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This Episode Features:

(07:20) Oceanside Classical Concerts Community Outreach: Joe Straka details their transformative Vancouver Island music programs including the instrument lending initiative providing free instruments to students whose schools can't afford adequate supplies. The organization has created scholarship programs supporting diverse musical genres and pioneered live streaming concerts to seniors facilities, addressing mobility challenges for elderly music lovers across the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area.

(29:23) The Heels - From Island Roots to International Success: Featuring Qualicum Beach's Kyla Rawlins alongside Bobbi Smith and Brittany Dominelli, discuss their evolution from casual café sessions to being managed by the powerhouse team behind Alabama and Randy Travis. The trio shares insights about their BCCMA awards, opening for major acts, and their mission to create empowering music with healing powers. The interview features the song “High Heels On”.

Episode Highlights & Quotes

"Through our other programs, we spoke with music teachers and they provided us with convincing proof that the schools simply cannot afford to provide enough instruments for their music programs and for all the kids who wanted to participate in music classes. And so a number of kids walk away and they're disappointed." - Joe Straka, Oceanside Classical Concerts

"We got to hang out with Dolly Parton. We got to go to her album release party, but we sat on a couch with her, sang her songs with her. So it really does offer you an incredible range of contacts, I would say, when you have a big team." - Brittni Fiddler

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This PULSE podcast episode showcases the Ballenas Whalers fundraiser and 25th Anniversary homecoming celebration. Featuring Oceanside Football Association President Michael Pedersen discussing the September 6th fundraising dance, plus author Brian Wilford's climate change novel and seismologist Taimi Mulder's tsunami wave analysis for mid-Vancouver Island residents.

This Episode Features:

(07:16) Oceanside Football Association President Michael Pedersen details the September 6th fundraising dance at Jensen Center featuring “Kind of Country” band. The event celebrates 25 years of Ballenas Whalers Football while raising funds for a new field house at Ballenas Secondary School in Parksville. Pedersen explains how thousands of youth have benefited from the local football programs.

(18:16) Retired print journalist Brian Wilford discusses his debut novel "Rise of the Jellies," a satirical science fiction story set in Qualicum Beach. The book uses flying jellyfish as a metaphor for climate change and environmental destruction, drawing from Wilford's 35 years of journalism experience. He explains his creative approach to addressing climate concerns through humor and storytelling.

(15:39) Sidney Seismologist Taimi Mulder speaks about recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake effects, she explains how tsunami waves continue reverberating nine days later, with different impacts on Tofino versus Port Alberni due to geographical factors.

Episode Highlights & Quotes

"This will be a field house that'll be accessible to the greater community at large and really leave a legacy for years to come in the Oceanside area." - Michael Pedersen, President of the Oceanside Football Association

"The book is a satire on the human response to climate change. We've known for a long time the planet was warming and the cause was the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane." - Brian Wilford, Author

"If you are on the outer coast when there is a tsunami warning or a watch or an advisory, I suggest that you be very careful for a good 48 hours afterwards. Many of these effects last." - Taimi Mulder, Seismologist

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This PULSE podcast episode celebrates Vancouver Island community arts through two inspiring local stories. Featuring Sylvia Humble of Humble Harmony community singing groups and photographer duo Dave and Kelly Hutchinson discussing their bestselling book "Vancouver Island: The Art of the Landscape."

This Episode Features:

(10:08) Sylvia Humble, founder of Humble Harmony, shares her inspiring journey from government worker to community singing facilitator. After a cancer diagnosis prompted her career change, Humble created inclusive singing groups across Parksville and Nanaimo where perfection isn't required—just joy and connection. Her Vancouver Island community arts initiative welcomes singers of all abilities, teaching harmony by ear without sheet music.

(20:04) Husband-wife team Dave and Kelly Hutchinson discuss their collaborative photography book covering 600 kilometers of Vancouver Island landscape, from Victoria to Cape Scott. Dave's nature photography spans two decades, while Kelly authored compelling stories behind each image. Their Vancouver Island community arts project has become a bestseller and headed to a second printing, with copies traveling worldwide as gifts.

Episode Highlights & Vancouver Island Community Arts Stories

"I've fallen in love with the idea of community singing — that singing together can be just for the pure joy and connection of it, rather than aiming for perfection or polishing it for performance." - Sylvia Humble, Humble Harmony founder

"I would say it's at least half or more are buying the book as a gift for somebody that has already been here, or somebody that's coming here, or they're sending it to Germany as a gift to somebody that had visited, or Australia — books are going all over the place." - Dave Hutchinson on their photography book's global reach

The episode also highlights upcoming Vancouver Island community arts events:

· Rock the Park: August 8-10 at Parksville Beach Festival

· Coombs Fair: 112th annual fair, August 9-10

· Tim Hortons Concert Series: August 15-16

· Sculpture Light-Up evenings: August 15-16

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You'll find all episodes of The PULSE Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, TikTok and YouTube podcasts, as well as PULSECommunity.ca.

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Episode Sponsors: Tablet Pharmacy, Windsor Plywood French Creek, Ian Lindsay & Associates, Thrifty Foods Parksville, & Parksville Beach Festival.

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