Mountain FM and AM Ford Ride the Heart & Stroke Big Bike!

Team AM Ford... not everyone was ready for the picture!

On Tuesday Jenny Fines and I experienced our first Big Bike ride together as Team Mountain FM, a division

of Team AM Ford. It was so nice of everyone at AM Ford to invite us to take part in this massive fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. We were a little intimidated by the huge 29 seat bike, but the hardest part was getting on. 

We really did have so much fun ripping around downtown Trail with our friends from AM Ford. We made a lot of noise as we passed through the streets and people inside businesses came out to cheer us on. We may have run a few red lights, but that is not why cars honked and people waved at us--- everyone we passed in Trail was super supportive. 

I still can't believe we were invited to take part in this incredible event! 

Not that it is a competition (but it kind of is) but when we sat our butts on the bike we (Team AM Ford) were tied, neck and neck with Teck's fundraising efforts!

Our fundraising goal for Team AM Ford is $3000.00; right now we have about $500.00 to go! You can donateby clicking here. 

Castlegar Sculpture Walk Kick-Off 2014

Another sure sign that we are in the last weeks of spring and that Summer 2014 is rapidly approaching

is that Castlegar Sculpture Walk is once again beautifying Downtown Castlegar.

Saturday night it was my pleasure to represent Mountain FM at the Sculpture Walk Opening Gala. Many of the artists were on-hand to meet-and-greet sponsors, volunteers and fans of Sculpture Walk.

The event was held (fittingly) at Kootenay Gallery and catered by the Element Club Bar and Grill.

To be honest with you, I had visited The Element earlier in the day for lunch. If you read this blog you know that I am a BIG fan of the team at the Element and I visit at least once a month to check out the monthly special. This month is Mexican Fiesta and features authentic tastes of Mexico. I'll have a blog with all the mouth-watering details on the amazing new additions to the menu tomorrow.

Now, back to Sculpture Walk talk.

Castlegar can now say that it is “The Sculpture Capital of Canada”, the phrase has been trademarked --- just one of the many happy announcements from last night’s gala.

I have never seen anything quite like Sculpture Walk. I think it is absolutely fabulous. For those who are not familiar with Sculpture Walk it is an impressive mixture of sculptures from local, Canadian and international artists spread throughout town. Sculptures are sponsored by businesses and compete for thousands of dollars in prize money throughout the summer. You can vote on your favourite for the annual People’s Choice Award.

Mountain FM is on the Sculpture Walk route and the work we sponsored last year (“The Green Man” by Daniel Kloc) was constantly being viewed by passers-by and people doing the sculpture walk until it was removed to prepare for this years showcase.

Here is a photo of all the artists that were at the Opening Gala.

For everything you need to know about Castlegar’s Sculpture Walk “The Sculpture Capital of Canada” click here. When you visit the event page you can see work’s that have been part of the previous Sculpture Walk’s and the maps for this year’s exhibition.

If you get a chance, visit Kootenay Gallery and checkout the very talented high school students artwork that is being displayed right now. We were blown away by the local talented youth that have their work displayed at Kootenay Gallery.

Next week I will do the entire walk and update you on it! For now here is our Mountain FM/1035 The Bridge sculpture Echino II by Greg Jones. 

The Day We Almost Went To Sea World

If you were to have asked me 12 months ago while I was in San Diego if I wanted to go to Sea World I would have without a doubt told you that I would have loved to visit the park. On a student’s budget we had to pick our attractions and we chose to visit the San Diego Zoo with it’s new baby pandas instead of Sea World. For $84 a person it was a little much to do in addition to the Zoo.

A lot can change in a year. Even six months ago I would have been incredibly positive about a place that us 90s kids have incredible memories of, even if only through commercials. Growing up on the East Coast of Canada our regional CTV channel gave away Sea World trips all the time, it was engrained in us that the splash zone was a première family destination.

Imagine this in Little Kate's mind with all the added greatness of the 90s. 

