JINGLE BELL ROCK 2008

 

THE UNION, X92.9 AND EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE ARE PLEASED TO PRESENT

JINGLE BELL ROCK 2008

featuring METRIC
and TOKYO POLICE CLUB

With THE DEARS, SEBASTIEN GRAINGER & THE MOUNTAINS
and DJ MIKE RELM

Friday December 19 - MacEwan Hall

2500 University Dr. N.W., University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
Show 6:30 PM – all ages welcome – general admission
Tickets $38.50+ S/C  on sale SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 at 10 AM at Unionevents.com,
all Ticketmaster outlets, charge-by-phone (403) 777-0000, online at Ticketmaster.ca,
limited tickets available at Megatunes and Sloth

A PORTION OF TICKET SALES WILL BENEFIT THE DOORWAY (formerly The Back Door)

 

‘Tis the season to rejoice, and spread some good cheer! The JINGLE BELL ROCK 2008 tour brings together some of Canada’s greatest indie bands for a common goal, to raise awareness about youth in distress. Leading the way is METRIC, a band with a strong commitment to social justice. The band is taking a break from finishing their highly-anticipated new album – due for release in early 2009 – to blitz across the country with a message of hope and action. Joining them are the incredible TOKYO POLICE CLUB, who are wrapping up a phenomenal year of tour and critical acclaim for their full-length Elephant Shell. Rounding off the line-up are transcendent alchemists THE DEARS, and fierce popster and ex- DFA 1979 SEBASTIEN GRAINGER and his band THE MOUNTAINS. Finally, threading the evening together, is

American multi-media DJ sensation MIKE RELM.

 JINGLE BELL ROCK was created in 2005 by Alberta-based event promoters The Union, as a way to say thanks to music fans in the region, and raise funds for youth in distress. Its debut at Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre, headlined by Rise Against, was a sold out affair, a feat repeated in subsequent years. Last year, in 2007, JBR added Calgary to the itinerary, and this year marks the next stage in the project’s evolution as it stretches across the country.

 To help draw attention to the tour, METRIC will offer fans a free download of a brand new song, entitled Help I’m Alive, through their website ilovemetric.com, starting Tuesday October 28.

A production of The Union – www.unionevents.com

One of Calgary’s Most Effective Non-Profit Orgs is Evolving

The Back Door is community supporting youth in their transition from street to mainstream living. 7 out of 10 participants succeed.  2008 marks The Back Door’s 20th year of service to Calgary and long-term street dependent  young people in our city. What’s even more remarkable than two decades of uninterrupted support is that over 70% of participants who commit to the 24 month BackDoor contracting program get off the street. For good. 

To mark this milestone, on Tuesday, October 28th at 11:30 a.m. on the steps of city hall, The Back Door will be presenting to the people of Calgary - through alderman Joe Ceci - a gift of thanks “for believing in young people”. They will also be officially announcing an evolution of their current identity. The BackDoor will now be known as The Doorway.

Marilyn Dyck, co-founder and the Executive Director of the BackDoor, explains the need for the change:  “The street is not just where these important young people live, it is a culture and how they think. As community and young people listen and learn together, they have shown us that a door sometimes gets in the way of the exchanges between people and ideas. “The BackDoor” was the beginning of a process that has grown much larger. A “doorway” offers ease in the transitions from one space to another. Young people who succeed make choices to move from the culture of the street to safer

, healthier and managed life style options. THIS is what we are about. THIS is the transition we facilitate. We saw the need to better reflect these truths and we believe our new identity ‘The Doorway’ strikes a perfect balance between who we are now, the heritage of how we became that, and the vision we have for our continued growth.  We did not want to abandon our name, we wanted to evolve it.”

 The new tagline of The Doorway -- ‘Transitioning to Choice’ -- echoes the organization’s philosophy. Personal transitions do not just happen for young people; they are the experience of the community people who participate with and support us. By understanding the organization’s purpose, volunteers, employees, donors and the board of directors all transition to a commitment and belief in young people and to choices of support that end up making the difference in the futures of these young people. 

From Halifax to Victoria

Multi-Faith Walk Against Violence Reached Victoria, B.C.

Closing ceremony at the parliament building today at 3:00 PM

Imam Syed Soharwardy will dip his feet in the Pacific Ocean

Yesterday the historic Multi Faith Walk Against Violence reached its final destination, Victoria, British Columbia where a closing ceremony for the cross country walk against violence will be held at 3:00 pm today at the Parliament Building.  

 

The walkers, lead by Imam Syed Soharwardy, are walking on highway #17 south. They have now completed more than 6,470 km of their cross-country walk. The walkers began their walk on April 20^th at the docks of Halifax and today they will end their walk in Victoria by dipping their feet in the Pacific Ocean.

 

Monday, October 27 at 3:00 pm, a Multi-Faith gathering hosted by the Victoria Multifaith Society will be held at the Provincial Parliament in Victoria, B.C. to celebrate the completion of the seven-month-long, Canada-wide walk against violence. A number of faith and community leaders are expected to attend the gathering. 

