The 2022 edition of Culture Days is weeks away and plans are afoot to make this year’s event a return to form for the festival.
The 2022 edition of Culture Days is weeks away and plans are afoot to make this year’s event a return to form for the festival.
Several new, old and remixed events are on the calendar for this year’s observance, which starts Sept. 23 and runs until Oct. 16. A lack of public health orders and restrictions around COVID-19 will allow organizers to have full capacity events indoors and out.
“We’re still on the post-COVID-19, trying to make sure we have lined things up, but we’re very grateful to have received funding from Hudbay, from the Flin Flon School Division and of course, from the arts council – and we are planning activities,” said lead organizer Crystal Kolt.
“We’re still trying to get a feeling as to what people want to do, but this is what I know – there are some really exciting events happening that are a little bit different than the norm.”
That includes makeovers of longtime Culture Days events. One such change is the Human Books event, which has usually featured prominent Flin Flonners at the Flin Flon Public Library to share stories and their backgrounds with interested onlookers. That event, as the public has known it, has changed – Kolt said it has been replaced with a wine and cheese evening where wines will be paired with books at the library.
Other events will stay on from previous years, like the Dancing Down Main Street event, the Walking Through a Volcano tour, the Wild Things outdoor market, a film screening from the Central Canada Film Group and a return of school programming and the Superstar program, which teaches local schoolkids skills and techniques used in circus training.
Out-of-town performers will also be a major part of this year’s Culture Days, which will include two incoming acts during the course of the events. Juno award winner Serena Ryder will perform at the Flin Flon Community Hall Oct. 16, with the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers coming from Winnipeg to perform at the hall Oct. 1. Those shows will sandwich the Wild Rice Cabaret, which is set for Oct. 8 and is a charter event for Culture Days.
Yet more events are still in the planning stages and will not likely be firmed up until closer to opening day.
Tara Culbertson, right, president of the Zama Killer Katanas, talks about the roller derby team during a Community Information Exchange at the Camp Zama Community Club, Japan, June 10, 2022. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)
Sgt. 1st Class Dannell Bing, senior religious affairs NCO, provides an update for the Religious Support Office during a Community Information Exchange at the Camp Zama Community Club, Japan, June 10, 2022. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – U.S. Army Garrison Japan staff held the first in-person Community Information Exchange in three years here Friday as pandemic conditions continue to improve.
Installation officials provided updates on a range of community services during the quarterly exchange and also announced the return of open-post events, starting with an Independence Day celebration on July 2.
Before the pandemic, the Fourth of July event typically had about 10,000 to 12,000 visitors attend.
This year’s event, which will run from 3 to 9 p.m. at Yano Sports Field, will include live entertainment, inflatable games, military displays, and American and Japanese food vendors before ending with a 20-minute fireworks show.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to do this,” said Maj. Gen. JB Vowell, commander of U.S. Army Japan. “We’re getting back to some of the normal things we need to do as human beings, which is gathering together face-to-face.”
On Aug. 6, Camp Zama also plans to have its Bon Odori Festival, an event that honors the departed spirits of one’s ancestors. Japan Ground Self-Defense Force partners will co-host the celebration, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors to the post.
“That’s a great cultural event that we’re going to have,” said Col. Christopher L. Tomlinson, commander of USAG Japan. “So let’s get excited, because it’s going to happen.”
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Col. Christopher L. Tomlinson, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, speaks during a Community Information Exchange at the Camp Zama Community Club, Japan, June 10, 2022. Installation officials provided updates on a range of community services during the quarterly exchange and also announced the return of open-post events, starting with an Independence Day celebration on July 2. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)
Maj. Gen. JB Vowell, commander of U.S. Army Japan, speaks during a Community Information Exchange at the Camp Zama Community Club, Japan, June 10, 2022. Installation officials provided updates on a range of community services during the quarterly exchange and also announced the return of open-post events, starting with an Independence Day celebration on July 2. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)
In Friday’s exchange, more than 15 presenters spoke about updates in their organization to around 100 community members, who also received a free dinner buffet and a chance to win gift cards.
During her briefing, Capt. Ashley LeBaube, who represented U.S. Army Medical Department Activity–Japan, highlighted news from the BG Sams U.S. Army Health Clinic.