Back in autumn the documentary ‘Blackfish’ had a screening in Nelson and the lovely ladies from 1035 The Bridge told us all about the incredibly emotional experience they had sitting at the theatre watching it. I was a little reluctant to get onboard with their contempt for Sea World, I had just visited the incredible Vancouver Aquarium where I was amazed by the important rehabilitation work the staff there does and found it hard to believe their claims from the doc.

Once we determined we would be vacationing back in San Diego again this winter Sea World started coming up again. I flip-flopped on whether to watch ‘Blackfish’ or not. But, with increasing activity on my Facebook and Twitter feeds about the documentary I knew it would come down to at lease watching ‘Blackfish’.  I was surprised at some of the people I know; people who do not normally vocalize their strong opinions via social media, venting online about their feelings towards Sea World and their sympathy for the killer whales being held in captivity.

So it came down to the wire, I put off watching ‘Blackfish’ because (to be honest) I have not been in the mood to be any sadder than need be in real life. Last night, my boyfriend and I were debating going to SeaWorld; to be honest with you I wanted to go. Forget the price of the day; I wanted to go for the show, for the rides and to see the animals.

Yes, I had been debating going and not posting the pictures online to avoid the ridicule from friends for going after having the resources to watch ‘Blackfish’ on Netflix and choosing not to (or worse, watching the doc and going anyways).  But, late into the night while we were trying to plan our day I put it on anyways.

Taken from Blackfish's Wiki page. 

I must say that I was absolutely horrified; ‘Blackfish’ brought me to tears.  We watched the entire film and had both decided early on that we would not be going to Sea World today. I am trying to take ‘Blackfish’ with a grain of salt, but just seeing the videos of the killer whales looking so unhappy is what made my decision for me.

Yes, there are moments when the killer whales do seem very happy; but they are outweighed (to me) by the moments when the killer whales are sad. What makes it worse is seeing the aggressive nature of the whales in captivity towards each other, I do not question that the Sea World trainers treat the whales well. I believe that they love the animals and respect them, as they should; but I do think that the bigwigs at Sea World are less concerned about the well being of the whales (mentally).

I am not trying to be preachy, I am not saying that you should not go to Sea World; I just wanted to voice my opinion on the whole ‘Blackfish’ saga in light of all of the hoopla that has come out in regards to concerts being cancelled and boycotts of the park.

I am totally for organizations like the Vancouver Aquarium that rehabilitate and learn from the animals in their care. I am against visiting Sea World at the current time until they can find a more humane way to do business.

As a kid who grew up on the Atlantic Ocean I learned about our oceans at an early age and to respect what you do not understand. Our planet’s oceans (and lots of the creatures that live within it) are some of the great mysteries we have left, unfortunately killer whales are a large, majestic mystery that we need to learn more about (apparently) even if it means not having kitschy interactions with them.

Even though Sea World is down the road for us right now, I think I will wait to see killer whales in their habitat, in their communities and take in their “culture”. Better for me to suffer on a cold boat than for them to suffer indefinitely in what sounds like killer whale prison.

Again, I will revisit the idea of going to Sea World in the future if their practices change or new unbiased information comes to light but right now my opinion leans towards staying away and taking the chance to see them in the wild.

Rebeckah from Whitewater Resort on the Kootenay Coldsmoke Powder Fest

Rebeckah Hornung from Whitewater Resort in Nelson joined me on the show to chat about the 8th Annual Kootenay Coldsmoke Powder Fest. Thank goodness we did not record the entire chat, it would have detailed exactly why I (unfortunately) will never be the Queen of the Hill :(

In all seriousness, Whitewater hosts the Kootenay Coldsmoke Powder Fest coming up February 21-23, 2014. For all the details you need (including ways to save money on registration) check out our chat below and head over to coldsmokepowderfest.com! 

The 117th Rossland Winter Carnival

What a crazy weekend!

I believe I have the best job out there. 

