Flower artist still blossoming

Sid Birns

May, 2010

For Phyllis Nashen, a longtime Côte St. Luc resident, art has always been essential.

Nashen studied oil painting under the tutelage of Herman Heimlich in 1965. And for the next 15 years, she took classes with Seymour Segal and Chaki at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts.

Phyllis Nashen puts the finishing touches on a painting for her art exhibit. Photo: Sid Birns

In 1980, her decision to study water colour with Rita Briansky brought out her passion for art and painting. Currently, she studies with Myrna Brooks Bercovitch, delving into abstract realism. When she is at her easel, she is lost in the emotion of the subject and forgets to eat, she says. She considers painting a form of therapy and is at her easel nearly every day. She has developed her own style and uses bright colours. She paints a flower in all her paintings, like a signature.

Phyllis Nashen exhibits her work at the Eleanor London Côte-St.-Luc Public Library until June 6.

Bercovici receives humanitarian award

March, 2010

Adrian Bercovici, who co-founded Generations Foundation with his wife, Natalie, in 1999, will receive the Simon McDonaugh Humanitarian Award March 21 for his tireless work as an anti-poverty advocate and leader.

Bercovici is one of four recipients of honorary awards presented annually by the United Irish Societies of Montreal.

Bercovici will participate in the St. Patrick’s Parade March 14, which attracts about 750,000 people.

“It’s a huge honour,” he says.

“We do a lot of work in schools such as St. Gabriel’s and St. Monica’s, in areas where there are large Irish communities.”

Bercovici says he was very moved when he was called about the award and is delighted to attend the many events surrounding the award, such as the raising of the St. Patrick’s Parade flag at Place Ville Marie.

“At every event so far, I feel like I’m part of a new family,” he says. Bercovici’s career began at Canadian National Railway and spanned 38 years. There he received the Merit Award for organization and achievement and the Maurice Auzat Memorial Award for dedication and exceptional service to the Employees’ and Pensioners’ Community Fund.

As executive director of the Old Brewery Mission from 1991 to 1998, he developed programs that provided jobs and increased self-esteem.

The Patricia Mackenzie Pavillion, a women’s shelter, was built and opened under his watch and Camp Chapleau earned the Prize of Excellence from the Quebec Camping Association.

Bercovici has been awarded an outstanding Canadian Citizenship Award for unselfish service to the community, the Leavitt Award from the Rotary Club, and other community awards from schools and the police department.

Generations provides meals, tutoring and a better quality of life to more than 6,000 Montreal children.

The Simon McDonaugh Humanitarian Award was established by the United Irish Societies of Montreal in 1993 to remember McDonaugh’s dedication to his heritage and humanitarian acts.

Getting a lift Up

Matthew Rettino

March, 2010

At their second annual intergenerational evening February 13, the youth of St. Luke’s Parish in Dollard des Ormeaux watched the movie Up with older members of the congregation and discussed the movie and life.

“It was interesting to see what Grandma had to say,” said Kim Macaulay, 17.

Up is a Disney-Pixar production about a senior, Carl, who is accompanied by energetic Boy Scout Russell on an adventure in a flying house powered by helium balloons. Carl makes a promise to his late wife, Ellie, to take their house to Paradise Falls in South America, a journey he makes, unwillingly at first, with Russell. His solemn vow conflicts with Russell’s attachment to an endangered bird, Kevin, who needs to backtrack to feed her babies.

There is one scene in which Carl empties the furniture from his house to make it fly again after some of the balloons pop. Letting go of the past, he is able to save Russell and Kevin from mortal peril. “I could see the relation between Carl emptying furniture and unloading some of the baggage of his past,” said Gerry Meuris, who attended the evening. “Once he got rid of it, he became a different man.”

“In life, we can only take things as they arrive,” said Kim about the same scene. “Sometimes it’s hard not to give up.”

“I think we tend to underestimate the youth,” Gerry added. “We assume they’re young and that they’re preoccupied with movies and other stuff, that they don’t have a heart. I think the youth here are exceptional.

“I could relate to Carl. My ambition as a teenager was to go to South America and take a boat up the Amazon.”