She mentioned free COVID-19 testing was still available for official and non-official travel at the rear of the clinic on weekdays from 8 to 10 a.m., followed by quarantine testing from 10 to 11 a.m. Symptomatic testing is currently by appointment only by calling DSN 263-4175 or 046-407-4175.
Testing for those on restriction of movement is now conducted at the unit level, she added. At-home tests are also offered to TRICARE beneficiaries, who can have two per person each month and can pick them up during testing hours in the rear of the clinic.
The clinic also now accepts hand-written prescriptions from U.S. and Japan providers. The prescriptions should be written in English and contain complete patient, prescriber and medication information, she said.
LeBaube encouraged patients to download the TRICARE MyCare Overseas app, which can help them track appointments and referrals as well as provide access to translation services.
“Being in a foreign country is sometimes stressful in dealing with health care and through the different health care systems,” she said. “So having the app available is really awesome.”
Diane Thompson, center, discusses the services offered at the Army Wellness Center during a Community Information Exchange at the Camp Zama Community Club, Japan, June 10, 2022. Thompson and others provided updates on a range of community services during the quarterly exchange, which also announced the return of open-post events, starting with an Independence Day celebration on July 2. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)
Diane Thompson, who spoke on behalf of the Army Wellness Center, said the center offers six core programs to improve sleep, exercise, nutrition and stress management.
“The purpose of our existence is to keep our warriors fit to fight,” she said. “In doing so, our goal is to combat the major risk factors to overuse injury.”
Risk factors include a high or low body mass index, poor sleep habits and nutrition, sedentary behavior and smoking, she said.
The center, located at Bldg. 379, has assessments to measure a person’s success as they work toward their goal. The most popular assessment, she said, is the Bod Pod system, a body composition test that determines the ratio of body fat to lean mass.
The services are open to all active-duty Soldiers, retirees, their adult dependents and Department of the Army civilians.
Thompson also said that unit leaders can reach out to the center to organize classes or assessments to boost the readiness of their Soldiers.
Totolua Ripley, store director of the commissaries here and at Sagamihara Family Housing Area, reminded community members to try out the CLICK2GO online ordering site.
Shoppers can sign up for the curbside pickup service by creating an account at Commissaries.com. Ripley said shoppers who complete eight orders of $25 or more with the service during this month and July will receive a $25 gift card.
“That’s an incentive to use the CLICK2GO service,” he said. “We appreciate if you guys can do that, because it will help us out quite a bit.”
At the end of the event, Tomlinson asked the audience to provide their input ahead of the next information exchange, slated to take place in early fall.
“We need your feedback,” the colonel said. “So let us know what we missed, how we can do better, what was good. We’re already planning our next event and looking forward to making it better for you.”
CENTRELEA, N.S. — Thinking about all those people fleeing from war and seeing prices going up here at home has given me pause to remember how lucky I am.
I live in a warm house on a hill with a beautiful view.
I have food in the fridge and in the freezer in the basement.
There is enough wood in the basement to see us through the winter to help with the power costs.
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I have warm winter clothing and warm footgear.
I have a warm, soft bed with a nice pillow for my head.
I have a bathroom with a flushing toilet, a sink that has water, and a bathtub and shower with hot running water whenever I want it.
I have a well that has never gone dry.
I have my husband here.
I have reliable internet and reliable telephone service. My power stays on most of the time.
I have enough money to pay for the gas for our vehicle to go to the grocery store and the pharmacy.
I have a very reliable snowplow guy who cleans out the long driveway right after it snows.
The only noises I hear outside come from the occasional big truck on the highway or the neighbour’s tractor or the other neighbour’s horses or the coyotes at night or the various little birds that come to the feeders.
My nights are dark with stars and moon shining when it isn’t cloudy.
I live in Annapolis County in the province of Nova Scotia in the country of Canada.
I don’t live in a war zone brought about by a man who wants to turn back time. I don’t have to get my precious stuff together and get to a bus station or a train station to go to another country. My husband doesn’t have to stay behind to fight for our piece of territory.
My children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are safe. My dear friends are safe.
I am so very grateful.
Anne Crossman is a former journalist and media manager. She now does volunteer work in her community of Centrelea, Annapolis County.
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