June 5, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day "What The Nose Knows"

Despite the dark clouds hanging over other parts of our wonderful country today it was a gorgeous morning in Castlegar. It turned into a beautiful day, we surpassed the high for today early and right now as I type this it is 23 degrees at West Kootenay Regional Airport. Despite the warm temperature, sunny skies, new shoes and a fun dress I was feeling very sad this morning due to the events that have happened over the last twenty-four hours in Moncton, New Brunswick. 

I took a little breather before my show today looking for inspiration. I was looking for something light-hearted for my feature today on one of Castlegar's Sculpture Walk pieces, but I was drawn to one of the works that has stuck out to me from day one, "What the Nose Knows." There really isn't much commentary here for this to tie in with the events that made me feel a little gloomy this morning. But, I will mention that this huge piece was one of the first sculptures I noticed this year. I watched it being installed the day of the Sculpture Walk Gala and waited in anticipation to hear its story at the event. 

"What the Nose Knows" is one of the largest sculptures in Castlegar's Sculpture Walk this year. I have heard that it had to point a specific way to avoid starting fires, I'm not sure if this is just an hilarious story or the truth but it seems to make sense.

To be completely honest with you, "What the Nose Knows" reminds me of the Doctor T. J. Eckleburg's billboard mentioned in The Great Gatsby, maybe that is just a personal thing. 

Anyways, I will exhibit a little bias here and tell you that his is one of my favourite pieces this year. I know, it is only the second sculpture in my blog series but it has stood out to me from the moment I saw it. It is visually striking, fun and most importantly it makes you think. The artist Ron Simmer's commentary from The Castlegar Sculpture Walk website describes it best:

He decries the “nosiness” of government and corporations for their relentless accumulation of data, and their reluctance to provide it freely to the individuals whose information it is. In light of the intrusive actions of spy agencies like the NSA and CSEC in their collection of metadata using highly questionable methods and rationale in doing so, it is a prescient comment. (From the Castlegar Sculpture Walk Website)

How can I top that? Simple, I cannot. Thank you Ron Simmer for "What the Nose Knows" it is one of the most unique pieces that I have seen on the walk and I am so happy it was my feature on this rough day.  

For more about "What the Nose Knows" and Ron Simmer click here.

To check out my previous feature on "Sphere of Influence" click here. 

I was a little busy Wednesday with Tim Hortons Camp Day so I skipped a day of sculpture posts, number three will be up tomorrow for sure! 

My Awesome Day in Nelson featuring Kootenay Insurance Services and Fresh Tracks Cafe Express from Whitewater

I had a kick ass day in Nelson yesterday!

Yes, my humpday was a little different than a normal day. I was on-location at Kootenay Insurance Services for their first annual Community Appreciation Day. On top of all amazing presentations to Nelson's hard working first responders I got to hang out with the AWESOME staff at the Nelson branch of Kootenay Insurance Services. We have worked with Kootenay Insurance Services in the past, they are a huge supporter of community initiatives--- last fall they actually ran a contest with us where they gave a $1000 to the Kinnaird Youth Indoor Skate Park. 

Here are John and I holding the big ole' check with Kootenay Insurance Services CEO John Sullivan. 

On top of an inspiring day with with local heroes from Nelson & Beasley Fire Department, Search & Rescue, the Nelson Police and RCMP I had a killer day food wise. 

Our awesome Account Executive Dustin picked up lunch for us from the new Fresh Tracks Cafe Express from Whitewater Ski Resort. Honestly I am getting hungry again right now at 9 am writing about my amazing burger. 

I absolutely love it when a restaurant (or in this case a food-truck) can find a way to disguise or add incentive to eat foods that I would normally not eat. With burgers it is so easy to pick off things that are outside of your comfort-zone. But, even though I don't eat wheat or onions I found myself downing every last bit of my burger. 

I had the handmade pork and BBQ duck burger. I absolutely love duck, but unfortunately rarely see it featured on menus so I was ecstatic to see it on the Fresh Tracks Cafe Express menu. Worth every carb this burger features pineapple peanut slaw, sesame caramelized onions, tomato, spinach and honey miso mayo! Yes, it was cheat day for me and I will happily admit to you that before I touched my burger I ate every last fry. I don't normally eat fries, but these fries were incredible. Perfectly crisp I did not share; I kept them all for myself. 

I absolutely loved my burger; it is how I imagine summer tastes as a flavour. Like I said, I normally do pick onions off my burgers but the caramelized onions really added to the mixture with the honey miso mayo and pineapple peanut slaw. It was the perfect combination of flavours; light and balanced. I can't wait to have this again and try it with the spelt bun!

I try to hold off mentioning things I have not tried myself. Usually whenever I eat out I am with others and we all kind of share tastes of everything, but Dustin and I had the same thing so I have only gathered taste bud feedback from the handmade pork and BBQ duck burger with fries. But, everyone at our office in Nelson has been raving about the Glory Bowl from the Wild Side of the Fresh tracks menu. Featuring roasted tofu, candied almonds, spinach, grated beets and carrots on a brown rice bed with house made dressing; it has sparked my interest and may be the first meal I have had without meat ever. Yes, I can honestly tell you I cannot remember ever eating a meal without any meat! 