Centenarian beat the system – by remaining a part of it

Sid Birns

The opera Don Quixote premiered the day Joe Moldovam was born. Moldovam, whose Hebrew name is Yossel Meyer, spent his 100th birthday at home in Century Village, Deerfield Beach, Fla., where he is mentored by Sam Rappapport and Leo Guttman of the Côte St. Luc Seniors Members Club.

Moldovam and his brother immigrated to the United States from Hungary. Landing in New York City, he soon got work in the laundry and dry-cleaning business.

Over the course of his 30-year career, he lived in three New York boroughs before retiring to Century Village with his wife.

“I have worked all my life, and when I retired down here, I was bored, so I decided to go back to work,” Moldovam said.

The work he chose in retirement was cleaning houses, a business he built to include 60 clients.

It wasn’t until he was in his 70s that Moldovam hung up his mop and broom and put the vacuum cleaner back in the closet.

Moldovam remains active in Beth Israel Synagogue, attending temple nearly every day and keeping track of those who don’t make it, because they need to have a minyan (a quorum of 10 Jewish men) in order to conduct certain religous services.

Moldovam’s birthday is February 19, and the synagogue feted him on February 20.

In answer to the inevitable question of his longevity, he said: “Well, it was time. I beat the system.

“I just kept on working even after I retired.”

Ton Koopman among international names coming for Bach Festival

Inspired by the tradition of European Bach Festivals, the Montreal Bach Festival brings international classical musicians to Montreal.

“The timeless genius of Johann Sebastian Bach laid the foundation for every composer and musician to follow,” says festival founder and artistic director Alexandra Scheibler. The festival will partner with Kent Nagano and the OSM. J.S. Bach’s masterpiece St. Matthew Passion launches the festival Nov. 24 and 25 at Place des Arts.

Featuring the OSM chorus and international soloists, the performance is preceded by an interview with Scheibler by Espace musique’s Mario Paquet at 6:30 pm. A day-long symposium on the work will take place Saturday, Nov. 21 at Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Tenor Christoph Prégardien, performing the role of the Evangelist in St. Matthew Passion, offers a master class at 2pm followed by a discussion moderated by Kelly Rice of CBC Radio. Registration is required.

Dutch conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman, founder of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, performs The Art of the Fugue, a duo harpsichord recital with his wife Tini Mathot, Nov. 29 at 7:30pm at Marianopolis College and an Organ Advent Nov. 30 at 7:30pm at Immaculée Conception Church.

Young Belgian organist Els Biesemans, winner of the Bach Prize at last year’s Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal, is featured in recital Nov. 28 performing Bach’s Clavier-Übung, Volume III at Immaculée Conception Church. Russian pianist Evgeni Koroliov is featured Dec. 4, performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Marianopolis College. Another performance of the Goldberg Variations, this time in Dmitri Sitkovetsky’s arrangement for String Trio on Nov. 29 at Ex-Centris features cellist Matt Haimovitz, violinist Jonathan Crow and violist Douglas McNabney.

On Nov. 26, Boris Brott and the McGill Chamber Orchestra perform the complete Brandenburg Concerti at St. Irénée Church, featuring Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivière, recorders; Thomas Gould, violin; and Luc Beauséjour, harpsichord. The Juno Award-winning Ensemble Caprice performs a chamber version of Bach’s Mass in B-minor Dec. 3 at the Darling Foundry. Led by artistic director Matthias Maute, the work features sopranos Shannon Mercer and Marie Magistry, alto Pascal Bertin, tenor Michiel Schrey and bass Harry van der Kamp.

Closing the festival Dec. 5 is the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, performing at Telemann and Bach at Notre Dame Basilica.

Tickets are free for 16 and under for some recitals. For the complete schedule and information, visit montrealbachfestival.com. or call 514-581-8637.

Much more intimate than a symphony orchestra

Three venerable chamber music societies will present some of the most beautiful music ever written for small ensembles. More intimate than a symphony orchestra but more accessible than a solo recital, chamber music offers the best of all musical worlds to the classical music lover.

