Fresh Cup celebrates their 10th Anniversary Christmas Blend with Doug Lafortune – Local Tsawout Artist ‘Salish Santa Image’
December 2nd, 2009 – Saanichton, B.C. – Well known local artist and carver Doug Lafortune is putting one of his newest images to good use. This December customers will find Doug’s artwork on the back panel of the Christmas Blend. He recently came up with the idea of putting his new image named ‘Salish Santa’ on packages of coffee, roasted locally by Fresh Cup Roastery Café. ‘I originally did this drawing over 20 years ago, before the birth of my son Bear and came across it last year as I was doing some reorganizing’, reflected Doug, ‘At the time, I thought that it could be used for a seasonal event at some point’. Timing is everything and with Christmas coming soon the idea of raising some much needed money for the local band to rebuild the Tsawout Longhouse came to mind in a conversation with Jim Townley co-owner of Fresh Cup. ‘I donated a print last year to the Annual Saanichton Community Christmas Event as one of the prizes and Jim said that if I ever wanted to do something with the print to let him know’, comments Lafortune, ’So this year we talked about putting it on the back panel of their Christmas Blend and for every 1 – lb. sold, one dollar ($1) will be donated to the rebuilding project’.
Doug Lafortune was born in 1953 in Bellingham, WA. His parents are both of Coast Salish heritage. Doug was mentored by master carver Simon Charlie of Koksilah, who encouraged him to develop his own unique and distinct style of contemporary and traditional Coast Salish art. Doug’s artwork has sold to private and corporate collections worldwide, including a 30 - foot totem pole that went to Butchart Gardens recently.
‘Christmas is a great time for people to buy coffee as gifts and this is a great way to use the festive Salish Santa image’, smiles Doug, It’s the 10th Anniversary of Fresh Cup’s Christmas Blend so the theme is fitting. ‘I think this is an amazing image and it really reflects the Westcoast lifestyle nicely’, comments Fresh Cup Roastmaster Mel Townley’, ‘I wanted something special to celebrate our 10th Christmas season of roasting here on the Peninsula and this is a perfect way to do it ’. Combing artwork and coffee together is a great way to raise awareness of the important issue of rebuilding the longhouse. ‘This was such a ceremonial part of our community and I wanted to do something to help raise some money’, said Doug, ‘Fresh Cup does a lot of fundraising within the community and we are excited to work with them on this project in addition to what they are doing for the ‘Coins For Kids’ and the Sidney Lions Food Bank’.
For those who would like a chance to win a framed version of the ‘Salish Santa’ print, you can enter the draw on Saturday December 5th at Annual Saanichton Community Christmas event that runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Saanichton Village. People participating in the Christmas Tree Trail will have a chance to win this fabulous prize….and for those who love ‘Freshly Roasted Organic Coffee’ they can take home a small version on the back of the Christmas Blend through the month of December, while helping to raise money for the rebuilding of the Tsawout longhouse.
Cheers,
Jim Townley
Co-Owner - Fresh Cup Sidney
http://www.freshcupsidney.ca/
Featuring The Art of Brandy Saturley & Doug Lafortune
