TALK OF THE
TOWN inspiring stories from unlikely places
Feb 25, 2015 | Fort St. John
Eight Speakers,
A Fund-raiser for Town Programs
Hosted at the North Peace
Eight Minutes
and the SD60 World Fair
Cultural Centre
The st or ies begin!!! SPEAKING EVENT Brought to you by people who believe in the people of the Peace
EVENT SPONSORS GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
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A special THANK YOU to a few more individuals
Master of Ceremonies Stage Manager Catering
Biographies Front Cover Photo
Brian Daley Marissa McLennan Sher’s Cafe Baked - Pastry and Bakeshop Shelagh Bilodeau Darcy Sawcheck https://www.facebook.com/D.Shawchek.Photography
Video
Master of Ceremonies Sound & Lighting
Servers
Eagle Vision Video Productions Ltd. Sound In Town Brian Daley Sound In Town, North Peace Cultural Centre “Leadership in Training” Program, Settlement Workers in Schools. (SWIS)
BAKED - PASTRY AND BAKESHOP Provided the Baklava Deserts Open Monday - Friday, 7:30AM - 6PM and Saturdays 9AM - 4:30PM “Fresh bread, buns & pastries made daily”
SHER’S CAFE Sher’s Cafe - North Peace Cultural Centre Open Monday - Friday 9AM - 2PM Tuesday / Thursday East Indian fare for lunch.
NEXT TIME...
Help us turn this into an annual event by telling your friends about how great this one was. Do you know of a potential speaker? Let us know! www.towntalk.info | eliza@towntalk.info Visit the website for links to the video presentations of tonight’s speakers!
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rs e z i n a rg O e h t m o r f s d r o W HELLO & WELCOME!!! Welcome to the premier event of Talk of The Town; an evening where stories, passions, ideas, reflections, humour and tales of adventure are being shared by eight remarkable people. Given just eight minutes to speak, their stories are an invitation to learn, laugh, wonder, and just maybe trigger your own adventure. Perhaps the event will be the catalyst Kristin, Eliza, Russell to look upon your own life and realize your past and present achievements and how they fit into the big picture. The presenters, if nothing else, will inspire. The North East is a place where people come and do things. From the indigenous peoples who had to be busy just to survive , to the explorers, traders, pioneer families who broke the land, builders of the Alaska Highway, to the oil and gas exploration , the list goes on. No-one comes to this region to do nothing! Everybody is achieving something, big and small; and we have brought together just a few of those who have made the BC Peace their home for a time , and have a story to share. A huge thank you to our sponsors who stepped up to the plate, who believed in this event, the first of its kind in Fort St. John. And a huge thank you to you, the audience, who also took a chance on making this a memorable evening. Enjoy!
Eliza Stanford
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Kristin Jarvis
Russell Eggleston
NOTES
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ANGELA DE SMIT CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR NORTHEAST HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY AREA
Angel is a highly motivated and dedicated health care professional, having dedicated all of her working life to improving patient care for northern Canadians. Her family moved to the Peace Region in 1976 to a cattle ranch at Mile 95 where she developed a strong interest in cattle, particularly the care of cattle which significantly influenced her career choice as a health care professional. Her passion for the north took her nursing career to High Level and Peace River, Alberta after which she returned to her roots in Fort St. John with her young family in 1997, beginning a long and continuing career at the Fort St. John Hospital. She has worked as the Operational Lead for acute care planning and transition in the development of the new Fort St. John Hospital and Peace Villa
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project. Angela’s career in health care has inspired her strong sense of social responsibility.
DAVID RATTRAY NOURISHING OUR SPIRIT ON THE LAND
David is also known as Ta’na as and is from the Wolf Clan (Etzenlee family) of the Tahltan Nation. He has been in Aboriginal Education for 33 years working as a classroom teacher, principal, district principal, school counsellor and cultural teacher. He does numerous workshops around Aboriginal Education, health, justice, and counselling. David has a beautiful wife of 43 years, three grown children and two grandsons – they shape his world. He believes in: finding beauty in people, Aboriginal y o u t h , he a l i ng o u r spirits, fish camp, chasing moose on snowshoes, kayaking, hiking the high country, motorcycling, photographing
goats and connecting/sharing. For David, life doesn’t get any better than that!
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GLEN STEWART ENTREPRENEUR AND HORSEMAN
Glenn is a second generation native of Fort St. John, living just 5 miles down the road from his parents and the farm where he grew up. He is an entrepreneur, father, educator and horseman. He has held a variety of unique jobs in his lifetime such as diamond driller, tobacco picker, carpenter, wrangler and guide, heavy equipment driver in the oil fields, farrier, worked on fishing boats and he has dug more toilet holes by hand than he wants to remember. It is this unusual path that has brought his to where he is today, a world class natural horseman and clinician. At the end of the day, Glenn seeks to be in harmony with horses and through the process of becoming the best that he can be he has managed to travel the world on many horsemanship adventures. “Horsemanship is a way of thinking, being and doing. Reaching far beyond horses.
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The doors that have opened because of horses I could never have opened on my own. They pushed me into areas I didn’t want to go and to look at things I didn’t want to see. I owe it to the horses for taking me there.”
