By Kelly Babcock

Yes, new years. And one of the very best celebrations is available to everyone. Welcome to the Chinese New Year.Welcome to hospitality, good fortune, good wishes. Gong Hey Fat Choy.
Our Gregorian Calendar is solar in nature, following the orbit around our star that causes the seasons to change, causes our planet's attitude to change, and often causes our attitudes to change as well.
But in Asia, the calendar is created around, or augmented by, the meandering geocentric orbit of the moon around the earth.
As a result many celebrations can't be scheduled for a consistent Gregorian Calendar Date.
This may seem a little confusing at first, but think about Easter. The date of that celebration changes every year, because it relies on the changing phases of the moon. Why?... Why not?
In China many celebrations are scheduled to coincide with lunar occurrences. Thus the new year begins on the day of the new moon between January 21st and February 20th.  Today, Friday, February the 16th, is the date of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog, the perfect time to start sharing, learning, reaffirming our community. Celebrations are about to begin.
We have the honour of being Canadian, which means we are part of a multicultural country. We also have the honour of having had people of Chinese origin and ancestry in our midst for over a hundred years.
There have been situations when fear and misunderstanding have marked or marred the relationship between the European settlers and those of Chinese origin. But as Canadians we owe it to ourselves and our neighburs to make this country the strongest, safest, and best that it can be by educating ourselves, finding common ground, making places where we can all share the cultural treasures we have.
Here in Grey County, there are celebrations at the Grey Roots Museum and Archive beginning at 10 a.m on Saturday, February 17th with demonstrations of traditional Chinese culture and more. Celebrations then move to the Owen Sound Library and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery at 1 p.m., with art activities, crafts and games to be enjoyed.
Activities at Grey Roots wrap up at 1 p.m., the Gallery's activities end at 3 p.m and the Library activities are over by 4 p.m.
Come see a celebration that is truly a part of the history of our county. Come celebrate the good fortune of a new year in a new way that's been thousands of years in the making.
Happy New Year Grey County, happy new year everyone.
Gong Hey Fat Choy 恭喜發財