The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Heritage hall was filled for the career fair. Photo by Dan Davidson

Career Fair Brings Visitors to Dawson

By Miriam Kaytor

In November of 2003 personnel from Tr’ondek Hwëch’in, Yukon College, Robert Service School, and Klondike Outreach formed a planning committee for a Career Fair. Utilizing the resource package from the 2002 Fair that was organized by TH Special Events Coordinator, Lue Maxwell the Career Fair began to take shape. With today’s labour market and the mobility of workers the theme of “Buses to Boardrooms ­ How many Routes will you take?” seemed the perfect fit. Invitations were sent out to private, public and other organizations to participate in the event. The date was set to coincide with the Dawson Film Festival, so that people had the option of staying the weekend to enjoy other community events. Information letters were sent to the schools in Carmacks, Pelly & Mayo inviting them to attend.

On the evening of April 7 a “Meet & Greet” was hosted at the Tr’ondek Hwech’in Culture Centre for the Panelist and Exhibitors. Refreshments were provided with Salmon being donated by Chris Ball & Sylvain Fleurant.

Students, staff and parents from Carmacks arrived on Wednesday and were given a tour of the TH facilities and a youth dance was hosted for them in the evening. School was not in session for Pelly, however a group of adults traveled to participate in the event.

April 8 the Fair opened with a Panel Discussion held at the Culture Centre. Our appreciation is extended to Sandy Silver for being the M.C., of the event. Students and community members filled the Centre to standing room only. The panelists, Karen Dubois, Peggy Kormendy, Aedes Scheer, Tara Christie, and Eldo Enns shared a wealth of life, work and academic experiences. This was a great way to set the tone for the Career Fair.

The afternoon was filled with community members, students, and teachers visiting the 22 booths that participated. Many of the booths had incentive draws along with a skill testing question. The goal was for the student to get at least one piece of information from each booth. Three outdoor displays were part of the Fair this year, and all indications are they were popular sites to see. Yukon Geological Survey attended from Whitehorse, along with two local displays. Thanks to Chief Isaac Fire Fighting Crew for setting up the tent and being available for questions and information. In addition Han Construction had the creative idea of hosting a hands-on carpentry event. The students were invited to participate in the actual building of three dog houses which were drawn for at the end of the day.

Even with being on the eve of a long weekend ­ out of town organizations participated. We thank both Dawson Personnel and Travelers for the work and time that went into preparing and participating in the event. As part of hosting the event each exhibitor was given a lunch token and thoroughly enjoyed a choice of meals prepared by Nora Van Bibber and helpers. In addition volunteers, Nancy Van Fleet and Theresa Smith worked a fundraising concession on behalf of the Moosehide Gathering.

The full day of events were enjoyed by grades 7-12, who were given passports as part of the day. When they returned a passport with stamps from each booth and answered questions on the back page their name was entered for the grand prize. The grades 5 and 6 toured in the event after 2:00 p.m. but did not participate in the passport program.

The day ended with drawing for all the prizes. The grand prize of a CD stereo player was won by Amy Guest.

Thanks and appreciation are extended to the many that helped with the event. The partnering of TH, the College, Robert Service School and Outreach left no one organization with all the work. The skills and resources in Dawson are evident. A special note of thanks to Tr’ondek Hwech’in for donating both venues, and assisting with the financial expenses.

Dawson City International SHORT FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS, PRESENTS $7000 IN PRIZES

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Dawson City, YT (April 15, 2004) - The lights are up, the screen is down, and the popcorn has been swept away for another year, bringing to a close the 5th annual Dawson City International Short Film Festival. Over 1400 enthusiastic film buffs took in this year’s event, which featured 11 screenings of 77 films, including a record 34 Yukon-made productions. “More than the number of Yukon productions, it was the quality and diversity of the films that stood out for us ­ and for the audience,” says Festival Producer Dylan Griffith. “Animation, drama, comedy,

The Made in The Yukon trophy is presented annually at the Short Film Festival. Photo by Dan Davidson.

documentary, experimental - all of these were represented in films made by Yukoners.”

