Comox Valley Echo - June 13, 2014

The Mark Isfeld robotics team making some robot adjustments prior to going into the playoffs.

Valley students bag medals at national skills competition

By Michael BrionesEcho Staff

Students are missing out on a lot of extra-curricular activities and events like field trips due to the teachers’ rotating strike.

This is the time of year when many schools organize educational field trips or outdoor activities at museums, parks and learning cen-tres. But the teachers’ job action, compounded by the provincial gov-ernment’s retaliatory lock out, has

deprived thousands of eager stu-dents the opportunity to gain invaluable educational experiences outside the classroom.

However, students, as well as parents and other employees in the school district are not the only ones suffering from this ongoing labour strife. The operators of museums, parks and outdoor facilities in the region that rely on school field trips, particularly during the months of May and June, are expe-riencing significant losses.

“We’re collateral damage,” said Gord Campbell, executive director of the Tribune Bay Outdoor Education Centre located on Hornby Island. “It’s nice that you, from the media, picked up on this, because normally people are usual-ly surprised when they hear us. Then they say ‘Oh yeah, we never thought of it affecting you.’ We’re not in the forefront of the media.”

The popular outdoor centre that attracts thousands of students annually has been dealing with a

huge number of cancellations in the last three weeks that now extend until the end of June. Campbell said it’s a major blow to the centre.

“We are open year-round but when you consider that our target time is April till October, every-thing is concentrated so all our infrastructure cost, staffing and everything else is all tied to making it in a very short period of time,” Campbell said.

“We’re a youth facility and a

non-profit society so we make our cost based on cost-recovery. So when you lose a week of fees com-ing in, it takes a huge chunk of our situation. We went through this in 2012. We’re slowly getting back to our feet and we’ve been hit again.”

The centre normally has around 15 staff during this time of the year. But because of the cancellations, Campbell said, he has had to lay off some of them, leaving just six workers, including him.

(Continued on page 2)

Teachers’ strike hurts outdoor learning centres and facilities

Matt Dyck proudly wears his bronze medal with Katinka Neumann sitting beside him.


Comox Valley students pitted their skills against the best in Canada and returned home with shining medals around their necks.

The team from School District 71 competed at the 20th Skills Canada Nationals in Ontario last week. It is the only national, Olympic-style, multi-trade and technology competition for young students and apprentices in the country.

“It was just amazing to see what these youth could accomplish in the two days of competition,” said Randy Grey, SD71 Career Programs Coordinator. “The intensity and focus in each of their activities was great to witness.”

In the individual competition, Matt Dyck from Highland Secondary placed third overall to take home the bronze medal for Auto Service Mechanics competition.

“This is a first individual medal at the national level for School District 71 and a huge accomplish-ment,” said Grey. (Continued on page 2)

By Philip RoundEcho Staff

Mystery surrounds the effective gagging of the two most senior people at Comox Valley Regional District over controversial proposals to develop land alongside Stotan Falls.

The chair of the board, Area C director Edwin Grieve, and the regional district’s chief administra-tive officer, Debra Oakman, will no longer have any place in responding to proposals made by 3L Developments Ltd.

The issue is considered so serious the pair will not even be in the room or on site when “any dis-cussions or activity” occurs relating to 3L’s land alongside the Puntledge.

And to avoid any misunderstandings and to ensure efficient meeting management, from now on when 3L is slated to be on an agenda, a separate meeting will be arranged where no other item will be discussed, and it will be chaired by another director and advised by other senior staff.

The Echo has learned the decision by the pair to totally remove themselves was taken after high-lev-el advice from lawyers and has something - it is not clear precisely what - to do with a human rights issue following an alleged reference to an individ-ual associated with 3L that occurred some weeks ago.

The first public manifestation of the fallout occurred on Tuesday, when a special CVRD com-mittee of the whole meeting was convened prior to the regular monthly meeting to consider whether a process should be initiated to amend the regional growth strategy to accommodate the development of 3L’s land.

That meeting was chaired by CVRD vice-chair Jon Ambler and advised on the topic by the gener-al manager of development and planning services, Ann MacDonald.

Grieve’s place at the table was taken by his appointed alternate, Curtis Scolville, who is autho-rized to sit in and vote on behalf of rural Area C - in which the proposed 3L development lies - when Grieve is absent.

Also present at that meeting were two represen-tatives of 3L, Kabel Atwell and Rob Howard, who were invited to speak in support of their request for the CVRD to initiate a process to amend the growth strategy to allow a negotiated development of the land, to include dedication of parkland along and in the Puntledge river.


Booking his ticket to retirement A14

Mystery over ‘gagging’ of Regional District Chair and CAO

Price: 57 cents plus GST Friday June 13, 2014 Volume 20, No. 47

WHAT’S INSIDEWeather A2Gardening A9What’s On B1Letters A12Classifieds B8Sports B7

www.comoxvalleyecho.com

A2 Comox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014

News

For the latest Comox Valley Weather visit: www.comoxvalleyecho.com

Comox Valley Weather

Friday, 13 June

A mix of sun and cloud. High 21°C.

Saturday, 14 June

Cloudy. Low 12°C. High 16°C.

Sunday, 15 June

A mix of sun and cloud. Low 13°C. High 17°C.

Monday, 16 June

A mix of sun and cloud.Low 11°C. High 20°C.

Tuesday, 17 June

Sunny.Low 13°C. High 22°C.

“BC Shellfish Growers

Association are hosting the

BC Shellfish and

Seafood Festival,

June 13 – 22

in the Comox Valley”

Don't Settle

(Continued from page 1)

The Mark Isfeld quartet of Damian Parlee, Nic Parlee, Adrian

Humphry and Ethan Glenwright just fell short of the gold medal, finishing second in robotics.

The other individual partici-


“Some are on grants and we’ve got contracts that we have to maintain,” said Campbell. “It’s really impacting them. A lot are university students or just local folks here that rely on this for summer employment. So they’re being deeply affected.”

Another popular place that’s adversely being impacted by the teachers’ strike is the Horne Lake Caves and Outdoor Centre.

Park manager Richard Varela said they normally have on aver-age around 2,500 students from all over the island that come and visit every year.

Since the strike, the number has gone down dramatically

“We’ve lost more than half of our students ... over a thousand students,” said Varela. “It’s a disaster.”

