Festival of Trees is a cherished community tradition and has become the unofficial kick-off to the holiday season in Victoria, serving our community for the last 27 consecutive years. Thanks to sponsors, local businesses, organizations and individuals, the Bay Centre is transformed into a lush forest of beautifully decorated trees to raise funds for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
This year, The Union Club has sponsored tree #38.
“Two Hearts, One Wish” was founded in 2016 by “Emma”, a local Victoria girl who raises funds in support of the BC Children’s Hospital & purchases activity-craft supplies for the Surgical Daycare Centre. Emma made macrame hearts as part of her decorations for the Union Club tree. It is beautiful.
Forget changing leaves, chilly temperatures or your frattiest guy friend putting his white jeans in hibernation—these days, nothing ushers in fall quite like the Pumpkin Spice Latte’s return to cafe menus nationwide. The beloved drink’s at the forefront of the still-going-strong, pumpkin-flavored everything trend (which now stretches from cereal to salad).
Before you take your first sip of the season, here’s what you need to know.
1. IT’S ABOUT AS CARB-LOADED AS EATING A BAGEL.
Thomas’ everything bagel clocks in at 53 grams of carbs per serving, which is about as many carbs as you’d find in a large, whole milk, no-whip pumpkin latte at most major chains. (In fact, a Pumpkin Ginger Latte from Caribou Coffee has more than twice as many carbs, clocking in at 127 grams and 710 calories, according to FOX News.)
2. IF YOU’RE ON A LOW-SUGAR DIET, BACK AWAY FROM THE LATTE. NOW.
Variations of the pumpkin latte and PSL range from 47 grams to 116 grams of sugar per large serving—well above the American Heart Association‘s recommended 24 grams of added sugar per day. While FOX News’s data uses Starbucks’ old recipe for the PSL—before it contained pumpkin puree—even updated info lists the drink as having 49 grams of sugar. And that’s for a nonfat, grande-sized latte.
The challenge is knowing how many grams of sugar are added in each drink, since nutrition labels cluster naturally occurring and added ones under the blanket category of just plain “sugar.” At this point, the American Heart Association recommends checking the ingredients listing for sucrose, maltose, honey, cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, syrup, corn sweetener or fruit juice concentrates.
3. DUNKIN’ IS USHERING IN FALL FIRST (SO FAR).
While Starbucks hasn’t officially announced the date its PSL hits stores—not yet, anyway—Peet’s Coffee, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts have been quick to release theirs. Dunkin’s the first to bring back the drink, releasing its fall menu in stores on Aug. 29, while the Golden Arches went with Aug. 30, and Peet’s pumpkin latte will roll out a day later, on the 31st.
If history is any indication, Starbucks will wait until after Labor Day to bring back the PSL. Though who knows, the drink has reached a level of fame that the ‘Bucks could pull a Beyoncé and quietly drop it in stores unannounced. (Not likely, but hey, @TheRealPSL has just as much sass as the former Sasha Fierce.)
4. IT’S THE MOST POPULAR SEASONAL DRINK THE ‘BUCKS HAS EVER SOLD.
The PSL has such a cult following that 108,000 people follow the drink—yes, the drink—on Twitter, waiting for clues to its return. It even had a secret Orange Sleeve Society last year, and to this day, it remains the siren-logoed store’s best-selling seasonal drink of all time. More than 200 million have been sold, according to a representative for the brand.
5. STARBUCKS USED PUMPKIN PIE TO CREATE THE ORIGINAL PSL.
The next time you complain about your job, consider how rough the recipe developers at Starbucks have it: To create the very first pumpkin spice latte, the product development team ate slices of pumpkin pie while sipping espresso to figure out how to blend the two flavors together, without one overpowering the other. It took three months of tasting and re-tasting drinks until they settled on The Pumpkin Spice Latte—a recipe that hadn’t changed until last year (more on that below).
6. NOT EVERY PSL CONTAINS REAL PUMPKIN.
Just because “pumpkin spice” is in the name doesn’t mean the gourd’s actually used to make the drink. In fact, it wasn’t until last year that Starbucks reconfigured its PSL to include it—previously, the pumpkin spice sauce was largely autumnal seasonings.
