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Metchosin Mighty Garage Sale 2023

Well, if you missed it last year, you won’t want to this year! Last years Metchosin Mighty Garage Sale was one for the record books, after 2 years of being on hold due to Covid, it turned out to be our largest fundraiser success to date, all in thanks to you and our many wonderful volunteers. It may be hard to surpass the grandeur of that sale and the flurry of activity that came after Covid but the MCA and its fantastic group of helping hands will hold this yearly fundraiser again on Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28 from 9am – 3pm, with collections starting on Saturday May 20 – Friday May 26 from 10am – 2pm. If you are not sure what this sale is all about, please read on.

For more than two decades the Metchosin Community Association (MCA) has hosted a garage sale in support of the MCA and other community groups, with the helping hands of a multitude of generous volunteers. The sale includes a one-day silent auction for high-end goods, antiques, and collectibles on Saturday, and two days of a boutique for special items along with a general yard sale of furniture, household goods, small working appliances, sporting goods, clothes, bicycles, tools, garden items, books and other ‘stuff’.  All proceeds go directly to support the MCA and other local groups.

This event is a fund-raiser for the Metchosin Community Association but it’s also an annual community event that enables families in Metchosin to support the Association’s work by donating things to the sale.  

Everyone is welcome to donate items and to attend the sale.  Donations will be accepted from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, May 20 to Friday, May 26. If you wish to donate, please note that the following items cannot be accepted: Mattresses, exercise equipment, TV’s, sofas, stuffed armchairs, old shoes, soiled clothing, microwaves, computers, entertainment units, BBQs, large appliances, cribs, car seats, luggage, skis or magazines.

For more information, please contact the MCA Office at 250-478-5155 or mcahouse@telus.net or visit www.metchosincommunityhouse.com to learn more.

Click Here to download the Garage Sale Poster

MCA House Happenings 

March 2023

Thank you all for a wonderfully successful year for the Metchosin Community Association. There have been many successful events and programs at the House that have not only brought in money to the House, but also a lot of joy to many community members. This was important for our community to re-engage as we come out of the isolation caused by Covid. A special thanks to all of the community volunteers, without which we would not be successful.  

Ongoing Programming

Mondays

Vancouver Island Health Authority Adult Day Program – 9:00am–3:30pm. Contact Mobile program coordinator Ken Hillicke at 250-213-2440.

Knitting Café. The evening group will meet 7:00–9:00pm on the first and third Mondays monthly. For more info on the evening group, call Heather at 250-478-6590. Knitters of all levels are welcome.

Tuesdays

Drop-In Painters Art Group. This friendly and supportive group of artists and hobbyists meets Tuesday mornings 9:30am–12:30pm at the MCHouse. Everyone is welcome. If you would like to join the group, please contact Arlene at 250-391-7905. 

Knitting Café. The afternoon group will meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays monthly 1:00–3:00pm. For more information on the afternoon group, call Nance at 250-478-7708 after 11:00am. Knitters of all levels are welcome. 

Wednesdays

Vancouver Island Health Authority Adult Day Program. 9:00am–3:30 pm (see Monday for details).

Thursdays

Weights and Measures. 8:30–10:00am weekly. Weights and Measures is a new Metchosin weight loss and healthy lifestyle support group for anyone in the community. All Community House Covid safety protocols observed. Contact Nan at 250-478-7688.

Creative Rug Hooking – The first and third Thursdays monthly, 10:30am–1:30pm, led by Sheila Stewart, certified Instructor of Traditional Rug Hooking. Free instruction for beginners and kit available for $25.00.  Please contact Sheila (250-595-6406, email blueheronstudio@telus.net) to discuss supplies needed. Experienced rug hookers are invited to bring their own projects. Bring a bag lunch, tea and coffee available. No fees but donation jar to cover refreshment costs. 

Fridays

Parent and Tot Program – 9:30–11:30am. Calling all Metchosin tots! The Parent and Tot Drop-In Program invites moms, dads, caregivers and their young children to join us Friday mornings for our community program. Children will have access to toys, books and craft opportunities. Parents will enjoy our relaxed and supportive environment as well as access to parent resource library and opportunities to connect with other parents and children. We look forward to seeing you and your little ones.

Friday Socials

Friday Social

Drop in for coffee and conversation on the last Friday of the month from 1:00-3:00 pm. Hosted by Baha’is of Metchosin and the Seniors’ Resource Centre. SRC offers drives to anyone who needs a ride. Please call 250-478-5150 or email SRC.  All ages. Everyone is welcome!  Details https://metchosinseniors.ca/friday-socials/

Saturdays

The Nordic Pole Walking Pole-R Bears Club  - The first Saturday of each month 11am - 2pm. We meet twice weekly at various locations throughout the Westshore and Greater Victoria. Membership is free to all with a focus on social connection through fun fitness.  

For your safety and that of others, we require that you have had at least one lesson from any certified instructor so you feel comfortable walking with your poles using the Nordic Technique, and have your own poles. 

