GREEN FESTIVALS AND EVENTS FREE WORKSHOP 

WHEN ?

Saturday, March 20th, 2010 10: 00 a.m. to 4: 00 p.m.

WHERE ?

Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba (CDEM) 200-614 rue Des Meurons (2nd level), Multimedia Room

February 21, 2010

Two picturesque farms sit on the edge of a calm blue pond. A cluster of yellow sunflowers reach up into the orange and lavender prairie sky. This is the serene Manitoban scene stitched by Phyllis Gagne and Coreen Zerr, the winners of the Homecoming 2010 Quilt Competition.

Manitoba Homecoming 2010 is a year long celebration of everything Manitoba has to offer. Friends and relatives who have moved away are invited back to rediscover why Manitoba is a great place to live.

Homecoming 2010 teamed up with the Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies to host the Homecoming 2010 Quilt Competition. Last January, Manitobans and former Manitobans were invited to make a quilt with the theme “Celebrating Manitoba” in mind. Gagne, from Portage la Prairie, and Zerr, a former Manitoban now living in Nanaimo B.C., took the Homecoming 2010 theme to heart.

All 17 entries were on public display at the Manitoba Legislature on December 4, 5, and 6. The quilts were judged by a panel of professional quilters and Gagne and Zerr’s quilt titled Home is a Manitoba Farm, was announced as the first place winner at the Hip 2b Square: Elevating the Art of Quilting gala in Brandon on January 8.

The intricate work of art depicts the family farms they grew up on near Rock Lake, Manitoba.

Although the women were not able to attend the gala, Zerr’s sister Doreen Stapleton accepted the honour and $2,800 prize on their behalf.

The quilt will travel across Manitoba throughout 2010 and will be set on display at select Homecoming 2010 events. It will even make its way to the Manitoba House at the Olympics in Vancouver.

- Kelly
 

January 27, 2010

Barbara Gehring is a born and raised Winnipegger. She realized acting and improv comedy was her calling in high school and went on to become an active cast member in the Black Hole Theatre Company at the University of Manitoba where she had a double major in Theatre and English.

After meeting her husband in Japan, where she was teaching English after she graduated from the U of M, she moved to Colorado with him and immediately got involved in the local improv, sketch and theatre communities. Gehring is currently a full-time commercial, film and radio actress and founder of A.C.E., her international comedy trio.

One of A.C.E.’s acclaimed shows Girls Only was originally work shopped at the 2007 Winnipeg Fringe Festival and is now in its second year of showing at the Denver Centre for Performing Arts. Now it’s going national. Gehring and the rest of A.C.E. are bringing the show back to Winnipeg March 18 to April 3 at the MTC Warehouse – their first official international performance.

Girls Only is a show about all things girly. I think the “warning” on their website says it all.

Warning: This show contains feminine subject matter including teenage diaries, breast feeding, tampons, shadow puppets, pantyhose, menstrual cycles, slumber parties, menopause and maxi pads.

It’s good to see a Winnipegger come back to Manitoba in 2010 to not only re-visit home, but to showcase her homegrown talent!

Visit www.girlsonlycomedy.com for more information about the show.

Kelly
 

January 15, 2010

I tagged along with Kevin Walters, Homecoming’s Executive Director, to an interview with Ian Shanley at the Winnipeg Sun offices this morning. Ian hosts a show on the Sun’s website and today’s topic was Manitoba Homecoming 2010. Kevin and Ian chatted about a whole bunch of events that are happening around Manitoba in 2010. Even I got to say a few words at the end of the interview (fun!).

You can listen to the interview by following this link:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/sunspeaks/ian_shanley/2010/01/15/12482046.html

- Kelly

Have you seen the Manitoba Homecoming 2010 commercials featuring Winnipeg radio staple Ace Burpee on TV? I can’t shake that catchy lyric “this is gonna be a good year…” out of my head!

For those of you who haven’t seen the Homecoming 2010 commercials, Ace asks Winnipeggers the important questions: Who they’re inviting back in 2010 and why. Children’s entertainer Fred Penner says he’s going to invite his daughter back so she can rediscover her Mennonite roots. Comedian and BT host Jon Ljungberg says he’s going to invite his dad back home for some Lovey’s BBQ (I couldn’t agree more), to take him to Gimli, as well as to a Goldeyes game. Local legend and voice of Kern-Hill Furniture Co-op (“c’moooon down!”) says he’s going to invite a friend back and take him to beautiful Grand Beach.

I’m no local celebrity, but if Ace were to ask me why I’m inviting friends and family home in 2010, my number one reason would be to accompany me to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Folk Fest is a perfect time to enjoy music, art, community and experience Manitoba’s great outdoors. There’s nothing like being surrounded by friends while listening to the likes of the Weakerthans (Winnipeggers!) and Loreena McKennitt (Manitoban!) as the sun goes down on the Main Stage. Then there’s the camp grounds where the music and the party continues right through the next morning.

This year, Folk Fest will take place July 7 to 11 and early-bird tickets go on sale on Valentine’s Day. Despite prodding my friend who works for the Folk Fest to give me the inside scoop on who will be performing this year, all she told me was, “it’s going to be big.”

- Kelly