1. Volunteer E-Newsletter_Winter 2017

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Volume 9, Issue 1 – Winter 2017

Genevieve

Genevieve’s Update

It was a busy 2016! Our volunteers worked 6,860 shifts and contributed 24,599 hours. That translates to an in-kind contribution of approximately $427,530. You, our volunteers, put in so much time and effort throughout the year, and especially during the busy summer season! From Victoria Day to Labour Day, you were there every weekend, assisting us in so many capacities, making sure our events ran smoothly and patrons enjoyed their visit to our 10-acre site. Could we do it without our amazing volunteers? Absolutely not! We thank you for all your contributions, and we count on your support as we start a new year. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Canada. We can look forward to a year of exciting events as we celebrate the wide spectrum of music, dance and activities produced by Canadians from all regions of the country and from diverse backgrounds, whether they be Indigenous or more recent arrivals. This diversity that characterizes our country and our city is well reflected in the members of our volunteer team. The Volunteer Programme, which is entering its 34th year, has grown from strength to strength. We owe this to the volunteer committees who have worked closely and tirelessly with Dorothy and me. All committee members deserve my most grateful thanks as they come to the end of their term of office after an amazing two years. We could not have filled the large volunteer requests each weekend in the summer and at IFOA without the assistance of the Recruitment and Training Sub-committee, under the leadership of Karen Sinotte and her dedicated team—Janice Romaldi, Larry Lewis, Anna Fleury and Marta Ryborz. The creative team of the Newsletter Sub-committee overseen by Sean McCluskey is composed of Lynn Allen, Pauline Beverley, Kevin Catalig, Christine Dang, Lidia Jarmasz, Scott Uminga and Tom Bilenkey, who coordinated the team of Event Photographers. Last, but certainly not least, the Social Activities Sub-committee, headed by Kate Szacun-Shimizu and her hardworking team—Kitty Jones, Elinna Quan, Garth Lawrence and Ann-Marie McGregor—made sure everyone enjoyed the refreshments at every volunteer meeting and had a great time and a delicious dinner at the volunteer year-end party, all with an incredibly low budget. Please remember to mark the following date on your calendar: THURSDAY, APRIL 27TH. This will be our VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION PARTY. Give us the opportunity to wine and dine you, as we honour and celebrate your contributions to Harbourfront Centre! Thank you, and we look forward to working with you this year!

Genevieve Peng Volunteer Coordinator

A Year in Review 2016 Volunteer Statistics 2 Festival Highlights Thoughts on IFOA 4 Reelworld Film Festival 5 Day of the Dead 6 Volunteer Winterfest Party 7 Mark Your Calendar! 8 Volunteer Opportunities 9

Volunteer Meeting, January 21, 2017

Content


2016 Volunteer Statistics

Total Volunteer Hours 2015 — 2016

Total Volunteer Hours by Department

Total Volunteer Shifts by Department

Total Volunteer Shifts 2015 — 2016


2016 Volunteer Statistics

Bilenkey, Tom Begg, Philip Sinotte, Karen Allen, Lynn Romaldi, Janice Peter, Buelah

Lawrence, Garth Fleury, Anna Allen, Margaret Howlett, Jennifer Wright, Dorothy Crispin, Helen

MacArthur, Sharon McCluskey, Sean Osbaldeston, Anne Jones, Kitty

Quan, Elinna Wilkinson, Sybil Michael, Valya Szacun-shimizu, Kate Jarmasz, Lidia Bryant, Michael Yu, Ricky Beverley, Pauline Kelly, Paula

Kanev, Youli Uminga, Scott Brennan, Joyce Saeedpour, Saina Gonzales, Karin Lewis, Larry Wu, Maria Chadha, Chitsimran Ebbs, Bobsie

Samuel, Jesica McGregor, Ann-Marie Lobb, George Goodridge, Yolanda Chiu, Carissa Greschuk, Anne Kyonka, Spencer

Ehirim, Ejikeme Exner, Nell Fleming, Elnora Wu, Teresa Goldenberg, Susan Hugo, Anna Pless, Emily Catalig, Kevin Walker, Vanessa Jeji, Kenny Neblett, Pamela Dias-Martyn, Pam Shore, Edie Tai, Amy Wu, Emily Kawabata, Sharon Chiu, Betty Elias, Viktor Taki, Haruka

