Weekly News Recap: November 26, 2021

On a recent Friday night, the Cubs from the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, beat the Desert Christian Knights, 84-12.Credit...Adam Perez for The New York Times

The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind. -- Marlee Matlin

SOME GOOD NEWS

Lake Manitoba shows off rare ice formations (CBC) MANITOBA STORY #NatureIsCool "Mother Nature has turned Lake Manitoba into a visual art project that has an ice expert in awe. What would typically be a flat, frozen surface has been turned into something more resembling pebbles and stones, as far as the eye can see."
Get cozy in East Village this winter with the return of Hygge Hut, fire pits (Daily Hive) CALGARY STORY #StayWarm "East Village is bringing snuggly vibes to Calgary with the return of its popular Hygge Hut this winter. 'Hygge' describes a quality of coziness and comfort that brings feelings of contentment or well-being, and that’s exactly what this hut aims to do. Head to East Village to snuggle up, warm your hands by the fire, and watch the winter sun sparkle across the buildings of downtown Calgary."
23 wonderfully romantic date ideas for in & around Calgary this holiday season (Curiocity) CALGARY STORY Why wait until Valentine's Day ;-)? "They say that summer is the season of love, but we disagree. From light displays to ice magic, Alberta’s mountains, cities and everything in between come to life in the wintertime – and relationships? They thrive in the cold! After all, is there a better time to cozy up next to someone special than when it’s -40°C outside? This month, why not take advantage of low temperatures and fuel that warm and fuzzy feeling by checking out one of these 23 romantic things to do this winter in and around Calgary! But hurry, in order to hit all of them, you’ve got to get started crossing things off now!"
Calgary playwright seeks used wedding dress donations for her new show (CBC) CALGARY STORY Mary Kondo would be pleased. "If you have a wedding dress in the back of a closet or a box in the attic, a Calgary playwright and performer is offering an opportunity to give it a second life — as art. Louise Casemore is the creator of a new show at Alberta Theatre Projects called Undressed, and she is asking for donations of used wedding dresses. The one-woman cabaret, Casemore says, is also a real-time auction that explores weddings, the wedding industry and a simple question: what do you do with a used wedding dress?"
Here are 4 charities you can support right now just by drinking wine (Curiocity) CALGARY STORY #Duh "The holiday season is synonymous with a few key things. Among those? Drinking some great wine and giving back any way we can. So what if we told you there’s a way to support charities simply by drinking wine? Well, thanks to Willow Park Wine & Spirits’ Charity month, it’s basically that easy."
UBC gets creative after grad caps and gowns get stuck on closed highway (Daily Hive) VANCOUVER STORY Thank you UVic! "University of British Columbia graduates will walk across the stage this week in borrowed caps and gowns after the school’s usual customized capes got stuck amid flood-related highway closures. The university was gearing up to host its first in-person convocation ceremonies since before the pandemic this week when it learned thousands of its ceremonial gowns, hoods, and caps, were stuck in a courier truck somewhere east of Hope, BC."
Rare quartet of wild dog species captured by Alberta photographer (CBC) ALBERTA STORY Beautiful pics. "It's not so rare to see a coyote or fox leaping through Alberta's prairies, but spotting all four species of wild dogs native to the province within a year and capturing them on camera might only happen once every few decades. Yet amateur wildlife photographer Mike Borlé did exactly that in recent months, shooting the so-called canid quadfecta on visits to Medicine Hat in southeastern Alberta. He got shots not only of the red fox and the coyote, two species well-habituated to humans that can be seen all over the province, but also a grey wolf — ranging hundreds of kilometres from its usual habitat — and swift foxes, which are on the endangered list."
Underdog No More, a Deaf Football Team Takes California by Storm (New York Times) I love this! "The athletic program at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, has suffered its share of humiliations and harassment over the years. There was the time that a visiting team’s volleyball coach mocked the deaf players. And another time a hearing coach for the girls’ basketball team listened as opponents discussed how embarrassing it would be to lose to a deaf team. [...] No one is disparaging the Cubs anymore. This season, they are undefeated — the highest-ranked team in their Southern California division. Through 11 games, they have not so much beaten their opponents as flattened them."
20 Movies So Bad, They're Actually Really Good (Lifehacker) Looking for something to watch...you're welcome. "For the most part, I don’t buy the premise that movies can be so bad, they’re actually good. If a movie’s good, isn’t it just...good? There’s no question, however, that movies can succeed by failing. Ed Wood is an extreme-but-perfect example of a filmmaker who never achieved precisely what he set out to do with any of his movies, but who nonetheless made cinematic magic out of enthusiasm, shamelessness, and no small measure of self-delusion. That kind of thing is always better than something like Sharknado—a movie that’s fun, but that works so hard to achieve silliness that you can see the flop sweat. Other, more enjoyable (better?) 'bad' movies get there quite by accident."
The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years — in under 30 seconds (CBC) For those who have FOMO, here you go. (I missed it as well)"Calgary was treated to the longest lunar eclipse in 580 years Thursday, which lasted more than three hours."
Seniors go on adventure of a lifetime thanks to charity (CBC) HALIFAX STORY Lovely. "Two Halifax women recently went on a trip of a lifetime in Sable Island, located in the Atlantic Ocean, with the help of a charity that grants unfulfilled wishes to seniors."
Strength and hope: The story of Alberta’s strong couple (CBC) ALBERTA STORY #SendingGoodVibes "Colten Sloan may be Canada's first Indigenous Strongman competitor, but he says his wife Ashley is the one who saved his life. Now facing her stage 4 cancer diagnosis together, here’s how Alberta’s strongest couple finds the strength to carry on."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

