This is a quick note to let you know that on the morning of Sunday, December 30th, we will be serving breakfast at the St. Vincent de Paul Society's Drop-In Centre.
Let's round out the new year on a hopeful note, with our friends at St Vinnie's!
Please let us know if you are planning on attending. Thanks a lot!
Ben
Serving Breakfast at St. Vincent's
SUNDAY, December 30th, from 8am-11am
St. Vincent de Paul Drop-In Centre
1180 3rd Avenue
A note from Andrea:
Hello Everyone!!!
18 Days Till Christmas!!!
If you're working...hope it's going well.
If you're a student...study hard...and Best of Luck on exams.
Just a reminder about the "SALVATION ARMY - CHRISTMAS KETTLE CAMPAIGN!''
This is a crucial month for the sally ann as they raise a significant portion of their funds for the entire year in the month of December.
If you are interested in Volunteering for the kettle campaign, please call the Salvation Army at #564 - 4000.
You can volunteer even for 1 hour (or more)...and that is extremely helpful - and if you want, you can ask for a particular location.
Thanks so much.
Hope you see you around town jingling those bells!!!
Sincerely,
Andrea
We watched Sarah McLachlan's music video for her song World On Fire. You should watch it. The first time I watched it, I cried. There are a few versions, so make sure you watch the one that opens with Sarah sitting on a chair, playing the guitar, not the one that's concert footage.
We also watched one of Rob Bell's Nooma videos, about how rich we North Americans are. One rather shocking fact he revealed was that, for the amount of money Americans spend on ice cream in one year, world-wide poverty could be eradicated! And yet, it's not. Crazy.
So yeah, this gave us some things to think about this holiday season, like what should we spend our money on? Is it worth it to give someone something they don't really need or want while someone else goes hungry? Some ethical options are that you could buy Fair Trade goods, or donate to a cause in someone's name. For my birthday last year, one of my aunt's made a donation to the World Wildlife Fund in my name, to protect boreal forests. It was one of the coolest and most thoughtful gifts I'd ever received.
As we mentioned at Saturday's gathering, we will be helping to serve breakfast at the St. Vincent de Paul drop-in centre, this Sunday morning at 8am.
If you are planning on attending, please leave a comment below.
Thanks a lot!
Serving Breakfast at St. Vincent's
(Photo at: http://flickr.com/photos/donncha/1396468434/)LAST MINUTE REQUEST!!
St. Vincent's has asked us to help them with their "Bulk Breakdown" for their Christmas hampers this Saturday.
We will be breaking down bulk goods and packaging them for the hampers.
WE NEED YOU!!
Since we can use all the help we can get, we can certainly use yours!
And the more people we have helping, the sooner we can get it done...
(If you are planning on coming we would really appreciate a comment on this post so we can get an idea of how much help we'll have.)
The low-down:
SATURDAY, November 24th, from 3:30pm-6:00pm
St. Vincent de Paul Society Drop-In Centre
1180 3rd Avenue
Thanks for your time, and don't forget our December 1st gathering!
Photo credit: Ken Turner http://www.tworiversartgallery.com/
Our dear friend, Laura-Lee Penson, has passed along the following message to our group:
Hello Smokestacks community!
Have you seen the Roomfull of Missing Women Exhibit at the Art Gallery yet?
We're having a private workshop/showing on Friday November 16 from 7 to 9.
I need to know by Thursday who would like to join us.
Please email davepenson@telus.net or facebook Laura-Lee to reply or if you have questions.
It's a moving display and a real call to prayer.
Maybe we can take a silent prayer on Queensway afterwards if anyone's interested?!
Look forward to your feed-back! All God's Best, LLP
This morning a bunch of us helped out at the St. Vincent de Paul Drop-In Centre, as sort of a "last-minute" project. It is very encouraging to see the amount of willing volunteers we have in our small community. There was piano playing, storage organization and breakfast serving (among other activities) to be done, and we had a great time doing it. Stay tuned for more information regarding our work with St. Vincent's...
For our November SATS, we focused on the idea of sorrow, and how bad things can happen to good people. We drew our inspiration from the book of Job. Sometimes it can be easy to disregard people for their place in life, or judge them for things that happen to them, thinking that they must deserve it. God's word says this is not the case- bad things don't just happen to bad people, they happen to everyone- and we should love and empathize with each other, not judge. We also addressed how there is always hope, even in the worst of times.
Going along with our sorrow theme, we'll be showing a movie on the BIG SCREEN at the church next Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7pm. We'll be watching Shadowlands, a remarkable, Oscar-nominated film about the life of Christian writer C.S. Lewis (played by Anthony Hopkins). It's a very touching film. You might cry. . . my dad always does at this film. Bring Kleenexes. Also, we'll be offering some light refreshments. See you there!