Varela has had to layoff staff as well because of the lack of work. He had 12 employees but now they’re three short, with some just working part-time hours.

“We lost two of our university students,” said Varela.

“Instead of working them full-time we’re working them two times a week right now because schools are missing. University students can’t be idle because they have to make all their money while off school. We told them we

won’t be able to offer them much work for April and June but it will pick up again in July when the tourists start. But they had other offers and could be making money now. They did not stay.”

Varela regrets losing staff because they’ve already spent time training them for the busy season. “Now we have to recruit again, rehire and retrain,” said Varela.

One of the negative impacts the strike is having, said Varela, is the lost opportunity for students to experience outdoor learning like the Horne Lake caves.

“Field trips are one of the high-lights of the student’s education,” said Varela.

“I still remember my Grade 6 field trip. I could not remember my math classes in Grade 6 or 7 but I remember my field trips and they’ve had an impact on me my whole life.

“Now those kids will not get the opportunity to do that. That’s the unfortunate part.

“We’re an ancillary impact. But what really upsets me is the fact ... not so much the impact to my business ... why we do this is because we’re here to give stu-dents the hands-on learning expe-rience, that fun year-end field trip that will stick with them forever because they’ve learned it in a cave.”


Atwell said although their present plan had provision for more than 700 homes and commercial buildings on a property that is currently zoned in a manner that would only allow large-lot rural housing, they were prepared to be flexible and innovative in coming up with alternative proposals.

No progress was made on their request as several process issues were raised about how the RGS could be amended if that was the wish of the board, so the mat-ter was sent back to staff for further clarification on the steps that would need to be taken. It will be discussed again next month.

The meeting ended with a short adjournment before the regular committee of the whole convened - at which point both Grieve and Oakman appeared and took on their usual roles at the table.

Asked outside the meeting why she and Grieve were not present at the meeting to consider 3L, Oakman said they had both made the decision to remove themselves for personal reasons and out of “an abundance of cau-tion.”

She added: “The decision was a personal one and as such it is private.”

Grieve did not respond himself to the Echo’s request for a comment, but when vice-chair Ambler was asked what he knew about the situation, he responded: “I know everything about it, but I’m not going to talk about it to the press. There are rules about confidenti-ality and I respect them.”

Over at 3L, Atwell said: “It’s an interesting situation, but I can’t really speak about it. I know what you’re asking, but I really can’t say anything else.”

He was, however, keen to talk about their request for an amendment to the RGS, and said their aim was to find common ground around a significant project that would work for 3L as well as the CVRD and wider community, including streamkeepers.

“We are offering to be very flexible; we are not entrenched in our position by any means,” he insisted.

But from the company’s point of view time was run-ning out and if the regional district was not prepared to initiatite a process that could lead to an amendment of the RGS, 3L would carve up the land - including the river bed and banks in its ownership - and seek to sell off the parcels leaving no opportunity for public access or recreation.

[email protected]

Mystery over ‘gagging’ of Regional District Chair and CAO

Clarification: In the Friday, June 6 edition of the Echo an article titled “Birthing the White Whale” described a new restaurant as rising “from the ashes” of the Monte Christo, which was recently sold. The phrase was sim-ply a literary device and was not meant to imply the business had gone under or burnt to the ground.

Clarification

pant from the valley was Katinka Neumann who competed in the Graphic Design category. She did well, according to Grey but was not able to finish in the medal standings.

Every year, Skills Canada Nationals brings together over 500 of Canada’s best young competitors in 42 different regions nationwide, along with parents and advisors.

The competition provides an opportunity for young Canadians studying a skilled trade or technol-ogy to be tested against exacting standards and against their peers from across the nation. Students vie to win the honour of being crowned best in the nation in their chosen discipline.

The SCNC is the main step in selecting the mem-bers of Team Canada for the WorldSkills Competition that is held every two years. 2014 will be the SCNC qualifying year for WorldSkills Sao Paulo, Brazil 2015.

Strike hurts outdoor centres

Valley students bring back medals from national event

Chad Dwolinsky is a member of the community and up until recently caring for seniors at the Casa Loma.

Chad has had to take a step back and look after himself. He was born with a defective heart condition. Throughout his life he has undergone several open heart surgeries in hopes for a better qual-ity of life.

Most recently, after a long hard jour-ney, he was the lucky recipient of a heart transplant and was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital for the successful pro-cedure.

With this miracle comes much expense. Chad and his wife Ashley are now temporarily living in Vancouver under medical supervision while he recovers. As you could imagine they are incurring significant costs and they need the communities help.

In an effort to help lighten the finan-cial burden, Matt Beckett of Coastal Community, Kory Wagstaff of The Prime Chophouse and Wine Bar, and many of Ashley’s coworkers at Coastal Community Credit Union have planned an exciting “throwback event” all in hon-our of Chad on June 19th at Prime Chophouse. The event begins at 5:30pm and everyone from the community is welcome.

Owner of The Prime Chophouse, Kory Wagstaff, explains the idea behind the throwback.

“My vision is to give a helping hand to groups that are challenged in ways help raise funds that support passions wheth-er they are sport based, focused leisure group, foundation, or a special interest

group. To be a true part of the communi-ty I find it important to use my resources to give a platform to these groups to help them achieve a sustainable existence here in the Comox Valley.”

For only $20 attendees will have a choice of a burger or pasta and a glass of beer or wine.

Prime will donate $5 for every dinner purchased from the throwback menu that night. Silent auction items are still being gathered and other fundraising activities will be on display that night.

For more information, please contact Matt Beckett @ 250.792.2293 or [email protected]

‘Throwback Thursday’ fund-raisingmeal, auction at The Prime Chophouse

Chad is recovering from a heart transplant in Vancouver. The June 19 ‘Throwback Thursday’ event at The Prime Chophouse will feature food and drink, plus a silent auction.

