Just to Let Your Betters Pass (in progress)

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My Grandmother's Cocoa and How We Overcome Fascism

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On my shelf is this old can of cocoa. It says "Droste" and gives a weight "For Eng. and the Colonies". For me, this can of cocoa carries more than 1lb of memories and warnings. When I was in my early teens I went to the kitchen of our double-wide trailer, stood at the upper extension of my tip-toes, and slid this red and blue metal can off our harvest-yellow fridge. It had been there as long as I could remember, and I'm not sure why this day, of all others, I finally made hot chocolate for myself, but I did. And since I'd looked in that can many times, I knew where to find my ingredients.  Maybe fifteen minutes later I sat on the couch, fully proud and enjoying my first self-made hot-chocolate. I found something crunchy in my mouth and, already a fan of chocolate-covered coffee beans, I crunched away at the small bean and said, "aw, Mum! You got your coffee beans in the cocoa."  "I can't imagine how," she said, disinterested. And I be...
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Remembering Lyn van Lidth de Jeude

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Our mother and life partner, a lover of song and beauty. A singer, a gardener, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, teacher, and creator and spreader of love, died peacefully on September 18th 2024, five months after receiving her brain tumour diagnosis. Lyn van Lidth de Jeude helped raise countless children in her 40 year career as an early childhood educator, infant development consultant, and music therapist. Through her dedication and constant love for every child in her care, Lyn worked tirelessly to ensure that they all started off with a strong foundation. While you may not have guessed it, Lyn was born in Daytona Beach Florida, and a piece of her identity was her deep ranching roots in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Her father Horatio Ham, an engineer, moved the family of 5 kids many times until the final move north to West Vancouver. Once here, Lyn attended West Van High and Capilano College ending with a degree in music therapy. Music was always a fundamental part o...
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The Importance of Community-Engaged Public Art

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1996: Emily van Lidth de Jeude working with children to cover a formerly-neo-nazi-decorated wall in the Netherlands with a kid-designed mural. The child in this photo is now a professional artist living in Gibsons, BC, and still makes meaningful public art to improve her community. Open letter to Bowen Island Municipal Council, Mayor and CAO: Dear Mayor, council members, and CAO,  I write in response to the voiced concern about our "art fund". This relatively small fund is an essential aspect of our community's future prosperity. First of all, to get the obvious out of the way, the commonly-held belief that artists should volunteer their time (and often materials) to produce public art is absurd, for the same reason we'd never expect contractors to build our public buildings without pay, and donate supplies. Artists have bodies and families that need to be fed and housed just like the other contracto...
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