Virtual Gallery: Mother and daughter, Darlene and Tracy Fillion, open gallery show of clay and textiles

Tracy Fillion (left), who works with hand-woven textiles, poses with her mother Darlene Fillion, who works with ceramics. (Richard McGuire Photo)

The show Kindred Hands: Textiles and Clay was scheduled for May 2020 at The Art Gallery Osoyoos, but Covid cancelled it. A year later, mother and daughter Darlene and Tracy Fillion have opened their show with Covid precautions in place.

The show opens Thursday, April 29 and runs to Saturday, May 22, 2021.

Darlene is a local potter whose work ranges from decorative wall hangings to more functional bowls and cups along with little ceramic flowers on logs and bark.

Tracy Fillion has a home studio near Nelson, B.C., where she operates We Are Stories, a textile company. She designs, cuts, prints and sews primarily eco and thoughtfully sourced materials. Continue reading “Virtual Gallery: Mother and daughter, Darlene and Tracy Fillion, open gallery show of clay and textiles”

Virtual Gallery: Painter Lyse Deselliers opens solo show at The Art Gallery Osoyoos

Artist Lyse Deselliers poses with her diptych View from Anarchist Mountain on display at The Art Gallery Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire Photo)

Painter Lyse Deselliers opened a solo exhibition of her work on Thursday, April 1 at The Art Gallery Osoyoos. The show, “Our Lakes: Connecting the Dots,” runs until Saturday, April 24, 2021.

The theme of the show is the lakes of the Okanagan basin and the waterways that connect them. Deselliers has gathered comments from people in the communities of the Okanagan who are active in protecting and celebrating these lakes, which she displays with her paintings.

Born in Quebec City, Deselliers has pursued a career as a veterinarian in Ottawa and Calgary. She moved to Penticton with her family in 2016. Continue reading “Virtual Gallery: Painter Lyse Deselliers opens solo show at The Art Gallery Osoyoos”

Virtual Gallery: Osoyoos Quilters Guild opens exhibition at The Art Gallery Osoyoos

This quilt is the grand prize for this year’s raffle. It was sewn by the late Osoyoos Quilter Lorna Fairbanks. It was quilted by another member, Angie Rosin (pictured). (Richard McGuire photo)

The Osoyoos Quilters Guild opened their exhibition, Quilts Etc., at The Art Gallery Osoyoos on Thursday, Feb. 4. The show runs until Saturday, Feb. 27.

The show is open for in-person viewing from noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday, however Covid restrictions are in effect. This online “Virtual Gallery” is available with some of the highlights for those who are observing Covid travel restrictions, or otherwise can’t make it to the gallery.

Some of the pieces are for sale, but many are listed as “not for sale,” because the quilters wish to keep them. For purchase inquiries, please contact the gallery during opening hours. Continue reading “Virtual Gallery: Osoyoos Quilters Guild opens exhibition at The Art Gallery Osoyoos”

Osoyoos Festival Society celebrates with ‘Virtual Christmas Lite-Up’

Frosty the Snowman high-fives children along the parade route in a previous Christmas Lite-Up. (Richard McGuire photo)

With the annual Christmas Lite-Up festival cancelled this year in Osoyoos, the Osoyoos Festival Society is celebrating  Christmas with a Virtual Christmas Lite-Up featuring a few Christmas songs, scenes from previous Lite-Ups, and some of the best lighting displays.

Watch video on Vimeo:

Despite health agency communication missteps, simple steps can limit coronavirus spread

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus shown was isolated from a patient in the U.S. Image captured and colorized at NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, Montana. Credit: NIAID

As the coronavirus shows signs of starting a comeback in B.C. and Alberta and it rages out of control in the U.S., a fundamental question remains confusing for some: “How is the virus spread and what can be done to stop it?”

It doesn’t help that especially in the early days, considerable misinformation and contradictory information was put out by organizations we rely on for answers – the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

I don’t believe for one minute Donald Trump’s recent retweet from a game show host, Chuck Woolery, who claimed the CDC and others are “lying” to the American people.