(Photo by CARF Brazil. Found at: http://flickr.com/photos/beija-flor/3717165/in/set-95174/)
Our "master of the arts", Dave Hendersen, has selected a provocative image for our Novemember gathering, which is all about sorrow, loss and hope. Above is the completed poster; you can help us spread the word by putting up one or two of these. Thanks a ton, and see you on November 3rd!
This morning we served breakfast at the Saint Vincent de Paul Society on 2nd Ave. SATS was represented by Ben, Andrea and me, and three sisters were also there to help out: Melissa, Rachel and Caroline. We did dishes, filled bowls with cereal, dished out porridge, and made copious amounts of toast. After most of the people had eaten breakfast, I got to play 2 games of Scrabble with some older men who ate there. I had a great time, even though I didn't win either games. Caroline also played a game of crib with a couple of other guys. Volunteering at St. Vincent's is always a lot of fun, and it really isn't hard work at all. It's really nice to be able to connect with people from different walks of life. It can be very easy to live in a bubble. St. Vincent's expands/ breaks that bubble.
This Saturday morning (Oct. 13) we will be serving breakfast at the St. Vincent de Paul Society's Drop-In Centre. Showtime is at 8am. See you there!
It's been a while, hasn't it? Our gatherings over the summer were a little less regular, but with our community arts night, BBQ, band concerts and fundraiser for the Huntington Society of Canada, we were still rockin and rollin... Above is the poster for our next gathering, which is coming up on October 6th; we will be taking a look at the promise of abundance and what it means to live as if we have enough stuff. As always, there will be music, food and plenty of conversation, which is always good on Thanksgiving weekend. Oh yeah... feel free to print off one or two of the posters for yourself and a friend. Or better yet, bring a friend.
The SMOKESTACKS AND THE SUNRISE Band will be playing an hour-long acoustic set up at the university tomorrow (Monday) night from 5:45pm on. Featured will be our friends Ben Cheung on violin and Nathan Reinheimer on bass. Should be a good night.
If it is sunny, the show will be on the lawn in between the two residences; if not, it'll be in the Wintergarden. See you there.
On August 25th we are hosting a fundraiser for the Huntington Society of Canada. There will be great entertainment, tasty treats and refreshing beverages, including fair-trade coffee from Central Perk. Admission is $10; for tickets email us at: smokestacksandthesunrise@yahoo.ca or contact Studio 2880 at: 563-2880. Over the next month we will provide more details... So download a poster or two, put them up and invite your friends!
Click here to view the map to 3887 Chestnut Drive, the place for the SATS BBQ on July 7th, from 5:30pm to 9pm. Don't forget to bring a salad, dessert or some other kind of shareable food, and a lawn chair! Beef and veggie burgers will be supplied.
We're having a barbeque out at the McLeod's house next month. It's going to be a late, great Canada Day celebration! Here is the poster to promote the good times...
(photo by Ida-Mae Knox) This is exactly what our Saturday night gathering is going to look like. Minus the "rustic mortar" look.
On the night of SATURDAY, June 2nd, come check out the bright sparks of creativity emananating from the Smokestacks And The Sunrise community. Our gathering will feature artists who have created everything from original songs to clothing made from re-used material.
JOIN US! June 2nd will be a night to remember.
SPARKS: a night of art from the SATS community
SATURDAY, June 2nd @ 7:30pm
First Baptist, 5th and Gillett
OH YESSSS!!!! Here are the posters for our next gathering. On June 2nd we will see glimpses of beauty, in the form of the rich artistic expression of those in our community. This is definitely one to bring your friends to! The above posters are for you to get the word out, in full-size and insets. EnJOY! Oh yes.Saturday was a good day as we helped raise over $450 for the MS Society. Thanks to all those who donated as well as those who braved the "cold of the shadow", standing in front of Canadian Tire to sell the carnations. We'll have to do this again next year.
We're excited to take part in the MS Carnation Drive, starting today and going until Saturday. Be sure to stop by Canadian Tire on Saturday to purchase some carnations from those of us who will be volunteering. What a great time to pick up flowers for mom, yourself or someone else!
Our gathering on Saturday went really well. We had a talk by Rod Mulligan, who is a member of the MS Society (and a retired teacher from Kelly Road, for all of you Hart kids out there), then Krysia Morgan talked about what it's like to have a parent with MS, and then Cordell Lind talked about what it is like to be a parent with MS, and talked about how even though the disease can be frustrating, good things come out of it. It was an awesome evening of sharing and insight into this mysterious disease.
