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PDFMay Long Weekend Another Blast
~ by Jim Rosgen -
Sointula’s 19th annual baseball tournament was held over the May long weekend. As usual, the town was packed, as many of the young people and former residents returned for the fun and games. It was tough to catch a ferry on Friday afternoon as the lineups were long with expatriates returning home, at least temporarily. The festivities centred around the ball field for most of the weekend, but there were also things other than baseball going on. A dance was held on Saturday night, and was a success judging from the condition of the crowd and the ballplayers on Sunday morning.
The Rub Pub had a Celtic group playing on Sunday evening, which from all accounts was very popular, with the dance floor packed all night.
The Recreation Association should again be congratulated for their excellent work in organizing the affair, as well as the concessions and the beer garden. The food was first rate, thanks to the volunteer cooks manning (or personning) the grills. The work involved is much appreciated by the whole community, and a special thanks to Wanda Laughlin who manages to make this thing work year after year. This event is the single largest fundraiser for the Recreation Association, which keeps all our halls and playing fields going year after year.
The Old Boys ball team (the guys with the gray hair and the uniforms with Sointula on the front) again ran their successful seafood barbeque, with the usual oyster and shrimp feed augmented by the addition of clam fritters this year. Saturday lineups for food at their tent were long and wet (rain), but well worth the wait.
The baseball was kicked off Friday evening with a kids game between the Red team and the Blue team. While it rained all day Friday, the skies miraculously cleared just before game time. It appears Brady Field has powers we were not aware of, although we all recognize his skills at imparting baseball skills to the younger islanders. It is refreshing to see a competition where players from one team are congratulating the other team for plays well made or balls well hit. We were again reminded that baseball should be played for the pure fun of it.
The main tournament started Saturday morning and continued through a gorgeous Sunday, with playoffs on Monday. A total of six teams participated again this year. From Sointula we had the Young Guns and the Old Boys, from the big island we had the Hyde Creek Hillbillies, the Port McNeill Rangers, Comox, and Mick’s Picks, a pickup team of orphaned ballplayers from Comox and Malcolm Island. For the record, the tournament was won (again) by the Hillbillies, with Comox finishing second. Local bragging rights were won by the Young Guns, who managed to squeak past the Old Boys (the exact score slips my mind, but it was something like 12-2).
But let the photos speak for themselves. Click on them to view in a larger size.
40 Years of Community Service
~ by John Meadows -
The Malcolm Island Lions celebrate their 40th year of community service this year and they deserve a strong salute from all island residents. (more…)
F.O. Hall Gets Renovation
~ by Shane Field -
For the last few weeks it’s been impossible to go past the F.O. Hall without noticing that there’s a major renovation going on. The last renovation on the hall was completed in 1982. The Sointula Recreation Association is now rebuilding several parts of the building, and the project has been designed in three phases. The first phase is to rebuild the foundation and replace the walls and floors of the bottom storey. Karsten Construction, a local company, was awarded the contract for this job.
Rec Assn President Wanda Laughlin reports that their application for a federal grant of $400k for all three phases was ultimately turned down because of oversubscription. Basically, the government program received far more applications than it could support. But that doesn’t mean the Rec Assn didn’t submit an excellent grant application. Wanda says that Lara Renehan went ‘above and beyond’ in creating a fantastic application, and Heidi Soltau worked very hard on the submission side.
“We realized the building needed work immediately, so when our grant application was turned down we had to act quickly,” Wanda told me. “So we plunged ahead using donations and all the funds we’ve raised over several years.” The Malcolm Island Lions donated $10k, and there have been many donations from other groups and individuals. A good example is the Winterfest evening entertainment—all proceeds of this popular event go toward the building fund. Another example is the concession stand at the ball tourney on the May long weekend. “And we’ve been very careful with our spending for several years in order to save money for the building upgrades,” Wanda added.
According to Wanda, the budget for Phase one is approximately $200k, and that includes plumbing and wiring. The Phase two budget is approximately $125k and will include completion of a new downstairs kitchen as well as new restrooms. An $85k grant application made through RDMW was approved for the new kitchen and restrooms after more hard work from Lara and Heidi. The budget for the third phase (fire code attic upgrades) is about $50k.
“Lance and his crew worked very hard to get the fire escape finished for the dance this past weekend,” Wanda reports. Phase one is scheduled to be completed by June 15th. The goal is to have all major structural work completed in time for the Culture Shock conference this September. “It’s a big project, that’s for sure,” said Wanda. “But we have no choice except to carry on and save our community’s heritage buildings. They are far too important to lose.”
Click on photos for larger images
Sointula Field of Dreams
~ by Jim Rosgen, photos Wanda Laughlin-~
The May long weekend is coming up, and with it the 19th annual baseball tournament. (more…)
Sointula, Here We Come!
~ by Kaisa Honkonen-Ratinen, Kaisa Rajahalme and Mika Kaartinen -
April 19th of 2013 was a night to remember. Masala youth theater’s Sointula 2013 group organized an event consisting of music, improvisation, stand-up-comedy and tasty treats. The venue was filled with eager guests supporting the Sointula 2013 project and the atmosphere was beyond anything the organizers could have imagined.
Pedro Hietanen and Tapio Liinoja supported the theatre group by giving a stunning show of songs and stories
The main act of the evening was the long-standing Pedro Hietanen And Tapio Liinoja –duo. Their concert was spiced up with hilarious stories of well-known Finns they have had the pleasure to work with. Their stories were listened to both in silent wonderment and roaring laughter.
Iika Hartikainen and the other members of the improvisation theatre group Parasta ennen (Best before) really threw themselves into the hands of the audience.
The Sointula-group’s band ended the evening with nostalgic Finnish dance-music. The dance-floor was filled with waltzing and whirling people in next to no time. In all, the event was a success. The Sointula-group got plenty of thanks and smiles, and is now left happy and hopeful.
Yet another step closer to Sointula, British Columbia.
The actors welcomed the audience with a song from the Sointula play.
From left: Sara Vehviläinen, Tintti Rossi, Lotta Huitti, Iika Hartikainen, Elina Vehkaoja and Tuukka Martiskainen.
photos: Timo Blomqvist
More News from Finland
View a YouTube promotional video from Masala youth theatre shot by the Culture Shock conference committee here in sunny Sointula and produced by Masalan nuorisoteatteri in Finland. Our renewed Finnish connection is getting stronger all the time!
This promotional video is in English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msOTJIXbclo&list=WLqZKd7oS-wri-8_OPJu5wf2OLtqBJppmF
This next video produced by Masalan nuorisoteatteri, is in Finnish and contains clips of from the play, “Sointula” which we hope will be performed here in Sointula, B.C. in September, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_y3q8cKzOM
For more information on the visit by the Masala Youth Theatre and the upcoming conference, Culture Shock, visit the conference website:
Story and Song
~ Ripple Staff Report -
On Wednesday, May 1, Malcolm Islanders had the opportunity to enjoy a special evening when Yvonne Maximchuk and Theda Phoenix came to town.
Breakwater Garden Inspires
Just wanted to shout out a thank you to Jon and Greg (greenlings.wordpress.com) for creating such a beautiful garden to sit in! (more…)
Provincial Election
~Ripple Staff Report-~
The BC general election date is set for Tuesday, May 14. (more…)
Sunshine for Spring 10K
~ by Jodie Lukow -
This year’s Sointula Spring 10 kilometre Fun Run/Walk/Bike was a huge success! (more…)