Scattered around the world are hidden gems, valuable, even priceless gems existing right under our noses and often undiscovered by many. Here in our very own town we are lucky enough to have such a hidden gem,
SAGE - Senior Activity Group Eh!
Humour & activities for Elders, including people with dementia and caregivers. I Am told the members of this group have decided to call themselves the Keenagers and are working on a cook book as we speak!
Tuesday mornings from 9:30 am to 11:30 am
CEED Centre Art Group
Artists of all abilities come together to paint or draw and share great conversation as well as teach each other.
Tuesdays 1:00-3:00 pm
Community Gardens
Offering planting beds to individuals in the CEED Centre gardens, and also part of a diverse partnership helping to create school neighbourhood gardens and cooking programs.
Velorganix Youth Eco-Employment Program
The electric cargo trike will be ridden by youth that will benefit from pre-employment training to participate in the program. The plan is to start with grocery deliveries, customized transport for seniors and compost pickup for local businesses and offices.
And of course....
What I love about the Wednesday mornings is that it is a space where folks can come together meet and dream about doing something collaboratively and then do it! I am also amazed at how diverse the group of people can be on any given day. No matter how anyone's opinions and world views may differ, everyone is encouraged to speak and share, each individual is heard with respect, and disagreements handled with compassion. It is through these morning discussions that I have learned how opposing views when handled with compassion and respect can help each individual grow with better understanding. In this environment I have witnessed many individuals learn and grow through the support of the community at the CEED Centre. Some have remained close members to this day making the CEED Centre their chosen family, and others have taken their new skills and confidence out in to the community to make an impact with their own projects. It has been beautiful to watch over the years.
The CEED Centre is such a warm and welcoming environment they were recently honored with the award for being the most inclusive. I had no idea there was such an award, but how cool. You probably won't be able to read the fine print, but it says " In recognition of your outstanding contributions in supporting inclusion for the citizens of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows"
Next we have Gerry Pinel who is also on the Board for the CEED, In 2006 Gerry started a society called Boiling Point Action Society, in which Christian became a member of in 2008. The two then combined their efforts and Christian asked Gerry to join the Board at the CEED Centre in 2009. Soon after Gerry became the fasciliator for the Wednesday morning discussion groups.
" The CEED Centre inspired and created the foundation upon which all of my acheivements have grown. It has allowed me to become an integral part of the community." shares Gerry.
Just like Christian, Gerry is involved in many projects and his main passion is about educating people on how to create sustainable and thriving communities. With his passion he has started a few large projects such as :
GETI FEST Part of the global Transition Network movement working to find local solutions to global problems. (This organization was started through the CEED Centre and supported by it until it was able to stand on its own two feet)
The Shire A tiny home community in development.
As long as I have known Gerry he is always carrying a folder full of important documents of some sort, a full schedule for the day, and is always rushing off to a meeting. It is a running joke that since he retired, he has never been busier. Gerry is well educated in the environmental changes we are seeing and the shifts we are needing to make and he is always happy to share his wealth of knowledge if anyone asks.
Where does Gerry hope for the direction of the CEED Centre in the future?
"My vision is that the CEED Centre become even more relevent, and expand in to more corners of our community bringing with it a commitment to inclusivity and community resilience."
You can see why I love this place and many of the people here have become my mentors and my chosen team. There are so many other people involved in and responsable for the magic that is the CEED Centre. I wish I could show them all to you, but to do so I would have to write a book. Who knows, maybe one day I will.
For now I will just have to be content with sharing the story of our annual Dinner in The Garden which I am lending a hand to set up.
Christian has been preparing the spaghetti sauce for 2 days now and Elise another CEED community volunteer is in the kitchen cooking up the noodles. We have 5 hours to turn this neighborhood house and community garden in to a stunning dinner environment for the 44 people we have attending tonight.
I head out to set the tables with candles, flowers from the garden, and packets of seeds complimentary from the CEED Centre seed bank, Elizabeth takes this time to tidy up the garden which she has put her heart and soul is to.
More hands arrive and begin prepping veggies and salad in the main room. Gerry pinel takes on the task of hanging the lights around the elegant dinning area. And Christian, well as usual he is doing many things at once and running back and forth delegating tasks, organizing last minute details, and of-course running errands on the new velobike. He was so fast I didn't even get a chance to snap a photo of him.
Elaine, Christian's wife is organizing the set up for the buffet, making sure the food stays warm and fresh. And Richard another board member at the CEED Center is mostly entertaining everyone with his jokes and wit, and when he is not doing that he is effortlessly slicing through the veggies for the salad to the chagrin of Kim and Elise who have been painstakingly slicing through the veggies with ...well, much more effort than that.
More hands have shown up than were expected which is making this easy work and fun. Turns out we are ahead of schedule. Everything is almost done and we still have quite some time till the guests arrive so this is spent on last minute tasks to make everything perfect. And so it is as the first guests start to trickle in. It's a beautiful warm evening and everyone is cheerful as they find their seats in the garden.
On this evenings menu is spaghetti bolognese, seafood cream sauce, and vegetarian sauce, garlic bread, side veggies, amazing salad, and of course desert which was made by Elaine, and Kim. With in no time, bellies are full and contented guests enjoy conversation with each other in the serene environment of the garden. I did not take pictures at this time since I was not able to ask everyones permission before hand, so you will have to use your imagination. Just picture happy full people sitting in a beautiful garden!
Christian takes this time to share the new projects coming up at the CEED Centre and to thank everyone for their support. Guests ask questions, tell stories and laughs are shared all around. Dinner in the Garden is a success and now it is time to come to a close until this time next year.
There is much much more I would love to share about this wonderful place that is the CEED Centre, but my hope is that you will come and discover it for yourself. You can do so by attending one of the community events such as dinners. workshops, or community discussions. Infact we are having our open house on Saturday October 19th. There will be a cob oven building workshop in the morning, hotdogs and socializing in the afternoon, and the AGM early evening. If you want to learn more about the centre and meet some awsome people, and hey eat some hot dogs well then come on down. I will be there and I hope to see you there!
CAROL WATERS has a passion for building community, and continues to engage and connect people through food, the environment and various community events. She teaches yoga and self healing workshops in studios and rehabilitation centers in her area.
In her free time you will see her spending time in nature with friends and creating new healthy and delicious. recipes in her kitchen.
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