I did hold off ordering the Filipino Tacos because of my recent tirade of Mexican meals from Confusion Taco and the Element, I can guarantee that I will explore this dish this summer as well. 

You can check out Fresh Tracks Cafe Express from Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson outside of the Whitewater offices on Lake Street. Tuesdays they make an appearance in my neck of the woods in Castlegar outside the Sandman Hotel and on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays they are on Baker Street in Nelson around the 200 Block.

For the full menu from Fresh Tracks Cafe Express click here. They also have a page for you to 'like' on Facebook too! 

On top of that awesome meal I got to wash it all down with Riva water--- from Nelson! A pretty cool story, my new friends from the Okinshaw Water Company were hydrating everyone who stopped by the Kootenay Insurance Services event. With bottled water straight from the mountains near Nelson it really added to my ultra-Nelson day! 

I had such a great time with the entire crew of people who made this awesome day possible. I really hope Kootenay Insurance Services puts this event on again next year! 

UPDATE: The Rock Creek Cat In A Tree

Yesterday our lovely General Manager here at Mountain FM received word that there were cats in distress in Rock Creek. He asked me to let everyone know and call the woman who has let him know about the issues. Wendy from On the Water Campground gave me all the details about a group of cats or kittens that had been stuck up in a tree for days. She had tried to help them herself but had no way to get up the tree and turned to us to get the word out.

Wendy was very upset about the cats and to be honest with you the story weighed on me all day as well. The cats had been without food or water for days up in the tree and Wendy said they were desperately crying for help.

I was so happy to get a call this morning from On the Water Campground with an update on the story and got to speak with the hero of the day himself, Ty. Oh, the power of radio!

Sorry about the ugly paint art, we did not receive a photo of the cat.

Here is our conversation from earlier today:

George Longden on the 32nd Annual Community Christmas Dinner

If you are like me and have no where to be Christmas Day for Dinner you should head to the 32nd
Annual Community Christmas Dinner. It sounds like a great event and a huge tradition for the Grand Forks community, this year Greenwood reisdents are welcome (as your community dinner is not happening this year). This is a massive accomplishment for the community of Grand Forks, it is put on completely by volunteers. Oh... and I almost forgot to mention Santa will be there for the kids! 

For more information visit the Mountain FM events page listing here. 

Michele from Rara Avis Dancers on the 10th Annual Dance Extravaganza

The Rara Avis Dancers are getting ready to present the 10^th Annual Dance Extravaganza (and Yuletide Market) on December 5^th. I spoke with Michele from the Rara Avis dance troupe about the events history and what people can expect this year. On top of the show there is also a Yuletide Market, you can drop by the Grand Forks Secondary School at 5:30pm to check out the market and doors for the show are at 6:30pm. The Dance Extravaganza begins at 7pm. You can purchase tickets at Thistle Pot Gifts.

For more information about the event visit Mountain FM’s event page here.

The 1st Annual Taste of Castlegar

I am such a lucky girl.

I love my job because I get to go to amazing events like 'Taste of Castlegar'.

Not only did I get to go to ‘A Taste of Nelson*’ last week, I also got to go to ‘Taste of Castlegar’. I can gladly say I enjoyed every calorie of my very tasty week. We had lots of sweets at the office as well*.

The rain did not stop the fun at the Lion’s Head Pub. Food vendors were under tents doling out their prized menu items from their new autumn menus. It is impossible to pick a favorite although I heard a lot of amazing feedback about all the items for the day. I can honestly tell you I was impressed with everything I tried. From butter chicken to cinnamon rolls, I ditched my diet and worked my way across all my taste buds. I really, really hope there is a second annual ‘Taste of Castlegar’ next year!

On top of all the great food the staff at the Lion’s Head Pub made great hosts to all the madness and the entertainment was killer! You need to check out ‘Taste of Castlegar’ next year. A big thank you goes out to everyone who made this great event possible, including everyone at the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce.

*If you look in my backlog of blogs you can read more about ‘ATaste of Nelson’ and our smiley-sweet week at Mountain FM. 

Winners From The Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair's Jelly Bean Contest

Community events are one of the greatest parts of my job. I love getting to take part in the events and

helping build social klout for some of the fun elements of life in our little corner of the world.

I like to talk about things that are going on across the Kootenays on my show and not just in a specific region (ex. I talk about Castlegar events on my Grand Forks show and Grand Forks events on my live show). We are one big network of cities, towns and communities working together to be the best place to live possible, so I think it is integral that we take part in other communities events and show our support for the incredible amount of work it takes to make these events possible.

Getting to the point, I had a great call from Michele Caskey yesterday about a very special annual part of the Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair last weekend (September 14 and 15, 2013), she gave me a call to let me know that over 300 people had entered the B.C. Lung Association’s contest at the fair. Contestant’s guests how many jelly beans were in the jar (pictured) and guesses ranged from 112 to 1,000,000. The correct answer was 1,003 jelly beans. There were two winners who guessed the correct amount of jelly beans in the jar, Lynzee Davies of Whistler, B.C. and Rhys Prudence of Oliver, B.C. An independent person conducted a draw as the tie breaker and 6 year old Rhys was the big winner of all 1,003 jelly beans! I have been told that Lynzee will receive a gift from the Boundary too. 

A pretty cute story and a nice reminder than when we host events here in the Kootenays we get visitors from across the province.