Love and destruction -- not exactly a romantic pairing on Valentine's Day or any other time of the year. Unfortunately they are indeed an item. The question is whether the two can be separated without ruining the romance.

For starters, flowers are considered a particularly strong expression of love -- but what about the insecticides, fungicides and herbicides used to make them so flawlessly beautiful? And what about the fact that the flowers have been chopped from their roots? "Here my sweetheart --- as a sign of my love --- some cut and poisoned roses." The destruction doesn't end with the harvest. The roses have traveled long distances by air from countries like Ecuador causing air pollution and climate change.

Free, pre-registration encouraged.

Taking Root tells the dramatic, inspiring, and courageous story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan woman and Nobel Peace Prize winner whose simple act of planting trees grew into a national movement. After the screening, join the filmmakers, Lisa Merton and Alan Dater for a Q&A session.

For more information about this festival screening series, programmed in celebration of Women’s History Month, please visit http://www.rhpl.richmondhill.on.ca/WhatsNew/WomensMonthFilmFestival2012....

S. Brian Willson is a Vietnam veteran and peace activist. In September 1987, Willson lost both his legs when he was run over by a U.S. government munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action. He recently published a memoir, Blood on the Tracks.

Join us for an evening of food and conversation with S. Brian Willson, and get an update on the most recent developments in the campaign to win asylum in Canada for Iraq War resisters.