Congratulations to Marsha S., member and author, who is shortlisted for the 2024 Kobzar Book Award for her recent book Winterkill.
The $25,000 KOBZAR™ Book Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who write on a topic with a tangible connection to Ukrainian Canadians…This year’s KOBZAR™Book Award entries showcase titles which highlight issues that impact Ukrainians as a people in Canada. —Kobzar Book Award
The winner will be announced on March 21, 2024.
The successful candidate for the 2023 Award B is Susan Zuidema. Susan has worked for several years in Brantford with people who are struggling with poverty, homelessness, addiction, and mental health. She has seen first hand their trauma and feelings of hopelessness. A genuine advocate for the disenfranchised, Susan has been instrumental in mobilizing food programs, increasing temporary shelter beds, and establishing Charlie’s Place for young men and also housing for young mothers in need of mentorship. As the former executive director of “Why Not” mission, Susan helped many at risk young people. Susan believes that a trusted psychotherapist is a crucial component of healing and hope. She has enrolled in the M. of Div. clinical counseling three year program at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto.
A gloriously mild and sunny day brought out a bunch of our walkers on Tuesday. We’ll enjoy these beautiful opportunities to bask in the sunshine and in each other’s company even as the temperature dips. If you enjoy walking and intelligent talk, come join our club!
20 women from our dining out group enjoyed a wonderful and leisurely dinner at Speekezzies Cafe and Wine Bar in Brantford. The food was delicious, as you can see in a few of our choices pictured below. The conversation and laughter was a pleasure, as always.
What might the green be roasting with these baby potatoes? If the Creative Cooking Group is serving rack of lamb, the answer is rosemary and mint straight out if the garden.
Check out the new section on our website called Our Reviews. Books and more! Jean F’s bag caption has the right idea!
The Honourable Justice Gethin Edward was born and raised in Brantford, and is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
He attended Pauline Johnson Collegiate in Brantford, the University of Waterloo, and received his law degree through the
University of Western Ontario. Justice Edward began his law career with the highly respected firm of Howard Staats, where he
practiced law for 14 years, after which he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. Justice Edward has taken on complex
projects such as the founding of the Indigenous Persons Court of Brantford, sometimes called the Gladue Court. He changed
how medicine was practiced in Ontario in his 2014 ruling that Aboriginal people have the right to use traditional medicines and
health practices for themselves and their families, a controversial decision at that time. In his personal life, Justice Edward has
been married to Vicki for 34 “wonderful years” and has two children. Justice Edward is generous with his time, often speaking
to local community groups, and we look forward to his talk to CFUW.
Four of us were able to attend the book discussion group over lunch yesterday, but we were able to talk about a dozen or so books. Marian brought her copy of Significant Lives, which was self-published by our club a number of years ago. She was on the committee to produce it and told us many interesting anecdotes.
Leslie took notes with her beautiful script:
Our Dining out group went to Pinecroft yesterday…. A quintessential autumn delight. The drive on the backroads included fields of pumpkins and forests in dazzling reds, oranges and golds. Pinecroft is a cluster of log cabins nestled in the woods, complete with pottery studio, gift shop and restaurant. The food was sourced locally and beautifully prepared. Homemade soups, grilled cheese and BLTs, top notch Caesar salad (possibly my new gold standard!), and so much more. I think we were high on autumn because the laughter and joy at the table was ….delicious!
