Weekly News Recap: December 4, 2020

Weekly News Recap: December 4, 2020

Sparkling, festive, and magical! For many Calgarians, the holiday season is not complete without a visit to ZOOLIGHTS, presented by Olympia Trust Company. Calgary’s award winning, magical holiday tradition will be glowing for six weeks of festive family-friendly fun lighting up the nights between November 20, 2020, and January 3, 2021. Photo: Calgary Zoo

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. -- Katharine Hepburn

VITREO FUNDRAISING ASK ANYTHING ZOOM CHATS

We will be concluding our season with a drop-in video call on December 18. Our topic: Budgeting in a 65% World. You can connect and ask questions of your peers and the ViTreo team. Don’t see a topic that interests or is relevant to you? Don’t worry, join us anyway…we are calling them Ask Anything events for a reason. See you online! Register here

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • After delivering more than 10,000 babies, a beloved Montreal obstetrician prepares to step back (CBC) MONTREAL STORY Wow. What an amazing legacy. "Ask around in Montreal, and you will likely find someone who was brought into this world by Dr. Alice Benjamin. She has delivered more than 10,000 babies over the course of her career. She has delivered babies, and then delivered those babies' babies. In one family, she has been obstetrician to a mother, her grown daughter and soon, she will deliver the granddaughter's baby."

  • Fort Chipewyan gets stop signs written in Indigenous languages (CBC) FORT CHIPEWYAN STORY Love this. More please. "New stop signs written in traditional Indigenous languages were installed in Fort Chipewyan this week. The signs [...] are written in Cree, Denesuline and English. This makes Fort Chipewyan the first community in Wood Buffalo to have multilingual signs."

  • Hole lotta love: Why doughnuts have become a favourite COVID comfort food (CBC) CANADIAN STORY No argument from me #FoodOfTheGods "Whether it's the fresh baked scent, the gooey glaze or the warm insides, doughnuts — those addictive deep fried balls of sugar and carbohydrates — have become a favourite comfort food in the wake of COVID-19 [...]. 'I think we're an essential service for the head and the heart,' said Carol Kaesbauer, the operations manager at Lee's Donuts."

  • 11-year-old Muskan Jiwa of Edmonton wins national spelling bee championship (CBC) EDMONTON STORY Congrats! "Muskan Jiwa might be too young to drink espresso, but knowing how to spell the word helped her win a national spelling bee. Jiwa, a Grade 7 student at Edmonton's Dr. Donald Massey School, won the junior category of the Spelling Bee of Canada [championships]."

  • 'Santa's helper' Izzy McQueen back answering children's letters after being forced by Canada Post to retire (CBC) KAMLOOPS STORY The heart warms. "Last week, Kamloops resident Izzy McQueen was forced by Canada Post to retire as 'Santa's little helper' after 35 years of writing replies to thousands of children who sent letters to Santa Claus. But her mood quickly turned from disappointment to exhilaration [...] when the federal agency asked her to return to work, even granting her the title of honorary elf."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Governor General Announces 114 New Appointments to the Order of Canada (Governor General of Canada) CANADIAN STORY Congratulations to all 114 new appointees and especially to Tom Jackson, Mark Tewksbury, Elder Doreen Spence, Chief Darcy Bear, George Brookman, Jackie Flanagan, Ross William Glen, Charles Roy Guest, and John R. Lacey.

  2. Justice William deWit and Professor Timothy Caulfield receive honorary degrees from University of Calgary (UAlberta) CALGARY STORY I am a long admirer of both these humans. Congrats to all the honourary degree recipients. I used to watch Justice deWit when he was a boxer. I love that we have a former fighter as a Justice in Alberta.

  3. Giant pandas at Calgary Zoo begin journey home to China (CBC) CALGARY STORY For me, this journey epitomized the losses we have had during COVID-19. #2021Please. We will miss you our dear pandas. "The two giant pandas living at the Calgary Zoo are en route to China, according to the Calgary Zoo's Twitter account [...]. The pandas, adult female Er Shun and adult male Da Mao, were expected to be at the Calgary Zoo until 2023, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic there were issues sourcing a sustained supply of bamboo for them to eat."

  4. Gorgeous Christmas Lights Drive-Throughs And Displays Across The Country (Huffington Post) CANADIAN STORY We need some brightness and cheer this year. "2020 is making it clear why Christmas lights became such a thing in the first place. When the days are short and so many people feel lonely and isolated, seeking a brightly-lit tree can cause a surprising difference in our moods. Luckily, there are a lot of Christmas light displays all across the country." RELATED: More people ‘Spruce-ing’ up their homes this holiday season, ‘Fir’ good reasons.