 

A Community Potluck Dinner hosted and jointly organized by Canpak and Inter Cultural Association of Greater Victoria with Imam Syed Soharwardy - leader of the Walk Against Violence - will be held on Monday October 27th 2008 @ 6:00-8:00 PM at the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria,930 Balmoral Road- 1st Metropolitan Church (corner Balmoral and Quadra).

 

The Walk aims to raise awareness about the dangers, and the consequences of using violence to resolve conflicts. The concept of the dignity of life, “Save a life, save humanity”, is sacred to all faiths, and it is this concept which unites their followers.  The Walk is also a graphic representation of the fact that faith and faith leaders, far from being an impediment to conflict resolution, can be a powerful and valuable resource – especially when faith groups work together!

 

Syed Soharwardy, the leader of the walk, and the founder of Muslims Against Terrorism, has made a commitment to walk the entire length of the route across Canada.  Other faith leaders, who will be joining him along the way, have made their own resolutions as to the distances they will be walking. 

JaZzY JAzz

Fast Forward Readers Choose Calgary's Best

For 11 years now, Fast Forward readers have been voting for the city’s favourite people and places in their annual Best of Calgary readers’ poll. The votes are in, the people have chosen. Roll out the red carpet for 2008’s Best cause of Calgary - The Back Door.
The Back Door placed second just after the Mustard Seed as Fast Forwards readers' choice for best cause in Calgary.

Thanks FFWD!

To see the full results click HERE

Worth His Weight in Dimes!

Roger Kingkade and the X92.9 fm morning crew is at it again bringing awareness to The Back Door. Roger has to raise $10,000 for The Back Door this year after losing a bet with Fraser over the out come of the Flames/ Sharks series.
After successfully auctioning off a cake the crew would like to know how much Roger would be worth if he were made of dimes. Roger is asking for help collecting 153lbs of dimes at which point he will calculate just how much he would be worth in dimes. The money raised will be donated to The Back Door.
The Back Door's mission is to assist young people exiting the street culture in becoming self-sufficient and engaged members of society while also engaging members of the community like X92.9 fm as partners in this transition.
More about Roger and the X92.9 morning show

Walk Against Violence Continues

Greetings to all of you!

On May 6^th, the Multi-Faith Walk Against Violence completed 630 kilometres of its cross-Canada walk. The last notable stop for the walk was Edmundston, New Brunswick, where Syed Soharwardy was interviewed for a New Brunswick wide broadcast. This part of the journey was not always “smooth sailing”. The flooding in New Brunswick was witnessed first hand by the walkers, who also met with some of the flood victims. One day will certainly be remembered by the group as the day they walked 35 km in the rain. As the core group were mainly “prairie chickens” from Alberta, nobody had remembered to bring a pair of Wellington boots! The walkers had, however remembered to bring their bear bells, and that was fortunate. At one point along the route, they were stopped by members of the RCMP who asked them if they had seen a dead bear. They had not, but they walked on – not really put at ease by the information that bears were common in the area. The next day they did happen upon the carcass of an immense bear stretched across the road. Syed reported that it took up around 8 to 10 feet of space and would certainly have been taller than a man had it been able to stand upright. The walkers were sorry the bear was dead but thanked Almighty God they had not met up with it while it was still in the land of the living! Misadventures notwithstanding, the walkathon members have declared themselves “healthy and in good spirits” - and now walking an average of 40 km per day.

The walkathon members were impressed by the fact that the dampness of the weather had no apparent effect on the warmth of the response from the public. People waved and honked their horns in encouragement, and some took the time to accompany the faith leaders for short distances along the way. The walkers related how they were impressed by the woman who came out of her house to greet and thank them for doing their walk, and how a senior citizen arrived to take their photographs. Sometimes they were officially welcomed by municipal officials. In Sackville and Amherst, the deputy mayors presented the team with souvenirs.

Now they are in Quebec. Culture differences have already shown up in New Brunswick, with the French language increasingly used as the walkers approached Quebec. Despite this fact, at least one Francophone radio station has taken the trouble to interview them.

As the walkers traverse Quebec, they do so with the awareness that “la Belle Province” is now celebrating 400 years of existence. The colourful past of Quebec shows up in many of the place names along the route Multifaith Walk. The walkers will be passing towns with names like Notre-Dame-Du-Lac (Our Lady of the Lake) and St. Louis Du Ha!Ha! on their way to Riviere Du Loup, or the river of the wolf – so named, according to one story, because of the seals that could once be seen in large numbers along the waterways.

In keeping with the message of the Multifaith Walk Against Violence, we would like to remind our readers that May 5 to May 11 is Elizabeth Fry week. We salute the Elizabeth Fry Society, a nationwide organization working to help women and girls in the justice system.

On a lighter note – CBC radio informs us that May 9 is also Lost Sock Memorial Day – no doubt our cross Canada walkers have been through enough socks to make this day relevant, too!

hindu

jew

Christ

islam

sikh

Linda Zachri

Media and Public Relations Coordinator