The fundraiser of the year for the Pender Harbour Blues Festival is this Saturday, March 25, when the Boom Booms – “tight, sexy, soul and funk from East Van” – will heat up the Madeira Park Community Hall. For a sneak preview, see www.TheBoomBooms.com. Tickets (if not sold out) are at www.phblues.ca, Java Docks or Strait Music.
On Sunday, Pender Harbour Music Society presents Robert Kortgaard, piano, and Brett Polegato, baritone, in a sparkling cabaret-style show featuring favourite melodies from Broadway and New York’s glittering show lounges. Concert starts at 2 p.m. at the School of Music. Tickets are $25 at www.penderharbourmusic.ca, Harbour Insurance and Sechelt Visitor Centre.
Also on Sunday, the Pender Harbour Wildlife Society presents The Man Who Walks With Bears, 7 p.m. at the Iris Griffith Centre. This Planet Earth documentary features the pioneering work of Dr. Lynn Rogers with black bears. This presentation is free.
All women in the area are invited to participate in Pender Harbour Women’s Connection events. Tues-day, March 28, at 10 a.m. at the School of Music, the group welcomes Fay Wright. Learn the makeup of a competitive figure skater who had the passion at four years old skating outdoors with her family in Edmonton. She matured, as did her skills, and she competed in the Western Canadian Championships in Pairs and Dance. Later she coached and taught in Indiana until she moved to Pender Harbour in 1999; she still skates for fun.
Seniors Initiative this week has the ongoing Origami Challenge at Mad Park Bistro Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday Walking, an easy pace group exercise program, runs 10:30 to 11 a.m. On Wednesday come carpet bowling 1 to 3 p.m. Harbourside Friendship starts at 10:30 a.m. with a hot lunch served at noon for $10. Chair yoga is Friday morning 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. All activities Tuesday through Friday are at the Hall.
If you’ve been waiting to get back on the water now that winter is finally over, Pender Harbour Paddling Society has an event coming up next week. Come try dragon boating in beautiful Pender Harbour from Madeira Park’s government dock Saturday, April 1 at 1 p.m. or Monday, April 3 at 5 p.m. The members of the Paddling Society would like to introduce you and a friend to this great activity. Call Rick at 604-883-3678 or email to reserve your place: [email protected]. See you on the water!
The PH Garden Club’s next meeting will be one week earlier. On April 3 at 1 p.m. Ron Knight of Caron Gardens will present The Wild Rhododendrons of Mt. Elphinstone. Knight will talk of his discovery of the native rhodos, the difficulties persuading local environmentalists to guide him to the grove and then provide a virtual expedition up Mount Elphinstone. A discussion will follow on whether to keep the grove hidden to protect the rare plants or advertise to the public. Learn more about native plant life and bring your question about rhododendrons. Knight will follow up this presentation with a guided tour to the Pacific rhododendron site when the rhodos are in bloom. Annual Garden Club membership is $15 and your card includes discounts to garden centres on the Coast and some Lower Mainland stores. See www.phgardenclub for info.
Kym Harris of Better at Home is excited to announce that Jane Mortifee and Kathryn Nicholson have agreed to perform a concert for Better at Home April 29 at the Raven’s Cry Theatre.
Mortifee, Vancouver icon and “angelic voice,” will be accompanied by a brilliant 22-voice choir, Sound Eclectic, directed by Nicholson, who has performed with the Canadian Opera Company Chorus and Toronto Mendelson Choir. They will be joined by the fabulous instrumental duo Ken Cormier on piano and Rene Worst on bass. All proceeds from this beautiful concert will be donated to the Better at Home Program on the Coast.
Contact me with your news Mondays before noon for the Friday edition of Coast Reporter at [email protected]