My Saturday started with a trip to my first ever Rossland Winter Carnival. This year was the 117th Rossland Winter Carnival and it was the talk of the station all week leading into the great event. I love Rossland, if it was closer to the station I would love to live there. I get excited whenever I get to go to Rossland, so I was pumped to say the least to get to go to Day 3 of the Winter Carnival. 

It got off to an interesting start, we parked on a side street and walked down to Columbia Avenue, but the street we took was covered in snow and people were snowboarding down it! It was incredible, there was a live DJ mixing for them and people took turns completing their trick run. One snowboarder almost ate-it and nearly came off the snow covered part of the street and into me as I watched. It was slightly terrifying, but overall very cool! I have never witnessed anything quite like it!

The Mountain FM and 1035 the Bridge team was hard at work when I got to our Columbia Ave. location, handing out hot chocolate, coffee, popcorn, Queen City Crisps with Antoinette's Dip (what nice people, eh?). Our team also gave away Mountain Sky lip balms and I must say, I snagged one and love it!

On top of interacting with everyone attending the Rossland Winter Carnival I got to check out the many food vendors and explore Rossland's Columbia Ave. like never before. I made my first s'mores on the street, it was amazing! S'mores flavoured things just cannot compare to the real thing! Everyone told me I burnt the marshmallow, but I still thought it was addictive... so tasty!  

I can't wait until next year's Rossland Winter Carnival, it truly is the perfect winter festival. To be honest with you, I have never been to a Winter Carnival and I am not sure any other could compete with the Rossland Winter Carnival.

Keep up with the Rossland Winter Carnival all year long and get involved volunteering at the 118th Rossland Winter Carnival by checking out www.rosslandwintercarnival.com!

Lessons I Learned at the Tour De Soup

Saturday was Mountain FM's 2nd Annual Tour de Soup at the Black Jack Ski Club. It was so much fun! I had not been cross-country skiing since elementary school and it really showed. It was free to ski all day at Black Jack so Morning Rocks co-host Jenny Fines, 1035 The Bridge Afternoon Ride host Megan Milne and I took full advantage of it! 

How many times did I fall? I think saying I fell 20 times would be a little high. I think it was around 10 times, but there were some big falls. I even tried to take a picture of my biggest wipe-out because I left a full face and body print in some pristine, previously untouched snow. That was the only time I went headfirst and it taught me a lesson about staying in the previously made tracks. 

I also learned that when skiing with friends I provide a running play-by-play commentary. "Megan, we're not going to crash, I've got this, nope we're not going to collide.... YES, YES WE ARE!” BOOM impact, Megan took the high-road and I took the low-road into the snow.

Another lesson I learned at Black Jack on Saturday was that is absolutely soul crushing when a small child passes you on skis, especially if you are really struggling to get up again.

Make sure you come out the 3rd Annual Tour de Soup next year, to keep updated on everything going on at Black Jack Ski Club check out www.skiblackjack.ca! 

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. 

Santa and Audrey from the Castlegar Rec. Centre on Morning Rocks!

Santa and Audrey from the Castlegar Rec Complex joined me on Morning Rocks Monday morning to talk
about Winterfest. It is coming up this Friday, December 6th and it is going to be an awesome time in Downtown Castlegar, the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit! I will be on location for Mountain FM with our first Mountain FM photo-booth, so make sure you come stop by!

For more information about Winterfest click here.

Celebrating Children's Day - Michelle Pierce on Morning Rocks

It is Children’s Day, as you can see if you open up Google (it is featured on today’s doodle). If you are

looking to take part in a great event right here in the Kootenays for Children’s day you can check out the celebration going on at Kootenay Family Place Neighbourhood House. Michelle Pierce joined us on Morning Rocks this morning to give us all the details.

You can also visit Mountain FM’s event page to learn more.

Rossland Mountain Film Festival's Roxy Piette On Morning Rocks!

This morning on Morning Rocks Roxy Piette joined us from the Rossland Mountain Film Festival. Roxy is
the chair of the Rossland Mountain Film Festival that is going into its fourteenth year in 2013. The festival kicked off last night in Rossland and will be underway all weekend.