If drinking a latte that doesn’t contain real pumpkin puree makes you feel like you’re living a lie, ask to see the ingredients listing before ordering (or Google it). Sometimes, pumpkin spice simply refers to a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, and the drink’s golden hue can be the result of caramel coloring. As more brands move away from using artificial colors and flavors, expect to see more of the real thing.
7. IT COULD MAKE YOU SPEND MORE MONEY.
People tend to spend a $1.14 more in stores when they’re ordering a Pumpkin Spice Latte, according to a study by the NPD Group. The organization analyzed 35,000 receipts, finding that buying the latte was a true #treatyoself moment—many people also splurged on something to eat with it, ratcheting up their bill a bit more than usual.
8. THE DRINK *COULD* HIT GROCERY STORES BEFORE CAFES THIS YEAR.
Right now, this is all a matter of timing: Starbucks hasn’t revealed the official release date of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, but a spokesperson confirmed its line of PS-flavored products sold in grocery stores (including its bottled Frappuccinos) would be in stores by September. So, depending on when the ‘Bucks actually releases the drink, you could—theoretically—find it in your local Kroger or Target before you can ask your barista to whip one up.
9. PEOPLE CRAVE PUMPKIN THE MOST ON ALL HALLOWS EVE.
For three years running, more people have downed pumpkin-y treats (including PSLs) on Oct. 31 than any other day of the year, according to data from MyFitnessPal. That’s probably because Halloween acts as a trigger, making you crave a festive drank to go with your mood.
10. THIS MAN IS THE GODFATHER OF THE PSL.
Twelve years ago, when Starbucks’s director of espresso, Peter Dukes, was a project manager, he was given a task: Create a pumpkin-y latte to round out the brand’s fall seasonal drinks. Duke’s team decorated the “Liquid Lab,” an R&D kitchen at Starbucks’s Seattle HQ, with fall decorations and brought in the aforementioned pumpkin pies, testing what was almost called the “Fall Harvest Latte,” before they settled on the name (and acronym) you know today.
“Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be,” Dukes said in 2014. “It’s taken on a life of its own.”
11. KNOWING WHEN THE PSL HITS STORES *COULD* MAKE YOU SEEM COOLER.
There’s a certain social currency in being that in-the-know friend; the one who tips other people off to what’s trending and what’s coming back, Invisible Influence author and Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger told us last fall. Even though Pumpkin Spice Lattes have become lampooned as the “it” drink for “Basic B*tches” everywhere (you know, those girls who like universally likable things, which has somehow been contorted into an insult), knowing when the latte returns before anyone else does could earn you bragging rights—at least in some circles.
Of course, it has reached such a mainstream level of ubiquity that you could argue it’s about to go the way of all guilty pleasures, like watching Grey’s Anatomy after season 3 or listening to Creed albums: Something you indulge in secretly, out of concern people will judge you for loving a drink that’s often compared to a Yankee Candle.
A head stone was unveiled, there to commemorate the lives of William Peter Sr., 47, William Peter Jr., 17, and Roland Henry, 15, near the cemetery entrance at Memorial Crescent and May Street.
Friday, October 25th, marked the 101 anniversary of the sinking of SS Princess Sophia.
A group of about 20 people gathered in Ross Bay Cemetery on the morning of the anniversary, as the Maritime Museum dedicated an unmarked grave to the three members of the Smith family, who died in the wreck.
October 25th is the 101-year anniversary of the largest maritime disaster the West Coast has ever seen. On Oct. 25, 1918 the SS Princess Sophia, along with all 367 passengers on board, sank to the depths of the Lynn Canal north of Juneau, Alaska.
A group of about 20 people gathered in Ross Bay Cemetery on the morning of the anniversary, as the Maritime Museum dedicated an unmarked grave to the three members of the Smith family, who died in the wreck.
A head stone was unveiled, there to commemorate the lives of William Peter Sr., 47, William Peter Jr., 17, and Roland Henry, 15, near the cemetery entrance at Memorial Crescent and May Street.
The father and two sons had gone north for the first time, working on the SS Dawson. The two boys were deckhands, while their father was a fireman on the vessel.
“[This family set off] for a trip of a lifetime that ended up being their last,” says David Leverton, executive director of the Maritime Museum.