Kaur, Harmanpreet Chawla, Alka Dang, Christine Shi, Cheng Kai Sacks, Ethel Staples, Ilona Haney, Moyra Laplanche, Anne-Gaelle Mbondo, Hermine Starkman, Susan Himal, Terry Chawla, Ashok Miemiec, Sigrid Lee, Edward Ukas, Catherine Yu, Hyeri Kim, Chris Rodriguez, Stefano Huang, Lili

Chengyang, Eric Chawla, Parul Zhana, Carrie De Vera, Geneva Trikha, Tiffany Pulciani, Tina Yang, Xiaolu Pogorielova, Valeri Zhu, Katherine He, Jing Gupta, Uma Wong, Annabelle De Guzman, Reese Gill, Hana Kehm, Carol Rivers, Angela Sorias, Florence

Over 200 Hours

101 — 200 Hours

60 —100 Hours

Thank you to everyone for all your help in making 2016 a success!


Festival Highlights

Thoughts on IFOA 2016 By Pauline Beverley

“Toronto’s festival of words and ideas, of writers and readers.” This is how Geoffrey E. Taylor, director of the 37th edition of the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), described the event in the Festival Guide. And indeed it was. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the festival.

Geoffrey also paid tribute to volunteers for “their help and dedication”, because without their commitment “a festival of this magnitude would not be possible.” And volunteers were there and everywhere. Amongst them were Team Leaders who gave invaluable support at IFOA between October 20–30, 2016. Although their main focus was coordinating team members and being prepared to perform any role if the need arose, they also took time to explore the activities.

In Freda Leung’s words, “my role as Team Leader was made easy, as I was fortunate to work with a group of wonderful people who have a lot of volunteer and life experience. Since I was new to this role, it was important for me to be humble and to learn from others

who are more familiar with this event.” She added that, having recognised the importance of communication, “before each event, I would talk with each team member and made sure everyone was familiar with his/her role.” Also, at the end of each shift, “I always expressed my appreciation to all team members.”

Another Team Leader, Harmanpreet Kaur, agreed with Freda. But also said, “I had a lot of fun interacting with the authors, guests and volunteers. Not being much of a dedicated reader myself, I was surprised by the amount of interest I developed in attending all the events. I was in awe to see how the authors were so passionate about their work that their love for their work reflected from every word that they spoke when asked about their books.”

There is no doubt that IFOA is a much-

anticipated event, and I am sure volunteers

are looking forward to the 38th edition, just like

I am!

Larry and Anne-Gaelle at the Support and Info Table Book assistants—Huishan, Jessica, and Ree Chen


Festival Highlights

Reelworld Film Festival By Lidia Jarmasz

Harbourfront Centre welcomed the Reelworld Film Festival for the first time this past October. Though this was the 16th edition of the festival, it was the first time it was held outside of theatres in Markham and Scarborough! Reelworld presented narrative and documentary films, as well as virtual reality and gaming activities, that explored social problems such as racism, migration, war, and genetically modified foods. This was not your average socially conscious film festival, however: viewers were invited not only to reflect upon the stories they had just seen, but also to take action. The Marilyn Brewer Community Space was transformed into the “Conversation Room”, where patrons were encouraged to both discuss the issues raised in the films and get involved with various relevant organizations. A small group of Harbourfront Centre volunteers worked alongside the large team of volunteers recruited by Reelworld, directing visitors around the site. It was quite exciting to be involved in such an engaging and innovative festival!


Festival Highlights

Day of the Dead By Scott Uminga

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a three-day celebration where we celebrate the lives of those who have passed. Although traditions of honouring our loved ones are part of many cultures, Dia de los Muertos is particularly striking in that it involves festivities and colour.

I knew about this Mexican holiday before, but I first learned about just how colourful and joyful it was from the animated film The Book of Life. I also remember seeing the skulls (calaveras) run out last year at Harbourfront Centre, which was not a surprise because of their popularity and how fun they were to make. I was really excited to help make them. These smaller sugar skulls made for children to decorate were to be brought home or left for display, though the Wunderkabinett Collective, formed by Elizabeth Jackson Hall and Steve Loretta, created different-sized calaveras made from over sixty tons of sugar.