If you require further info please contact Jan by text or email: 

250-818-2951 

Polewalkingwithjan@gmail.com 

Ukulele Gathering – 5:00–6:30pm, third Friday of each month. Tell all your ukulele-playing students, friends, and relatives! Open to community members of all ages and levels of talent. If you would like to join the group please contact Margaretha at memetopia@shaw.ca. Bring: a ukulele, capo, tuner, music stand, and a few songs you are willing to share/lead/teach others with appropriate song sheets for others, if not from songbook below. Suggested songbook: Jumpin’ Jim’s Daily Ukulele (as a base resource to work from) if you have it. 

Events

Film Night, Teuga (Seedlings), 46 unnarrated minutes, Metchosin Community House, Friday March 31, 7 pm. Ric Perron.

Either you all stay home to watch something pretty cheezie on TV, or you can go to Thailand, to the highest mountain (Doi Inthanon) to watch a slice-of-life in a rural Karen village with bag of popcorn spilled in your lap.

And only now you can safely say that you’ve stayed with an indigenous Thai community with their broad welcoming smiles, who happily share their traditional foods and beverages. Though difficult to get to this remote village and not without sacrifices by you (buttery popcorn-fingers, maybe a little nod-or-two), you’ve endured the arduous journey to film a Karen family throughout their three seasons.

The scenery is fantastic with valley views of hillside terraced rice paddies, nothing like it elsewhere (except maybe everywhere else in rural Asia). During monsoon season, we watch villagers foot-pack mud to create water-retention barriers for planting rice paddies on terraced hillsides. We move from working the fields into the kitchen to see a family prepare and eat traditional meals at the pace slow enough to indulge in the ambience, fast enough to keep us completely engaged. The photographer captures some very nice bisections of wildlife and village life, the necessary co-existence of man and nature.

Other than a very few, insignificant conversations of villagers with the camera man, it is an unnarrated movie. It allows you some inner dialogue and to tap into your own thoughts without the influence or judgement of the photographer/ director. Though this technique is borrowed from the renowned film artist Edward Burtynsky in his filming of Manufacturing Landscapes, the Japanese director of his film, Teuga, Tatsuki Shirai is not really in the same league. Shiria lived in Thailand for two years to film this movie; studied anthropology and photography in Tokyo.

Nearing the end of the film, unfortunately the director seems to lose focus by filming tourists in the village. I understand his thinking, to shift to this new subject in an attempt to show how the locals are earning money from tourism. But for me, the magic of the tranquil countryside is broken. That said, I am fascinated with this otherly culture.

Art on the Walls: March–  Three members of the Drop In  Art Group, Linda Kirstein, Anne Ward, and Arlene Welch have put pictures on the wall for the months of October and November. You may visit with the artists any Tuesday from 9:30 to12:30.  The works are hanging on the Community House walls for all to come and enjoy. Viewing times: Monday–Wednesday 9:00am–1:00pm. The Art on the Walls program offers the House as a wonderful venue for artists to show and display their works. For more information, please call 250-478-5155.

The Metchosin Community House is OPEN at full capacity to program users and private renters following Communicable Disease protocols.  All MCA programs and renters have returned. Please contact your program organizers for more information.

The MCA requests that all program leads, and private renters review our organization’s updated "Covid Safety Plan", which is based on recommendations from BC Health. Attached is a link to the most recent BC Health orders: 

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content?id=762AD642C5524DC9B6F4D7463D275C46

The MCA also strongly recommends that these guidelines are a minimum and suggest rental and program organizers err on the side of caution when enforcing masking and vaccination guidelines, especially when there are high-risk participants or activities in the house. Community House user groups and private renters are required to self-monitor and not use the facility if they are ill or/and have symptoms of a communicable disease or have had recent contact with someone who has a communicable disease. Masks are suggested and at your discretion.

Interested in Renting MCA House?

Please click on our rentals page for more information.

For inquiries please leave a message at 250-478-5155 or email mcahouse@telus.net.

MCHouse A Fun Place To Come To!

Communicable Disease Prevention Plan for MCA

The Metchosin Community Association (MCA) requests that all program leads, and private renters review our organization’s Communicable Disease Prevention Plan and follow its guidelines. These guidelines are based on recommendations from BC Health.

Community House user groups and private renters are required to self-monitor and not use the facility if they are ill or/and have symptoms of communicable disease, or have had recent contact with someone who has a communicable disease.

The House capacity is current 100% (80 people).

Masks and Proof of Vaccines are no longer a requirement, however, the MCA strongly recommend that rental and program organizers err on the side of caution and consider masking and vaccination requirements, especially when there are high-risk participants or activities. The MCA also encourages that rentals and program organizers leave windows / doors open to promote better ventilation and or turn on the switch for the ventilation fan. The rental and program organizers are responsible for proper cleaning and disinfection of the house after each event.