Timbre! Choir starting 40th Season

The Community Choir Timbre! of Port Alberni is celebrating their 40th performance season. 

Timbre! encourages all singers who would like to join a group dedicated to producing a fine choral sound to contact them. We especially welcome teenagers who are interested in learning about and being exposed to fine choral singing. The choir is a four-part ensemble and welcomes choristers of all voice types - soprano, alto, tenor and bass. 

To try out for Timbre! or if you have any questions, please phone Karen Sparrow at 1-250-724-5244 (Port Alberni) or the musical director Patricia Miller at 1-250-390-7508 (Nanaimo). My wife Pat will set up a time with you to meet privately in order to determine your range, pitch and tonal control. Be prepared to sing a short solo of your choosing. It doesn't need to be elaborate - anything from O Canada to Silent Night will do and the conductor will even sing with you if you prefer. 

Pat and I spent two days in Vancouver at reading sessions put on by Northwest Music and Long & McQuade music stores choosing new choral publications for the fall. Timbre!’s first concert will be called Cinemagic and will feature music from the movies. As those blog readers in Port Alberni are aware, a new community theatre will be opening soon as part of the high school. However, the theatre will not be ready until later in November. Consequently, Timbre!’s fall performance will be held in the Capitol Theatre, which, being an old movie house, will fit in perfectly with the Cinemagic theme. There will be two performances, Saturday, November 3rd at 7:30 pm and Sunday, Nov 4th at 2:30 pm. More details on this concert later blogs.

On Labour Day I loaded my bicycle aboard the morning train to McLean Mill and rode back into town via Kitsuksis Road. Stopping at the Salmon Festival at Clutesi Marina, I lunched on a plate of delicious salmon at the Kiwanis Club Bar- B-Q. There was no line up to speak of at noon, not like the evening before when we went as a family and cued for over an hour. The salmon is so good that any waiting time is worth it. Retrieving my car at the E&N Station, I drove past the new high school. The front door was open so I had a peek inside. 

The common area inside the entrance is stunning. What a magnificent building.  Yes I know, so many of us were quite attached to the old school on Burde. However, it really was time to move on and the new facility can only be classed as one of the finest secondary school buildings in the province. Photos below:

 

PHOTO GALLERY - LABOUR DAY WEEKEND AT MCLEAN MILL (Port Alberni)

(Two photos above): The only operating steam donkey engine in Canada demonstrates the high-lead (pronounced leed) method of yarding in fallen logs to a landing by a series of cables and blocks suspended in the air from a spar-tree. The logs were then loaded on to a log truck.

(Left) The Alberni Pacific Railway loading passengers at the E&N Station in downtown Port Alberni for the trip out to McLean.

(Left) Visitors to McLean Mill get a close up view of high-lead logging powered by the only operating steam donkey engine in Canada

(Left) On the weekend I rode my bike on to the new floating dock at Harbour Quay in Port Alberni. The impressive $8.2 million dock stretches more than 400 feet out into the Alberni Inlet.