Summer is usually a nice time to relax, smell the roses and enjoy nature. Well, our summer here at the Centre has been rather fast paced, so we're looking to later in the autumn to take in the changing colours and smell the rain-soaked fresh air. September is shaping up to be a busy time. 
     We are working on a few new projects simultaneously. The CEED Centre Farm Market has been running on Thursdays since May with Paula Justus heading up the performance stage. It will continue until September 28.
    Home Depot has graciously agreed to help us renew our aging fence beside the performance stage on September 13. All hands are welcome to assist. We will also be installing the gorgeous benches built with oak slabs gifted by John Wakita and built by Gerry Pinel. They will become the centerpiece of a Japanese rock garden at the front of the Centre, where members of the public can sit in the shade of the cherry blossoms. Two bulletin boards, one for our programs and one for public use, will also get built nearby. 
     On September 12, we will launch a School Pantry Project to deliver fresh produce from local farms to school children. This is a pilot project to enhance local food security and create the start of an institutional market for small farmers. We are still recruiting additional farms in the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows area that can offer farm shares for 10 weeks in autumn and 10 weeks in spring. 
   Over the next few years, we plan to research and display interpretive materials to tell the story of the Japanese Canadian settlers who homesteaded and farmed in the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows area up until 1942. These settlers once comprised about one-third of the population. While the fishing narrative is well documented, there are few traces left of the farming community after the Internment of almost 22,000 Japanese Canadian citizens in the coastal area.
    And as usual, we will offer our free weekly programs--the Seniors Activity Group (SAGE), CEED Centre Art Group, Wednesday Community Discussions, Community Computer Program, Sewing CEEDlings--and the regular drop-in services in the CEED Centre Neighbourhood House. 
     You will also find us out in the community at GETI Fest on September 16th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Memorial Peace Park, at Rivers Days in Allco Park on September 24th from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm, and at the Healing Journey Continues Through Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th from 10:00 am to 2:30 pm at Memorial Peace Park. See you there. 
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Spring has finally sprung! The CEED Centre Farm Market re-opens on Thursday, May 18, with new hours and a lot more fun. We have shifted the market into the afternoon and evening to make it more accessible. It runs from 4 to 8 pm. 
     We added a stage in the community garden to entertain you and your friends while you sip on refreshments and baked goods available by donation. The grand opening will feature Kat and Tony on the stage. Expect the entertainment to range from musical performances, to storytelling,  and poetry.  Thanks to the Alouette Men's Shed for building and installing the stage for us. 
     The farm market is our social enterprise. It makes a modest income for us to fund our free programs for seniors and others, while it feeds you and simultaneously promotes hyper-local farming. We source the produce from mom-and-pop farms in rural Maple Ridge that are too small to get to all the farmers' markets, where they have to spend a whole day selling after a half day of harvesting and prep. We want to encourage more small farms to use their property for growing food to boost our local food security and provide income for the farmers. Of course you get the freshest possible local food with all the nutrients and flavours intact. 
    Our goal for the farm market and stage is to create a fun space for residents to gather on a Thursday evening throughout the summer. We seek additional performers, storytellers and poets to entertain us, so please ask your talented friends to contact us. We can also accept local produce from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows farms or backyards. Any unsold produce left over from markets is distributed to low-income individuals and supporting organizations. 

Join our second annual Family Block Party on June 10, 2023, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm to experience a great gathering of the community. We will have fantastic musical performances by the likes of Bruce Coghlan, Paula Justus and more, youth improv, drum circles and storytelling. Look for the seed bomb making table and the healing tent among other exhibitors. Inside the CEED Centre Neighbourhood House, you'll find the games sessions run by Martin D.  The event will take place at the CEED Centre and Beckett Park, next door. Stay tuned for more info as the event develops.  

Save the Date: Saturday, March 4, 2023
10:00 am to 1:00 pm
​CEED Centre Organic Community Garden
11739 223 Street, Maple Ridge

Bring yourself and your trusty packets of saved seeds down to the CEED Centre Organic Community Garden on March 4th, a Saturday, to swap seeds with your fellow gardeners. If you are just a beginner and don't have much to share, that's okay: come for the revelation of gardening secrets by the likes of Carl Ronka, Dave Evely and the Centre's own Christian Cowley. Carl will regale you with ways to tune into our local ecosystems. Dave will tease you with hydroponic techniques for the perfect, small-scale indoor garden. Christian will whisper into your ears how to liberate your plants from the tyranny of plastic pots and perhaps turn your world upside down by revealing why you are really watering the garden. Hint: think small, very small.
The event will have something for your adult ears and some activities to engage your children. And refreshments of course. It's a garden party. If you've never been here before, check out the community garden and learn how you can become involved with CEED Centre activities and projects.   
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Journalist, environmentalist, musician, podcaster, and video producer Jack Emberly got to wondering what was happening last summer on Vancouver Island at the Fairy Creek Blockade, which had lasted for about a year at that point. In an age of abundant deceitful propaganda, he sought the truth of the matter. He had heard that the RCMP were illegally blocking media movement. He was curious as to who the protestors and supporters were. And why they were there. So he set out to see for himself and to personally ask the people involved. 

