From Dave Hitchcock:

Hi Everyone.

The Western Regional Council of Subud Canada has recently been discussing the proposed weekend gathering on Vancouver Island this fall.

As you may know, earlier this year we booked Bethlehem Retreat Centre in Nanaimo for the weekend of October 16 to 18, 2015. A few weeks ago we learned that Bethlehem was for sale and it is uncertain whether a new owner would continue to operate the facility for gatherings such as ours. We understand that there may be more information about a possible sale at the end of May. In the meantime our (tentative) booking still stands, although we have not been asked for a deposit.

As a result we have been looking around for a possible alternative venue.

Some years ago Michaela Davidson suggested Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat (just west of Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island). Never having been there, in mid-March Aisjah, Helena and I went on a “recce” (reconnoiter!) to see if it might be suitable. We were all very impressed!

Here is some information:

• The Lodge is operated by a not-for-profit foundation. Two of its goals are “to provide a space for personal retreat, where people can step away and seek space for perspective, awareness and renewal, and to provide a place where corporate, community and church groups may have seminars, workshops and meetings to promote wellness in the workplace and life space”. 
• Travel time to Honeymoon Bay Lodge from both Victoria and Nanaimo is about 90 minutes.
• The Lodge has 17 suites, with various combinations of beds, and can sleep up to 37 people.
• There are a variety of meeting (latihan) spaces, including Eagle’s Nest (19’ x 23’) and Heron’s Roost (24’ x 40’)
• The Lodge is 6 years old, bright, cheerful and very well looked after.
• It is situated in a quiet, rural setting, with many trails from the property, and is a short walk to the beach at Cowichan Lake.
• There is a group rate (for booking of 10 people or 6 guest rooms) of approximately $130 per person/per night (regardless of whether there is one person or more in a room). This includes use of one meeting room and all meals, with a continental breakfast.
• We could order a hot breakfast at an additional cost of $5 per person/breakfast.
• They can cater to special diets.
• If we booked more than 10 guest rooms, we would have exclusive use of the whole facility. This includes use of a salt-water hot tub, sauna and exercise room. Massages are available, but have to be ordered and paid for separately.
• This means that, if we booked more than 10 guest rooms, the total cost per person for the full weekend, with full use of the whole facility, would be around $270 per person. This compares to an equivalent cost of about $260 at Bethlehem Retreat Centre.
• A deposit of 10% is required at the time of the initial booking, and 50% of the full cost 60 days prior to the event.
• At the moment, all weekends in October 2015 are available, except October 16 – 18. The Assistant Manager, who showed us around, expected these weekends to become booked up fairly soon.
• They have a website at www.honeymoonbayretreat.com with additional information, photos etc.

With their deposit requirements, it is important that we are confident that there is sufficient interest in a weekend gathering at Honeymoon Bay Retreat in October before we make a booking and commit ourselves to the required 10% deposit now and 50% in mid August.

The Regional Council has agreed to my suggestion that we canvas our members to determine this. We are also inviting our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Northwest, south of the border, to join us.

Therefore, I am seeking a firm commitment from at least 14 people that, if booked, they will register for an October weekend gathering at Honeymoon Bay Retreat.

If you can be one of these people, please contact me before April 15. I am not requiring any money at this time, simply a firm, reliable and guaranteed commitment from folks!

Please let me know which of the following weekends you would be able to commit to:

October 2 – 4
October 9 – 11 (Thanksgiving)
October 23 – 25

Once I have firm commitments from a minimum of 14 people, I will approach Honeymoon Bay Retreat again to determine which October weekends are still available and make our reservation.

We can then promote the weekend further to see if there are others who want to join the core of members who have committed themselves, so that we were able to secure the facility.

I hope this is understandable, but if you require any clarification, please contact me (Email: hitch @shaw.ca or Tel:250 370 1291.

All the best,

Dave Hitchcock
Western Regional Chair
Subud Canada

ALSO!

* * *

Could you please forward this notice to your members. Thank you!

Hi there Subud brothers and sisters in the Pacific Northwest.

This is to remind you that the Early Bird deadline to register for the Western Region Family Gathering at Crescent Beach, Surrey, BC, Canada from May 22 to 25 is this Sunday, April 12. 

All details and registration form are included in the attached registration package. We hope that you will be able to take advantage of the lower rates by registering early – to ensure your accommodation (first-come, first-served), help us with the planning and allow us to provide Alexandra Retreat Centre with the information they require in a timely fashion. In any event, the final deadline for registering is May 9.

The organizing team is working very hard to ensure that we have a fabulous, fun-filled, family-oriented, Subud gathering, but this cannot happen without your participation, so please register as soon as possible.

Rashi Oren is coordinating a number of offered workshops that will take place during the 3-day gathering. Brief descriptions of some of these, that are already confirmed, follow this note.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 250 370 1291 or “hitch@shaw.ca”.

Looking forward to receiving your registration and seeing you at Crescent Beach!

Dave Hitchcock
Western Regional Chair

Scheduled Workshops for the Western Regional Gathering May 22-25

We have three scheduled workshops for the weekend and a couple of unconfirmed ones. The following is the schedule for the confirmed workshop along with a short description.

Break/throughs

Integrating the inner and outer in our work and relationships

This is a workshop meant to explore the journey of living our outer lives in harmony with our inner nature and aspirations. We  would like to draw from the stories of successes, challenges and failures in both members work lives and relationships.I know that it will take courage to talk of challenges and failures, but it is precisely at this place where there is the most to learn.

The second part of this workshop will be to share strategies on how to prepare for the journey if we are just beginning and to overcome challenges and learn from failures if we already are on this path. If there are members who feel they have insights and experience they would be willing to share on this subject, we would like to hear from you by April 22 so that we can bring it all together before the workshop date of May 23.

The workshop will take place on Saturday, May 22 , 2-5 pm

Please contact Rashi Oren ( 604-755-4664 (roren@shaw.ca)

or Machmud Nestman  (604-533-2629 ) (machmudn@telus.net)

Bird Watching made Easy

People who are interested can download the Cornell Labs app Merlin Bird ID (free) onto their smart phone when close to wifi (big program).  For very interested people they can download iBird Pro ($10) or Sibley Birds ($20), both which give the calls and songs of all North American birds. Please contact Howard Pattinson for more information on the workshop by email at tide15how@outlook.com or by phone at 250-897-6094

This workshop will take place on Sunday morning, May 24 between 10:45 and 12pm

Who Cares?

We do! Let’s talk about why Susila Dharma exists as part of Subud, for us as individuals and working together to represent Subud around the world. We can also develop some questions to test about the inner aspects of this quality of outreach using the latihan …. building with humanity at home, in your community or abroad.

Come and find out what your Susila Dharma Canada has been doing to support Subud members in DR Congo, Indonesia, Cuba and Colombia to…. keep more children and youth in school, provide safe health care and maternity centres,  protect the environment, take care of the elderly, train young people and women to become economically self-sufficient. And why is Susila Dharma Canada, working in partnership with others like Susila Dharma International,  applying for ‘big money’ to the Federal government?  What for? We welcome you to come and explore this subject with us.

Rosanna (Vancouver) (rosanna.hille@gmail.com)
Kumari (Fraser Valley) ((kumari_beck@telus.net)

This workshop will take place on Sunday afternoon between 2-5pm

We will let you know of any other workshops that come up as soon as they are confirmed.