Other highlights included a candid and often hilarious on-stage interview between iconic Canadian writer/director Bruce McDonald (Highway 61, Hard Core Logo) and radio and television personality Terry David Mulligan, the latter in town to cover the festival for CHUM’s Movie Television. “Terry’s show is seen in more than 120 countries,” says Griffith, “so his being here was a real coup in terms of exposure and raising the profile of the festival and the region. His agreeing to sit down and interview Bruce in front of our audience was the icing on the cake. They’ve known each other for a long time and have a great rapport, so they put on a really fantastic, entertaining, and informative show.”

A standing-room only presentation on the Dawson City Film Find by Parks Canada employee Michael Gates was another highlight, as was the screening of silent newsreels and film clips from the find that followed, complete with live piano accompaniment on an historic Bechstein grand piano. “It was wonderful to see these films, dating from 1915-25, screening in the 100 year-old Odd Fellows’ Hall ballroom, with Barnacle Bob playing along on a turn-of-the-century grand piano that was in Dawson during the Gold Rush,” says Griffith. “All the more so for the fact that the screening and Michael’s presentation will be included in Peter Rowe’s documentary on the history of film in Canada. It’s a bit odd to think of a town that hasn’t had a proper movie theatre in thirty years as an epicenter of film history, but that’s one of those bizarre paradoxes that make Dawson such a strange and wonderful place.” 2004 Award Winners

A total of 8 awards were handed out at this year’s festival, with prizes valued at over $7000. The festival’s premier award, the MITY (Made-in-the-Yukon), went to EVELYN POLLOCK for her celebratory documentary on the Dawson City Music Festival, FOR THE JOY OF IT. Sponsored by the Yukon Film Commission, the Northern Film and Video Industry Association, the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture and the Tromso International Film Festival, the MITY prize package includes $1000 cash, an ounce of raw Klondike gold, professional grip package rental time, and a screening at the 2005 Tromso International Film Festival.

The MITY Emerging Talent Award, open to students and newer filmmakers, went to ANNE BURGER for her beautifully animated short UNTITLED. Burger will receive $500 cash, 4 days professional production package rental, and 40 hours editing suite rental, courtesy of CBC North and the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture. CHRIS CLARKE & EMILE BOUFFARD ­ the festival’s first mother-son filmmaking team - were the runners-up with AWAY WE GO, a humorous animated warning about the threat of pollution. Clarke and Bouffard will receive $250 cash, 3 days professional production package rental, and 30 hours editing suite rental, courtesy of Lonely Seal Productions and the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture. Honorable mention goes to JAY ARMITAGE for SPRING AHEAD, a stop-motion take on spring-cleaning. Armitage will receive $100 cash, 2 days professional production package rental, and 20 hours editing suite rental, courtesy of Northern Town Films and the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture.

New for 2004, the Best Use of a Yukon Location Award is open exclusively to films made by students in the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture/Yukon College Arts for Employment program. Taking home the $250 cash prize, courtesy of Rob Toohey Locations, is FLORIAN BOULAIS for SITTING ON MY ROCK.

Selected by audience ballot, the ZeD People’s Choice Shorts Award goes to Linda Fitzpatrick’s LYNN & HARRIET, a humorous yet poignant documentary about a Newfoundland woman and the pig she raises for meat. Second place was a tie between Peter Rowe’s RIGHT HOOK: A TALL TAIL and Jonathan Hayes THE SCHOOL, while the third most popular film was HELP!, by Romanian filmmaker Marian Cristan.

The ZeD People's Choice Awards are generously sponsored by ZeD, CBC Television and the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture.

The 6th annual Dawson City International Short Film Festival takes place March 25 ­ 27, 2005.

Media Contact:

Dylan Griffith, Producer ­ 867.993.5005 or dawsonarts@yknet.ca