Offer(s) available on select new 2014 models through participating dealers to qualified customers who take delivery by June 2,2014. Dealers may sell or lease for less. Some conditions apply. See dealer for complete details. All offers are subject to change without notice. Vehicles shown may include optional accessories and upgrades available at extra cost. All pricing includes delivery and destination fees up to $1,665, other fees and certain levies (including tire levies) and $100 A/C charge (where applicable) and excludes licensing, registration, insurance, other taxes and variable dealer administration fees (up to $699). Other dealer charges may be required at the time of purchase. Other lease and financing options also available. 0% financing offer for up to 84 months available O.A.C to qualified retail customer, on approved credit for the new 2014 Optima LX AT (0P742E) with a selling price of $22,302 and includes delivery and destination fees of $1,485, tire tax of $15, A/C charge ($100 where applicable) and a cash bonus of $4,000. Bi-weekly payments of $123 for 84 months with $0 down payment. Credit fees of $0. Total obligation is $22,302. See retailer for complete details. "Cash purchase price for the new 2014 Optima LX AT (0P742E) is $22,302 and includes a cash bonus of $4,000 (which is deducted from the negotiated selling price before). Retailer may sell for less. §Cash Bonus amounts are offered on select 2014 and 2015 models and are deducted from the negotiated purchase/lease price before taxes. Offer ends June 2,2014. See your dealer for complete details. AModel shown Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price for 2014 Optima SX Turbo AT (OP748E) $34,795. ^Highway/city fuel consumption is based on the (M/l)/2014 Optima 2.4L GDI (A/T). °The Bluetooth0 wordmark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Information in this advertisement is believed to be accurate at the time of printing. For more information on our 5-year warranty coverage, visit kia.ca or call us at 1-877-542-2886. Kia is a trademark of Kia Motors Corporation.

NewsComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 A3

New Disposal Fee Schedule

Comox Valley and Campbell River Waste Management Centres

Effective July 1, 2014

Highlights to Fee Schedule Changes

Fee Description

Tel: 250- 334-6016

Effective July 1, 2014

Site access fee (would be applied to vehicles that pass over scales at the Comox Valley & Campbell River waste management centres) * some exceptions apply

Minimum load charge (currently $4 for loads not weighing more than 60 kilograms)

Clean fill (soil or turf suitable for landfill cover, currently charged at $5/tonne; loads less than one tonne are currently accepted for free.)

*The new site access fee will not apply to residents dropping off recyclables, scrap metal,or product stewardship

items, or for customers picking up SkyRocket.

The Comox Strathcona waste management service encourages residents to maximize their trip to the waste management centre by making one trip

to dispose more per load.

$4/per vehicle

$6 for loads not weighing more than 100 kilograms

$15/tonne;$6 minimum for loads <400 kg(Prices are per metric tonne and will be pro-rated for a portion thereof and subject to this minimum charge.)

To review a detailed fee schedule and to download a copy of bylaw 170 “schedule of fees and charges”,

visit www.cswm.ca/fees

A two-stoery house in Fanny Bay was destroyed in a Monday house fire (Photo courtesy Ship’s Point Fire Department)

By Drew A. PennerEcho Staff

This week Comox Valley fire departments fought a pair of house fires that obliterated a Fanny Bay residence and sent a Merville boy to be examined for smoke inhalation.

A woman and three kids were evacuated from a two-story Rennie Road home at the hands of a mat-tress fire that Courtenay Fire Department quickly put out, just after 5 am Wednesday.

“It’s been a long day,” said Kurt MacDonald, Courtenay’s deputy fire chief. “It came in as a structure fire. When we arrived we saw light smoke coming out of the bedroom window.”

The 18 firefighters vented the house of the smoke and began an investigation of the incident.

“It had pretty much burnt itself out, but we extinguished it,” MacDonald said, adding they dealt with one of the children, a boy, who needed to be looked after because he had breathed in a large quantity of smoke. “We passed the patient off to BC Ambulance and they transported him to the hospital.”

The boy has seen received a clean bill of health.

Smoking has been ruled out as a cause.

A Monday afternoon fire in Fanny Bay caused significantly more dam-age to the rental property that caught on fire there.

At 4:07 pm fire fighters gathered at the Fanny Bay Fire Hall and raced off to the residence across from Fanny Bay Oysters, where the two-story dwelling, a pump house nearby and even the grass was on fire.

“There was ammunition in the

house that was going off, which always makes it more interesting,” said Mike Golden, Fanny Bay’s fire chief. “The first thing to do was to get around the north side of the house and make sure the woods didn’t catch fire.”

Terry Hoffart, who commanded the Ship’s Point volunteer fire force as chief said the flames were shooting up a couple hundred feet in the air above

the house.“It was fully engulfed,” he said of

the house along the 8,000 block of the Old Island Highway, noting 12 mem-bers from his department attended the call. “We had a fair bit of equipment on scene.”

Two adult residents got out safely and the owner appeared at the scene in short order.

It quickly became clear that the

only appropriate response available would be a defensive one.

“There really wasn’t much to do but make sure the fire was con-tained,” Golden said. “We fought it as a team.”

A wooden bridge on the route to the house had to be investigated for sturdiness and luckily passed the test.

Water was scarce and Ship’s Point fire fighters literally drained the creek

as tanker trucks were brought in to supply the hoses with a constant stream.

A number of cows had been hang-ing around but were not harmed. Cats may have been inside, but fire fighters felt it likely they had escaped. Firefighters were still monitoring the smoldering remains of the building Wednesday to make sure the fire didn’t flare back up.

Home lost, youth treated for smoke inhalation in pair of house firesAmmunition set off by blaze, no one hurt


Comox Valley Regional District is ready to release its share of the money needed to repair bridges and other structures on the E&N rail line.

Tuesday’s committee of the whole approved the agreement to make available the $392,000 earmarked for the track’s community owners, the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF).

But the release will be on two conditions: First, that the four other regional districts down the line also agree to make available their shares; and second, getting a “clear commit-

ment of a rail service to the Comox Valley station” - a reference to the Courtenay terminus of the line from Victoria.

The ICF is currently lining up the ten tentative agreements with differ-ent levels of government and Crown corporations to ensure restoration of the line can take place and full ser-vices restored.

The federal and provincial govern-ments have previously offered to find $15 million between them for the main track repairs, including the replacement of more than 100,000 ties, with regional districts on the Island finding another $2.2 million between them towards bridge and structure repairs.

In the Comox Valley, taxpayers have already paid over all the money needed for their share and it has

been sitting in a bank account await-ing news of a VIA Rail agreement to ensure passenger services return to the line in addition to ongoing freight operations.