Twenty-one other people, who died in the shipwreck, are also buried in the cemetery along with memorial stones for two others whose bodies were never found.
The Smith family was returning to Victoria at the end of riverboat season. William Peter Sr. had ranched at Shawnigan prior to moving to Victoria, where he was employed as an engineer at the Union Club for many years. His eldest son, William Peter Jr. had gone overseas with the 103 Battalion when he was 15 years old, only to be sent back home when his real age was discovered.
Leverton has trouble trying to imagine the chaos that must have unfolded on the ship followed the crash into the Vanderbilt Reef. The SS Princess Sophia ended up leaving the port in Skagway, Alaska about three hours late, four hours later the ship hit the reef.
“The sounds of the hull against the reef, the screaming steel, the speed in which the entire event happened, the actual sinking — it’s beyond words,” says Leverton.
The ship sat on the reef for 40 hours as rescuers tried to organize themselves in what would be deadly weather conditions. Thinking they would have better weather the next day, crews were sent home to rest up overnight only to have nothing to return to. Horrific winds, terrible storm conditions and even snow began to pummel the area.
“They basically had everything conspiring against them.”
The next morning, when the weather finally broke, crews returned to the SS Princess Sophia to find only the forward mast above the water. Lifeboats that had been launched in a effort to save some passengers, had no one alive on board — bodies were covered in a foot of snow.
It took months to retrieve the bodies of passengers and even still, some have never been found.
“These things can happen and when they do they ripple effect through so many people’s lives,” Leverton say, recognizing the importance of remembering those lost.
Last year during the 100th anniversary, the Maritime Museum dedicated another gravestone to William and Sarah O’Brien, along with their five children at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.
Club member and Victoria Foundation CEO Sandra Richardson in her VF office.
Here at the Victoria Foundation, we talk a lot about community. In fact, building a “vibrant, caring community for all” is an essential part of our vision. The concept of community is at the core of everything we do.
With that, I believe it’s important to take stock from time to time and think about just what “community” really means, both to the organization, but also to myself, as a member of this community.
The Victoria Foundation promotes Random Act of Kindness Day, which returns to our region on Friday, Nov. 1. This is one of my favourite events we do, primarily because it’s not about any financial or organizational gains, there are no “deliverables” or “ROI” to worry about; it’s simply a day to encourage each of us to do something kind for someone else.
It puts a smile on my face each year to see organizations, businesses, elected officials, families, individuals — anyone and everyone — committing kind acts in the community simply to spread some joy and brighten peoples’ day.
Because what is a community if not the people that it’s made of and the commonalities that unite us all? This can be a divisive world we live in these days, but I’m still a firm believer that we have more in common with one another than we have differences. We may not all look the same or believe the same things or experience life in exactly the same way, but when you actually stop to talk to someone, to take the time to know them, it doesn’t take long to find what we all have in common.
And within a community, you have even more in common with the people you share it with. Here in Greater Victoria, for instance, we share this region’s history and stunning natural surroundings. We all breath the same fresh air, enjoy the same mild climate and gaze out at the same landscapes. We are but a blip in the world’s population and our region is a dot on the map, but there is nowhere else on earth like here and we are united by that which makes us unique.
Random Act of Kindness Day isn’t just about doing something nice for someone else and feeling good about it. That’s a part of it, certainly, but it’s also about seeing the people around you not as strangers, but as neighbours, with whom you share the common bond of our community.
On Friday, Nov. 1, we encourage you to celebrate and strengthen that bond by performing whatever small act you’re able to, because everyone responds to kindness. It brings us even closer together and helps to make this a kinder, caring community of all of us.
