TROYAK EXECUTIVE TEAM is informing all members, colleagues, collectors and Polonia at large, that Club meetings taking place at John Paul II Polish Cultural Centre, 4300 Cawthra Rd. (just south of Hwy. 403), Mississauga, Ontario. The new members are always welcome.  www.polishculturalcentre.ca   
 
     ADRES SPOTKAÑ KLUBOWYCH!  Zarz±d G³ówny Klubu "Troyak" informuje wszystkich cz³onków kolekcjonerów, sympatyków oraz ca³± Poloniê, ¿e spotkania klubowe odbywaj± siê w Polskim Centrum Kultury im. Jana Paw³a II, przy 4300 Cawthra Rd. (na po³udnie od autostrady 403), Mississauga, Ontario. Zapraszamy nowych cz³onków do prê¿nego. Klubu "Troyak".  www.polishculturalcentre.ca

 

 

 

 

9:00 a.m.   to   6:00 p.m.

 

     AN INVITATION TO ... "Troyak Junior" Philatelic Club! "Troyak" Club Executive Team has established "Troyak Junior" Philatelic Club. The official introduction of the "Troyak Junior" Philatelic Club, took place during the II Polish-Canadian Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Show, on February 20, 2005, at John Paul II Polish Cultural Centre in Mississauga. "Troyak" Executive Team and Zygmunt (Ziggy) Borowski, Director of the "Troyak Junior" Philatelic Club, invites all children and their parents and also teenagers to join the club. Meetings taking place at: John Paul II Polish Cultural Centre, 4300 Cawthra Rd. (just south of Hwy. 403), Mississauga, Ontario. For more information, contact: Ziggy Borowski at 416-454-2790 or     

     KLUB FILATELISTÓW "M³ody Troyak" Z A P R A S Z A !  Zarz±d G³ówny Polsko-Kanadyjskiego Klubu Numizmatyków i Filatelistów "Troyak" za³o¿y³ Klub Filatelistów "M³ody Troyak". Dyrektorem Klubu Filatelistów "M³ody Troyak" jest Zygmunt (Ziggy) Borowski. Oficjalne zapisy dzieci i m³odzie¿y rozpoczê³y siê 20 lutego 2005 r. podczas II Polonijnej Wystawy i Targów Numizmatyczno - Filatelistycznych 2005, w Polskim Centrum Kultury im. Jana Paw³a II, przy 4300 Cawthra Rd. Mississauga, Ontario. Zapraszamy dzieci oraz m³odzie¿ do nowego klubu. Spotkania Klubu Filatelistów "M³ody Troyak" odbywaj± siê w Polskim Centrum Kultury w Mississauga. Po wiêcej informacji prosimy o kontakt z : Ziggy Borowski 416-454-2790 lub     Zapraszamy.

     With venues stretching from the cosmopolitan streets of Metro Vancouver to the world-class Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, visitors will get a taste of both the urban appeal and panoramic land and seascapes for which this bustling multicultural metropolis is famous. And thanks to Tandem Design, a team of Vancouver-based designers hired by Canada Post, they’ll have a special keepsake to remember it by.
     “The design team’s goal was to create a souvenir for people coming to the Games,” says Alain Leduc, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post. “They decided to focus on the venues, with an emphasis on how stunning they are.” The designers seized the opportunity to create a lasting image of their city to share with visitors. The two stamps feature spectacular photographs of Vancouver and Whistler. The photos represent the Vancouver 2010 Sea-to-Sky theme, a concept linking the scenic coastal city with Whistler’s majestic ski slopes.
     “Working with photographs can be difficult because they are very rarely meant to be viewed at such a small scale,” explains Leduc. “In the case of the Whistler photograph—a very dramatic shot—we added a darker blue to enhance the contrast. As for the Vancouver shot, we extended the glow coming in from the left-hand side to make it clear that the photograph was taken at sunset.”
     The Sea-to-Sky theme is extended on to the souvenir sheet, where the stamps are positioned between a totem pole, grounded in the land, and an orca whale in the sea. The stamps are set against a photograph of an inukshuk, located at the peak of Whistler Mountain. “It’s a wonderful expression of the inspiration for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games emblem,” says Leduc of the design concept.

