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June 1-30
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Canada Helps, the sponsor, aims to increase charitable giving and encourage year-round generosity. Donations will generate an entry in a draw for $10,000 that happens on July 1st, Canada Day. The minimum donation is $3.
Ignatius Farm needs to upgrade the seedling greenhouse. This old-style glass greenhouse was brought to Guelph from Oakville over sixty years ago. If you donate during this June challenge you are entering the Farm to win $10,000. The Farm will get a draw entry for every dollar donated by our supporters. We will designate all donations made through this challenge to Ignatius Farm's goal.
 Rosita Lugosi passed away on April 28. Rosita, with her husband Vince, were pioneering supporters of the vision to create an old-growth forest along the banks of the Speed River here in Guelph. They have been donors since 2006! Rosita said her early education with Jesuits in the Philippines inspired her support.
Vince and Rosita are among the donors who made it possible for the Centre to hire a project coordinator in 2015. The coordinator, Martin Tamlyn, has now trained over 2,500 students, community volunteers and retreatants in reforestation techniques by organizing over 50 restoration events. The project has planted 7,000 native trees and shrubs and restored Marden Creek as a habitat for brook trout after a 180-year decline.
What a wonderful legacy Vince and Rosita envisioned for
their two grandchildren, April and Jasper,
through the Old-Growth Forest project. May Rosita rest in peace.
If you would like to become a monthly donor, you can sign up here or phone 519-824-1250 Ext. 257 Mondays-Fridays, 9am - 4pm.
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LOYOLA HOUSE RETREATS & PROGRAMS 
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UPCOMING RETREATS -
Each retreat date is linked to our website for more information
Interested in digging deeper? Consider doing the Full Spiritual Exercises Experience this Fall. Read about it here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
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AT THE CENTRE -
Volunteers Needed
IJC is looking for enthusiastic and engaged volunteers to help in many different departments. We are specifically interested in volunteers for Housekeeping, the Kitchen, the Front Desk, and Maintenance. We welcome applications for these positions and more! If you are interested, fill out a volunteer registration form at ignatiusguelph.ca/get-involved/volunteering or email Andrea at [email protected] for more information.
AT IGNATIUS FARM -
Early season and traditional CSA shares start June 19th! Still haven't registered for your CSA?
Sign up here to get in on the goodness!
Drop by and visit us at the Local Food Fest this June at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre! The event is on
Sunday, June 24th from 11-4pm. There is so much going on including music, delicious food, and fun workshops. See you there! Psst... we are hoping the delicious strawberries will be ready just in time for this event.
Read more about the Taste Real Local Food Fest here!
OLD-GROWTH FOREST EVENTS - 
Evening Hike - Wed June 13 @ 6:45-8:30pm
Ignatius Jesuit Centre - Farm Workshop
Hiking from the cultural past to the ecological future. Staff from Raresites Land Trust and Ignatius Old-Growth Forest project will lead an evening hike at the Centre.
Read more here!
Restoring Marden Creek -
Sat July 21 @ 9:30am-12:30pm
Interested in "getting your feed wet" in stream rehabilitation? Join Ignatius staff for some in-stream work...read more here!
EARTH EVENTS - 
Land Blessing - THIS SUNDAY June 3 beginning at 10 am!
Beginning this year, this annual event will take place on the first Sunday of June.
WALKING PILGRIMAGE 
Looking for a different summer experience? Consider this year's Walking Pilgrimage from Guelph to Midland - August 4-11. The Walking Pilgrimage is about nourishing your spirituality, enjoying the great outdoors, getting great exercise (20-30 km per day), and having fun & enjoying good company.
Read about it here...registrations are being accepted! Registration deadline - July 20.
CANADA & NEW ENGLAND DISCOVERY TOUR - September
8-15
Join Fr. Roger Yaworski, SJ on a cruise later this summer on the Holland America MS Rotterdam cruise ship!