The Executive Hotel (1965), Douglas and Humbolt Streets (photo by Hubert Norbury)
The Union Club’s Honorary Art Curator and long-time Club member, Martin Segger, will be an integral part of the following program. Club members are encouraged to attend:
July 10 – July 18
Public Exhibition at 1515 Douglas Street
~~~
July 11 at 7pm
Public Lectures at 1515 Douglas Street
Don Luxton “Mid-century Modernism in
Victoria”
Terence Williams “Architecture of the
John Wade Practice”
No tickets required
~~~
July 13 and 14 from 12pm – 1pm
Free Walking Tour:
“Modern City”
Guided by architectural historian
Martin Segger
Meet in the Rotunda at 1515 Douglas Street at 12pm
~~~
July 18 at 7pm
Public Panel Discussion
at 1515 Douglas Street
“The Future of V ictoria’s Modernist
Legacy”
Panelists: Chris Gower, Steve Barber,
Pam Madoff, Franc D’Ambrosio
Moderator: Martin Segger
~~~
Hosted by Jawl Properties Limited.
In collaboration with D’Ambrosio Architecture + Urbanism.
Curated by Martin Segger.
Special Thanks to City of Victoria Archives, Saanich Municipal Archives and University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections.
Contemporary photos by John Taylor, Sama Jim Canzian and Sandy Beaman.
“Light Sprang Forth”, Henri van Bentum, 1964, acrylic on canvas
The International Day of Light (#IDL2019) is an annual
event, a global initiative held on May 16th, providing an annual focal point
for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science,
culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as
diverse as medicine, communications, and energy.
The broad theme of light allows many different sectors of
society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrates how science,
technology, art and culture can help achieve the goals of UNESCO – education,
equality, and peace.
Why May 16th? May 16th is the anniversary of the first successful operation of a laser in 1960. The laser is a perfect example of how a scientific discovery can yield revolutionary benefits to society in communications, healthcare and many other fields. The International Day of Light however is not just about science – the themes cover all areas of light in its general sense including art, culture, and development.
Light Sprang Forth 2 Celebrating the work of Netherlands-born artist and colorist Henri van Bentum, and to mark the International Day of Light 2019.
“Perhaps his background as a diamond-faceter’s son is responsible for the almost crystalline aspect of van Bentum’s work. His paintings have a luminosity, a radiance, that emanates from within.” By clicking the link above, you will be taken to a rotating gallery of some 21 “micro-macro” paintings, all created in the years before microphotography or images from space were available — all inspired from an inner vision. (For the title and year of each painting, hover your mouse over the bottom of the image.)
About Henri van Bentum
“The art of Henri van Bentum reminds us of organic processes on the cosmic and microcosmic levels. There are many organic processes embodied in the work; they help me sense the vastness, complexity and beauty of the cosmos.” Leslie Mezei
Artist Henri van Bentum was born in the Lowlands. His work
is represented worldwide. He has travelled extensively, including three
circumnavigations by ship as lecturer and art instructor, and also has made
several snorkel expeditions to coral reefs. He is a member of the
international Circumnavigators Club. Henri collaborated with NASA’s
Chandra X-Ray Observatory on a project called “Coloring
Space”, juxtaposing images from space with his “Organiverse” Starry
Night edition.
The Father’s Day Walk Run is an annual event held in several communities across B.C. This year’s Walk / Run will take place on Sunday, June 16, 2019 at 10:00am.
The Run offers an opportunity to honour the prostate cancer survivors in your life, promote awareness of the number one cancer for men, and raise money to help find a cure. In 2018 alone, $150,000 was awarded to 3 recipients in Vancouver to continue to fund research.
The Union Club will be putting together a team for this special event! To register yourself to be a part of the team, please contact Danielle Scott at 250.384.1151 (ext. 320) or via email.
It’s a Family Affair!
Join us on Father’s Day for this great event for the whole family!.
Bring your dad, brother or son or just come to help support all the men in your life.
5 K Walk or Run – 3 K Walk – Dash for Dad
YOU can make the difference!
JOIN US by walking or running with your whole family to raise awareness, raise money and show support for a disease that affects so many of us!
Following the amazing performance at the Club on March 30, many members were curious to know about future Edie DaPonte performances. The Club is pleased to share the following information:
Date And Time:
Fri, 10 May 2019 at 7:30PM
Location:
Dave Dunnet Community Theatre, 2121 Cadboro Bay Road, Victoria, BC V8R 5G4
Music lovers will have the chance to see the incomparable Edie Daponte again as she performers her show “Under Paris Skies: The Music of Edith Piaf!” Last year’s concert was a huge sold out success, so don’t wait to get tickets, they will sell out!