Councillor Jon Ambler told the committee this week he was happy to see the local share of the money released, but only as long as there was a guarantee to provide a train service to Courtenay.

If there were any doubts about that, it would be intolerable if local people were asked to pay towards the cost of

the line’s restoration. “If it’s not com-ing here, someone else can pay for it,” he commented.

The ICF is hoping to get all ten agreements signed this summer, so tenders can be sought in August or September for bridge improvements; and in September or October for track infrastructure work. The target is to get the track improvements underway in October or November, with bridge repairs starting in February or March of next year.

[email protected]

Rail money can be released - as long as trains return

Kids aren’t the only ones having all of the fun this summer at the library! Vancouver Island Regional Library is introducing a summer reading club for adults.

Registration for this free summer reading program starts in mid-June at participating branches. The pro-gram officially kicks off July 2 and runs until August 20. Visit your library branch to register and pick up your reading record. Keep track of your reading each week of the program for your chance to enter a draw for a prize!

The new Adult Summer Reading Club (SRC) program is designed to remind adults of the joy of leisure reading and to encourage them to model this behaviour for children in the community; especially those participating in our kid’s summer reading club.

For more information visit us online at www.virl.bc.ca.

Library gears up for summer reading club ... just for adults


News

A potentially disastrous scandal for the world famous Comox Rotary Ducky 500 has been averted by the sharp eyes and quick actions of pharmacist Tim Cowan.

Cowan; who operates the Medicine Shoppe in Comox, which is a sponsor of the Ducky 500, relat-ed the experience. “I was just getting some of the ducks prepared for the race. Every duck has to be in race form in order for the Comox Rotary Club to attach their number. That number means that someone has purchased a ticket with the same number. I was weighing them and giving them a little vitamin D, when I noticed one duck that wasn’t like the others.”

“I’m not sure if someone thought they could slip in a scooter or that they could get one all juiced up and get past our testing process, but the Ducky 500 has never had even a whisper of impropriety and it isn’t going to happen now.”

“There might be rumours of special faster ducks, but that’s just a canard.”

The Comox Rotary Club Ducky 500 takes place on Canada Day on the Courtenay River.

Ticket holders whose ticket numbers matching the first 10 ducks to cross the finish line at the 5th Street Bridge win fabulous prizes, including cruise vacations.

Proceeds from the Ducky 500 are used to fund

worthy service projects within the Comox Valley.Tickets, which cost $10 apiece, are available

from Comox Rotary Club members and from com-munity minded businesses throughout the Comox Valley.

The tickets include coupons from Chad’s West Coast Grill and from Eby’s in Comox that exceed the cost of the ticket.

When asked what would happen to the imposter, Cowan said, “She’s a lucky duck. I noticed that she was in no shape to race with those feet. Kind of a lame duck. We have drugs for that. I hope she will be able to settle down and start a ducky dynasty of her own.”

An alert druggist saves the day for ducksOne of those ducks is not like the other. An Echo photographer just happened to be on hand when Tim Cowan spotted the imposter duck.

Bus plan rolling forward, but Courtenay rebels over costBy Philip RoundEcho Staff

Plans for stage-by-stage improve-ments to Comox Valley bus services are rolling forward.

On Tuesday, Comox Valley Regional District’s committee of the whole agreed a revised version of the long-term Transit Future plan should move towards final adoption later this summer.

The committee of ten elected offi-cials was unanimous on five out of six recommendations to make prog-ress.

But when it came to identifying the extra money needed to imple-ment service enhancements in the first five years of the plan, all four City of Courtenay directors rebelled.

Councillors Starr Winchester, Jon Ambler, Manno Theos and Bill Anglin all voted against a motion that would increase the net cost to CVRD of a series of service improve-ments to a maximum of $270,000 a year for the first five years.

That change would cap the regional district’s total subsidy at just over $1.5 million once all the initial improvements had been implemented, although only part of the recommended increase would likely be needed in the early years as the plan rolled out.

The other six committee members - Councillors Tom Grant and Patti Fletcher representing the Town of Comox, Coun. Roger Kishi from the Village of Cumberland, and the three rural area directors - Bruce Jolliffe (Area A), Jim Gillis (Area B) and Edwin Grieve (Area C) - all voted for the plan and its financial implications, so the motion was car-ried.

Courtenay has taken a tough line on transit spending and proposed service enhancements in recent months, and Winchester said she considered the increases proposed were not sustainable. And Anglin questioned how some of the statis-tics produced to support changes could be justified.

But Kishi believed there was pub-lic interest in improving service routes and frequencies so more peo-ple would chose to travel by bus, and he considered what was being proposed in the plan was managed growth.

Committee chair Edwin Grieve reminded Courtenay’s representa-tives that although City taxpayers contributed almost 40 per cent of the budget subsidy, they got way more intensive services than the three rural areas, whose residents between them chipped in virtually the same percentage.

He supported the proposed improvements and budget changes and looked forward to better ser-vices for all - including rural resi-dents.

All members who spoke support-ed the proposal to acquire smaller new buses in future to give some flexibility to operations and hopeful-ly save money on less-travelled routes.

But big buses will still be needed on some routes to cope with busy periods such as weekday mornings and late afternoons when higher passenger numbers were already being recorded.

The committee was unanimous in agreeing that the “vision statement” for Comox Valley Transit should be “an affordable, efficient and conve-nient transit network with routes that connect transit users with neighbourhood and other transport modes and that contributes to a vibrant and equitable quality of life in the Comox Valley.”

They are also united on five over-arching goals for transit in the future: attract new riders and increase ridership; direct and align services with the region’s town cen-tres; integrate bus services with other modes of transportation; be efficient and cost-effective; and be safe and accessible.

And over the long term to 2038 they agreed a target of 3 per cent ‘mode share’ - that is, people using transit to get around the Valley on a regular basis.

The plan also sets out several spe-cific ideas for service improvements, including the creation of a frequent “spine” bus route to link all the main communities from Comox through Courtenay to Cumberland, and the rerouting of some other con-necting services and schedule adjustments to maximize the num-ber of passengers and the income generated from tickets and passes.

Even when the final version of the plan is complete and adopted, spe-cific routes changes and budget adjustments to implement them will have to be brought forward for approval one by one before they can be implemented.