These skulls, made of sugar and decorated with colourful icing, are often made for children or as offerings to be placed on ofrendas, or altars of objects including photos, religious objects, the deceased person's favorite foods and objects, candles, and perhaps even a wash basin, soap, and a towel. These ofrendas are constructed to be welcoming and to encourage loved ones to visit.

At each Day of the Dead at Harbourfront

Centre, there are real ofrendas. This year,

they were dedicated to a variety of departed

Mexican artists, as well as to people important

to Mexican history, such as Nezahualcoyotl:

the philosopher king of Texcoco (1402–1472),

and singer-songwriters Joan Sebastian (1951–

2015) and Juan Gabriel (1950–2016).

Beautiful ofrenda The kids are getting creative crafting some cool skulls with Scott


Winterfest Party

Caption

Mingling before Dinner

Human Christmas Tree Contest

Dressing Santa Contest

Burst the Balloon Contest

The Social Committee serves dinner

Caption

Domenic, Sophia, Lilian and Lili enjoying dinner

George leads the singing


Mark Your Calendar!

Toronto Storytelling Festival April 2

The 2017 Toronto Storytelling Festival culminates in a day of family storytelling at Harbourfront Centre, featuring a teddy bear picnic, riddle contests, folktales told by refugees and performances by storytellers from across Canada, Norway, England and the USA.

Kuumba February 3-4, 10-11 With so many great events, we’ve expanded Kuumba over two weekends! This year, we explore the themes currently affecting our global community including Black Lives Matter, Women’s Empowerment and The Invisible Majority. We also focus on women’s voices by showcasing musicians, filmmakers and artists who bring attention to the stories of women of colour in Canada.

HarbourKIDS: NORTH February 20 This Family Day we celebrate our northern winter landscape, its mighty expanse, ever changing terrain, and those that call the tundra home. Come down to the lake, have a skate and immerse yourself and your family in the intersection of nature, science and contemporary art. There will be art-making, performance and interactive activities designed to send our imaginations north with the whole family.

2017 Volunteer Meeting/Event Schedule

Thursday, April 27

Event: Volunteer Recognition Event

Location: Brigantine Room

Saturday, June 10

Event: Summer Festivals Presentation

Location: Miss Lou’s Room

Saturday, September 16

Event: IFOA Presentation &Training

Location: Miss Lou’s Room

Saturday, December 2

Event: Year End Party

Location: Lakeside Terrace


Volunteer Opportunities

NEWSLETTER TEAM: Genevieve Peng (Advisor/Editor), Sean McCluskey (Coordinator/Layout Designer), Lidia Jarmasz (Editor/Writer), Lynn Allen (Writer),

Christine Dang (Layout Designer), Scott Uminga (Writer), Pauline Beverley (Writer), Kevin Catalig (Writer) Ruchi Shah (Layout Assistant)

Photos courtesy of: Tom Bilenkey, George Lobb, Ricky Yu, Holmes Pasiminio, Anne Greschuk & Stefano Rodriguez

The Power Plant

At the volunteer meeting on January 21, Brittany Holliss, Visitor and Volunteer Services Coordinator of The Power Plant, outlined volunteer opportunities at this contemporary art gallery. Shifts may not be available on the online sign-up page, so if you are interested in helping out at events such as the ones below, you can contact Brittany at [email protected].

Power Kids Free arts workshops for children ages 7 — 12 begin with a tour of the gallery and conclude with an art activity,

inspired by the ideas behind the current exhibition.

Power Youth The Power Youth outreach program connects local contemporary artists-in-residence with youth in priority

neighbourhoods providing them with the opportunity to gain skills in creativity, communication and collaboration.

Power Ball

As The Power Plant's major annual fundraiser, Power Ball has set the standard as one of the most influential and vibrant art galas in Toronto. Attracting a sophisticated ‘Who’s Who’ of guests, the party brings together the

worlds of fashion, film, media, finance, advertising, music and the visual arts.

Opening Party The Power Plant celebrates the launch of each new season with a free Opening Party. Be among the first to

experience the exhibitions with a crowd of artists, art enthusiasts and the Toronto cultural community.

1. Volunteer E-Newsletter_Winter 2017

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