Edie promises to make people smile, laugh and cry … though mostly smile! In 2017, Edie’s song, “Island Rain” was awarded song of the year in the Jazz category by Vancouver Island Music Awards. In 2016, she was nominated vocalist of the year and her song “Ride the Wind” was nominated as song of the year in the Traditional Category at the International Portuguese Music Awards.
Under Paris Skies – La Musique de Edith Piafis a unique show combining music and entertainment inspired by Paris. With a live four-piece band Edie will perform many of the French cabaret singer’s soulful and emotional numbers. Non Je Ne Regrette Rien; La Vie en Rose; Hymne a L’Amour; songs of enduring popularity, interwoven with Edie’s engaging style of audience-interaction, and interpretation of the French lyrics. She’ll also be mixing in some songs and stories that fit alongside Piaf’s oeuvre – inspired by a recent trip to Paris and meandering the city’s streets.
Channelling Piaf, with her rich timbre and captivating stage presence, Edie aims for a completely authentic experience and her experienced band will help create the atmosphere of an intimate Parisian theatre. Joining Edie are long-time collaborator Joey Smith on bass, and local favourites Karel Roessingh on piano, Jonathan Eng on drums and filling the important role of accordionist, Aaron Watson. All these talented musicians have long careers in the Vancouver Island jazz scene. You might not see Edie wearing the characteristic ‘little black dress’ that Piaf was known for – she prefers a little more flare – but she promises to deliver Piaf’s music as it was originally intended, with emotion and love.
Growing up in Quebec in a Portuguese family, Edie (named Edith at birth) feels Piaf has always had a role in her life, listening to scratchy vinyl recordings through her early years, despite not understanding the words in their French originals. As an adult singer Edie has witnessed again and again the strong emotional pull Piaf’s songs have on an audience. After a recent Courtenay show, a fan left the comment: “My French is rather limited but that did not stop me from being fully transported, getting completely lost in your sweet and powerful Edith Piaf renditions.”
Winchester Galleries is delighted to have been invited by
the Union Club to present:
JOSEPH PLASKETT: Still Life in a Hectic World, May 3 until the end of July in the Renaissance Room.
The still lifes of Joseph Plaskett always bring joy into a
room and somehow quietens the hectic world beyond that room.
And so we are delighted to fill the Club’s Renaissance Room
with the joy of Plaskett’s iconic still lifes and tablescapes. Here is a table
vacated after breakfast, the serviette laid purposefully, the café presse
drained, the butter dish left uncovered. And here is a generous bowl of
oranges, an hospitable pineapple, an amaryllis in vibrant red bud; and then we
encounter the artist himself – a self portrait, looking directly at the viewer,
but nestled into his own still life with antique surrounds and a vase of wispy
flowers.
Each time Plaskett documented the mundane, everyday life, he
extended himself and somehow made the subject sing and made the objects
significant.
Joseph Plaskett received a BA in history and a teaching
certificate from the University of British Columbia in 1939. He went on to
study with Jack Shadbolt and B.C. Binning at the Vancouver School of Art and
with A.Y. Jackson at the Banff Summer School. In 1946 he was awarded the first
Emily Carr Scholarship which he used to study at the California School of Fine
Art, San Francisco. Canada’s most beloved painter later established his
own foundation which continues to award similar scholarships to emerging artists.
Known for his figurative and still life paintings, Plaskett has long been highly collectable. Prior to the artist’s death in 2014, he was still painting, exhibiting on two continents, and collecting awards including Officer of the Order of Canada and several honourary doctorates. Plaskett exhibited extensively in Canada as well as in London and Paris. His work is included in every major museum collection in Canada from Victoria to Charlottetown.
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, May 9 – 3:00pm to 5:00pm.
CFB Esquimalt’s Naval & Military Museum is proud to announce their upcoming special exhibit titled “Hero Warship: HMCS Beacon Hill and Her Daring Commander” which will highlight the WWII Canadian frigate which served as Victoria’s namesake ship during the war and immediate post-war era. Cdr Ted Simmons was a famous Canadian Naval figure of the Battle of the Atlantic who was also a Victoria native.
The Naval & Military Museum will be open over the Victoria Day long weekend, after the official opening on May 17, 2019.
