After leaving a career in market development in the federal tourism agency that included postings in Sydney, Australia and St. John's, Newfoundland, Marlene served in the community development department of the Bahá'í National Centre in Thornhill, Ontario. Back in St. Marys, she devoted her life to working at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, travelling and writing. She loved working as a Festival usher and, more recently, as a volunteer tour guide. Many of her trips involved Bahá'í service projects in destinations such as Cyprus, Ireland and Western Samoa and some quirky journeys such as travelling on a cargo ship from New York City to Chile and back.

   Marlene authored two biographies, Take My Love to the Friends: The Story of Laura R. Davis and Faithful Friends: Founding the Toronto Bahá'í Community 1919–1938, one play named Tabreez, several dramatic readings and essays and a dozen essays on Shakespeare plays. Joining a group of writers at the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute in Arizona for annual winter gatherings, she co-founded the "Write Life", an annual writers' retreat, serving as a co-facilitator for two years. Marlene was named the first Writer in Residence at Desert Rose.

   For a list of Marlen's Dramatic Readings see Bahá'í Library.

Canadian Council of Imams is an organization of religious leadership of Imams (Sunni and Shi'ia), representing the Islamic Community in Canada. [Office of Public Information]

The Continental Board of Counsellors appointed the following 26 Auxiliary Board members to serve in Canada. Those serving on the Propagation Board:

Mert Ozyonum, Atlantic Provinces
Betty Dai, Anthony Jjumba, Shawyun Refahi and Anisa Skuce-Newell in British Columbia
Lita Cameron, Elisa Cooper, Neda Farahmandpour, Caitlin Moore in Ontario
Maëlle Turbide in Québec
Dagmawit E. Habtemariam in Saskatchewan-Manitoba
Drew Erickson in Alberta

Alanna Robertson Vreeland in the Atlantic Provinces
Agazzi Abay Tsehaye, Nabih Ardekany, Navid Jaberi, Lori Mason in British Columbia
Ravin Appadoo, Rebecca Hamilton-Bachiu, Justin Kianfar, Bronwyn Naylor and Golbon Singh in Ontario
Mona Pirmoradi in Québec
Anis Sabet in Saskatchewan-Manitoba
Karolina Drabik and Shabnam Shakibaei in Alberta

The Counsellors expressed their love and gratitude to these distinguished friends who have served so faithfully and sacrificially and who will be relieved of this service as of 1 July 2021. They were: Sara Chesley, Sohayl Ghadirian, Alaleh Rohani, Robert M. Ngunjiri, Rhona Scoffield, Sophie Turbide, Stacey-Michelle Tekye, and Tahirih North. [Letter from the National Assembly to the Canadian community dated 16 June 2021 S113255]

The inspirational story of Richard St. Barbe Baker, aka the "Man of the Trees," The heritage documentary The Legacy of Saskatoon's Secret Forest tells the story of his remarkable life and achievements. Note there is a 15 minute version heritage documentary and a one hour long presentation with greetings from around the world. The 15 minute prequel film "Richard St. Barbe Baker Park" tells how the heritage documentary came to be. From roots in Saskatoon he went on to inspire tree planting and forest protection around the world. The International Tree Foundation, which he founded in 1922, is still active in 14 countries. Countless people motivated by him are environmental champions today. A companion curriculum describes his holistic world view, and his daring life of action on behalf of the earth.

From Saskatoon Star Phoenix
18 August 2021
thestarphoenix.remembering.ca/obituary/bruce-filson-1083051604:

The beloved soul of Bruce Kenneth Filson winged its flight from this earthly plane on August 13, 2021. Bruce, aged 68, was surrounded by family after fighting a sudden battle with aggressive cancer and associated complications. Dear father, husband, brother, son, and community member, Bruce "contained multitudes." His joie de vivre and the ever-present twinkle in his eye will not be quickly forgotten.