  5. Chess fans hail The Queen's Gambit for upending male-dominated sport (CBC) I watched the trailer and I was hooked. #BethHarmonRocks "It only took two days after its launch for the chess drama The Queen's Gambit to make it into Netflix's top 10 most-viewed series — and it hasn't budged since. It has since become the streaming giant's biggest scripted limited series to date, but the show's popularity isn't confined to the screen. Chess enthusiasts believe it's bringing more people to the game and making it more accessible to a group that, historically, has been largely shut out of it — women."

  6. Studying to be a better citizen: The true value of an arts degree (Macleans) CANADIAN STORY I heart arts degrees. #MorePlease "For starters, my degree gave me the opportunity to think critically about and challenge common assumptions about the way society functions. Examples include the way pop culture often romanticizes the ignoring of consent boundaries and the harm caused by racist jokes, or the way the news media pay more attention to Kamala Harris’s husband than her political positions."

  7. Trudeau turns to the military to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that the federal government has chosen a senior military commander to lead its COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort as the country prepares for a massive inoculation campaign." RELATED: Nobel Prize winner explains why Canadians should feel reassured by COVID-19 vaccine approval process.

  8. Edmonton community leagues could move toward profit model (CBC) EDMONTON STORY This is a game changer. We will be watching this story closely. "Edmonton's community leagues may enter the profit-making arena next year if council agrees to amend the current 10-year agreement, which expires at the end of 2021. The three-way agreement currently allows leagues to offer public recreation programs and services on a not-for-profit basis only."

  9. Connecting to what matters most: Rogers extends devices and services to organizations that support vulnerable Canadians during second wave of COVID-19 pandemic (Global Newswire) CANADIAN STORY Nice move Rogers. We heart this. "Deep into the second wave of COVID-19, Rogers Communications [...] announced it is extending services to organizations that support vulnerable Canadians, with thousands of previously donated devices, voice and data plans extended by an additional six months. As the pandemic continues, so does [its] deep commitment to providing safe access to resources and critical supports for those in need across Canada, and the need is great for women escaping domestic violence, for youth and LGBTQ2S+ communities having fewer opportunities for in-person programs, and families struggling to support virtual learning."

  10. Tony Hsieh, retired CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, dead at 46 (CBC) I have long admired this human. His drive and commitment to customer service were legendary and inspiring. As was his philanthropy. RIP Mr. Hsieh. We will not see your like again. "Tony Hsieh, the retired CEO of Las Vegas-based online shoe retailer Zappos.com who spent years working to transform the city's downtown area, has died. He was 46."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The 20-Minute Daily Clean Routine That’ll Give You Your Weekends Back (Apartment Therapy) It's not rocket science but sometime we just need someone to give us a nudge in the right direction.

  2. How to Make Baked Potatoes Fluffy and Crispy (The Kitchn) Turns out poking holes is not what we should be doing. Who knew?

  3. Dictionary companies choose same word of the year: pandemic (AP News) They are not wrong of course but...ugh...do we have to have THAT word? Jeepers.

  4. Books That Changed My Life by Changing How I Think (Books Are Our Superpower) Oh, these are good. Mainly because I have not seen them before and they are a pretty deep list.

  5. The five best diet hacks to transform your mental health. (Feed Your Brain) Are you feeding your invisible friends?

  6. What Happened When I Called One New Person a Week (The Forge) Turns out I do this naturally but now I am going to do it intentionally. Boom!

  7. Three Ways to Get Things Done and Get On With Your Day (The Forge) Rest assured, this is easy to do and easy to implement.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Million-dollar donation has Light the Trees campaign off to a bright start in Nanaimo (Nanaimo Bulletin) NANAIMO STORY Nice and very much needed. In a year of non-events, this is helpful. "A seven-figure donation is a shining star in the hospital foundation’s Light the Trees campaign. The Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation’s annual Light the Trees campaign, raising money for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s new intensive care unit, received a $1-million donation from the Windsor Plywood Foundation."

  2. EPCOR Heart + Soul Fund ends on a high note Fund provides $1.25 million for more than 40 events and programs to uplift community (Financial Post) EDMONTON STORY Nice work EPCOR! "As part of its commitment to provide more than $1.25 million to help uplift Edmontonians and revitalize our community, EPCOR [announced] the sixth and final wave of Heart + Soul Fund recipients, with funded programs as diverse as YESS, Fringe Theatre, and virtual concert offerings from the Edmonton Symphony Society."

  3. Riverside Military Academy receives $1 million donation to fund student scholarships (Gainsville Times) "Riverside Military Academy is getting an early Christmas present this year with a $1 million donation from alumnus John Phelps."

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 partner Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by ViTreo Group Inc. of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. ViTreo Group does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ViTreo Group Inc. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate.

Vincent DuckworthComment