On November 15, the Ladies Morning Musical Club will launch its 118th season with the Pennetier-Pasquier-Pidoux Trio. They will perform music by Mozart, Merlet and Beethoven. Info: 514 932-6796 or www.lmmc.ca

On November 21 Musica Camerata will celebrate its 40th season with two major works for piano, cello and violin by Dvorak (Trio in F minor and Beethoven’s renowned Archduke Trio. Info: 514 489-8713 or www.camerata.ca

The Fine Arts Quartet, one of the world’s oldest and most renowned chamber ensembles will perform String Quartets by Haydn, Bruckner and Schumann’s wonderful String Quartet in A minor at Promusica’s Emerald Series on November 23. Promusica celebrates its 61st anniversary this year. Info: 514 842-2112 or www.promusica.qc.ca

Montreal’s newest concert hall celebrates Haydn

As part of the festivities commemorating the bicentennial of Joseph Haydn’s death (1809 – 2009), the Festival de musique de chambre de Montreal in collaboration with the Austrian Consulate and the Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, presents the Quebec premiere of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt in Montreal’s newest concert hall, Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, 4750 Henri-Julien (Mount-Royal metro).

The concert will take place Monday, November 16 at 8 pm. A voluntary contribution is appreciated. Parking is $5.

You are invited to attend a Master Class with the students of the Conservatoire de musique de Montreal on November 16 from 1 to 3 pm. Free admission.

Reservations and information: 514-489-7444 or festivalmontreal@videotron.ca

Donate a bike to someone who needs it

The Rotary Club of Westmount will hold a used bicycle collection on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 10am to 3pm at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke W.

“This winter don’t take up precious space in your garage or locker with that bicycle you plan to replace next year,” organizer Marilynn Vanderstaay says.

Westmount Rotarians, in collaboration with Cyclo Nord-Sud, will put old bikes to good use by shipping them to organizations in Africa and Latin America.

To cover shipping fees, Cyclo Nord-Sud requests a donation of $12 per bicycle. Donors will receive an income tax receipt equal to the value of the bicycle and the cash donation.

Even if they do not have a bicycle to donate, members of the community are invited to visit the collection table on their way to the annual Artisan Festival that will be happening at the same time inside Victoria Hall. For those who cannot get to Victoria Hall with their bikes on Saturday, The Rotary Club will do pickups in Westmount on Thursday evening November 12 and Saturday morning November 14.

“Bicycles are a very useful, economical and ecological mode of transportation, whether used by a Cuban to get to the bamboo fields, by a widow in Burkina Faso to get to literacy classes or by a little Togolese girl to transport water to her parents. They’re an original and sustainable way to change someone’s life,” said Ted Sancton, coordinator of the pick ups.

To arrange a pickup, call the Rotary office at 514-935-3344 or 514-933-2922, e-mail info@rotarywestmount.org. Info about Cyclo Nord-Sud: 514-843-0077 or cyclonordsud.org. Info about The Rotary Club: rotarywestmount.org.

Rabbi Langner honored at Beth-El

Wednesday, October 28, Congregation Beth-El in Town of Mont-Royal will honour Rabbi Allan M. Langner for over 50 years of service to the synagogue and the community.

Rabbi Langner, born in Europe and raised in Toronto, moved to Montreal at his late wife’s Nancy Stipleman’s request. Rabbi Langner attended the University of Toronto and received his rabbinic ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NewYork City.

Over the years at Beth-El many historic political figures visited including Pierre Trudeau, John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson. The rabbi has many stories to tell. He is a recipient of many awards, including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Family members attending the gala tribute are Rabbi Langner’s two daughters, Neima, a physician and Gilah, also a rabbi. The synagogue is creating a souvenir program book highlighting special events of past years in which the rabbi was an integral part.

Info and to reserve: 514-738-4766 or beth-el.ca

Face to face wants you

Since she retired from her teaching job in 1996, Sylvia Haltrecht donates four hours weekly to Face to Face, a listening and referral organization serving Montrealers since 1982.

“It’s similar to Tel Aide but does many more things,” Haltrecht says. “The clientele ranges from 17 right up into the senior category. We have people who come to us with loneliness issues or other needs. Sometimes people call in and just need someone to listen to and perhaps help them set some goals to get through. We also help people find low income housing.”