But the idea is that the Transit Future plan will provide a clear and agreed framework to guide the development of services in a logical and integrated way for the future.

[email protected]

Campbell River Store Opening Soon!


www.ivesburgerlaw.com

Wills. Estates. ICBC ClaimsProviding Legal Guidance and Community Support

in the Comox Valley since 1973

505-5th Street, Courtenay | 250-334-2416 | Fax: 250-334-3198

Rare award for Valley’s fossil supremoBy Philip RoundEcho Staff

For more than 20 years, Pat Trask has been enthus-ing about the significance of fossils from his base at Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontology Centre.

It’s not just about the outstanding collection of local finds displayed or stored inside the museum, but also the regular fossil hunting tours he leads on the banks of local rivers, and the assistance he is able to give - and the knowledge he can pass on - to scientists and researchers from around the world.

Now his “outstanding contributions to BC paleon-tology by an amateur” have been recognized by the BC Paleontology Alliance with a rarely-awarded trophy.

The Rene Savenye Award was presented to him at the Alliance’s annual symposium gala banquet in Victoria - and Trask told the Echo for about the first time in his life he was left speechless.

“I had my camera ready to take a picture of the winner, but I certainly didn’t expect it would be me,” he said.

“It means a lot - I feel very honoured. There are a lot of people who have pushed me along - the museum staff and board, my mentors, my brother Mike. Lots of people have encouraged me.”

The award was created in memory of the late Rene Savenye, a noted BC naturalist and amateur paleontol-ogist who died in 2002.

But it is not an annual accolade, and this only the third time it has been awarded by the Alliance, which is a union of professional and amateur paleontologists working to advance the science by fostering public awareness, scientific collecting and education, and by promoting communication among all those interested in fossils.

During his life as a fossil hunter extraordinaire, Savenye visited a large number of fossil locations across BC and contributed many of his significant fossil finds to scientific publications. He was a regular field trip leader to fossil sites, as well as a master lec-turer who presented the results of his investigations to paleontological societies.

Trask’s own activities in many ways mirror those of Savenye.

Trask spent his childhood exploring the flora and fauna of southern Ontario, and moved west with his brother to Quesnel in the 1970s, where he developed a deeper interest in geology as a hobby while working as an electrician and workplace safety trainer with Weldwood of Canada Ltd.

He came to the Comox Valley in 1992, and the fol-lowing year Trask began a new career as a programme interpreter with the Courtenay Museum having helped his brother promote the elasmosaur discovery in the Puntledge.

In 1994 he trained in fossil casting and preparation at Drumheller (Alberta) and received mentoring from Royal Tyrrell Museum staff on science programming and interpretation.

Since then he has led or assisted with several signif-icant fossil excavations and has been co-author of a number of scientific publications.

In his work at the Courtenay Museum, Trask has hosted more than 50,000 visitors from around the world on fossil exploration tours to Comox Valley riv-ers and waterways.

In addition, he has lectured on fossils, paleontology, geology, and general science at the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, Vancouver Museum, Tumbler Ridge Museum, North Island College, Elderhostel, remote communities on north and central Vancouver Island, as well as at numerous

BC Provincial Parks. For BC Ferries, has also given shipboard lectures on the province’s paleontology to pas-sengers on the north coast ferry run.

He is now the curator of natural history at the Courtenay Museum, and on a daily basis encourages peo-ple of all ages and walks of life to explore the natural world around them.

For the Paleontologial Alliance, Dr Jim Haggart said that although Trask had no professional certification in the subject, he had demonstrated a totally professional ability to inspire and educate many thousands of indi-viduals about the science of paleon-tology, particularly among young people, so was fully deserving of the special award.

[email protected]

Pat Trask pictured at Courtenay and District Museum with the Rene Savenye Award trophy.

Comox Valley RCMP represented at Moncton funeralBy Philip RoundEcho Staff

Members of the Comox Valley RCMP Detachment were represented by one of their own colleagues who travelled to Tuesday’s regimental funeral of three slain Mounties in Moncton, New Brunswick.

More than 1,000 uniformed repre-sentatives from the RCMP and other police forces from across the country and over the US border attended the service for Const. Douglas Larche, Const. David Ross and Const. Fabrice Gévaudan who were all gunned down last Wednesday.

Speaking at the funeral, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said all of Canada was grateful for the actions of the three exceptional members who had done their duty by putting them-selves in the line of danger to protect citizens.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said an attack on police officers was not just an attack on them, but also on society as a whole.

Justin Bourque (24), is being held in connection with the deaths, but Harper said: “With three men dead, cut down in their prime, doing their sworn duty to serve and protect their neighbours, we do not need a verdict to know that what happened here is an outrage.”

Back in the Comox Valley, RCMP members and other personnel paid their own tribute to their fellow offi-cers at a gathering in the Detachment with RCMP Chaplain Charlie Massey after viewing a live broadcast of the funeral.

The acting officer in charge of the Detachment, Staff Sgt. Roger Plamondon, thanked the citizens of the Comox Valley who had shown their support over the past week to members of the RCMP.

“Your kindness and respect were appreciated by all. We are grateful to be able to serve and live in such a great community,” he commented.

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An independent school in Nanaimo is holding an information session in Courtenay next week for families exploring educational options for their children.

Aspengrove School, a JK-12 inde-pendent school, one of only 10 in Canada authorized to teach the world-renowned International Baccalaureate Curriculum all the way from junior kindergarten through to graduation in Grade 12, has been receiving a number of inquiries from the Comox Valley.

The school’s assistant head of external affairs, David Hutchison, said they’ve heard from more than a dozen families from as far as away as Campbell River.

“Every family has their own indi-vidual reasons why they would look at an independent school,” said Hutchison. “They certainly are var-ied but at the end of the day, it’s us they’re looking at specifically because there aren’t any indepen-dent school options in the Comox Valley that I’m aware off.”

Families, who are interested, have been inquiring if the school offers a bus service from the Comox Valley to Aspengrove. Hutchison said it’s a possibility.

“We don’t need a huge number of students to make it a viable entity,” said Hutchison. “I think we have enough interest that shows it’s like-ly to happen.”

The school is looking at providing a bus service twice a day, running from one central location in Courtenay that Hutchison said, they would determine once they know the area and the families better.