For more details about the Rossland Mountain Film Festival click here.

Shopper's Drug Mart Tree of Life

Head down to Shopper’s Drug Mart in Castlegar today for their ‘Tree of Life’ celebration, it was postponed last weekend due to the rain. This weekend is much nicer, perfect to grab one last burger from the grill that supports a great cause! You can visit them at Shopper’s Drug Mart in Castlegar today until 2 or 3 o’clock! They want a steady stream of burgers to flip so let’s keep them busy all afternoon!
 

A Taste of Nelson

I am not sure there could be a better way to spend my three year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend than at 'A Taste of Nelson' last night. We spent the night with Save On Foods Kyle (sorry Kyle, I didn't get your last name), 1035 The Bridge Morning Grind host Sarah Hyde, Mountain FM Afternoon Drive Host Jenny Fines, Vista Radio Account Executive Matheson Kincaid and my amazing boss Kevin Einarson (thanks again for hooking us up with a table). Yes, that is Jenny Fines photo-bombing my cupcake pic. 

We had so much fun, there was a ton of great food and drinks donated from around Nelson. Here is a list of all of the vendors that came out and filled our bellies with amazing dishes:

-All Season's Cafe

-Bibo

-Nelson Brewing Co.

-rel-ish

-Itza

-Kootenay Bakery Cafe

-Leo's Pizza & Greek Taverna

-Lucky Cupcakes

-Max & Irma's

-Main Street Diner

-Skimmerhorn Winery 

-Ric's Grill

-Sage Tapas & Wine Bar

-Dock'n Duck 

-Cantina del Centro

-Outer Clove

-Queen City Crisps

'A Taste of Nelson' was not only a way to switch out my normal boring supper, it was for a great cause, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. 

Favourites? Okay, you got me. Of course I have a favourite. I loved Ric's 'Chicken Lolly Pop' and Max & Irma's 'Sausage Polenta Crostini'. Everything was truly amazing. There were also outstanding items at the auction tables and an impressive amount of prizes. My boyfriend even won a gift certificate to rel-ish! 

All I can say about 'A Taste of Nelson' is that I can't wait to take part again next year! Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who made this amazing event possible! 

Back to the Wild West in Grand Forks for Moonlight Madness

Jenny Fines and I had a great time down in Grand Forks today helping celebrate ‘Back to the Wild West Moonlight Madness’! It was such a great time, we met so many families out taking part in the western themed event.

On top of events like horse and buggy rides, family movie screenings, street hockey, cow milking contests and a pancake breakfast there was a great line-up of artists taking to the stage to perform.  Our setup was outside Work & Play and we got to see TONS of people find steals of deals on jeans and summer wear, there were so many happy customers!

The highlight of the day for us seeing a good-ole-fashion bank heist, don’t worry it was just for fun. You can watch the video of that below.

But our younger friends LOVED the mist tents. At first I thought everyone was just really sweaty from the heat, it was really just that everyone was getting their shot at the mist tents, young and old.

Overall, I must say it was a great first trip (for me anyways) to Grand Forks. I can't wait to go back and visit again!

Nelson's Marketfest

Buy local is a movement very close to my heart. My parents both own their own small businesses in my hometown in Nova Scotia. Our family farm is a constant reminder to me when I am shopping for groceries that it is important to source where your foods (and products) are coming from. I had a great time checking out Nelson's Marketfest last Friday night; it was a really cool spin on traditional market style shopping. 

            Marketfest has everything from gelato to homemade jewelry and clothing. I was so impressed with the assortment of food trucks and vendors out on a Friday night. The streets were packed with people, lining up to look at all of the marvels of Marketfest. On top of it all there was great live music on the two stages on opposite ends to the market.

            I strongly recommend checking out the next Marketfest, Baker Street will transform again Friday, August 23 from 6pm to 10:30pm. It is a great night full of fun for the whole family.