Services offered by the drop-in health and social service community center include listening and referral, whether a client is experiencing personal or practical difficulties. The centre advocates for people on welfare and the homeless, helps find affordable housing and has computers a telephone and fax to help those searching for accommodations. It also offers an 8-week counseling service if needed and a Café Rencontre, a discussion/support group that offers opportunities to socialize, thus combating loneliness.

Volunteers, in particular seniors, are needed. Volunteers receive training and support while they are working.

“I felt I had a certain amount of empathy, understanding and an interest in people who were having problems,” says Sylvia, explaining why she felt volunteering with Face to Face was right for her. “I’m a good listener, non-judgmental and am prepared to spend the time [with the clients.] That being said, I also get a great deal out of it. I have this wonderful sense of gratification, that I have done my little bit to be helpful to people who are in need.”

Face to Face may be reached at 514-934-4546

You can get there from here

Do you ever long to travel to faraway lands? Do the Peruvian Andes and Kazakhstan tickle your imagination? Have you ever heard of Luanda? (Hint: It’s in Angola.)

Discover these exotic places and the Segal Centre’s CinemaSpace on three separate evenings (July 7, August 4 and September 1) with Andrew Princz, who will present photographs of a real-life journey followed by a short feature or documentary film from the evening’s profiled country.

But if you prefer to time travel instead, why not visit the Cineclub on July 8, when Orson Welles’s classic Touch of Evil will be screened.

The cost is reasonable, $6 for seniors, and you don’t even have to look for parking downtown. To reserve tickets and for information, call 514-739-7944 or visit segalcentre.org

Outdoor fitness challenge in Côte St. Luc

July 2009

The City of Côte St. Luc is offering adults a chance to stay fit in two new exercise programs.

The Outdoor Fitness Challenge incorporates cardiovascular, strength, endurance and calisthenics exercises. Each week there will be a different boot camp training program. This activity will run for eight consecutive Mondays, beginning July 6 from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Participants will meet outside the Parks and Recreation Department building (7500 Mackle). The price is $58 for residents and $72 for non-residents.

The Walking Workout will teach the fundamentals of how to make the activity a serious workout. Topics include the basics of how to walk, where to walk, and what footwear to use when walking. The exercise program will incorporate intervals to challenge the walker and a strength-training component to increase endurance. The two-day-a-week program will run for eight weeks. Participants can attend either session or both beginning Thursday, July 9, from 9 to 10am.

The price for two sessions a week is $108 for residents and $135 for non-residents.

If there is a cancellation due to rain, the date will be made up at the end of the season.

To register or for further information, contact the Côte St. Luc Parks and Recreation Department at 514-485-6806 or visit them at 7500 Mackle weekdays between 8:30am and 4:30pm.

Upcoming courses and workshops

This spring and summer workshops are being offered around the city. On Wednesdays from 11am to noon Centre Green holds Tai Chi based movement and stretch classes, a good way to exercise in a relaxing environment, at 1090 Greene. Info: 514-931-6202.

Thursdays at 2pm Centre Greene holds ballroom dance classes for those with stage 1 and 2 Parkinson’s. The instructors are Susan Chiasson, ballroom dance teacher and Ellen Rubin, retired physiotherapist who specialized in the treatment of neurological conditions and has been a dancer for 12 years. Bring an able-bodied partner and register in advance. Info: 514-484-2016.

The Atwater Library will offer computer workshops in the spring and summer. Topics include booking travel online, facebook, family history research, e-mail, Twitter, blogging, powerpoint, word, and excel. The purpose of the workshops is to teach the basics of computers and get your computer up and running. Info: 514-935-7344.

Lyric theatre brings Gershwin to Montreal

May, 2009

The Lyric Theatre Singers, who interpret Broadway, jazz, and pop choral music are at it again with their newest show paying tribute to composer George Gershwin, directed by Bob Bachelor, at the Oscar Peterson Hall, 7141 Sherbrooke W from June 11 to 13.

George Gershwin was not only a creator of the golden age of American musical theatre but also a successful composer of music for the concert hall. Songs he wrote include The Man I Love, Embreacable you and I Got Rhythm .

