The Ghost Watershed Alliance Society (GWAS) is getting ready for their major annual fundraiser March 14 at the Beaupre Community Hall.
Beginning at 6:30 p.m., an evening of musical performances by David Lertzman and the Volante String Quartet will be complemented with a silent auction and a GWAS slideshow.
Tickets to the event are available at ghostwatershed.ca.
The GWAS is a volunteer-driven group that was established in 2002, with a ‘vision to preserve and enhance the integrity of the ecosystem in the Ghost Watershed in order to secure the optimum quality and yield of the area’s surface and groundwater resources’.
Marina Krainer, GWAS executive director and Benchlands resident, said that the funds raised would go toward operational costs, including liability insurance that covers one of the society’s most popular activities – taking Cochrane and area students into the Ghost-Waiparous area for educational hikes.
“Less than 10 per cent of our funds go toward operational costs each year,” said Krainer, encouraging anyone with “a love for the area or who hikes out here” to help preserve the area through purchasing an annual membership fee; membership rates are $10 per individual or $20 per family.
Throughout the year, GWAS promotes their cause through ‘Walks in the Watershed’ (adult and school children), speaking at various Cochrane and area schools and conducting open houses.
A recognized stakeholder in the Ghost-Waiparous area, GWAS is currently working on completing a ‘state of the watershed report’, which will outline everything about the Ghost Watershed.
The GWAS is also working on a stream-bank rehabilitation and improved stream-crossing project in cooperation with off-highway vehicle user groups in the Ghost.
Krainer said there is a wide array of silent auction items up for grabs.
“We have a fantastic selection of paintings, porcelain dolls, gift certificates, pet gift baskets, as well as a photo of the Wildcat Hills (by Cochrane photographer John Hall) and a guided hike.”
Learn more at ghostwatershed.ca.
Tickets to the event are $25 and are available online, at Bentleys Books or Phantoms Music in Cochrane.
Multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, Dr. David Lertzman, will be one of the acts du jour for the GWAS benefit concert.
An associate professor of environment management sustainable development at the Huskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary by day, Lertzman has been involved in a number of capacities with GWAS for a number of years.
“Hugh Pepper (long-time advocate of the Ghost Watershed) is someone who has given so much of his life to the Ghost Watershed,” said Lertzman. “He has been a big inspiration to me.”
“There’s an active connection with that watershed and with the spirits of the land,” said Lertzman, who lives along the Ghost and has for a number of years. “That philosophy has inspired my music.”
Taking a worldly approach to his music, Lertzman has percussive beats, Latin and even reggae elements infused in his musical backbone.
With a background in blues harmonica playing and bluegrass music, Lertzman said the guitar remains his mainstay instrument, although he has a penchant for “using wind instruments to create soundscapes.”
Formed in 2009 by four music undergraduates at the University of Calgary, the Volante String Quartet is a Calgary-based chamber music group that seeks to ‘take chamber music out of the concert hall and introduce it to new audiences in unexpected places.’
Comprised of Lev Nesterov (violin), Jessie Ramsay (violin), Osmond Chiu (viola) and Rebekah Dyckerhoff (cello), the quartet performs regularly for a range of receptions, galas and educational outreach programs.
“Whenever there’s a cause like this to play for, we really look forward to it,” said Nesterov.
The group has filled out their classical repertoire to include everything from ‘Mozart to Coldplay’.
“We will begin with an Argentinean tango, move into some classical pieces (like Schubert) and finish with more modern pieces (pop-rock compositions by bands such as Coldplay and The Killers).
Performing extensively throughout Alberta and B.C., all members of the Volante String Quartet are past participants in the prestigious Mount Royal Conservatory’s Academy of Music program, as well as alumni of the Calgary Youth Orchestra.
Each member continues to study music at the U of C and perform as soloists, as well.
Learn more at volantestringquartet.com.
