imagine

Imagine - Manitoba’s First Rock & Roll Half Marathon in Niverville, Manitoba on Saturday, September 27th, 2008. This event is a non-competitive half marathon fundraiser organized in the loving memory of Joey Stott, an exceptional human being who left us far too soon!
The goal…to prevent suicide and defeat the negative social stigma surrounding the issue. Every dollar raised from last year’s event went directly to suicide awareness campaigns, research and education.
Here are just a few snapshots of some of the beautiful moments during the day.

















Ballroom Dancing with Christiaan and Deborah

















RCMP and volunteer supervisors


















One of the many refuelling stations


















Roger Brodeur - Buzz Groove and the Dirty Nogooders



















Colleen Gerbrandt



















Fubuki Daiko Kagemusha Drummers




















Al Hudon



















Alice, like all the volunteers, were an integral part of the event's success.



















Thank you to all of the event sponsors. You are a large part of the event's success.

creativity and education

I recently came across this video and was immediately inspired to share it. Get yourself some coffee and be prepared for 20 minutes of goodness.
It has everything to do with the roots of how people end up being creative humans...a lot having to do with the arts, which is the focus of this blog.
We would appreciate your feedback in the comment section.

Niverville Drop-In Centre Event

The Niverville Drop-In Centre hosted a "Frozen Coffee House" on July 31 to celebrate and enjoy some of Niverville's local talent, which drew in a musically intrigued crowd who may not call the Drop In their usual "hang out". An approximate 150 people rotated through to catch a glimpse of the four musical acts that kept the doors open from 8 'til midnight. Acts included performances by bands "Guerrilla Warfare" with Mark Friesen and Josiah Speers, and "Moriah" with James and Will Neufeld, Justin Kroeker, and Nick Rempel, as well as a folk duet by Mandy and Jonathon Kroeker, and a cover song by Jason Braun.


This event was unique from past coffee houses, due to its artistic innovation to include two short Niverville inspired films between musical acts. The Drop In produced film highlighted events that it offers throughout the year, and the mock documentary on the "People of Niverville" fronted by Josiah Speers, Keenan Byggdin and Matt Falk were thoroughly enjoyed.


All who participated were well received by viewers who managed to applaud and cheer, despite the fact that the air was extremely thick and hot due to the mass volume of body heat and lack of air conditioning. This event was dubbed "Frozen" because Drop In volunteers were making cheap milkshakes and floats to cool off the crowd from the heat of summer. The Drop-In Centre casually hosts a variety of themed coffee houses throughout the year, which, in the past, has included a St. Patrick's Day coffee house, a "Pirate Day" themed evening, as well as Halloween and seasonal concerts. Stay tuned for the next event.




















Submitted by Nicole Schroeder.

It's about time!

Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of taking in a local concert. It was absolutely wonderful to walk downtown and hear some live music. I was doubly pleased because a relatively under-used building in town was showcasing local talent.

The band, Rocka-by-Blue, is a collection of friends and family who play classic rock, blues and a hint of gospel. The venue was just big enough to house the mixed bag of fans who were rewarded for their attendance by a spirited, lively performance and a wonderful opening act, Colleen Gerbrand. Colleen is certainly no stranger to music having performed quite well at the 2006 Southeastern Manitoba Music Festival.

Personally, one of the band highlights was during a Janis Joplin song when one of the singers (Mel) suddenly put the microphone in front of the lead guitarist (Steve). The picture of him belting out the tune is still stuck in my head. The overall atmosphere was quite relaxed and inviting. During the break there was plenty of chatting amongst friends, fans and family: it had a marvelous feel.

I am looking forward to more opportunities when more of our home-grown talent can share their gifts with those around them in this kind of setting. It’s about time well spent.

If you would like to see Rocka-by-Blue, they will be performing at The Hamlet this weekend. Need directions?

as for me and my house...

...we will serve the horde good food, thoughtful drinks, and a palette on which to arrange and mix rich musical tones.

Tapas night just keeps getting better and better. In fact, some say that yesterday's was the best one ever.














We began as usual with everyone displaying their food thoughts from the previous two weeks of planning. Shortly thereafter groans of delight began to rumble from within...and it wasn't from our backsides. The food was marvelous, but that is never a surprise. These people know how to cook.