“It would be an express bus,” said Hutchison. “We’ve even heard from one family who was willing to drive their children from Campbell River to meet a bus to Aspengrove in Courtenay if there was one avail-able.”

It seems like a long distance to travel to go to school, about 95 kilo-metres from the heart of Courtenay to Aspengrove. But Hutchison said it’s not a concern.

“When you consider that a lot of kids could spend 45 minutes or more on a bus that’s within town going to schools just because of the number of stops they have to make, it’s not that bad,” said Hutchison. “We think it’s something that cer-tainly is quite viable. It all depends on the individuals involved, we could probably do it with five or six students. Certainly from the interest I’m seeing so far, I expect that’s not really going to be a problem, worry-ing about that number.”

Independent schools are some-times referred to as private schools. Hutchison explained although you pay to attend at Aspengrove, the difference between them and a pri-vate school is that they’re a not-for-profit institution.

“The school is run by a board of governors, the parents have an input in the running of the school, and we’re not earning any money here, just covering cost,” said Hutchison. “Whereas there are private schools out there, which are for profit enti-ties, but the traditional schools that you might refer to as a private school, we use the terminology independent just to make that dis-tinction.”

The school is in its 11th year now and next year its population is expected to be around 250. Hutchison said they offer some things that other schools don’t have.

“The very issue that’s going on in the school system right now is teachers fighting for class size and composition rules ... there’s no more than 22 students in a class here and usually quite a few fewer, so our average class size is more around 16 students,” said Hutchison. “So the individual attention that students get from the teachers is quite different. All the students are here because they want to be here and are interested in doing well aca-demically. There’s a real atmosphere of encouragement amongst all the students, where it’s cool to do well.”

Hutchison said its International Baccalaureate Curriculum is already offered here in the valley at Highland Secondary.

“But it’s only being offered in Grade 11 and 12,” said Hutchison. “It’s a very well respected academic program, world recognized by uni-versities for the challenging and innovative curriculum it provides. That’s what we offer from age 3 all the way through to graduation. So there’s already a taste in the Comox Valley for an IB education.

“There’s tons of reasons why fam-ilies are exploring Aspengrove. There are certain things that set us apart from other schools. But it’s one option.

“Different schools provide all sorts of different great things for the kids and we respect that there’s a lot of great schools out there. This just happens to be the one option that people look to.”

The cost to attend this school var-ies, according to ages. Hutchison said they have families from all walks of life and that they offer a generous financial aid program.

For kids age 3 to 4 in junior kin-

dergarten, the cost is between $5,000 to $8,000 a year, at the elementary levels, the fees are between $11,000 to just over $12,000 and in the high school years it’s from $14,000 to $15,000 a year.

Anyone wishing to know more about this school can attend the information session slated to take place on June 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Old House Village Hotel.

“It’s a very informal affair and anyone who wants to know more about us, then we would love to meet with them,” said Hutchison, who added that some of their stu-dents will also be present.

Nanaimo independent school hosting information session in CourtenayBusing students from the valley to Aspengrove being considered


The biggest affordable housing project in the Comox Valley is now complete.

The housing project headed by the Vancouver Island North Habitat for Humanity took a year and a half to build. It features three duplexes located on Piercy Avenue in Courtenay. They were built by the over a thousand volunteers with support coming from different groups, businesses and companies in

the Comox Valley.“This is the biggest project we’ve

ever built,” said Karen Bezaire, of Habitat for Humanity. “We normally just build one duplex simply because that’s all the lot would allow for. But this one is a long, long narrow lot that we acquired and we had more space to put more home. It made more sense to do that.”

Six deserving families have now moved into the new homes. The last family to receive the keys to their new abode was Nadine Miles and her daughter Casey just a month

ago.To celebrate the community

achievement, Habitat for Humanity is holding a dedication event to hon-our the people that made the project a reality. The event will take place at Piercy Avenue on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Visitors and guests will get the opportunity to tour the homes, meet the families and also enjoy a barbe-cue afterwards.

“We’re brining together all the companies that has come alongside with us that donated gifts and kind, or donated money, or donated their

time on the build,” said Bezaire. “Also the hundreds of volunteers who put in hundreds to thousands of hours to help build these homes. So it’s a cele-bration. It’s a party.”

The six families that now own their homes had to be eligible for the affordable housing project.

“There was a criteria that families had to meet,” said Bezaire. “Applicants must have a family and have custody of the children. It could be a grand-parent, a single mom or even a single dad. There is an income criteria, which we get from the government so they have to be below that. They have to have full-time employment because they have to pay back the mortgage we provide for them. It’s an interest

free mortgage. Just like everybody else they have to pay their mortgage to Habitat and it’s 30 per cent of their income so it’s amortized so it’s afford-able to them.”

Each house features two regular bedrooms and one office space, with one-and-a-half baths. Two of them have a grass yard and the other four have a small patio type area.

“It’s an intentional community where the six families can support each other and help each other, which is really great,” said Bezaire. “Fundamentally, Habitat definitely wants to be known as changing the lives of children, one family at a time, shaping generations that follow from this home schemed built.”

Peter Sanderson and a group of dedicated volunteers attended the simple key ceremony for Nadine Miles and her daughter Casey, the sixth deserving family to take possession of the affordable housing on Piercy Avenue.

Habitat for Humanity housing project now complete



Exploratory drilling to assess the prospects for a coal mine in the Oyster River/Woodhus Creek watershed is expected to start shortly.

And the news is concerning Comox Valley Regional District as well as local residents, especially as the five test sites are in the catch-ment area that ultimately provides drinking water for more than 1300 people.

Thirty years ago Nuspar Resources was refused an application to mine in the very same area after a test pit showed unacceptable levels of acid run-off.

Now a different company, Hillsborough Resources Ltd., is about to probe the ground to assess the potential, and the regional district is reiterating concerns it first expressed about a year ago.

CVRD board chair Edwin Grieve wrote to the province at the time about the board’s worries and suggesting safeguards that might be implemented if the company was allowed to take its investigations forward to the next stage

But subsequently two government permits were issued for exploratory work, and that is what the company now plans to progress.

On Tuesday, the regional district’s commit-tee of the whole voted unanimously to write again to both the provincial ministry of mines and energy and to Comox Valley MLA Don McRae about the matter.

