Arts and Culture

Foodtree Permaculture Education and the Castlegar Public Library are teaming up to help you get the garden of your dreams this season with Castlegar Seed Swap this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Find new plant varieties you can grow for the first time! Maybe you’ve been seeking perfect plants to fill those empty spots in your rich garden canvas?,” said a press release issued for the event. “Come swap seeds and shop with some of our region’s most passionate gardeners! Enjoy trading your abundance of seed packets and home grown seeds. Trade and buy seeds with local gardeners or even seek a little garden advice and companionship!”

Foodtree collaborator Kate Wedemire, in an interview Wednesday, said Foodtree exists to help people learn about their own food sovereignty, and they even boast a four-acre demonstration farm in Crescent Valley (one could hear roosters crowing in the background during the telephone interview) where they focus on food Kootenay residents can grow in their own backyards .

The region is slated to bid adieu to yet another non-profit organization – the Castlegar United Way – due to lack of volunteers and donours.

United Way president Nicole Beetstra said the almost-half-century-old charity will be closing its doors on May 31, with the official announcement coming at a general meeting on April 2.

The Kootenay Music Awards are returning this year after a raucous event last year at The Royal.

Title sponsor The Nelson Brewing Company has come on board and Black Press has partnered with KMA founder Chad Hansen to ensure the awards not only continue but flourish in the years to come as a fundraising opportunity for Kootenay Coop Radio.

Artists and fans alike will begin submitting there favourites from the past year or so in February. We will then via a panel of five judges short list that to the nominees.

The City of Trail may become a technological leader as early as this summer, according to city councillor Sean Mackinlay.

Reporting to council from the Governance and Operations Committee (GOC), Mackinlay said the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation (CBBC) has now posted a Request for Proposal on BC Bid for the installation of the fibre optics through the downtown core.

“This will give the City of Trail a very competitive edge, especially for downtown businesses,” he said. “It will create a connectivity on par with New York, London, Hong Kong – any major city in the world.”