JAY MORRISON ATHLETE ADVENTURER
Jay loves moving through natural and built environments. During his time on the National Speed Skating Team (2001-2010), Jay won multiple World Cup medals and overall World Cup titles, was a national champion, a Junior World Championship bronze medallist and a 3-time Jr. Canadian champion. A well timed email from Clara Hughes, former teammate and close friend, that gave Jay the gentle kick in the pants to get out on the Pacific Crest Trail (from the border of Mexico and California to the border of Washington State and Manning Park, BC) so Jay and his fiancé spent 5 months hiking the 2700 km trail. Through the struggle, hardships and triumphs on this and other trips, Jay inspires us to work hard, day after day, to find the simple beauty in any goal – the elation of pursuing a dream. He believes people should identify their passions, commit to doing something with that
passion, and become the best that they can be in the pursuit of whatever it is that moves them. “In opening up your mind to work through these challenges you will encounter personal growth. For me, touring in this way is living life to its fullest.”
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JOY COCHRANE EDUCATOR
Joy is an educator working in the Faculty of Education for Simon Fraser University, but her career as a teacher spans all grades, from a small two-room schoolhouse in Beaver Creek, Yukon, Canada’s most westerly town, to her current gig in teacher education at Northern Lights College. She is originally from Hamilton, Ontario, but calls northern BC and Yu k o n h o m e , h a v i n g lived and worked here for close to 25 years. She has enjoyed a varied career history inclusive of quality assurance testing as a laboratory technician, entrepreneurship in small airplane restoration, and in mining as a 180-tonne haul-truck driver in a molybdenum mine. Joy comes bravely to Talk of the Town
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bolstered by a wealth of rich stories related to her life journey. She currently resides in what she likes to call ‘The Present Intense,” where the view forward is informed by a somewhat colourful past.
RACHEL CASPONI TEACHER
R ac he l C a s p on i i s a n impassioned musician, performer and educator who has been working across Canada for nearly two decades. From directing children to great performances, working in theatres as a backstage or box office manager or taking the lead as an executive director, Rachel has found her work in the arts has enriched her life and shaped her into the person she is today. As a performer her wellhoned instrument and strong interpretation make her memorable. As a teacher, her passion and student-centred approach allow her to shine a light on the many gifts she encounters. As an administrator her drive and commitment to collaboration make her a valued team member. Highlights of her career include performing at the Singapore Arts Festival, producing
the first London Early Music Festival, working as a band teacher and conducting the North Peace Community Choir. She lives in Fort St. John with her husband, Giovanni and her new darling daughter, Morgana.
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ROSARIO LLORET AUTHOR
Spanish-Canadian author Rosario Lloret was born in Madrid, Spain and relocated to Canada in 2003, living in the Northwest Territories for six years. She currently resides in Hudson’s Hope, BC, with her husband and three daughters.
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After moving to Canada from Madrid, into the small Subarctic TliCho community of Wha Ti in the NWT, Rosario discovered that adaptation was not easy. Even so, she felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to live among the Canadian First Nation people and to share their wonderful hospitality and culture.
capacity to adapt to changes – profound, traumatic, unwanted changes.”
“The more I learned about the TliCho people, the more enthralled I was, especially by their survival skills and their
Rosario inspires us to find a passion for life and to find the capacity to survive change without losing our souls in the process.
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WAYNE SAWCHUK CONSERVATIONIST, EXPLORER, GUIDE
Wayne is a prominent au t hor, phot o g r apher, conservationist and wilderness guide. His career is driven by a vision of a prosperous human population co-existing peacefully with a thriving natural world. He has played an important role in bringing government, industry and other stakeholders to the table to discover mutual interests and agree upon actions that maximize benefits for all – including the environment. Wayne continues to explore the Muskwa Kechika area writing, photographing and leading the annual summer expeditions. His work reminds us of the need to protect our heritage, for ourselves and for the wild animals that cannot speak for themselves. His infectious enthusiasm for wild places and people has rubbed off on those he
teaches through his publications, speaking engagements, expedition adventures and consultation work.
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We’re building. .
BETTER ACCESS TO COMMUNITY A Website, and App, and a Book.
Imagine how much easier connecting with the community would be if an easy comprehensive guide to our community existed. Searchable, accurate, and always-up-to-date.
W
e are building a onestop, comprehensive directory so that people who are seeking information about notfor-profit programs, community events, sports leagues, health programs, not-for-profit initiatives, etc, can get connected faster and easier than currently exists. Currently, community guides and brochures exist... but they’re not good enough. Usually outof-date, hard to find, incomplete, or only dedicated to one
Mobile Friendly & Person Friendly Get information about community events, programs, announcements from not-for-profits, organization info, and comprehensive instant access to important services like health, family, and social services.
aspect of community... (ie tourists, family, etc). Unlike existing solutions, what we’re building aims to be comprehensive, accurate, and searchable. It will be available as a website, an app, and a physical book. Further, it’s free and shared data -- which means, instead of competing with other community guides, we are freely and openly sharing access to our database. This means that an organization or program coordinator can add their info once... and that information is pushed and synced automatically to all connected community sites and resources. This saves time & money for everybody. We’re not just building a product, we’re building a network.
Over the next few months, we will sharing more of the details of the ideas and inviting local organizations to get involved in the conversation. This is a project that is funded and maintained by people who are passionate about the town and have the experience and commitment to both the community and the project. We’re dedicated to make this happen. Thank you for supporting Talk of the Town and Town Programs. Your support is already making this community a more connected, alive, and accessible. For more information please contact me, Russell Eggleston at 250-261-8002 or russell@russelleggleston.com
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EVENT SPONSORS GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS