Soirées Cinéma Aux Serres de Verdun

C.A.U.S. (Coopérative d’abondance urbaine solidaire) nous envoye l’annonce suivant:

Nous avons une nouvelle initiative cette année.  En effet, conjointement avec Grand Potager et Cine-Verdun, nous organisons des soirées cinéma d'hiver en serre. Tout un défi lorsque l'on connaît les soubresauts des hivers québécois. N'hésitez pas à le relever et d'y participer en apportant vos couvertures et autres doudounes pour rester bien au chaud pendant la projection. Le premier film a lieu ce samedi (pus de détails ci-dessous).

Cette année encore nous participerons à la fête des semences de Grand Potager prévue le samedi 14 mars 2020 de 10:00 à 15:00.  Venez nous y retrouver afin de vous fournir en semences biologiques et/ou anciennes afin de démarrer vos semis et être prêts pour vos plantations lorsque la chaleur sera de retour.

Nous prévoyons également une vente de semis, un échange de plantes et des visites du jardin de la diversité aux serres municipales de Verdun le samedi 23 mai de 10h00 à 16h00.

La saison des marchés fermiers commence le mercredi 10 juin à la bibliothèque et se termine le 4 novembre aux serres municipales. Si vous connaissez quelqu'un qui aimerait devenir vendeur, faites-le nous savoir.

Au plaisir de vous voir ce samedi à cette première projection d'hiver aux serres!

Projections hivernales aux Serres de Verdun

Pour la première fois, les Serres municipales de Verdun s'animeront l’hiver les 15 et 29 février 2020 à l’occasion de la première édition des projections hivernales. Fruit de l’alliance entre Ciné-Verdun et Grand Potager, ces événements ont pour objectif d’animer ce lieu emblématique d’agriculture urbaine dans l’arrondissement de Verdun durant la saison hivernale et de proposer aux citoyens une nouvelle expérience de projections, offerte à contribution volontaire. 

Les spectateurs sont invités à apporter leur couverture et à profiter d'une programmation de films sous la verrière étoilée des Serres municipales de Verdun, situées au bord du fleuve et chauffées à 10 degrés l'hiver. Un service de vin et repas chaud sera disponible à partir de 17h et les projections débuteront à la tombée de la nuit à 18h.

La programmation, concoctée par Ciné-Verdun, a été faite en collaboration avec les festivals montréalais Ciné-Vert (organisé par SUCO et Funambules Médias) et Festival de Films Alimenterre (organisé par Mission Inclusion), avec le souci de faire écho à la mission environnementale et communautaire de l’organisme d’accueil, Grand Potager. Quatre longs métrages, trois documentaires et une fiction, abordant les thèmes de la biodiversité, de l’écologie, de l’agriculture paysanne et de l’alimentation de demain seront ainsi présentés dans une ambiance festive et familiale.

PROGRAMME DE PROJECTION

(Contribution volontaire 5$ suggéré)

SAMEDI 15 FÉVRIER 2020

18h : SEMENCES DU FUTUR  

Documentaire de Honorine Perino | 2017 | France | V. o. française | 81 min
présenté en collaboration avec Festival de films alimenterre et Mission inclusion

L’Homme influence l’évolution d’une biodiversité dont il dépend pour se nourrir. De la sélection paysanne aux biotechnologies, quelles initiatives permettront de produire les graines qui garantiront l’alimentation de demain ? Face aux changements climatiques et à la nécessité écologique de réduire l’utilisation de produits chimiques dans les champs, la création de nouvelles variétés de plantes cultivées doit surmonter d’importants défis. En trame de fond, ce film pose la question fondamentale du rapport de l’homme à la nature.

19h30 : CHEMINS DE TRAVERS 

Documentaire de Sébastien Majonchi | 2018 | France | V. o. française | 81 min
présenté en collaboration avec Ciné Vert, Le SUCO et Funambules Médias

Désastre écologique, études scientifiques alarmantes, crise économique… À travers les itinéraires croisés de six personnes des Monts du Lyonnais, le film se balade entre les histoires qu’on nous sert et celles qu’on se raconte. Yohan, Marc, Marie-Claire, Christian, Bob et Pickro (les Cédric’s) nous emmènent dans leurs chemins de vie et abordent, avec leur regard, des thèmes actuels tels que les semences, la désobéissance civique ou l’agriculture biologique. Par des témoignages simples et accessibles, Chemins de travers dépeint une expérience rurale où la joie se mêle à la révolte pour donner une réponse exaltée, déposée aux pieds des certitudes.

SAMEDI 29 FÉVRIER 2020

18h : IN OUR HANDS 

Documentaire de Jo Barker | 2017 | Royaume-Uni | V. o. anglais sous-titré français | 68 min
présenté en collaboration avec Festival de films alimenterre et Mission inclusionIn Our Hands raconte l'histoire de paysans qui, au travers de l'espoir, par vaillance et par principe refusent d'être les victimes de l'histoire. Ce documentaire vous emmène dans un voyage à travers les champs de la Grande-Bretagne, le long des vergers de fruits oubliés et à travers les champs de céréales anciennes. Le film révèle à la fois la sagesse des vieux et les innovations des jeunes qui ramènent le ver au sol, la "culture" à "l’agriculture" et la saveur à la tomate! Nous sommes au bord du gouffre, les hirondelles s'en vont, mais l'avenir de ce pays est toujours entre nos mains 

19h30 : LES FLEURS OUBLIÉES d’André Forcier 

Comédie d'André Forcier | 2019 | Canada (Québec) | V. o. française | 102 min
Avec Roy Dupuis, Yves Jacques, Christine Beaulieu, Juliette Gosselin. 

Albert pollinise les toits de Montréal pour sauver les abeilles. Devant l’urgence écologique, le frère Marie-Victorin quitte le ciel trop plate pour l’aider. Albert lui fait découvrir son hydromel qu’il vend à des bourgeoises pour financer son départ vers Mingan. Une journaliste et une avocate mettront tout en œuvre pour sauver les travailleurs agricoles mexicains aux prises avec une multinationale. 

Les projections hivernales sont rendues possibles grâce au soutien de L’arrondissement de Verdun, la Coop CAUS, Mission Inclusion, Ciné-Vert, Festival de Films Alimenterre et L’inis.

Films at the Verdun Greenhouse

Interested in ecology? Grand Potager, CAUS, and Cine-Verdun have got an event - or two - for you!

This Saturday, February 15th and again in two weeks’ time, they will present film screenings -mostly documentaries - in the Verdun Greenhouse. Yes, it’s February, and yes, it will be chilly in there. Viewers are advised to dress warmly and bring blankets!

This Saturday it’s two documentaries from France, Semences du Futur (6PM), and Chemins de Travers (7:30PM), to be shown in the original French.

On Saturday February 29th, they will show the British documentary In Our Hands: Seeding Change, by Jo Barker, at 6 PM, in the original English with French subtitles. IMDB describes it as “The inspiring story behind the blood, sweat and tears of the British farmers seizing the Brexit moment to outgrow the industrial food system.”

At 7:30 on the same night, a Quebecois fiction film called Les Fleurs Oubliees, will screen in the original French. It is directed by Andre Forcier and stars Roy Dupuis.

The Verdun Greenhouse is at 7000 LaSalle Boulevard.

To find out about other activities of Cineverdun, including a screening of the Oscar-winning Parasite, visit their website here.

To stay up-to-date on events at the Greenhouse, including Seedy Saturday on March 14, 2020, you can follow them on Facebook

C.A.U.S. , which runs the farmer’s markets around Verdun on the summer months, has an English Blog you can follow here and sign up to receive e-mail updates.

Beryl's Blog: Darkness and Light

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.,     A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speech

It is the first week in February (also Black History month).  As I sit looking out the window, I realize that the dark days of winter are creeping slowly towards the light.  It is 5:30 p.m. and I can actually see the remnants of the now defunct Pine Lake in Hudson as the twilight brings to mind the ecological tragedy which ensued when the dam broke some five or so years ago.  Light, indiscriminately, reveals both the beauty of creation and the man-made ugliness of human intervention and inaction.

Co-incidentally this coming Sunday, we will be reading from Matthew 5 and hear the words of Jesus as he says to his followers “you are the light of the world”.

Did you realize that our greatest external source of light, on which everything living on earth is dependent, is the sun.  Although Jesus was referring to something else entirely in his continuing Sermon on the Mount, it is still comforting to know that the sun is always there, even on stormy overcast days – it is just behind the clouds and never truly goes away.

Jesus’ words this week afford us the opportunity to reflect on and connect to our inner light – remembering that what we have in common with the sun is that our inner light is never extinguished.

Like a candle burning in a porcelain diffuser, our inner light shines outwards, casting a gentle glow on everything it encircles.  And that same light is reflected back to us as we shine it onto others.

It’s reassuring to know that our inner light never goes out. Never. Even when this human life ends, our light is connected to our souls and our soul light continues.

We began as light. We continue as light. We bear light. We share light. We connect to Source with light. We inspire the world with light.

So, embrace your light. And, find your place in the sun (or Son).

In peace,

Beryl

Church Notes

February 21, 2020

• Shirley Stark has put together one of her luxurious gift baskets to be raffled off as a fundraiser for needed kitchen equipment. Two bottles of wine, wine glasses, nuts, bon-bons and more can all be yours for a $1 raffle ticket. of course you’ll want to buy more than one ticket to increase your chances! Tickets on sale as of March 1st. Drawing on Easter Sunday, April 12.

• Congratulations to former Chair of Church Council Darlene Halfyard who is retiring from Concordia University after 31 years. We at SouthWest wish her all the best as she relocates to Cowansville.

• Who will be first to submit their 2019 Annual Report to the office? Reports need to be proofed, formatted, bound and printed in the coming weeks in preparation for the Annual Congregational Meeting April 26th. Please don’t leave it to the last minute.

  Feb. 14

• If you are interested in ordering a chrysanthemum plant for Easter, please contact Shirley Stark before April 4th.
  Payment is required in advance since the plants have to be paid for when they are picked up.

  The plants will adorn the church on Easter Sunday and you will take them home after the service.

  Feb. 7

• Do you keep your Palms from year to year? Anyone who has a palm or two from last Palm Sunday, please see Pastor Beryl. We want to burn them to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

• Thanks to all who brought food donations for Manna last Sunday. We will continue these collections on the first Sunday of each month, so the next one will be March 1st, which is also the first of Lent.

• We are always looking for new people to add to the mix of scripture readers on Sunday morning. Speak to Beryl or Dennis or call the office if you would like to help out with this important part of worship.

• Have you got something to say? The newsletter welcomes contributors. Have you attended a church or community event you want to tell people about? Do you have a funny or inspiring story, from the past or the present? Is there an issue you’d like to bring to our readers’ attention? We will try to use everything we receive, though we may do some editing.

Youth, Snow, and Worship in Ottawa

Last weekend, youth and young adults from across our region attended Worshiplude in Ottawa.

Worshiplude is a United Church youth gathering that takes place during the Winterlude Festival and is organized by our neighbouring regional council Eastern Ontario and Outaouais. Youth from the Eastern Townships and Montreal and beyond have been participating in this event for close to a decade.

The official host of Worshiplude was Rideau Park United, where all the youth met Saturday evening for a supper, worship and youth-led fellowship. The 25 or so young people from Nakonha:ka region arrived in Ottawa on Friday night and stayed for two nights at Parkdale United Church, where volunteers greeted them on arrival and served them breakfast both mornings. The generosity of our sister churches keeps the cost of participating low, allowing more youth to attend.

A big thank you to Nakonha:ka Regional Council Youth and Young Adult worker Shanna Bernier and to all the volunteers in Quebec and Ontario who helped make this Worshiplude happen. Lifelong memories are made at events like these, and it is often from them that future leaders of the church emerge!

Photos by Shanna Bernier

Beryl's Blog: The Weight of a Snowflake

What does God ask of us? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

—Micah 6:8

This coming Sunday, Micah will be part of our Scripture reading.  It is a familiar one, complete with a well-known hymn from Voices United and it got me to wondering if the actions of just one person to live in justice, mercy and humility could possibly make any difference in the ocean of humanity?  I was reminded of a little story I found in the book One Hundred Wisdom Stories From Around the World.  The story was entitled “How Much Does a Snowflake Weigh?”  and I would like to share it with you.

          It was deep winter and the snow was falling steadily upon the hillside.

          The mouse looked round and caught sight of a tiny bird sitting, shivering, on a bare branch overhead.  “Hello Jenny Wren” said the mouse, pleased to find some company on this bleak day. “I just came up for a bit of air before I go back to sleep for the rest of the winter.”

          But it was so good to find company that for a while the mouse and the wren sat there together, huddled beneath the lowest branches of a pine tree, watching the snow falling and enjoying a little congenial conversation.

          “How much do you think a snowflake weighs?” the mouse asked the wren suddenly.

          “A snowflake weighs almost nothing”, the wren replied.  “A snowflake is so insignificant it carries almost no weight at all.  How could anyone possibly weigh a snowflake?”

          “Oh, I disagree”, said the mouse.  “In fact, I can tell you that last winter, around this time, I woke up from my winter dreaming and came out here for a breath of fresh air, and because I had no companions and nothing better to do, I sat here counting the snowflakes as they fell.  I watched them settling on the branches and covering the pine needles with a blanket of whiteness.  I got as far as 2,492,359. And then – when the very next snowflake fell and settled on the branch – the branch dropped right down to the ground and all the snow slid off it.  So, you see, just that one snowflake weighed enough to make the branch sink down and the snow slide off.  A snowflake does weigh something.  It does make a difference!”

The wren, who was only a tiny little bird herself and didn’t think she had much influence on the great big world around her, pondered for a long time over the mouse’s story.  “Perhaps”, she thought to herself, “it really is true that just one little voice (one little action) can make a difference after all.”                           

 (source unknown)

Let’s go out and make a difference in the world!

In peace,

Beryl

A Snapshot of 1952

Found in a box of old papers, dated October 17, 1952, the following letter from Rev. Downing announces the completion of the “superstructure” of Crawford Park United, now SouthWest. It is noteworthy for its naming of individuals and groups involved in the life of the church at that time. The phone numbers given towards the end of the letter use the old Trenmore exchange format.
We have a Bible dedicated to Rev. Wilkinson on our communion table to this day, but it is not the one mentioned in this letter; it is in fact an earlier memorial, given by the congregation in 1945. Wilkinson had retired in 1944 due to illness, and must have passed away soon after, never to see his dream realized in the building of Crawford Park United. Rev. Downing stayed on, living in the manse next door, until 1954.

To the Congregation –

Dear Friends,

            It is my privilege to write you that the arrangements for the formal opening of the new church are now in hand. On Friday evening, November 7th, at eight o’clock, the Montreal Presbytery of the United Church of Canada will join with us in the ancient “dedication of a church”. And at this service our Women’s Association will present a Bible in the Revised Standard version to be dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Arthur Wilkinson, who thirteen years ago conducted the first church services in Crawford Park in the Little Red Schoolhouse, corner of Churchill and Lloyd George.

            The first Sunday morning service in the new church on November 9th at eleven o’clock will be a Remembrance Day service. In this community where so many of the men, and some of the women, too, are veterans of one or other of the two Great Wars, it is very fitting that our first service should be that day. At this service the communion table and chair, the baptismal font and other memorials will be prayerfully dedicated to the glory of God.

            In the evening at seven o’clock our new Junior Choir will lead the service of worship under the direction of Mr. W.H. Hindle of Ville LaSalle, our church organist and choirmaster. Please make a note that the services in the evening are now placed at seven o’clock for the convenience of the teen-agers in the choir. We are in the midst of a study of the “I am’s” of Christ. Everyone is always sure of a welcome.

            I think you all know that the Sunday School program is to be divided as of this Sunday, October 19th. The Senior School, boys and girls aged seven to fifteen, will continue to meet under the leadership of Mr. G.G. Hall at 9:45 a.m. A Junior School will be organized this Sunday with Mrs. C.W. Barr as Superintendent./ this will be for children aged three to six, and will meet during the church service, that is, at eleven o’clock. For the next three Sundays these younger children will use the front side entrance and meet upstairs.

            The mid-week program is well under way with C.G.I.T., Explorers and Mission band organized, Morning Choir, W.A., W.M.S., and Men’s Club meeting regularly. The Friendly Circle, Y.P.U., and Boys’ Groups will wait until the church building is fully available in the second week of November.

            We have spent some $42,000 on the new superstructure, including oak pulpit and pews, and a Minshall electronic organ. Your complete and, perhaps, sacrificial support is really needed if we are to keep up with the program of repayments to the Finance and Extension Board of the Montreal Presbytery, which has advanced us most of the money to complete our building. We believe that when you see the fine building we have, you will want to support the venture in every way. The Committee of Stewards – Mr. J.P. Moore, Trenmore 2240, Chairman; Mr. J.P.E. Cropper, Trenmore 6132, Envelope Secretary – will gladly supply offering envelopes for these remaining three months of 1952. The committee charged with the financing of the church, trust that generous gifts will be received for the building and other funds. Certain memorials and gift objects are still available. Memorial and gift hymn books would be welcomed.

            Let us humbly and thankfully dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord’s work in Verdun and Ville LaSalle, and – through the Missionary and Maintenance Fund – in all Canada and overseas.

                                                                                    Yours sincerely,

                                                                                    John C. Downing

                                                                                    Minister.

Rev. Downing in 1947

Letter dated October 1952

Little girl in front of the Little Red Schoolhouse, 1940s;

Cover and Cast list of the Men’s Club’s “Gay Nineties Review” in 1952.

Beryl's Blog: The Contemplative Season

In those times when I find myself in need of solitude, one of my favourite “go-to” authors is Sister Joyce Rupp – a member of the religious order known as the Servites or Servants of Mary.

Sister Joyce writes with great wisdom on the seasons of nature, seeing in them and comparing them to the human journey through the times of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

This week, I thought I would share with you her insight into Winter.

Winter, Humble Servant of Creation, with brisk determination you encompass our land.  You clothe us into warm wraps, send us out into the weather to gather the lessons you scatter.

You call us to sit by the fireplace and feed each other stories.

You invite us to listen to that which is invisible.

You are the contemplative season. 

In unseen and unknown places, you faithfully do your work.

In the winter storms of our life, teach us patience.

May we learn to trust the goodness of what we cannot see.

As the ground becomes frozen, may we have the courage to visit the frozen

ground of our own lives, believing in the life that is hidden.

You clear the air.  You protect the seed.  You embrace reality.  You, O Winter,

Hold our fears until they can be transformed into trust.  You are the beautiful

season that we sometimes overlook.

Share with us your virtues of solitude, contemplation, and faith.

Surround us with your fresh, crisp breath and protect the seed that is

sleeping in the depth of our being.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from The Four Seasons Prayer

In peace

Beryl

Taken from The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons, 2005

SouthWest Annual Meeting April 26

At the Church Council meeting earlier this week, a date was chosen for our Annual Congregational Meeting. it will be Sunday, April 26th immediately following the service, and will take place in the sanctuary.

What this means for the office is that Annual Reports have to be printed by Easter (April 12th) and that means we need to receive reports by Friday, March 27th. Please. Our preference is to receive them by e-mail as Word documents, but typed or handwritten reports are also permitted as long as they are received on time. Reports should cover the calendar year 2019. Thank you for your cooperation.

Amy

Shrove Tuesday/ Ash Wednesday

Longtime members know that we have a habit of combining Shrove Tuesday - or Mardi gras - and Ash Wednesday into one evening, starting with a pancake feast and ending with a solemn ceremony with ashes as we mark the beginning of Lent. In the past we have done this on the Wednesday. This year, we have decided to do it on the Tuesday, which falls on February 25th.

The pancake supper will be coordinated by Dorothy Brown. Please contact her directly or through the office if you wish to help in some way.

Ashes will also be available the following Sunday, March 1st, for those who couldn’t attend on Tuesday.

Shrove Tuesday supper starts at 6pm on February 25th, followed by a simple service in the church hall at about 7:30pm. All are welcome.