Lunchbox Theatre Welcomes Audiences Back with a New Christmas Classic (Broadway World) CALGARY STORY Yay! "Lunchbox Theatre is set to debut the first production of its 2021-22 season after nearly two years in the dark. As announced in September, the first full, in-person production is the holiday show All I Want for Christmas by Rebecca Northan. It is a wonderful new comedy about looking for love at the North Pole that is sure to warm your heart and get you in the festive spirit. This production will preview on November 30, Open on December 2nd and run until December 19, 2021."
BMO Financial Group supports busiest NICU in Canada with $600,000 donation on World Prematurity Day (Yahoo Finance) CALGARY STORY Thank you BMO! "In Canada, one in 10 newborns rely on the care of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In southern Alberta, it is one in eight – a notable 25 per cent higher than the national average. That’s why BMO Financial Group is commemorating World Prematurity Day by making a donation to Calgary Health Foundation's Newborns Need campaign."
Calgary philanthropist offers matching funds for Bow Valley College's first ever Giving Day (Bow Valley College) CALGARY STORY I love matching gifts. Thanks to the Bharwani family. "Bow Valley College donors, like our students, are diverse. We are thankful for our donors and the tremendous impact they make on the lives of our students each day with their generosity. And thanks to one donor, Esmail and Safana Bharwani and the Bharwani family foundation, your gift during our inaugural Giving Day event will be doubled. The Foundation has committed to matching each gift (up to $50) to a total of $20,000, helping us reach our $40,000 goal."
Canadian scientist chosen for the 2022 Hepatitis B Foundation’s Blumberg Prize (Hepatitits B Foundation) EDMONTON STORY Congrats Dr. Tyrrell. So well deserved. "The Hepatitis B Foundation [...] announced that D. Lorne Tyrrell, MD, PhD, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and the University of Alberta, has been chosen as the recipient of its 2022 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize for outstanding contributions to advance the science and medicine of hepatitis B."
Pembina Pipeline chief executive steps down (CBC) CALGARY STORY "The Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. says CFO Scott Burrows will become interim president and chief executive officer as Mick Dilger steps down to pursue other opportunities. [...] Burrows, who has served as Pembina's CFO for about seven years, joined the company in November 2010. Previously, he had spent seven years in energy-focused investment banking."
Workers want a flexible future at work. What do employers want? (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Changing times. "In the past 12 months, Noah Arney changed jobs, moved provinces and returned to the office. In doing so, he's benefited from both office life and home-based work — including when he started his new job in Kamloops, B.C. 'I was able to to change jobs without having to move my family in January — and if you've ever been in Calgary in January, it's a good thing not to have to do that,' said Arney, a career development professional, who actually moved to B.C. months later."
A Year Ago, 12 Funders Committed to Support Racial Justice. Here’s What We’re Learning (Inside Philanthropy) "There’s a lot of talk about change in philanthropy—especially when the topic is racial justice—but what does that change actually look like in practice? To be engaged in this work in a real way, we have to see and believe the many painful truths of systemic racism. We must resist the urge to individualize racism as only a problem of bad actors and instead commit to systemic interventions designed to address what’s actually happening in communities. And we have to open ourselves to curiosity while sitting in discomfort, rather than philanthropy’s traditional habit of asserting certainty about our ‘solutions.’ Those changes in stance are exactly what the Democracy Frontlines Fund is offering the 12 funders who joined this effort a year ago: an opportunity to learn and be changed."
What happened behind the scenes of our WE Charity investigation (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "[Our] journalists felt that the public interest case was solid. Charitable status gives organizations credibility, income tax exemptions and other benefits. Donors big and small, taxpayers and the government expect transparency. Why wouldn't we examine the workings of WE? Our team responded to the concerned donors and assured them their views — and WE Charity's answers to our questions — would be included in the final story. Our team also asked many of these donors to share with us their donation agreements with WE so we could see what was promised in return for their money. None did."
Shepard says Western ‘screwed up’ on ID badge initiative (Western Gazette) LONDON STORY "Western president Alan Shepard admitted the university 'screwed up' the messaging on their new lanyard identification initiative. In a Senate meeting Nov. 12, Western University’s president explained the institution's decision to implement the voluntary Campus Identification System, which received strong backlash from the campus community, was not communicated properly. The lanyards were ordered over the summer in preparation for an anticipated directive from the Ontario government to verify that all individuals on campus were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus — similar to the system now in place at restaurants, said Shepard."
Buffy Sainte-Marie honoured with new Canada Post stamp (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This is so great. Congrats to Ms. Sainte-Marie. "Joining the ranks of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Rush, Indigenous singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is the latest artist to be honoured with a commemorative Canadian stamp. Canada Post revealed the stamp celebrating Sainte-Marie at a small, in-person event at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Thursday. 'It feels like an embrace. It feels like it comes from more than only my own family or my own show-business people that I know — it feels like a national kind of thing,' Sainte-Marie told CBC News."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