What was a surprise, was the seemingly spontaneous transition (well not ACTUALLY spontaneous...we DID all bring our instruments) into people opening their instrument cases and homey music filling the room. People began to become vulnerable with their craft which led to an overwhealming feeling of safety...of community.














This is something we have been hoping would happen. This is one of the intentions of the tapas parties every other Friday. Experimentation with food and drink is very high on the list, but it is so much better to experiment with food and drink TOGETHER. We all love to do this, so why not spread the love. And if you can throw in a bunch of music created from the talent within the group, then you've got another piece of the culture puzzle...then you've got a party.

So now we're quilting on Sundays, are we?

Little did I know, but here in my rather newly adopted town which I call home, is a wonderful "underground" community of humans who all just happen to have sew much in common and have an innate need(le) to get together.

I am, of course, talking about the group of women who meet during the day on Mondays in the Niverville United Church basement. Quilting is the game. And without doing a stitch of advertising, these women are busy, busy, busy.

Today I was introduced to the group. I invited myself along on a friend's scheduled visit simply to make myself more aware of my community. I was not disappointed, for here I experienced the essence of community. The aroma was fresh, inviting, full of richness, and called the on-looker deeper into the experience.

What made this visit so nice was that I was simply expecting to drop in and have a quick look. I was quickly reminded that tasting something...really tasting something, requires intentional time...and repetition. Each return to the table brings a new perspective on the flavour. And the beautiful thing about discovering something new in your world, is the hint or even promise that there is still more.

Our adventure of connecting the community through various interests is full of promise...a promise of...I want to say harvest, but harvest is more of a getting; this is more of a seeing than a getting. People will begin to see that there is so much more than what we all see. So much more than all the things that are on the main drag and on our own cul-de-sac.

So the next time you are out and about in Niverville, look twice. Am I certain about what that means...no. Do I think that it has value...yes. There is so much out there that has value. And today I discovered some in a small church basement which I have walked, rode, and driven past without ever casting a thought. And now I have proof of their existence...I came equipped with a camera, and their photos can be seen by clicking twice on the flickr sidebar of this blog. Take a look. They are the first group of artists to be featured here, but there will be many more to come; so please keep visiting and we'll discover together Niverville's underground world.

Investing in People

There's lots of chatter in the nervous stock markets about where's the best area to invest.

Tonight I was at the Irish Association Club for a St. Patty's day event. With me were two of my children and three other teens from our community along with another dad. The reason we were there was to listen to the three teens sing a song they had learned on their own - more or less. They performed a song they learned from a Rankin Family CD - in gaelic! The first time I heard them was about last Wednesday at the Southeastern Manitoba Festival: I was so proud of their accomplishment, I thought more people should hear them and they should get more opportunities to sing. Fast forward four days and they played to a very appreciative audience and had a fabulous experience to boot.

I am glad we started this group to encourage Arts and Culture in Niverville. Tonight was a perfect example of why we are doing it. We are investing in people and that's always a good market.

what is art?

What do YOU think?

Honey, I'm home!

Tada! Niverville Style blog is now linked to our webpage's new home www.nivervillestyle.ca. It's good to have a sense of permanence for the page, now it feels like I can put more energy into the design. If anyone has ideas, suggestions or skills let me know.

We start!

A month ago we officially formed the Niverville Arts and Culture Group. We have several ideas and visions, this blog and accompanying website being one of them. Mostly we are about encouraging Art and Culture in and around Niverville. I hope visitors will engage in discussions here and help us shape the direction we take.

Last night was the final performance of Get Married or Die Trying, a play produced by our local drama club. I sat about seven rows back and it reminded me of one of the reasons why we formed this group. I would love to have a permanent stage in town with lighting and sound set in place. So much work goes into these productions yet the performance is always held in a less-than-ideal venue. The facility last night held about 200-250 people but that meant some sitting on the long staircase: good view, bad seat. All in all though, I enjoyed the production - lots of laughs.

So, are you from the area? Do you have any ideas or opinions about Art and Culture in the area? Come in, sit down and have a chat.