Pesticide-free Calgary, Yes Men, Escape from Suburbia, and Puppet Power!

By Gerald Wheatley
Published on Wednesday, July 4, 2007

The Arusha Centre played a part in the following actions, bringing together social justice, environmentalism, and public action.

The Healthy Calgary Coalition Organizes City-wide Events in Support of a Pesticide-free Calgary


Healthy Parks Parties were organized in six parks across Calgary on Sunday, June 10. The event marked Calgarians support for our city to join the 125 other municipalities which have phased out the unnecessary use of pesticides. The day after the Park Parties, Alderman Joe Ceci delivered gourmet organic dandelion soup to the alderman and the mayor.





Mayor Bronconnier, Sharon Stevens and Alderman Ceci enjoy some Spoon Fed organic Dandelion soup.



This event is part of the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary's pesticide bylaw campaign. Take action by visiting www.healthycalgary.ca. You can view the Aldermanic report card, listing who's already supporting the campaign, and make your opinion heard.

Thank yous go out to: The board of the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary, Clean Calgary, Calgary Dollars, Arusha, HSCA, The Bird Lady, Laureen Rama, Sierra Club, Sustainable Calgary, Industry Images, FFWD, CJSW, Spoon Fed Soup, SCOPE and the Disability Action Hall, Adrienne Adams, Connie Ptak, Attachment Parents, Sunnyside School, Jim Besse for hockey organizing, Barb Kinnie, Paul Millar, The Sadlier-Brown Family Band, Anne Loree, Ryan Bourne and the Distractions, Not Nesecelery, Lantern Making with Adrienne Adams, Cody Torgerson, Darren Flach, Alderman Joe Ceci, MLA Dr. David Swann, Alderman Druh Farrell, The Calgary Alternative Transportation Initiativeand all the volunteers that moved stages, hoisted giant puppets, and worked all day.





Calgary Housing Action Initiative

The first annual CHAI Housing Rally brought together Calgarians who have suffered from the shortage of affordable housing with concerned citizens and politicians to speak, march and document the desperate need for solutions to Alberta's housing problems.

The rally was document by CHAI coordinator Jennifer McVeigh:
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=1624798902552938820&pr=goog-sl

Visit: www.housingaction.ca to meet with other concerned Calgarians

Thanks to AJ Matsune, David Wilson, Susan Stratton and The Raging Grannies, Wendy Passmore-Godfrey, Cody Torgerson, Ronnie Joy Leah, Tracy Ray Lewis, Stephanie Adams, MLA David Swann, George Read, Julie Hrdlicka, Fred Robertson, Stephanie Lovatt, Vi Gerbrandt, Christina Stebanuk, Donna McPhee, Colleen Huston





World Premiere of Documentary film "Escape from Suburbia"

World premiere screenings of Escape from Suburbia: Beyond the American Dream took place in Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Calgary

The End of Suburbia, Gregory Greene's 2004 film, was the first to detail the dynamics of peak oil and the need for relocalization. In Escape from Suburbia we meet three characters whose very different lives converge on a single note: creating a more sustainable future for their families and communities as Hummer fever begins to power down. Corporate and government solutions juxtapose what history and common sense tell us is beginning to happen: that we as a civilization are about to face one of the most significant events in human history, the overhaul of a lifestyle which is completely predicated on cheap and abundant oil.

See the Alberta tour video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=OGzDPSFUOTA

Sponsors: Calgary Dollars, Public Interest Alberta, Carol Marcinowski-Alberta Ltd 545822, The City of Calgary - (Land Use Planning and Policy and Environmental and Safety Management), Sustainable Calgary, Broken City, FFWD, CKUA, CJSW, Industry Images, VUE, Calgary Carsharing Cooperative, City of Calgary Ecological Footprint Project, Clean Calgary, Natural Family Fair, Dr. David Swann, MLA and the Liberal Caucus, The Alberta Green Party and Industry Images.

visit www.films.arusha.org for details on upcoming screenings





The YesMen LIVE!

The YesMen made their first visit to Calgary a splash on June 15. Their sold-out Arusha event was preceeded by a prank at a Calgary oil and gas trade show, where the YesMen masqueraded as ExxonMobil executives unveiling the newest biodiesel fuel, ... made from human remains!



The event was co-sponsored by Arusha, CAOS, Movies that Matter, Epcor , NUTV, the Gauntlet, FFWD, Hallmark Cleaners, Industry Images, Emmedia, and The Plaza. Special thanks to Grant Neufeld, Grant Poier, Tavis Ford, Noel, Colleen Huston, Kirti Bhadresa, Jennifer Scott, Gerald Wheatley, Sharon Stevens.

Check out the YesMen documentary or book from the arusha library, library.arusha.org





Puppet Power 2007

Puppet Power 2007, May 25-27 at the UofC Rozsa Centre, was an international conference on the use of puppetry for social change. Arusha's Dual Power Procession was there in force, helping animate the parade and sharing experiences with performers and organizers from around the world. Skills were developed and giant puppets were created that were used in future events. Special thanks to Wendy Passmore and the gang at WP Puppets as well as all the conference organizers.