On Sunday, September 29, Rosebud School of the Arts inducted four new graduates as Fellows of the Rosebud School of the Arts Guild (FRSA) at the school’s annual graduation and scholarship event The ROSAs: Recognizing Outstanding Student Achievement.

(l-r) Amy Burks, Jesse Lynn Anderson, Natalie Gauthier and  Laurie Gillespie have been inducted as Fellows of the Rosebud School of the Arts Guild.

    This year’s guild inductees – Jesse Lynn Anderson, Amy Burks, Natalie Gauthier and Laura Gillespie – are graduating after four years of training in RSA’s Mentorship Programme.
    Also honoured at the event were 14 students receiving a  certificate in Theatre Foundations and five students receiving a Mentorship Level 1 Diploma. Over $41,000 in scholarships and bursaries were awarded to RSA students from new and longtime donors.
    Education Director Paul Muir describes RSA’s unique mentorship approach to theatre training.
    “The programme is designed in such a way that as a student progresses towards their FRSA the instructor-student relationship transforms into a relationship of peers. By the time the student becomes a guild member, they are in fact colleagues. As part of their programme, each of these grads has had the opportunity to apprentice on the Opera House Stage in Rosebud Theatre productions, said Muir.
    “This year’s graduates are affectionately known as the ‘Final Four. Out of a first-year class of 15 students, they were the ones who had the drive and passion to complete the program and commit themselves to a life in the theatre. They overcame incredible challenges discovering their true calling as theatre artists, becoming the storytellers they are today. We celebrate them and know that they will have a significant impact on the Alberta theatre community.”
     Each of the four graduates has hit the ground running with all of them having professional work lined up for the 2013-2014 theatre season. Laura Gillespie will appear later in 2013 in Northern Light Theatre’s Fall show in Edmonton. Natalie Gauthier is set to appear in productions with Fire Exit Theatre, Sandbox Theatre, and Trickster Theatre, all in Calgary. Jesse Anderson will appear in Birnton Theatrical’s Stage West production in November. Amy Burks will appear in a new work by Red Deer playwright Andrew Kooman in November and a production with Calgary’s Theatre Basement in December.
    The ROSAs ceremony took place from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in the Rosebud Opera house with a banquet for staff, families and friends following at the Rosebud Mercantile.

    A local woman who has spent a number of years fighting Lyme disease related illness is reaching out to spread awareness and help others who are facing a similar medical journey.
    The Mail brought readers Julian Augey’s story in its May 22 edition. For years she was living in a cloud of medical mystery. It took until last October before she had a clear picture of the cause of her symptoms.  
 An American lab positively identified that she has babesia and bartonella, Lyme disease coinfections.
     Augey is still on hiatus from her job as a teacher at DVSS, and while she feels her treatment is on   the right track, she understands it will be a long journey back to health. She is on a personalized medical and diet regime and feels she is making progress.
    Knowing how trying her journey has been, even as she recovers, she is looking to help others.
    She has created Lyme Light, and is in the process of it becoming a society. Its mandate is to support the Lyme community by fostering research, education, awareness and support.
    “Our main goal is to raise awareness so people understand that the testing in Canada is not accurate. They can only test for one strain and there are hundreds,” she said.
    This is going to take a shift in attitudes by the medical community. And right now, she believes to get proper treatment is to seek a remedy outside of Canada.
    Some of the ways the society can support those looking for answers is to promote Lyme literacy, possibly accompany people on doctor visits, or even help raise awareness in the medical community. They could also support by helping connect patients with Lyme literate doctors, help, and facilitate testing.
    “Lyme Light will probably never make enough money to help people get the treatment because treatment is so expensive, and we’ll never raise enough to send people to the States, although we are aiming at least getting them tested and diagnosed in a timely fashion,” said Augey.
    Augey says awareness is important and is making a difference.
    “Since my story came out in the first article, I have been getting two to three phone calls or emails a week from people saying, ‘I think I have Lyme.’ Or they have had Lyme and want to know more about treatment. So it is a huge epidemic that we are not talking about,” she said.
    Lyme Light is planning its first awareness and fundraising event.  On Sunday afternoon, November 3, they are hosting Art and Wine at the Badlands Community Facility.  This is a free event aimed at art and music lovers. Members of the Badlands Artists Association as well as artist from Medicine Hat, Three Hills and Calgary and Rosebud will have their art on display and will be donating a portion of their sales to Lyme Light.
    There will be live music performed by local musicians and also an information booth there to answer questions about Lyme disease.
    For more information, check out Lyme Light’s Facebook page.