Born in 1952 in Saskatoon, Bruce was raised initially on a farm and then in the city. During his high school years at Evan Hardy Collegiate, he was elected co-leader of the student council and played football for the Hardy Souls, helping take the team to the provincial championship game. He remained a lifelong sports fan, following football, baseball, World Cup soccer, and Olympic and other sports, and he played golf into his final year.

Though he and his wife, Margaret Bremner, grew up mere blocks from one another and attended the same high school at the same time, they only truly met as undergraduate students when each joined the Bahá'í Faith. They married in 1978 and raised three daughters together (as well as a dog, two cats, three rabbits, and who knows how many fish).

Bruce studied French at the U of S and later earned a master's degree in Comparative Literature from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the Université du Quebec à Rimouski. He was a language lover and gained skill with English, French, German, and Mandarin. In order to serve the needs of the international Bahá'í community and for his own edification he left Saskatchewan after university and moved to Rimouski, QC, then Montreal, and then the Ottawa area. He later left Canada for periods of time, living and working in China and Dominica. In his final years he had moved to Surrey, BC, to be nearer children and grandchildren.

Bruce had a diverse and colourful vocational life which, though it met with little financial success, was fulfilling and rich in every other respect. For a number of years, in Canada and in China, he taught high school and college-level English and French. But he also worked variously throughout the years as a writer, publisher, translator, salesman, and civil servant. He was a newspaperman in the perpetual year of 1886 at Upper Canada Village, a living history site in Ontario. In the early 1990s he co-founded and ran Nine Pines Publishing, remembered for its contributions to Bahá'í literature (notable works published include The Psychology of Spirituality by Dr. H.B. Danesh; Fires in Many Hearts, the memoir of Doris McKay; and poetry and prose by long-time Bahá'í pioneer to the Magdalen Islands, Larry Rowdon). Later he co-founded and founded small presses September House and September Pines as well. B.K. Filson was himself also a poet: his work was published in various journals and in two volumes (Angel Ruckus and Parallelograms); he led workshops and gave readings; and he was an active member of writers' groups in Ottawa, ON and Surrey, BC. He won an award for Excellence in Bahá'í Studies: Creative Writing from the Association of Bahá'í Studies and gave a reading of one of his long poems at an annual ABS conference.

More recently he was delighted and proud to have opened and owned King Me Boardgamery and Café in Saskatoon and, still more recently, run the online game shop Mr. Dice Guy. His fondness for tabletop games and good coffee, his commitment to building community, his desire to provide a gathering space for friends young and old, and his love of teaching and learning combined with his friendly demeanour meant that the establishment in 2017 and success of King Me constituted a professional and personal dream achieved.

Bruce's life as a Bahá'í, his dedicated service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, was a hallmark and a guiding light to others. He joined the Faith in 1971 and travelled to Quebec, China, and Dominica to assist the Faith. He served as an elected member of Spiritual Assemblies in Rimouski, Montréal, Hull (now Gatineau), Osgoode (now amalgamated into Ottawa), and Saskatoon. He sometimes served as a delegate to the Bahá'í National Convention, once alongside his brother Gerald. He and Margaret also served as custodians of the Bahá'í Shrine in Montréal for five years, receiving Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khánum in their suite during her visits to Canada.

Bruce is survived by his wife of 43 years, Margaret Bremner, brothers Glen (Luisa) and Gerald (Judy) and sister Mary Jane (Shane English), daughters Chloë (Robin Wilson), Lydia (Gregory Coles), and Veronica (Shahruz Moshtael), granddaughters Gavia, Ida, and Fern, and a baby grandson soon to arrive. He was predeceased by his eldest brother Robert in 2011.

Interrment and a memorial program will take place at 1 p.m. (PST; arrive at 12:45) on Friday, August 20 at Valley View Memorial Gardens in Surrey, BC. The program will be live-streamed for far-away mourners.

Published on August 18, 2021