They accept it is early days and the prospect of an actual mine might be some considerable way off. But they have been advised if favour-able results are received from the test drilling, subsequent programs will involve a compre-hensive investigation of the potential coal resource through more strategically-placed holes at a higher density.

And while Hillsborough has stated to that following each phase of work, full reclamation will be completed, including cementing drill holes, backfilling any water supply/drill cut-ting sumps, re-contouring and scarifying any drill pads and access roads and planting a representative tree species to return the area to its pre-development composition, the CVRD is still very concerned about the prospects.

The regional district has no direct authority over mining and can only express its com-ments to the province, but it is anxious to restate its call for strict conditions even at this early exploratory stage.

In particular, it wants Hillsborough to address measures to ensure aquifer and

groundwater protection and stormwater man-agement and the carry out a baseline study of the area’s plant and wildlife.

The CVRD is also urging the province to insist on “an assessment of the potential cumu-lative impacts including, but not limited to: aquifers, marine, terrestrial and riparian ecosys-tems, air quality, metal leaching/acid rock drainage, mining extraction methods, public health and safety, climate change - i.e. green-house gas emissions that are likely to result from this mining project in combination with other mining projects that have or will be car-ried out within the regional district.”

It is also restating its suggestion that the min-istry should be hosting a local public informa-tion meeting on the matter.

Some local residents have also written direct

to the senior inspector of mines, Ed Taje, to express their concerns direct.

Grieve - in whose electoral Area C the drilling will take place - said it was a “very critical” issue as the Oyster River was a direct source of drinking water through two public water supply systems as well as individual wells tapping in to aquifers.

And Area A director Bruce Jolliffe said with his experience of the Raven coal mine project in his electoral area, he would have preferred Hillsborough not to have been given approval to go to the next stage of coal exploration. But as they had, it was vital to keep the province aware of the potential impacts and seek action to implement safeguards.

“This rabbit keeps popping up and we can’t seem to get it to go away,” he commented.

Concerns grow over test drilling for coal at Oyster River


Details of Atmosphere Gathering began to emerge during a Cumberland council meeting, as promoters requested a noise vari-ance and street closure for the Aug 15-17 event. The all-ages weekend will feature artists like A Tribe Called Red, Blackalicious, the Funk Hunters and JPod, and is being pro-grammed on two performance stag-es with another for workshops and yoga.

“This is a very conscious event. It’s very different - it’s a twist,” said Vig Schulman, of Cumberland

Village Works. “And we want peo-ple to realize that we’re attempting to have a very low impact. We want the people we have coming to this event be very aware of what they’re coming to.”

Organizers presented as a delega-tion at the Village council’s regular-ly scheduled meeting June 9, fol-lowing an unsuccessful bid to secure Camp Gilwell for the event, thanks to a zoning bylaw impedi-ment.

But promoters had secured Cumberland’s Village Park last fall.

“We have gone to great lengths to program a very distinctive array of artists and performers,” Schulman said. “We’ve programmed a week-end of top-tier festival entertain-ment with a discerning audience in mind. We have chosen artists who enjoy collaboration and have an

inclination to make some very spe-cial magic happen.”

Activities on offer will include live painting, an outdoor gallery, a sanctuary, spoken word and nature walks.

“This is really a very communi-ty-style event,” he said. “We want to have on-site camping, but we also want to have community meals.”

The Gourmet Girls have been tapped to put out community meals and have designed a menu featur-ing the delicious locally grown food.

“They’re encouraging people to bring their own plate and utensils, so that eliminates the need for dis-posable anything,” he said. “We see this as an extremely low impact event, not just because of the much reduced numbers - for example this would be about 1/3rd of what we’ve

traditionally brought. We see this as a very green event.”

Melissa Roeske, also with Cumberland Village Works noted organizers have insurance of $3 million ready to be bonded and have hired security and paramedic staff to cover their bases, and have been working with the RCMP.

“We have taken measures to mit-igate sound for the neighbours,” she said.

“We just feel that it has the poten-tial to bring a lot economics to downtown and also to showcase Cumberland once again as an arts and culture hub.”

Schulman said no fenced-in beer garden is planned at this point, but noted they would be working with the RCMP to see if backstage alco-hol or other options are available.

Coun. Kate Greening inquired

about the acts on offer at the fest and wondered about some of the positive spin-offs for locals.

“I know that when some of the functions happen some of the peo-ple that live in that area make a few bucks by renting out parking spots,” she said. “They didn’t really mind having the loud music going later at night because they make some money on it.”

Schulman said organizers are open to discussing the way the road closure request was worded in order to make accommodations for that kind of traffic.

“It’s a collaboration,” he said. “That’s the essence of the event.”

Mayor Leslie Baird smiled as they left the podium.

“Thank you for your time,” she said. “It sounds like an exciting event.”

Organizers describe Atmosphere as low-impact and ‘conscious’ Mayor: It sounds like an exciting event

SUMMERREGISTRATION


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To start the summer off the Union Bay Historical Society will entertain you with a History & Humour Show about work the early settlers did.

“MEN worked from Sun to Sun, WOMEN’S work was Never Done!”

Come and decide who worked the hardest and longest.

Tuesday June 17, two shows: 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. in the Community Hall, $10.00 at the door. Refreshments at Intermission.

Any time this summer, drive, bike or paddle to Union Bay for an inter-esting few hours.

By Car: Lots of parking behind the Post Office or at the old schoolyard (UBID)

By Bike: Use the beautiful new bike rack beside the Post Office pro-vided by Comox Valley Regional District to lock your bike to.

By Boat: Come into the well main-tained and protected Boat Launch in the bay.

Walk out on the Breakwater and read the story of the large propeller. Have a picnic at the tables there; watch the boats coming and going; enjoy the scenes of Baynes Sound.

Take a photo of the two Heritage buildings: the 1901 Gaol and the 1915 Post Office, now owned, restored and maintained by the Union Bay Historical Society. It is the only wooden Post Office in Canada, built before WW1, now still operating by Canada Post. Go inside, mail a letter at the beautiful oak counter, see the bevelled glass postal boxes.

Visit the Gaol House and meet Shea Balwin the enthusiastic student Docent. She will tell you the history of the Gaol as well as answer ques-tions on the town’s colourful history

as a shipping port for coal from Cumberland mines. See the displays of antique tools used by the early settlers. Look through the carousel for a tribute to Logging in the area, depicted by pictures and stories.

