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the quality of creative engagement in the Okanagan through publications, events and collaborations.
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Nature Up Close and Personal
EXPLORING THE NATURAL NORTH OKANAGAN
» Wednesday 23 June 2010 | 5 pm
» Kalamalka Café, Okanagan College, Vernon
An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us for a journey of discovery as we explore the extraordinary wonders of nature in the Okanagan with guides Roseanne Van Ee and Dave Smith as they reveal treats and treasures off the beaten trail.
» $2 at the door. Refreshments are available.
» Please reserve a seat at this presentation HERE.
Outdoor Ethusiasts Showcase the North Okanagan's Natural Wonders
Connecting with nature can improve your health and wellbeing. People who take part in conservation projects report subjective health benefits, ascribed to being outdoors and to feeling part of a greater system connecting beyond the individual, not to mention the known benefits associated with exercise.
Protecting nature results in cost savings for governments, because natural areas provide many ecological benefits that sustain the health and well-being of our communities at little or no cost. The economic benefits of nature conservation were recently profiled in a United Nations report found that protecting natural ecosystems and biodiversity is worth trillions of dollars in annual economic benefits globally.
It's time we started looking at the true value of our forests, fields, farmlands and other natural and managed ecosystems, beyond just the resources that we take from them.
On Wednesday, June 23rd at 5 pm the alternate weekly Okanagan Institute Showcase series at the Kalamalka Café, Okanagan College, Vernon presents Nature Up Close and Personal. Join us for a journey of discovery as we explore the extraordinary wonders of nature in the Okanagan with guides Roseanne Van Ee and Dave Smith as they reveal treats and treasures off the beaten trail.
 Roseanne Van Ee is locally renowned from her many years as a BC Parks naturalist, newspaper columnist, Allan Brooks Nature Centre founder, environmental and outdoor ed. workshop facilitator for teachers and leaders and as an ecotour guide. With an extensive background combining environmental sciences, recreation and education, she shares her wealth of knowledge and skills in helping others to discover our natural world in a fun and informative way. This is her passion and profession. Roseanne is often found guiding award-winning fun and adventurous Mountain Wildflower Tours and Bears & Berries Tours in the summer and a variety of snowshoe tours in the winter at Silver Star, and Mushroom Safaris in the Mabel Lake area in October.
Local naturalist Roseanne Van Ee's provides award-winning walking, hiking and snowshoeing tours that take Okanagan residents, and tourists from all over the world, off the popular trails into wildflower meadows, mushroom fields, snow covered forests, to spectacular mountain top views, nature parks and more. Our scenery is fantastic, but it's when we explore on foot that we experience its treasures and delights. Her humorous and informative hands-on presentation is designed to inspire people to get out, and be active and aware in a leisurely way. You will be surprised at how much there is to see and know!
 Dave Smith is the President of Ribbons of Green, a local group that promotes and supports the building of paths. He recently retired from a management position at the Tolko Armstrong Operations, and has settled into half-time work consulting to the forest industry. He's been involved in bike paths in Vernon for 15 years, starting as part of the group that put the Jack Schratter Way out to Okanagan College. He and his wife live in Coldstream, love biking and hiking, and have spent the last 3 winters in Guatemala building cook stoves in Mayan villages.
Ribbons of Green, an organization that builds bike and walking trails in the Vernon area, is constructing a Regional Park with hiking trails on Middleton Mountain. This concept was proposed to them by the Middleton Neighbourhood Association last year, in very general terms. This presentation will walk through the steps they took to get this large project approved through local Councils, and their engineering groups, and to get the project in motion in a 'no spending' environment. The trails are now under construction, and the first loop to the top of the mountain will be in place by this fall. Dave Smith will take us on a lively guided tour of this positive development, sure to be enjoyed by all.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Nature Up Close and Personal takes place at the Kalamalka Café on the campus of Okanagan College in Vernon. This is the 5th event the Institute has held there, and the 150th public presentation offered by the Okanagan Institute since 2007.
Showcase is directed, convened and hosted by Katie Brennan and Robert MacDonald. The Institute has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet laureate and professor John Lent, creative entrepreneur Nikos Theodosakis, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and many others from a wide range of creative fields.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that has gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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