3 Best Books on Productivity | Productivity with Visuals (Illumination) The visuals are very helpful.
‘Tapping’ Your Way to Calm Can Happen in 5 Minutes With 5 Steps (elemental+) I am totally trying this and I am sharing it with family members who have anxiety.
5 Habits of Extremely Good Listeners (Personal Growth) Focus on the person, not the problem -- good advice.
“Slow Living” Is The Fastest Growing Trend You Probably Have Not Heard About (Authentic Pieces) This is very cool. I have enjoyed slow food and now...am very interested in this.
The Trick to Knowing When You’re Done With Research (Creators Hub) Who wants to be a in a rabbit hole for too long? Not me. Excellent piece on how to tell if you have been researching for too long.
The 7 Pillars Of Self-Improvement (mind cafe) These are all great but folks often stop after #1 and #2."
15 Top Rated Writing Courses (Personal Growth) We can all become better writers.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

Philanthropist Jim Neill makes historic $5 million gift to Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation (KawarthaNOW.com) PETERBOROUGH STORY Nice gift! "Philanthropist Jim Neill is donating $5 million to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation to support the future of cardiac care at the regional hospital."
TRU receives an anonymous $1.4M donation (KamloopsNOW) KAMLOOPS STORY Smart gift. "An anonymous donor is contributing $1.4 million to expand the peer-mentoring program for Early Childhood Educators (ECE) over the next three years at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) to keep them from leaving the profession. Almost half of all ECEs leave the profession in their first five years, and a shortage of day-care spaces is becoming more and more prevalent in BC. Retaining these educators is important for affordable and safe child care."
Rogers Joins Telus in Donating $1M for B.C. Flood Relief; Shaw Donates $500K, Bell $25K (iPhone in Canada) BRITISH COLUMBIA STORY Thanks folks. "Rogers announced it will be donating $1 million towards B.C. flood relief, to the B.C. Search and Rescue Association (BCSARA), as part of a multi-year partnership. The BCSARA has 79 local teams and 3,000 professional volunteers that have been helping evacuations and recoveries from devastating floods in B.C."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo President & CEO Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca.

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Vincent DuckworthNovember 25, 2021Comment