December 15, 2020 Carnegie Newsletter

401 Main Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7

THE GATHERING by Richard Tetrault

(604) 665-2289

Original acrylic on canvas 11 ft x 22 ft

Resilience Of

Community

From the Library We are back in the branch! After a few months of being holed up in the theatre it is a relieffor all of us to be back home. Our hours are still limited, although they have expanded to 9am-llam and noon-4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, but we will be reintroducing computer service soon. It has been amazing to see so many familiar faces again and to be back to feeling like we are part of the community.

Prior to this, the most recent "From the Library" entry was in August, and before that March, which feels like worlds away now. Going forward, "From the Library" will hopefully regain its status as a regular part ofthe Carnegie Newsletter and we will resume its traditional structure of discussing library events and new books and DVDs. For now, however, we will make due with a merry "Hello!" and the wis that everyone has the best holiday season possible given the current circumstances ..

In this era of crises - housing, overdose, and pandemic - it is crucial to be working toward some form of normalcy, and we think that the Camegie Reading Room reopening is a modest little step toward that.

Of course, normalcy is not enough; normalcy is what has failed so many. Normalcy is a baseline, not an end point. We can do better, and deserve better, than normal.

Happy Reading, Daniel

Hello Carnegie Volunteers, We encourage you to follow important messaging from Public Health Orders during thus holiday season, including physical distancing, stay home if you do not feel well, frequent hand washing, and No social gatherings "C of any size at your residence with any one other than your household or core bubble as per PHO until Jan 8, 2021.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM UPDATES Holiday Update: This year, will be offering 5 sessions for volunteers t drop in and pick up their Christmas Gift and have a quick connection with the Volunteer Department!

The sessions are held in the Carnegie Theatre and during the designated dates and times below. please pick 1 of the 5 dates and pop in to say hi, you do not

have to register a specific date but we do encourage you to pick 1 date to drop in so it allows enough time and space for us to rotate through and see all of our many volunteers! During the session, you'll enjoy some chocolates, spin the wheel for a holiday prize sponsored by the Camegie Community Centre Association, hang out for 5-10 minutes, and pick up your 2020 Christmas gift!

These session are for our current Camegie volunteers only, if you're interested in volunteering with us but not a volunteers- please wait for one ofthe orientation dates in mid January to connect with us.

Monday Dec. 14 @ 1-3pm Staff 1: Luke Wednesday Dec. 16 @ 5:30-6:30pm Staff 1: Huyanne and Luke Saturday Dec. 19 @ 9:30-11 am Staff 1: Huyanne Sunday Dec. 20 @ 1-3pm Staff 1: Luke Tuesday Dec. 22 @ 1-3pm and @ 5:30-6:30pm Staff 1: Huyanne and Luke If you are unable to attend one of these sessions, we can either mail out your Christmas card and you can grab your gift at a later date or pick up both the Card and Christmas gift at a later date in January.

Important! In light of the new BC Public Health Order we have cancelled all upcoming volunteer orientations.

We want to stay in synch with health guidelines and reduce social interactions and non- essential commutes for our volunteers.

This means even [f you had previously been confirmed for an orientation, they are no longer running. For those of you who were previously registered for an orientation, we will keep you on top of the list to connect once we re -start orientations. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause, but we take our volunteer's health and safety as our utmost priority. We will continue to keep you updated, but the next orientation dates will be likely be released for mid- January. We will continue to adjust and adapt according to Public Health Orders, thank you all for patience and dedication to this program.

CARNEGIE CENTRE UPDATES We are looking forward to seeing you. Here are some important things you should know about our program and service updates. • Entry and exit from the building will continue to be from the patio . • Take-out meal service will be moved from the patio, back to the 2nd floor Cafeteria. Check out our expanded menu and updated pricing!

o

Free coffee with Al & the Oppenheimer Park team will now be available in the community only (no patio

service). o The Theatre drop-in space will be closed. Other spaces to rest, use the Wi-Fi etc. will be available on the main floor. o Library services will now be available from the Camegie branch with a limited capacity. o The lane level and 3rd floor will remain closed to the public. o The building will be closed from 11 am-12 pm and 4-5 pm for cleaning.

Bah Humbug, is BaCk" We are thrilled to announce the holiday classic Bah Humbug! is returning online from December l Sth to 30th this year, in partnership with SFU Woodward's Cultural Programs and Full Circle: First Nations Performance. This show will be a recorded 2019 live performance streamed on line with pre-recorded bonuses from the cast.

Tickets & Donate $10 per person, $25 per household Tickets purchased before December 20th are eligible to win one of two turkeys, provided by Rio Friendly Meats.

Tickets and/or donations above $50 made before December 25th will be entered to win an original print by Richard Tetrault.

Tax receipts are available for donations.

All proceeds from the performances will support the actors and musicians directly, as well as Vancouver Moving Theatre's Downtown Eastside Heart ofthe Citt Festival.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is beautifully retold in this contemporary adaptation set within Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Scrooge preys upon his desperate clientele as a heartless pawnshop operator/hotellandlord who displaces people through renovictions, until one dark Christmas Eve he is challenged by three spirits.

Bah Humbug! is led by Juno award winner Jim Byrnes, and features Tom Pickett, Kevin McNulty, Savannah Walling, and Margo Kane, The performance also features Sam Bob, a local Indigenous actor and recent survivor of COVID-19. The St. lames Music Academy Youth Choir adds their rich voices to this unique adaptation. We are also pleased to welcome the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award recipient Step hen Lytton to the production, alongside other cast members and musicians.

GOVERNANCE Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.

