"You’re never going to kill storytelling,
because it’s built in the human plan. 
We come with it.” 
Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale

The Telling Our Stories Speaker Series will
captivate, provoke surprise and make you laugh and cry.




In Search of Lost Trees

featuring David Newland

with Sam Allison

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

7:00 - 9:00 pm

Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association Fish Hatchery

6712 Gelert Road Haliburton, ON

 

“In Search of Lost Trees” is a folk song cycle, created and performed by singer-songwriter and storyteller David Newland. In the summer of 2023, David and his 11-year-old son travelled to Northern Ontario, looking for trees he had planted as a tree-planter in the early 90s.

 

Their journey unfolds in stories, songs, and images, asking what it means to live in this time of tremendous change--and encouraging the audience to find and renew relationships with their own lost trees.

 

"In Search of Lost Trees" invokes family, memory, mythology and ecology in original stories and songs, calling us to care for our faraway forests–and our local trees!

 

David's previous project, "The Northwest Passage in Story and Song" was a hit in Haliburton and across the country. "In Search of Lost Trees" looks to chart a similar course, after a fabulous debut in Cobourg and feature stories on CBC Radio "Fresh Air", Roots Music Canada, and Northumberland News.

 

Writer, musician and scholar David Newland is based in Cobourg, Ontario, and travels widely from coast to coast to coast. David is currently pursuing a PhD in Canadian Studies at Trent University. His Master's project won "Best MA" from the Canadian Studies Network in 2023. He won a Cobourg Civic Award for Arts & Culture in 2022. David is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, "making Canada better known to Canadians and the world".

 

More about David - www.davidnewland.com

The Series has enjoyed more than 8 years of stories told by some extraordinary speakers on a wide range of topics involving adventure, travel, the environment, art, social issues, politics and personal journeys.

Every second Wednesday of every month from September to June 
Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association Fish Hatchery 
6712 Gelert Road, Haliburton
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Admission is $15

Our guest speakers have included Kurt Browning, Ted Barris, Kevin Callan, Grit Laskin, James Raffin, David Woodhead, Robert Fisher, Keith Ross Leckie, Mike Stevens, Rob Stimpson, and Bob Henderson, to name a few. Mary Anne Barkhouse, Brigitte Gall, Peter Bowers, Randy Pielsticker, Barry Devolin, Carol Moffat, Tracy Lee Green, John Patterson, Peter Hynard and Mike Jaycock were a few of the local residents who shared their adventures.
The Series was initiated and presented by Yours Outdoors until June 2023.
A portion of the revenue is donated to a local non-profit environmental or social organization.

Thanks to the Speakers Series team for making it happen – Sean Pennylegion, Jack Brezina, Tammy Rea, Eric Lilius, Pat Martin and Barrie Martin.

PREVIOUS SPEAKERS

September 13 - Better Living in 4,289 Easy Steps – Stephan Lukacic
 
Six String Nation
Wednesday, October 11 , 2023
7:00 - 9:00 pm

Jowi Taylor, M.S.M. is a multiple award winning writer, broadcaster, consultant and cultural entrepreneur. His groundbreaking series for CBC Radio, The Wire: The Impact of Electricity on Music, was the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award, among other international citations. Many of his broadcast productions, including The Nerve: Music and the Human Experience, Invisible Cities and the long-running weekly show Global-Village have been internationally recognized. Jowi left CBC in 2009.
 
Six String Nation, conceived in 1995, took eleven years to bring to life. Centered around a single acoustic guitar – nicknamed Voyageur and built from over sixty pieces of Canadian history representing different cultures, communities and characters from every part of the country – the project combines Jowi’s fascinations with music, media, community engagement, and the dynamics of Canadian history and multicultural identity.
 
In 2015, Jowi was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada for his work on Six String Nation.
 
Nick Russell, Dave Bathe, Tom Oliver, Rob Bersan (and Virginia de Carle) and Ernie Demuth will be on hand to play the Voyageur.


FROM THERE TO HERE
Wed Nov 8th 2023
7 - 9 pm

We are blessed with some amazing people living in the Haliburton Highlands. Folks you may know or heard of but not realize the great things they are doing. Fay Wilkinson and Wil Andrea have done so much to help people here in this community and around the world.
Fay will share her profound experiences with Expressive Arts and how she uses it in the community including her work with the Abbey Retreat Centre and Mental Health Services. Wil, meanwhile, will share her experiences working with victims of sexual violence and war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What inspires them to do what they do? What motivates them to settle and stay in the Highlands? And what does the future hold for these remarkable individuals?
Fay Wilkinson is an independent, Registered Expressive Arts Practitioner (IEATA), a therapeutic storyteller/storycatcher and an artist living and working in Haliburton County. For over 40 years she has designed and delivered Expressive Arts experiences in person and more recently online for both individuals and groups of all ages with a focus on mental health. I work with people to guide them to tell difficult stories in new ways using digital tools called Stories in Motion.
Wil Andrea is medical lab technician and worked as a technician for first 11 years in a Dutch hospital and later in Somalia, Rwanda and Myanmar where she set up and trained staff in laboratories of hospitals in remote areas. She continued working in developing countries as a financial manager of humanitarian projects in Congo, Myanmar and Indonesia. She is currently working as a financial controller for the Mukwege Foundation in The Hague that has projects in Ukraine, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda where they work with and for victims of Conflict Related Sexual Violence that is used as a weapon of war. She has lived in Minden since 2014 together with her husband whom she met in Congo.


Sailing Back in Time -
A Primitive Journey in The Palawan Islands 
featuring Johnny Waite and Andrea Hagarty
 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association Fish Hatchery
6712 Gelert Road Haliburton, ON
 
Join Andrea Hagarty and Johnny Waite as they revisit their February 2023 Sailing Adventure on a 74' Wooden Paraw through the Palawan Islands in the Philippines. In addition to sharing their own experiences of sailing, snorkeling and sleeping in traditional bamboo huts on remote islands, they will be telling the incredible story of how the provider, Tao Adventures, has become an integral part of the local economy, providing hundreds of jobs for the wonderful people from this extraordinary corner of the world. Be ready for spectacular scenery, stormy seas, and endless adventures.
 
Andrea is a Haliburton County institution, as the long-time proprietor of Bonnie View Inn on Lake Kashagawigamog.
 
Johnny is a coach, speaker and international event organizer having created various adventure races in dozens of countries.
 
They started dating in February 2015 and, after agreeing to "keep it casual" ended up traveling the world together instead - and got married in December 2015 in Mendoza, Argentina after climbing Mount Aconcagua (the tallest mountain outside the Himalayas).
 
Since then they have never looked back and, now retired from their respective businesses, have founded The Golden Age of Adventure - a company devoted to creating incredible travel experiences for others


Strong into the Future
A Story of Self-discovery and Recovery
featuring Maryam Monsef 
Wednesday, January 10, 20247:00 - 9:00 pm
Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association
Fish Hatchery
6712 Gelert Road Haliburton, ON 

Maryam Monsef, is an entrepreneur, a new mother and former Cabinet Minister in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government. The theme of her presentation is “Strong into the Future”. It is the story of her humble beginnings as an Afghan refugee and details how Maryam's journey led her to community organizing and eventually to Canada’s Parliament. There, she made significant contributions to social and economic justice issues both domestically and globally.

Ms. Monsef utilizes her expertise as a public speaker and consultant to support causes and leaders she believes in and she is frequently called upon to share her insights on national television. Whether it’s supporting individuals or teams, Maryam provides practical, tailored solutions that businesses and individuals can apply to fostering social equity and belonging.