedback. Come out and try your hand at mapping. Everyone is welcome.

KC Kelly has been described as bluesman with a delta feel…a consummate songwriter and instrumentalist

Here’s more from the event announcement:

Friday August 28th, KC Kelly returns to the Coffeehouse on Gabriola in the Agi Hall. He is celebrating the release of his new CD, Wild Card, which will be available at the Coffeehouse, along with his first two CDs, KC Kelly and Kingdom Come, written while living in the heart of the blues, New Orleans. Joining Kelly on the Agi Hall stage is Sandra Profitt on vocals.

A dynamic and exciting performer, with a powerful voice and solid guitar accompaniment, Kelly works with a folk and blues based repertoire of original songs. With strong melodies and vocal phrasings, he backs it up on National steel guitar played with brass bottleneck slide.

Kelly is a very compelling performer and his songs sound so authentic, it’s hard to believe they are originals. Join us at the Agi Hall, the last Friday of the month, August 28 for KC Kelly and Sandra Profitt. You won’t be disappointed!

Want still more information? See what the Gulf Islands Driftwood said about about KC Kelly when he was about to play on another Gulf Island: Wild Card’s a winning CD for KC Kelly. Or listen to sound samples at CD Baby.

The evening’s schedule is:

6:30 Setup and Jam
7:00 Open Stage
8:45 Coffeebreak
9:00 Feature
Admission $5 (free for volunteers and people who bring baking to share)

This interactive workshop (With Ron Hartman, Hartman Land Design Inc) will showcase a grey water re-use system and an innovative outdoor garden system. Reducing your water consumption can be easy!

This event is hosted by Team WaterSmart, a public outreach and education program that aims to reduce water consumption. Team WaterSmart is sponsored by the Regional District of Nanaimo, the Town of Qualicum Beach, the City of Nanaimo, and Fairwinds Community and Resort.

• West African Drumming Workshop — Sunday August 2nd: 12pm – 1:15pm
• West African Dance Workshop — Sunday August 2nd: 1:30pm -2:45pm

The cost is $18 for one workshop, or $30 for both. To register or for more information, contact Esther by phone (250-247-2023) or by email (jacklovesjessie@hotmail.com).

Jennifer has been surrounded by music from an early age. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia but raised by folk-dancing parents in Kenya, Iran and Malaysia. Jennifer learned early on that we are all citizens of the world; her musical influences span from Yiddish folk songs, and British folk to good old country music.

Jennifer’s website has two songs for you to listen to.

This even takes place at the Agi Hall. Doors open at 6:30pm. There’s an open stage at 7pm, then the feature performance at 9pm. Admission is 5.00.

Kouscous’ Myspace page describes their music:

Mediterranean guitar stylings and vocal inflections combined with spicy and exotic Middle-Eastern rythms. Original interpretations of traditional folk songs sung in French, Ladino, Hebrew, Yiddish and English.

For a preview, check out these Youtube videos:

• Kouskous playing le papillon
• Kouskous playing three songs

There’ll be farm-fresh veggies, yummy things to eat, and things made by Gabriola artists and craftspeople.

Seva Canada invites you to this slide show, which celebrates 27 years of restoring sight and preventing blindness. Presenters are Heather Wardle and Susan Erdmann. The guest speaker will be Dr. Martin Spencer, ophthalmologist and Seva Canada board member.

The show is at the Agi Hall on Friday, May 8th at 7:30 pm. (Doors open at 7 pm.) Admission is free. Bring your friends! Everyone is welcome. There will be door prizes and light refreshments.

Please RSVP to the Seva Canada office by calling 604-713-6622 or toll free 1-877-460-6622, or by emailing admin@seva.ca.

For more information about Seva’s work, you might like this Youtube video: SEVA Canada: A Solution in Sight.

The Trintude website has sound clips and more information, including this from their about page:

Merisa Donoghue and Les Tibbo (a.k.a. The Dirty Flannel Dawg) have been performing acoustic folk oriented music together for more than 30 years. So, it came as a rather unexpected development when in early 2005 daughter Emily Celeste joined them in their musical endeavor, and thus changed their musical path. The new addition resulted in the forming of Trinitude, and they’ve been creating music together ever since.

The name Trinitude is the melding of the words ‘trinity’, meaning ‘three’ or ‘trio’, and ‘attitude’. Hence, ‘The Trio with Attitude’.

Trinitude’s highly melodic and lyrically driven music crosses over into many different genres, but it can be best described as celtic flavoured roots. [continue]