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Feathered festivities for January

People in Squamish really dig on eagles. Like, really dig on them. They’ve got a proverbial backhoe in Brackendale just to make the point. That backhoe is actually a man.

People in Squamish really dig on eagles. Like, really dig on them. They’ve got a proverbial backhoe in Brackendale just to make the point.

That backhoe is actually a man. It’s Thor Froslev, he of the sterling ponytail, holder of courts at Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG), which is the springboard for the month of eagle-related mirth, merriment and education already underway.

With the count behind them, the 23 rd Annual Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival is now focusing on lectures, theatre and music.

On Jan. 10, Ana Santos picks up the lecture leash with a talk on salmon farming. A Squamish resident since 2004, Santos was born in Spain and has worked as a translator for nearly 15 years. But she’s also passionate about wildlife and the environment, and her credentials include related studies at the University of Alaska, plus a perennial half-year of volunteering for Wildlife Service Alaska. The other six months of her volunteer calendar see her working with the Stream Keepers and the Squamish Environmental Conservation Society (SECS).

She posits that B.C.’s salmon runs are in dire straits thanks to the myopic doings of bigwigs and politicos. The connection? Eagles depend on robust salmon runs for food.

The following night, you can take a breather from ecosystems and enjoy a stage-based meditation on life and death. Might as well, eh? Tuesday’s With Morrie is about a successful — though unsatisfied — reporter reconnecting with an old teacher afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

As the month continues, BAG offers more in the way of lecture and music, with a different set of events every weekend. The whole thing culminates in the return of Valdy and Friends Wing Ding. He’s a musician, but you already knew that.

Go to www.brackendaleartgallery.com/Festival.html for more details.