Volunteers Volunteering:
The power to make our world a better place lies within each and every one of us. Volunteering is the act of giving your time and energy to help others. Volunteers make a difference in our community, what they do is benefiting to someone or something, to be a beacon of light in some one’s life.No matter where I go or what I’m doing I run into superannuated teachers volunteering to help others.

Did you know that volunteering helps you gain new skills?

✓ It not only connects you to other people in your community, it also improves your health in both mind and body.

✓ Volunteering is about free will – done by choice. It's about the joy you get from giving.

The choice is yours… where do you volunteer? We’d like to hear from you. What are some places that you volunteer at? Why did you get involved?

Does your organization need volunteers? Send us the information and we can post it on our website. Volunteering is: The Choice you make. The Difference you make. The World you make.

Moose Jaw Band & Choral Festival: A tradition for over 70 years

Written by Janie Fries.

Despite issues in trying to navigate teacher sanctions, the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival was considered a success for out of province groups. This is in big thanks to the volunteers who stepped up to help, including a number from the ranks of our local STS. 

Sitting around the table during the year to help with planning are Sandi Hutchinson and Janie Fries. Sandi has helped out since Covid restrictions allowed the festival to restart and Janie has been a part of the committee since the Kinsmen club passed on the reins in 1995.

This festival is run entirely by volunteers and there are a variety of ways that it happens. STS members who stepped up the week of the festival include Jackie Niewnhuizen, Kathy Sudom-Young, Michelle Carline, and Mary Jukes. They helped direct traffic to the warm up rooms and then helped them navigate their way to the performance stage and back again when finished.

Jennifer Lang, choral clinician from the U of S workshops at Zion Church. (Photo credit: Gordon Edgar from Discover Moose Jaw).

The committee is made up of volunteers from a variety of backgrounds but mostly teachers, retired teachers, parents of previous music students, and students themselves. If anyone is interested in helping out throughout the year the committee is searching for someone with computer skills who would like to work on the program and posters, as well as physically fit individuals who could assist with moving equipment the week of the festival. No music knowledge is required for either position.

Interested? Contact the festival at mjbandandchoral@gmail.com

The Power of Volunteering

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

— Audrey Hepburn

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

— Winston Churchill

Picture of Norbert Fries volunteering at the MJ Band and Choral Festival with Clinician Brian Uzick.

Yay or Neigh… 🌊 Visit one of Canada's most isolated islands 🐴

Sable Island, a wild and mysterious haven in the Atlantic, is comprised of shifting sand dunes, and is home to wild ponies and seals. Visit one of Canada's most isolated islands on this expedition cruise departing Halifax on September 14 and disembarking in Boston on September 21. No single supplement for solo travellers and currently 40% off, starting at $2584 USD per person based on single or double occupancy. That price includes so much, including your own Helly Hansen jacket to keep after the trip.

In addition to a unique opportunity to sail out to Sable Island, this trip has a fabulous itinerary including UNESCO World Heritage Site Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and charming coastal communities in Maine and Massachusetts.

Itinerary highlights include: ✓Coastal Maine Botanical Garden ✓ Whale Watching in Provincetown ✓ Martha’s Vineyard. Plus more.

Sale ends on June 30, or while availability lasts. Don’t hit the snooze button on this unique once-in-a-lifetime experience.

That’s right, on an expedition sailing you are given a Helly Hansen jacket, just like this one, to keep after the voyage. Sunglasses not included!