Arts and Culture Week, Creston Style

What a great day Sunday was!

Sunday, late morning, early afternoon we went out to the Wynndel opening of Arts and Culture Week and saw the great installation of Raku fish they had mounted on iron bars all along the creek with little areas where one could read about the various dams on the Kootenay and how they affected the Kokanee Trout in Kootenay Lake, and how that affected the larger Girrard Trout and Dolly Varden. Also, added to the changes from the dams, when Cominco cleaned up some of its practices of releasing fertilizer into the river it lowered the algae growth in the lake to the point where the fish’s survival was threatened and there was a whole program of adding fertilizer to Kootenay Lake in the 90’s to the point that the fish population has rebounded.

At the Wynndel Hall there were also people demonstrating Raku firing, there was ice art, inside there was a fish and chips feed, and a quilt show and sale with some sales going to the Wynndel After School Arts Program and a bunch of wonderful quilted fish wall hangings being sold with the monies going to the Creston Aquatic Society.

Sunday evening was the Creston opening of Arts and Culture Week at the Art garage and it was wonderful. The garage was full to overflowing with local artists and what a happy din. It was really great to see so many people from the different arts related groups co-operating on a common cause.

We went home glowing happily. The Art Garage will be open daily through May 7, with various other activities around town all that time.

Today was a trip to Cranbrook with lots of wildlife along the way. 5 white tailed deer, 3 mule deer, many, many geese, ducks, a heron, etc. I had to run back to town this evening and was just in time to see the 'clean up crew", this time a large hawk, gathering up the remains of a Columbia Ground Squirrel who tried to cross the road just one time too many.

This evening our friends, Jim and Taryn WoodnoteSaberwing, who create beautiful stone and silver or gold jewelry, came out and we did a trade. They now have a swallow birdhouse for the little swallow couple who have been trying to squeeze into the enty hole of the chickadee house, and I have a wonderful pair of rustic woolly mammoth tusk earrings.