Welcome to Wildrose Country


Wild Rose Country is a provincial program heard weekdays from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. on CBC Radio One (1010 AM in Calgary and 740 AM in Edmonton). Wild Rose Country connects urban and rural Albertans by exploring the environmental, agricultural, educational and political issues affecting everyone from the far north to the deep south of the province.

Recent Information and Links

Our host, Donna McElligott returns from her year-long sabbatical in January 2008.  Our thanks to Holly Preston and Cathy Little for sitting in the hosting chair during Donna's absence.


FEATURE INTERVIEWS:

EUB's Men at the Top (5:47)
December 20: New leaders to regulate Alberta's energy industry. The battered EUB is going to look a whole lot different going into the new year. We find out more about the men at the top.

Christmas Fruitcake (5:30)
December 20: Cynthia Baumgardt from Red Deer is crazy about Christmas fruitcake. So crazy, in fact, she makes them for a living.  This year alone she's baked over 8000 fruitcakes and she's not finished yet. We talk to Cynthia about her famous Grandma's Traditional Fruit Cakes.

Toys for Tickets in Red Deer (5:19)
December 18: People paying parking fines in the City of Red Deer are turning a negative into a positive this holiday season for some kids in need. We learn about Red Deer's new Toys for Tickets program.

Christmas Bird Count Tally (8:33)
December 18: We host a round robin table discussion on The Christmas Bird Count in Alberta.  We talk to our panel of birders who took part in this year's count. They reveal the latest tallies and some surprising bird species counted around the province.  The Xmas Bird Count ends on January 5th, 2008 and there are still more counts happening in Alberta.  Check out the  Bird Studies Canada website for counts in your area, or contact your local birding/nature society to participate.


New Anti-Poaching Program in Jasper National Park (9:07)
December 17: We talk to  Jasper National Park's Law Enforcement Co-ordinator about their new high-tech poaching prevention program.

NASA Northern Lights Discovery (7:06)
December 17: Throughout the ages, the Northern Lights have danced their magic in the night sky causing wonder and raising many scientific questions. We talk to a NASA Scientist about a new discovery that explains what's been powering up the Aurora Borealis all these years.  And, there's an Alberta connection that made this discovery possible.

Alberta Soldiers in Afghanistan (10:48)
December 17: We touch base with our soldiers in Afghanistan, and talk to Captain Alex Watson based in Edmonton.  He's completed two tours of duty in Kandahar and we ask what life is like on the front lines, especially at this time of year.


Wildrose Forum Xmas Books List
December 6:  What books do you want to give and receive this Xmas? That was our topic on the phone-in today. We were joined by Anna-Marie Klasson, Adult Fiction Librarian with the Edmonton Public Library, and Jean Ludlam, Youth Librarian with the Calgary Public Libary.  They shared their lists of favourite books for the gift-giving the season.

Anna-Marie's list for adults:
Baker, Jacqueline - The Horseman's Graves
Behrens, Peter - The Law of Dreams: A Novel (Winner: 2006 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction)
Burke, James Lee - The Tin Roof Blowdown
Bronte, Anne - Agnes Grey
Day, Barry  -The Letters of Noel Coward
Delisle, Guy - Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea
DuMaurier, Daphne - Rebecca
Hay, Elizabeth - Late Nights on Air (2007 Scotiabank Giller Award Winner)
Hosseini, Khaled - A Thousand Splendid Suns
Kirwin, Jeananne - Greetings From Cool Breezes: A Family's Year Aboard
Ondaatje, Michael - Divisadero (Winner 2007 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction)
Pressfield, Steven - Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Smiley, Jane - Ten Thousand Acres
Vassanji, M.G. - The Assassin's Song
Wong, Janice - Chow
Zachter, Mort - Dough

Jean's List for babies to teens:

Christmas themed stories

Falconer, Ian - Olivia Helps with Christmas
Jeffers, Susan - The Nutcracker
Hobbie, Holly -  Toot and Puddle Let It Snow
Kinerk, Robert - Bears first Christmas
Little, Jean - Pippin the Christmas Pig and Listen Said the Donkey
Nelson, S.D. - Coyote Christmas
McDonald, Megan - The Holly Joliday
Edwards, Michelle - Papa's Latkes

Christmas gifts

McPhail, David - Night, Night Baby
Van Camp, Richard - Welcome Song for Baby
Cimarusti, Marie Torres - Peek a Choo-Choo
Keller, Laurie - Do Unto Otters: A book about Manners
Watt, Melanie - Scaredy Squirell
Martin, Bill Jr. - Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do you See
Emberly, Ed - Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug
Yarrow, Peter - Puff the Magic Dragon
Brett, Jan - Three Snow Bears
Mizzoni, Chris - Clancy with the Puck
Leonetti, Mike - Maple Leafs A - Z
Munsch, Robet - Much More Munsch
McNamara, Margaret - Too Many Cooks (Based on the movie Ratatouille)
Asch, Frank - Mrs. Marlowe's Mice
Broach, Elise - When Dinosaurs came with Everything
Reid, Barbara - Fox Walked Alone
Collins, Heather - Out Came the Sun: A Day in Nursery Rhymes
Drake, Ernest - Dragonology Handbook
Levine, Gail Carson - Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand
Taylor, Sean - When a Monster is Born
Krauss, Ruth - The Growing Story
Lyon, George Ella - Trucks Roll
Sherry, Kevin -  I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
Angelou, Maya - Poetry for Young People
Shoveller, Herb - Ryan and Jimmy and the Well in Africa that brought them together
Kieve, Paul - Hocus Pocus: A tale of Magnificent Magicians and Their Amazing Feats
Stephens, Jay -  Heroes! Draw your Own Superheroes,Gadget Geeks & Other Do-Gooders
Thornhill, Jan - This is My Planet: The Kids' Guide to Global Warming
Wiles, Debora- The Aurora County All-Stars
Oppel, Kenneth - Darkwing
Pearson, Kit - A Perfect Gentle Night
Creech, Sharon - Castle Corona
Alexander, Lloyd - The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
Sarah L. Thomson - Dragon's Egg
Pfeffer, Susan Beth - Life as We Knew It
MacIntyre, R.P - Apart
Walters, Eric - Safe as Houses
Kraft, Erik P. - Miracle Wimp
Napoli, Donna Jo - Hush, An Irish Princess' Tale
Gaiman, Neil - Stardust
Friesen, Gayle - For Now
Haworth-Attard Barbara - A is for Angst

Great Reads for the Holidays

Cooper, Susan - The Dark is Rising
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Kidnapped (graphic novel adapted by Alan Grant)
LeGuin, Ursula - A Wizard of Earthsea
O'Brien, Robert C. - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Collins, Suzanne - Gregor the Overlander series
Hiaasen, Carl - Hoot
Hiassen, Carl - Flush
Horowitz, Anthony - Stormbreaker series
Pullman, Philip - Golden Compass series

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