With September here already, it’s time to look ahead to Ioco Ghost Town Day.

The main event will take place Sunday, October 3 from 11:30am-3:30pm at the old Ioco Lawn Bowling Green in Port Moody. All ages will find something to enjoy at this FREE family event.

Highlights include living history skits, antique car site tours, roving performers, old time music, pony rides, a pie contest, artisan displays, apple sampling, birds of prey and more.

In advance of the event you can find the folks behind Ghost Town Day at the Port Moody Festival of the Arts Sunday, September 25, doing some heritage crafts. Or head to the Port Moody Station Museum to get a glimpse of Ioco’s past in the Ioco Historical Photo Display from September 24 - October 2.

It all sounds like spooky good fun!

Not long ago we told you about Port Moody Library’s Canadian Books, Eh? event, celebrating Canadian Library Month in October.

The nominations have all been tabulated, and the library has announced the three finalists:

• Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
• Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
• Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

So, what next? Take the month of September to read the 3 final titles. Then, vote for your favourite from October 1-14. You will be able to vote in person at the library, or by visiting the library’s website during the voting period. The winner will be announced on October 25.

Happy reading!

See the original, and read all the letters, online.

Dear Editor:

I am writing to thank the Anmore Alternative for it’s support of the inaugural Anmore Arts in the Garden Fundraiser. We had six artists painting and two live musicians on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny summer day in August.

We had so much positive response to the event by visitors who came from the Tri-Cities and beyond. The great comments I received really validated the hardwork that yourself, Mario, the volunteers and artists had put into the event. All the artists were very pleased and were impressed by the beauty of Anmore, your property and you and Mario’s tremendous generosity.

The two benefactors; The African Conservation Foundation and Gallery Gachet were able to gain exposure and raise some money for their respective causes. With the monies raised from the event, the ACF were able to fund three conservation officers for one year in Africa. In addition, Gallery Gachet was able to receive monies for the operation of the Artist Run center in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, as well as purchase production supplies for its New Media Projects by artists who have mental health concerns.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this joyful event, we look forward to doing it again next summer.

Best Regards,

J Peachy
Executive Producer
Anmore Arts in the Garden Fundraiser

Judith M. Atkinson is a professional Artist with an extensive exhibition record and studio practice. She has over 30 years experience working in the community and as a Fine Art Instructor with various School Districts, Learning Through the Arts, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and Langara College. She is an Honours graduate of Emily Carr University of Art & Design, and studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and with ECUAD in Florence, Italy.

This fall, Judith will be bringing her considerable experience, and her excellent teaching style, to Evergreen Cultural Centre with two class offerings. Here are the details:

Creative Kids!
Ages 7- 12 years

Mondays, September 27th – November 22nd, 4-5:30PM
Come and create, paint, explore the art of Painting and Drawing and Collage in this fun program lead by Artist and teacher Judith M. Atkinson. Students will learn from the Masters and will create masterpieces and discover their own artistic genius!

Continuing to Paint
Adults
Mondays, September 27th – November 22nd, 7-10PM
This inspiring 3 hour program lead by Artist and teacher Judith M. Atkinson is designed for painters of all levels a study course on contemporary painting practices and principles using a variety of media of your choice, oil or acrylic or watercolour. The course will cover colour theory, composition, skill building and technique along with masterwork painting references. Dive and enrich your creative talents.

For full details, or to register, drop Judith a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can also register in person at Evergreen Cultural Centre on on Friday, August 27 or Tuesday, September 7 from 12- 5PM. Registration deadline is September 9, 2010 for both classes.

The first celebration of Anmore Arts in the Garden will be held on Saturday August 21st from 2-5PM. The event will feature internationally renowned high realist painter Daniel Taylor and local Arts based advocate for Mental Health J Peachy, both of whom are based in Anmore. In addition, there will be other emerging and established artists who will be participating including Monika Blichar, Vicky Rae, Joe Sala and Lori Motokado. The stroll through the Gardens will be enhanced by live musical performance by local musicians David Blair and Alexander Keurvorst.

“Anmore is a bit of a landlocked island culturally, and by having great local talent come to our beautiful neighbourhood is really special. This arts event is different than others out there as it reflects the values of our village lifestyle,” states J Peachy, Event Organizer.

In the spirit of grass-roots festivals like Woodstock, Under the Volcano and the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Anmore Arts Festival will be held at Roxanne’s house (1020 Sugar Mountain Way). The house was used in the 1980s movie Roxanne starring Steve Martin and Darryl Hannah. This joyful event will celebrate the arts through live painting, music, poetry and even an elegant lemonade stand.

Admission is by donation. There will be door prizes, a silent auction and original art for sale. Partial proceeds will go towards the African Conservation Foundation, in support of preservation for the Cross River Gorillas as well as Gallery Gachet a mental health advocacy Gallery.

The artists thank the Anmore Alternative News for hosting and making this event possible.

Participating Artists

Visual Artists

J Peachy
jpeachygallery.com

Daniel Taylor
wildartafrica.com

Monika Blichar
monikablichar.com

Vicky Rae
www.raveartgallery.ca

Joe Sala
www.salastudios.com

Lynn Shreve
brilliantcolours.ca

Musical Guests

Alexander Keurvost
www.myspace.com/algender

David Blair
davidblairmusic.com