Rather, I think it’s because of the tendency of bureaucracies to resist new information and for generals to fight the last war. Many of the earlier incorrect statements about Covid-19 were based on the experiences with SARS and MERS, without understanding how the novel coronavirus is different. Continue reading “Despite health agency communication missteps, simple steps can limit coronavirus spread”

B.C. has done well at controlling Covid-19, but we could soon see a surge with summer travel and complacency

Playgrounds in Osoyoos are reopened, as are other facilities and businesses that were closed in late March. Are we reopening prudently enough? (©Richard McGuire Photo)

The B.C. government released new statistics on June 23 to bolster the case for moving to Phase 3 of reopening, now that Covid-19 cases have been reduced to a manageable level.

Phase 3 permits non-essential and recreational travel to other parts of the province as the summer season gets underway. In reality, people have been doing this kind of travel for weeks anyway as there never was a legal ban on non-essential travel in the province – just a recommendation.

The numbers for B.C. are good right now. But as more and more summer tourist traffic fills the streets of Osoyoos, we need to remain vigilant. Continue reading “B.C. has done well at controlling Covid-19, but we could soon see a surge with summer travel and complacency”

Osoyoos Festival Society marks Cherry Fiesta/Canada Day with ‘virtual’ celebration

Members of the Osoyoos Festival do a video tribute to Cherry Fiesta/Canada Day, which was cancelled this year due to Covid-19. (Richard McGuire Photo)

The Osoyoos Festival Society had to cancel the July 1, 2020 Cherry Fiesta and Canada Day celebrations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, they’ve decided to hold a “virtual” celebration to mark the usual all-day event, producing a short video in which Mayor Sue McKortoff calls on people to find their own way to celebrate safely.

The video features members of the Festival Society at Gyro Park, including President Lyn Motkoski and Ken Baker dressed as giant cherries. It was filmed by Richard McGuire.

As Susan Dodd sings an a capella O Canada, images of the crowds and events at previous Cherry Fiestas are shown. Annette Star of the Fireworks Committee invites people to attend a bigger and better display in 2021.

Click the four-arrow icon to the left of “Vimeo” on the bottom right to watch in full-screen mode. (Runs 2:54 min)

Life Goes On: Artists on Main show their work in Virtual Gallery

Where’s My Glass? (Nancy Gray)

Members of Artists on Main Osoyoos show their paintings in the June “Life Goes On Virtual Gallery.”

This is the third “Virtual Gallery” offered by OsoyoosPersists.ca and featuring the work of local artists. The Art Gallery Osoyoos has been closed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The gallery now plans to open on June 13 for its Summer Artisan Market, but opening hours will be restricted and other measures aimed at keeping the public safe will also be implemented. Continue reading “Life Goes On: Artists on Main show their work in Virtual Gallery”

Haynes Point (swiws) partially open for walk-in day use

The day use area at Haynes Point (swiws) Provincial Park is now open to pedestrians, but the camping area remains closed to all. (© Richard McGuire Photo)

Haynes Point (swiws) Provincial Park is one of the most pleasant places to walk or bicycle in Osoyoos.

Along with other provincial parks, it was closed throughout most of April and early May in part because people on the Lower Mainland were crowding into parks in that part of the province and failing to physically distance.

Haynes Point reopened for day use only last Thursday, May 14.

The park is ideal for seniors because it’s quite flat, the views are gorgeous and there’s often bird and animal life to observe. In these times of Covid-19, the wide road makes it very easy to exceed the two-metre physical distancing guideline. Continue reading “Haynes Point (swiws) partially open for walk-in day use”

Geography and Covid-19 Part 2 – Cellphone location data provide insights on physical distancing

Many Android and Apple apps record people’s location data unless this is disabled. While it can raise privacy concerns, the data – when anonymized and aggregated – can provide information about physical distancing during the pandemic. (© Richard McGuire Photo)

As B.C. and other jurisdictions around the world begin to lift physical distancing measures, how will we know how well it’s working?

Human behaviour never exactly mirrors the measures implemented by governments. Some people defy guidelines to stay at least at least two metres apart in public. On the other hand, just because a nail salon or gym opens again, it doesn’t mean people will return in pre-Covid-19 numbers. The public makes its own judgments about what is safe.

In a previous article, I talked about how geography can be used to understand the spread of the novel coronavirus. In this article, I’ll talk about how cellphone data can be used to estimate people’s movements and adherence to social distancing guidelines. Continue reading “Geography and Covid-19 Part 2 – Cellphone location data provide insights on physical distancing”