 

 

 

     The booklet also showcases the area’s appeal, with envelope seals that work in some other defining aspects of British Columbia. A totem and an inukshuk speak to the region’s rich Aboriginal history and culture, and a Kermode bear, orca whale and eagle—creatures of the land, water and sky—evoke Vancouver’s spectacular wildlife scene and its varied natural settings.
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games postage stamps were issued: Jan. 12, 2010. To learn more about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, visit:  www.vancouver2010.com

 

 

     We can hear it in the stadiums, alive with fans cheering; see it in the faces of eager children, decked in red and white; and feel it in the energy that Canadians create when we all come together as one. This February, during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Canada Post will issue a set of commemorative stamps that celebrate the exhilaration and binding power of the Olympic Spirit.
     “For fans and athletes alike, the Games are an emotional event,” explains Alain Leduc, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post. “The Signals Design Group, the design team behind the issue, had as a goal to create a visual that could represent both the experience and memory of that emotion.” Inspiration for the design was derived from the Olympic Movement’s core goal: “To contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic Spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” Leduc explains, “The designers wanted to reflect this spirit through the reaction in the eyes and faces of Canadian youth. Their idea was that we, as Canadians, have our own unique way of celebrating, supporting and displaying our national pride; it doesn’t necessarily include marching bands and balloons. It’s often more subtle. It’s commonplace to see young Canadians in toques and painted faces cheering on their favourite teams and athletes. And the iconic maple leaf, along with the red and white colour scheme, tell the viewer immediately that this is a Canadian event.”
     The backgrounds of the two stamps feature photographs of four events: men’s four-man bobsleigh, women’s cross-country sprint, men’s short track relay speed skating, and Canadian cross-country skier Chandra Crawford as she accepts her gold medal at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Italy. “The designers chose these particular images from hundreds of contenders because they contained gender representation, individual and team events, colour, form, and energy,” Leduc notes.
     The graphic patterns in the background of the first day cover, souvenir sheet and booklet extend the energies within the stamp in abstract ways that can be read as movement, ice, snow, carved lines from blades and skis, and indoor and outdoor environments. “The success of this design relies heavily on the arrangement of its components,” says Leduc of the design team’s vision. “Each element contains energy arcs that we carefully layered to make it dynamic, yet accessible. By overlapping parts of each scene and altering their planes of axis, they work individually and together in a motion-filled circulating collage.”

 

 

 

     The project carried special meaning for the Vancouver-based designers, who also created last year’s definitive stamps featuring winter sports. “Anticipating all this happening in our own backyard was certainly an underlying influence in our design process,” notes Keith Martin, Senior Designer. “This commemorative issue wraps up the memories and experiences we will take from the Games and brings everything home, so to speak.”
     “Celebrating our Olympic Spirit” postage stamps will be issued: Feb. 22, 2010. To learn more about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, visit: www.vancouver2010.com

     The Inuksuk is a well-known symbol in the Canadian North. In Inuktitut, the language of Inuit, the word Inuksuk means “likeness of a person.” Inuit and their ancestors have lived in the Arctic for over 4,000 years. Traditionally, the Inuksuk has been used in many different ways: to show travellers and hunters the way home; to warn of dangerous places; to show where food was stored; to show where a significant event happened; and, to guide caribou herds and help with hunting them.
     Today, the Inuit Inuksuk is much more than just a stone marker. It has become a symbol of the North and of leadership, cooperation and the human spirit.
     As traditional and contemporary ways are blending, sometimes Inuksuit (plural of Inuksuk) are built simply to mark the presence of those who live both in the Arctic and across this country, Canada.

$75 GOLD  COIN – INUKSHUK … Sixth in the series, this $75  14-karat gold proof coin features a colour - enhanced design of an Inukshuk, the symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. (R)