These concerts are an opportunity to rediscover Broadway’s best from a wide range of traditional and contemporary composers. Excerpts from hit shows such as the Lion King, Annie Get Your Gun, Spring Awakening, and Young Frankenstein are featured.

The Lyric Theatre has grown from a small group performing an annual production into a company of performers from all areas of the city, rehearsing and performing 10 months out of every year.

Concerts are June 11-12 at 8pm and June 13 at 2pm. Tickets are $14 - $28. To reserve: 514-363-3382.

Walking for the other cure

Kristine Berey

April, 2009

The Alzheimer Society of Montreal is inviting walkers of all ages and abilities to take part in its annual Memory Walk on Sunday, May 31.

Walkers will meet at 8:30 am at the Jacques- Cartier Quay in the Old Port of Montreal to register, followed by a welcome and a warm-up session. The two-hour walk ends at noon, followed by lunch and prizes. Seniors can do the walk at their own rhythm. “There are many places to sit down along the way,” says Amélie Giguère of the Alzheimer Society. “We’ll have drums and rattles and make lots of noise,” she says. “All we want is for people to see us.”

A recent study reveals that Alzheimer’s continues to ravage families. “With approximately 15 per cent of people under age 65 affected by Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, it isn’t only our health care and social systems that are being overwhelmed,” says Scott Dudgeon, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. “The reality is that the businesses and industry sectors are also being affected as our boomer generation, a generation of leaders and mentors, are affected by dementia.”

• About 500,000 Canadians are affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia

• One in 11 of those affected is under 65

• 72 % of those living with the illness are women The Alzheimer Society funds research and training and provides support for families living with the disease.

To register for the Memory Walk, call 514-369-0800, ext. 226 or visit www.lamarchede lamemoire.com.

Rarely seen horses star in equine ballet

Horses are the true stars at Cavalia

Kristine Berey

April, 2009

Estelle Delgado, trainer and performer in the spectacular show Cavalia, doesn’t like the term “horse whisperer.” Though it denotes a humane method of training, in contrast with the concept of “breaking in” a horse, she says the word does not accurately define her lifelong experience of playing and working with these noble animals.

“When you spend all your life with horses you don’t need words. You understand their feelings – before they show you. It becomes instinctive and very natural just to listen to your horse, take the time with him, and pay attention to his body language, his mood, the way he’s eating and the way he responds when you’re next to him.” Delgado, who was raised on a breeding ranch in “the most beautiful place in France,” has been performing with horses since she was a toddler, along with her family. Her sister Magalie and her brother-in-law Frédéric Pignon are the equestrian co-directors of the show.

Delgado says she feels the horses are part of her family. “For me they are friends and partners. They can show affection in the way a dog can. Even if they’re eating, when I enter the stable they come to the window looking for me. They are very intelligent and have emotions like anybody else.”

In a passionate celebration of the ancient love between horses and human beings, Cavalia combines the artistry of acrobats, singers, musicians and superbly trained animals with evocative lighting and visuals. The horses’ training ranges between six months to 10 years with daily practice to refine their techniques, like in any performing arts discipline. Conceived by president and artistic director Normand Latourelle, an early member of the Cirque du Soleil team, the show has been described as an “equine ballet.” Over half of the featured horses are Iberian horses of Pure Spanish or Lusitano breeds, with the latter bred on the Delgados’ farm. The other breeds represented by the 60 horses that travel with the show (with 40 performing at any one time) include Quarter Horses, Appaloosa, the Friesian, the ancient Belgian, Percheron and more. All the horses are male, stallions or geldings.

Though Delgado’s specialty is dressage, the equestrian discipline seen in horse shows, she has fulfilled a dream she had since she was 15, of becoming one of the rare women capable of a form of acrobatic riding called the Roman Post. The technique originated among the shepherds on the great plains of Hungary, and calls for the rider to stand on two speeding horses with one foot one the rump of each. “This was my dream when I was young,” recalls Delgado, who began riding horses in parades as a toddler.“I would look at the guys performing – it’s very rare to see a girl. Standing on the horses, they looked so free, like a bird.”

Cavalia will be presented from April 21 to May 10. For information visit www.cavalia.net or call 866-999-8111.