Winston Churchill Meeting upon meeting upon meeting Seems sometimes endless way to resolve differences Better than the alternative fisticuffs violence war alternatives that go too far when way to change government becomes revolution rather than election Election gives government with people's permission Though officials are subject to pressure from lobbyists with $$$ seeking fayour we the people have the numbers Of the people for the people by the people can often seems a distant ideal Hard work makes it all possible And history reveals that we progress and do meet with some success in advancing rights though sometimes there's regress we still fight In these time of populist pressure many seek quick and easy answers Beware demagoguery appeals to mob We need recover from fifty years of economic propaganda fanning fears that governments steal what only markets can heal 50 years propaganda claiming truth of invisible hands trickling down wealth Invisible only because it hides 1% stealth

Fake economic 'science' fake math bogus stats create inequality justify property supremacist rule dismantle regulation hobble green fact Democratic governance scares the super wealthy Banksters and corporate dominance prefer kleptocrat oligarchy where corruption greases wheels of commerce that turn on tax cuts for the wealthy that produce zero economic growth for the majority and for most of us trickles down austerity We need transform economics into real science which clearly demonstrates that equity and equality create more fair societies with enhanced creativity More equal distribution of resources and wealth brings less addiction better education best health less child mortality more social mobility reduced strife . more graduation fewer prisoners longer life Let's embrace this 'worst form of government' Let's commit to democracy let's democratize economics before the 1% destroy the planet with their sycophant academic economists who should know better who should work to restore another golden age of economics with lessons from Bretton Woods .• where we learn an international reserve currency could help implement a strategy to heal indigenous, minority, and colonialist legacies National law needs rule excessive global corporate independence as governments and markets embrace interdependence which creates an economy as subset to ecology and releases a more equal equitable New Green Deal Green Peace

Gilles Cvrerine

Feeling gratitude during a Pandemic Living through these last six months I have had a lot of time to reflect on things.

What happened to my life, the new normal, is surreal. Oh, how I long for the freedom ofthe old days where I could go anywhere without standing in line or wearing a mask!

I always try to look on the bright side ofthings; so self-isolation suits me. I love having all that time to myself to paint and read and watch Netflix. I can do my yoga on youtube and go for short walks to the local duck pond for exercise.

On top of listening to all the crap that happens in the news every day, I injured my hip this summer in a fall and could not walk for a month. Now I am grateful for my legs far more than I have ever been in my life. I also feel a strong empathy for the many souls down here who struggle every day with mobility and health challenges. Their courage in the midst of everything amazes me.

This time has also given me time to think about all the things in my life that have supported me through the past twenty years. My greatest support besides my partner and friends has been the Carnegie. I have been a volunteer in the Learning Centre and a board member since 2007 and these jobs have been endlessly rewarding. When I think of all the friends I made and all the experiences I have been privy to thanks to this wonderful old building!

At times during these past months the world seems to be getting worse everyday. A new crisis or catastrophe happening all the time. A smoke storm blows in from California, a hurricane or something blows up in a far away land. People are suffering all over the world. Somehow, this selfishly makes me feel better. I say to myself "at least we don't have it that bad here. Yesterday we had zero deaths from the virus."

Meanwhile the idiot down south continues to fill me with dread as he destroys his country and causes hatred and division all over the place. Thank god we live in Canada with all our social programs and medical care. .

As I keep on keeping on I am going to remind myself about being grateful for every minute I have left and try my best to keep the lessons ofthis terrible year in my head. Life may never be the same again, so we all have to just keep going and see what happens. Hopefully Adrienne Macallum

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." ~~=

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lan James MacRae passed away on October 7th, 2020 after a longtime struggle with cancer. lan is predeceased by his parents Robert (Bob) and Phyllis and sadly by his younger sister Patty. who died of cancer on October 28th this year, just weeks after lanThey remained close to the end. lan is survived by the love of his life, Maxine Gadd, his two older brothers and their families-the eldest Glenn and partner Bonnie of Woodlands Manitoba; and Ron with wife Fllo of Collingwood, Ontario. lan also leaves behind many nieces, nephews and cousins from Ontario to B.C. as well as numerous friends from his many years in Vancouver. lan worked for a number of years before retiring from the workforce due to an ongoing medical disability and he lived in a few different Vancouver neighbourhoods in those first years. In the early 1980's, lan moved into the Four Sisters co-op on Powell street with partner Maxin.e Gadd, a BC-based poet, and the two shared their lives there for nearly 40 years, until the time of lan's "death. .

As a quiet and compassionate man, lan was intensely interested and involved in his lower eastside community. He was a board member of DERA, the Downtown East-side Residents Association and a"dogged advocate, amidst a lot of urban upheaval, for better housing conditions for the less fortunate residents of his community. lan also served proudly on the Board of the Four Sisters Housing Co-op for a number of years. lan MacRae was born in Selkirk Manitoba on March 30, 1949, the third boy in a family of four

t children of Robert (Bob) and Phyllis MacRae (nee Robertson). In 1952, the young family moved to Winnipeg and lan spent his youth there before moving with his mother, father and younger sister to Victoria B.C. to join uncle Arthur Robertson. lan, however, soon chose to settle in Vancouver which would be his lifelong home. In 1975, older brother Ran joined him there for a year, where they grew closer, sharing a mutual interest in literature, poetry ami. art.

Although lan travelled infrequently, he stayed in a close contact with his family over the years, visiting his parents, sister and uncle on numerous occasions in Victoria. Family was extremely important to him and he, in tum, was a valued and well-loved member of his family. lan was an avid gardener 'and he could be found in his community garden plot tending and nurturing his vegetables for many years prior to his health deteriorating. Max is a dedicated gardner as well, favouring plants and herbs in her extensive balcony garden. lan's remains have been cremated and his ashes will be shared between his partner Maxine Gadd and his brother Ron, on behalf of his loving family. lan's spirit and contributions will live on in a quiet space in the lower east side, a place that was so dear to him. May he rest in peace.

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