There will be a meeting about this trip on Wed. June 13 @ 7pm at Holy Rosary Parish, 175 Emma St., Guelph. For more information contact Fr. Roger at 519-824-1250 ext 230. If you would like to book the trip, contact Royal City Travel, 519-763-3520 x210, or
[email protected].
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 We've added Instagram to our social media!
The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is so true when perusing Instagram feeds...
and is a social media platform that is used across all generations.
Do follow us!
Like what is posted, add a comment,
forward to a friend, save/bookmark...all methods to increase engagement.
And when posting on your own Instagram account of pictures that were taken
at the Centre,
please use one or more of the following hashtags:
#ignatiusfarm #loyolahouse #oldgrowthforestproject #ignatiusoldgrowthforest
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OLD-GROWTH FOREST PROJECT
The word diversity best describes this season in the Ignatius forest; from the wide array of trees and plants to all the forest helpers: kindergartners, grade school students, retreatants, folks looking to gain work experience, scouts and our friends from Community Living.
Paul Nesbitt who leads the group from Guelph-Wellington Community Living, shared some thoughts on the groups experience:
"
The Volunteers from Community  Living Guelph have been welcomed by Martin and his staff into the world of restoring open acres of land to forest.
Our volunteers look forward to the physical exercise that the plantings require. The Volunteers learn new skills, such as using shovels, loading pails of mulch, planting trees and putting protective guards around the deciduous trees. The areas we work in are teeming with birds, and Martin will point out certain birds to our group as we work. Once we finish our planting we often go for a walk down by the river before we go back to ARC. We look forward to working with the OGF team every Wednesday."
A Smaller Footprint
Thanks to funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation we have added an Electric Polaris Ranger 4 x4 Utility Vehicle to the OGF equipment. This allows us to go about our work of restoring the land with less impact - we can access more places, cause less damage to the trails with zero noise or emissions!
Celebrating Marden Creek
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Larry Halyk, past coordinator of the Wellington Stewardship Council, telling the story of the dam removal to participants of the recent Natural Channels Conference |
The millpond dam removal, the restoration of Marden Creek back to a cold water stream and the return of the brook trout continue to be one of our favourite stories to share. An increasing number of community organizations want to visit the Old-Growth Forest Project to learn about our natural approach to invasive species management and the successes of our restoration efforts.
Getting Involved
If you would like to get involved -
by Greg Kennedy, SJ 
ravenous homemaker/meditative sitter
unwearied wet nurse
vernal mother/autumn tourist
the sky you wrap
your newest life in
that breaks, feeds, then flies
in ageless circles never old
is a conversation I hope we have
someday soon while both brooding
on a blue-blessed nest
made by a shared artistic instinct.
THIS PAST MONTH...
Let's Get Growing: Guelph's Ignatius Centre ushers in the gardening season - The Ignatius Spring Field Day (May 19) brought out dozens to celebrate the start of the spring growing season.
"With heavy raindrops pelting his colourful coat and transforming the soil around him to mud, Loucciano Carere stayed focused on the task at hand: getting the crops in the ground.
"With mom at the ready with a plant in hand, the two-year-old got his fingers in the soil planting in the community garden at Ignatius Jesuit Centre on Saturday morning. He and dozens of others came out to celebrate the start of the planting season at the Centre's Spring Field Day event."
Read the Guelph Mercury-Tribune article here...and see the pictures! Article & pictures by Chris Seto of Metroland.
Spring Awakes! performance arts hike adventure was held this past Sunday at Ignatius Old-Growth Forest project lands.
SKSS Productions presented an afternoon with song, music, poetry, prayer, and dance.
See here for Spring Awakes! Facebook page for photos of this event in the forest.
The Ignatius Jesuit Centre is deeply grateful to SKSS Production for the funds raised through this event that will help support the work of the Old-Growth Forest Project. Pictures by Brenda Lewis of Lewis Media Relations.
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