Early January Newsletter

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MERA is part of the provincial shut down, so the doors have been locked since of the evening of December 24th until the province says we can open again. At this time that date is January 23rd.
The Township of Lanark Highlands confirmed that all communities centres are closed. For specific information from the Ontario Government please visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-provincewide-shutdown
There are no exceptions to the closer, no one should be in the buidling except for emergencies and the approved person for insurance pruposes.
Members will be notified once we are allowed to go back to our planned events.
Thank you for your cooperation.

The calendar for all events and activities at MERA can be found by visiting www.meraschoolhouse.org
If your event is not listed, or you would like to book something please email meraschoolhouse@gmail.com

Winter Speaker Series (updated Jan 5)
Brighten up your winter on Thursday evenings by listening and watching an exciting series of talks presented by MERA.
They will be shown on ZOOM, so no danger of Covid or driving on icy roads. The talks include world adventure, animal history, children’s outdoor education, and gardening. We have tried to plan something for everyone.
The series of six talks starts on January 14 and runs until February 18 from 7 to 830 pm. The admission is by donation to MERA by sending an e transfer to meraschoolhouse@gmail.com.
Interested viewers need to subscribe to the series in order to receive the invitation to watch the talk, by emailing Helen at hmogford@gmail.com
Visit www.meraschoolhouse.org.to see the list of speakers and topics, as well as all the exciting things happening at the schoolhouse.

January 14 - Mark Quattrocchi
Cycling from China back to Canada - With the recent release of Mark's book THE CYCLE OF LIFE: THE POWER OF SAYING HELLO he will be sharing a short talk on his bicycle journey around the world. This will be followed by a Q&A and a showing of his TEDx Talk

January 21 - Laurie Clark and Al Howard
Circles of Connection: Creating Circles of Care & Belonging, with a Q&A discussion

January 28 - Bonita Eloise Ford
Embracing Life in an Age of Environmental Destruction and Climate Chaos. A mini workshop by the author of "Embers of Hope"

February 4 - Tom Shoebridge
Exploring Cinema. Tom will be sharing a short video as part of his presentation. Tom has been teaching communications, film and screenwriting for over 50 years, 29 of them at Algonquin College.

February 11 - Scott Sigurdson from Indian Creek Orchards
The Joys of Permaculture: the Good, the Bad and the Tasty.

February 18 - Joanna Dean
Unruly Nature, Troublesome Trees and Runaway Horses. Joanna Dean has been teaching courses on environmental and animal history at Carleton University for several years. She has uncovered some very interesting stories concerning animals and trees.

Memberships are now due for the 2021 year at MERA
Individual or new families fees are $50.00 valid from January 1st to December 31st
Family Memberships are $75.00 valid from January 1st to December 31st
To apply please click here
E transfers are the preferred payment method this year, due to COVID-19. Please send to meraschoolhouse@gmail.com A password is not required.
If you have any questions or concerns, or need a little help with your fees, please email MERA
Please note, paper applications are not accepted this year and the drawer at MERA is not accessible as long as we are on provincial shutdown.

Hello dear MERA friends,
A few days before New Year's Eve I was feeling particularly bleak about what the year has brought us, and where it has left us, and decided to follow the Ecuadoran custom of burning an effigy of the year past as a way of seeing it gone. Almost as soon as I had thought the thought instructions about how to build a grapevine sphere arrived in my inbox (a perk of being connected to Lanark Highland's own Basketry Museum - thank you Ankaret). I built a grapevine corona virus with pinecone protein spikes to burn on our traditional midnight bonfire. The Ecuadoran effigies were stuffed with fireworks for added effect. I'm counting on the pine cones and some birch bark for drama. The year we lived there, the effigy of choice was of Ecuador's ex- vice president who took millions in public money with him when he fled the country after losing his seat. My effigy will be in good company. Effigies generally represent hated villains.
We step into 2021 with some misgivings, hoping it will be kinder. Whatever it brings, we have seen that courage is as contagious as Covid.
Much love and all good wishes to all of you,
Lyndal

The Annual General Meeting will be held in March. More information coming soon.