Japantown Multicultural Neighbourhood Celebration

On Saturday March 28 between 10am and 9pm, the Japantown neighbourhood will come to life with historical walking tours centred around Oppenheimer Park; public discussion about the Historical and Cultural Review of Powell Street; portable displays from local organizations and the sharing of stories and histories from many invited guests at Chapel Arts; intimate musical and spoken word performances at various venues; a street procession of artists, children and music; an afternoon ceremony to honour the milestones and initiatives of the community, an early evening gala of multicultural music and dance with local performers, and closing with a special dance performance from a mother and son duo of the Bandou-ryu School of Nihon Buyo at the Japanese Hall.
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Of a time . . .

In retrospect, walking through the door that night on Cordova Street, guitar in hand, changed the trajectory of my life. Following my performance, I was approached by a group of folks who invited me to join their band, Kokuho Rose. And just like that, I was part of a community.
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March 4, 1910 Rogers Pass Avalanche

Sometime during the day on March 4th, a snow avalanche descended Cheops Mountain into the valley at the Summit of Rogers Pass. It covered the CPR railway. A crew of men and a locomotive-driven snow blower were dispatched to clear the tracks. The men would clear the debris from the snow and the snow blower would move in to blow the snow off of the tracks. As the men struggled through the night to clear the first snow slide, a second avalanche descended from the opposite side of the valley and hit the railway at the point where the men were working.
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Memories of my father

When he turned to research and writing, our family was loaded into the car on a long road trip across the country. We stopped in small towns with names like Slocan and New Denver, which were steeped in memory for him. But for us kids -- we just shrugged our shoulders with impatience . . . not able to see the import or history.
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March to December

The Ito family donated their father's archive with an award for someone to do research and to create a public presentation of Roy Ito's work. I was the recipient of this award proposing an online interactive project that would house three new works in response to an item within his archive.
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