Over three days, Jack visited the blockade to interview and record, film and photograph the people there. He came away with some startling impressions that he compiled into an investigative documentary with the help of videographer Chris Clavette and the musical duo, Kat and Tony. 

And now, Jack is sharing the experience with you through an exclusive screening and discussion of his documentary, Fairy Creek Blockade--As I See It at the CEED Centre Neighbourhood House. Twenty-five lucky people will view the 38-minute video on April 14 (Thursday). Following the screening, Jack will lead a discussion of the issues to which the video gives rise. Admission is free. The doors open at 6:30 pm and the film will start at 7:00 pm. The screening is a collaboration of the CEED Centre Society with Cinema Politica Ridge Meadows. 

Fairy Creek Blockade--As I See It
Doors: 6:30 pm    Screening: 7:00 pm   Discussion: 7:40 pm
CEED Centre Neighbourhood House
11739 223 Street, Maple Ridge
Free Admission for 25 people:
call to register 604-463-2229​

Ever wonder how the television image of the prison system in BC stacks up against the reality? In Episode 11 of CEED Pod, we talk to Jerrica Hackett who spent more than a decade in provincial corrections and related organizations as an officer and case manager. She speaks compellingly about how her perspective changed from a strict security approach to a more nuanced and helpful understanding of what it's like to make mistakes and do time. And how society could benefit from a less judgmental approach. Listen to her chat with Alisha and Christian in Episode 11.  

 Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Trauma.
 
I affect everyone differently, but I hide from the minds of those who have not yet met me. I'll try to convince you I don't exist.
 
I'll make it hard for you to be who you were before you met me. I'll make it difficult for you to even remember that person.
 
I'll make everyday tasks feel like climbing Mount Everest.
 
I'll continue getting stronger every time we meet.
 
I'll convince sleep to stop visiting.
 
I'll stand by as you relive your meetings with me.
 
I'll take over your mind until you feel my presence there.
 
I'll drown out the familiar voices of reason and logic.
 
I'll have you running in circles until those around you question your behavior.
 
I'll make it difficult to explain me away.
 
The more you try to hide from me, the harder your life will become.
 
If you try to drown me out, my friends will surely find you.
 
Be on the lookout for my good friend Addiction. He takes the physical form of numbing agents, but if you walk off with him alone, he will inevitably lead you right back to me.
 
You may encounter my friends, Depression and Self-harm. Consider them my hit men.
 
Don't forget about my friend, Cycle. He might pretend to help you heal by finding others for you to personally introduce me to.
 
When I got you, I've got you. There's only one thing I hate: my name. When people speak my name openly, I start to diminish. It may take years for me to become so injured I can no longer peel myself off the ground to continue my vice grip on your life.
 
Until then, I'll be with you every minute of the day. I'll grow strong watching my impact on your life. Your attempts to overcome may paralyze me for a while, but when if you take off the gloves, I'll meet you on the next corner.

Yours truly,
Trauma

As told by Teesha Sharma, (June 27, 1992-February 15, 2019)

CEED Pod--the podcast that features Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows people and stories--comes out on Wednesdays, usually the third one of the Month.
This month, Episode 4 will debut on June 23. It features two segments. The second segment features Amy in conversation with Kristen Dobbs about Wellness on the Farm and her podcast "the Struggle is Real."
You'll also be treated to the Froggy Symphony, written and performed by Jack.
Christian's poem, Tiny Ripples, reflects his memories of canoeing on a lake high on a mountain plateau in B.C.'s Thompson-Nicola region.
In the first segment, you'll hear Part 3 of Jack's conversation with Christian about Geoff Clayton's epic battle over restoring water flows in the Alouette watershed for salmon--a glimpse at the 100 Year War that has been waged on salmon by power companies and ineffective government agencies.

https://ceedpod.buzzsprout.com   This is the podcast website. You can also listen via many directories, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

https://www.patreon.com/ceedpod   You can support us here and get early access to new episodes.
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