Blue Met focuses on Writers in Peril

Azar Nafisi

Newsday once referred to Azar Nafisi as a writer who “reminds us why we read in the first place.” When the gifted Iranian author found herself unexpectedly alone before an audience of hundreds at Concordia University last February, she did just that, beautifully.

In a pre-Blue Met literary evening, Nafisi had been scheduled to be interviewed by radio host Jian Ghomeshi about her new book, Things I’ve Been Silent About, but heard at the last moment that her partner was prevented from attending.

Nevertheless, she carried on, talking about the circumstances leading to the writing of her bestseller, Reading Lolita in Tehran, and what compelled her to write the much more personal second memoir.

Her love and need of literature was interwoven with accounts she presented of her life within her family and within Iran’s troubled society.

“Readers are intimate strangers,” Nafisi said, likening written but unread words to hot house flowers that wilt and die. “The heart of reading and writing is curiosity,” she said, evoking Vladimir Nabokov’s definition of the word: “Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.”

She warned against sinking into a life of pure materialism, as some do in abundant North America, of living in a “world based simply on greed, without imagination and thought.”

This year’s BlueMet, in partnership with Reporters without Borders and Media@McGill will present a series of events, Writers in Peril, in French, English, Spanish, Arabic and Farsi, highlighting freedom of expression. Reza, a photojournalist who trained journalists in Afghanistan aiming to establish media outlets, will be featured, as well as human rights activist Marek Halter. Exiled Iranian cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar will speak, as will Zakaria Tamer, a Syrian- born short story writer and Margaret MacMillan, who has written books about censorship in China.

Distinguished literary guests will include Central and South American, Israeli and Arab, Hungarian, South Asian and Quebec writers.

The 11th annual edition of the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival will take place April 22-26, 2009 at the Delta Centre-Ville Hotel.

Information about and tickets to these and other events are available by calling 514-790-1245 and at www.bluemetropolis.org or www.admission.com

The FOFA Gallery presents a scenic trio

Vitaly Medvedovsky Airport

March 2009

Listening to the Mountains is an exhibition of landscapes on small panels. The artist, Nicole Bauberger, is based in the Yukon. This collection of small paintings depicts the scenic area surrounding her house. According to Bauberger, she was aiming to portray “the conversation going on between the dynamic skies and strong wide mountains.”

Bauberger will also present 100 Dresses, an interactive residency. Under the watchful eyes of viewers she will create 100 small paintings of dresses, all inspired by life in Montreal. Titles may include dress of slush, dress of the mountain seen between the buildings, taxi dress, etc. These will be displayed in the gallery’s Black Box.

In Landscapes, current MFA student Vitaly Medvedovsky presents a series of paintings depicting scenes remembered from his childhood in the former USSR.

Here’s the catch: His family left the Soviet Union in 1990 a few months before the country fell apart, when he was only 8 years old. So how much of his work is historical, and how much is a boy’s whimsical fantasy? Since nothing remains to size it up against, we have no way of knowing; the imagined world of his heritage is more real, in a sense, than any existing remains of that fallen era.

These will be showing at Concordia’s FOFA Gallery, 1515 Ste. Catherine W., RoomEV 1-715, until March 13. The gallery is right next to Guy-Concordia Metro. Gallery hours: Monday to Friday from 11am-7am.

Admission is free.

Literacy Unlimited

Literacy Unlimited, a community resource dedicated to the advancement of literacy, offers a free, bilingual service for adults who struggle with reading documents or filling out forms. By appointment only. Call 514-694-0007.

Musical happy hour is back!

Violinist Andrew Van among performers Photo: Joanne David

March 2009

Make your way into the parlour of the JMC House Chamber Music Hall and experience the enchanting ambiance of legendary evenings in 19th century Vienna.

Jeunesses Musicales is featuring four passionate chamber musicians: Andrew Van, violin, Jean Philippe Tremblay, viola, Audrey Nadeau, cello, and Serhiy Salov, piano. On the program are two major works of the chamber music repertoire by the master of German romanticism, Brahms.

In the Parlour with Johann Brahms (1833 - 1897) will perform at the JMC House Chamber Music Hall, 305 Mont-Royal, March 18 at 6 pm.

Info: 514-845-4108, ext. 221.