We had some new people show up, which was great, with one of them (Hannah) being only 18 months old! Our community definitely spans the spectrum of ages. I really love our community. Everyone is a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with. So thank you everyone for coming and making SATS what it is!
As the saying goes, April Showers Bring May Carnations. Or something like that. This Saturday we will be getting together to listen to community perspectives of the effects of Multiple Sclerosis. Join us, as always, for a night of music, faith and conversation.
CARNATIONS: perspectives on the effects of Multiple Sclerosis
SATURDAY, May 5th @ 7:30pm
First Baptist, 5th & Gillett
This past Sunday, the Smokestacks And The Sunrise band opened up a concert put on by Steve Hasenbank at the Knox United Hall. The show attracted about 60 people, and featured 5 bands, including Kyle Gladue's band called Karadelle. Click on the above picture for a complete, Flickr-iffic slideshow. Enjoy.
Check out our latest poster! This is your tool to help spread the word about Smokestacks And The Sunrise. These posters are great as kites, napkins and, most of all.... posters. This month we'll be looking at the effects of Multiple Sclerosis in the lives of those around us. So come on friends, let's get the word out.
Mike Sikorski's radio interview with the Smokestacks And The Sunrise band will be re-aired on Sunday, April 22nd @ 5pm; not April 15th as previously mentioned. Sorry for any inconvenience.
The message was on resurrection and hope, with a great audio message from Breakforth by some old guy (Brennan Manning) who turned out to be full of youthful wisdom and humour. Accompanying this were pictures done by Ida Mae. They were lovely, and fitting. They represented how our lives can be broken, messed up, and battered, but also beautiful. They showed that things don't have to perfect to be beautiful and loved, and neither do we. Jesus loves us completely already, and has given us everything, if we could only accept it and stop thinking that we have to be perfect first.
(Photo by Ida-Mae Knox)
Tony Campolo was recently a guest on CBC's "The Hour", hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Click on the picture to see the interview.
Our day for volunteering at the St. Vincent De Paul Drop-In Centre has been changed. The new date is April 14th. Dave's blog entry from March 4th (see below) has been changed to reflect the new date. Sorry for any inconvenience.
The gathering last night went well. Attendance was somewhat swollen, and the age range was wider than average, which we welcome. The band played new material; Andrea Brown presented a video of a dance-project she had made; the hearing scripture segment was a bit different as there were seven readers; and I ate five Rice Krispies squares (cubes really, who are we kidding?). All in all, it was all good.
The focus of the night was creation and the environment. This was reflected in Andrea’s presentation, the choice of scripture (Genesis 1), and the movie clip that we watched. That clip was the trailer for “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary about global warming. We will be showing the full movie on Saturday, March 17th @6:30pm. This is a profound film about what could be one of the defining issues of our generation—don’t miss it!
One more thing: a bunch of us will be volunteering down at the St. Vincent de Paul Society on April 14th @ 8am. If you would like to participate in this, or if you have any questions, please contact us at smokestacksandthesunrise@yahoo.ca.
The SATS brain trust assembled for an intensely serious, official meeting yesterday. The results are shown above.
Green is lovely in March! Check out our latest poster, for our March 3rd gathering. Help us to invite others to spend some time with us. Throw these bad boys up wherever you see fit. Thanks, and see you on the 3rd!
Last Saturday was the 5th SATS meeting. The theme—as you may know—was “Welcome to the Neighbourhood.” Environmentalists sometimes say: “think globally; act locally,” and that basically sums up the themes of our last two meetings. In January we talked about global poverty issues, and this month we talked about how we can positively influence the people we encounter everyday. It was a discussion and a chance for us to think about how we place ourselves in our communities; who does our community include and how do we interact with those people? Naturally, the biblical perspective on these issues was examined and we delved into what Jesus said about our responsibilities to our neighbours.
The band wrote another new song, which kicked ass! Yes, “ass,” as in: “Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass” (Genesis 22:3, KJV). The turnout was also good, with about a dozen new faces (and their accompanying bodies). What else? The lemoniest part of the night was the eating of lemon tarts, which were lemony. Hmmm ... given the irrelevance of the last statement, I think most of the major points have been hit. So, yeah, it was a good time; we are definitely getting into a rhythm. We hope to see you on March 3rd when our topic will be Creation and the Environment.
Let's get the word out about Smokestacks And The Sunrise! Click on the above image to view a full-size version. This poster is a very helpful way for all of us to make others aware of our next gathering, FEBRUARY 3rd. Our theme is "Welcome To The Neighbourhood: thoughts on community and service".
Our dear Dave Horton recently grabbed the Citizen's front page, by celebrating his polar bear plunge into the arctic waters at Ness Lake on New Year's Day. Is there anything this guy can't do?