Pop into the Parlour/Kichen for a nostalgic look into your Grandmother’s cupboards. On the Kitchen table flip though the four albums of Union Bay School pictures from 1890 to 1980.

Hours: Gaol House is open five days a week Wed. to Sun. 9:00 a.m. to 12 Noon and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Visit the old School where, in the Board Room, there is a miniature model of the town with commercial buildings, homes, wharves and ships carved by Dave McKay.

Hours: Old School, after June 30th, will be open three days a week: Tues. Wed. Thurs. 9:00 a.m. to Noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Nearly every evening at the Community Club’s well maintained Ball Field there is a Slow Pitch ball game to watch with teams from all over the Valley. Come and cheer for your favourite team.

Plan a visit to Union Bay, see a History & Humour show

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SAVE YOUR PLANTS FROM DEER!

GardeningComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 A9

Long-blooming Perennials for your gardenBy Ellen PresleyAnderton Garden

If you are trying to create a low maintenance garden but still want flowers all summer, try including perennials that have a long bloom time. Choose plants that are hardy for this area, easy to take care of and resistant to any annoying furry visi-tors you might have.

Agastache (Anise-Hyssop) is a hardy plant that is easy to maintain and drought tolerant once estab-lished. The leaves are very aromatic and can be used in teas.

Agastache ‘Heat Wave’ forms an upright bush (18”) with green branches bearing long spikes of deep pink flowers from mid to late summer. The eye catching beauty ‘Golden Jubilee’ is an award win-ning perennial that has lovely blue flowers amid the much sought after chartreuse coloured leaves. Dead-head the flowers and the plant will continue to bloom until the first frost.

Hyssop is tolerant of a variety of garden conditions. But do remem-ber, in general, the lighter the leaf the more protection from mid-day sun. Not only does it add color and texture to the landscape but the leaves when crushed smell like black licorice. Great to plant in tubs or pots, and use as a cut flower, it attracts butterflies and humming-birds, but is deer and rabbit resis-tant. Place in a well-drained site with no wet feet in winter.

A very pretty perennial is the Campanula (Bell flower) which comes in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes. The Campanula gar-ganica ‘Dickson’s Gold’ has lovely golden yellow leaves which form a low compact mound of 4-6”. Loose clusters of bright blue bell flowers rise above the leaves adding amaz-ing contrast. It is great for the rock garden, edging or in containers. It is rabbit resistant, prefers moist soil and can grow in full sun to part shade.

Campanula ‘Thumbell blue’ has graceful nodding bells of purple flowers on tall stems (12”) amid low mounds of green. Bellflowers start blooming in Spring attracting but-terflies but are deer and rabbit resis-tant. Great as a cut flower and are easy to maintain.

Another popular variety is the ground cover campanula poscharskyana “Blue Waterfall’ (6-8”) which is great in rock gar-dens or at the edge of the border. It has wonderful starry blue flowers in later spring and then again in the fall.

A beautiful plant that is often difficult to find is the Gaura lind-heimeri ‘Ballerina Blush’ (18”). Reddish-green stems and leaves hold lovely soft pink flowers which open white and slowly fade to love-ly pink. It adds a wonderful airy texture to the garden and the butter-

Black Creek Farm & Feed Supply is hosting a free poultry seminar, “Top 10 Challenges for Small Flock Production,” on June 25, 7pm.

Courtesy of Hi-Pro Feeds, the presenter is Poultry Nutritionist, Paul Goerzen, with 18 years’ experience as a poultry nutritionist. He holds an animal/poultry science degree from UBC and a graduate degree from University of Alberta in avian reproductive physiology.

This one-hour presentation will be full of science-based detail, but will provide practical, take-home tips for the successful raising of poultry.

Steve Nixon, owner of Black Creek Farm and

Feed, will also be available to answer ques-tions about coop construction, bedding, and supplies. The store will be open after the work-shop, with BCFF offering specials on various poultry-related products.

There is no fee to attend, but seating is lim-ited. To reserve your seat, phone 250-337-8922 by June 20.

Black Creek Farm & Feed Supply, an award-winning IRLY/Timber Mart building supply center, is a privately owned, full-service farm-and-feed store, which carries a large sup-ply of animal feeds and supplies for horses, poultry, farm animals, and domestic pets.

FREE POULTRY SEMINAR OPEN TO PUBLIC

Campanula garganica ‘Dickson’s Gold’ has lovely golden yellow leaves which form a low compact mound of 4-6”.

Coreopsis ‘Moon Beam’

Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’

Agastache ‘Heat Wave’ forms an upright bush (18”) with green branches bearing long spikes of deep pink flowers

flies and bees love it. Good in containers or mass plant-ings, it is both deer resistant and drought tolerant. Plant in full sun to light shade and insure it has good drain-age. In the winter, trim back when dormant and protect the root system with mulch.

For a bright very robust perennial, try a Gaillardia (Blanket Flower). It is long blooming and will add sizzle to the garden. The Gaillardia ‘Mesa Bright’

bi-color is a bright yellow with a cop-per red center. It is 24” tall and pro-duces uniform non-fading color all season. Add to mixed containers or the garden and they will bloom from early summer until frost. An old fash-ioned reliable variety is the ‘Goblin’ which has scarlet red petals with sunny yellow tips surrounding the reddish brown cone. This outstanding performer is deer resistant, drought tolerant, and the butterflies love it.

The Coreopsis is an amazingly dependable plant that is definitely a must in any garden. Coreopsis ‘Jethro Tull’ is a compact plant of 18” inches and sports golden yellow tubular rays that are fluted - very interesting to see.

The award winner 1992 Plant of the year was ‘Moonbeam’ (18-24”). This ever-popular classic is an excellent performer in the garden. It forms mounds of fine airy needle-like foliage with masses of delicate creamy yellow flowers. Adding a lovely texture to the garden and is an easy plant to grow and maintain.

Coreopsis attract butterflies and are deer resistant and drought tolerant. They prefer full sun and if you shear blooms in late summer it will promote re-bloom in fall.

Over the last few years Echinacea (Coneflowers) have been making a big splash in the Horticultural Industry. The number of varieties is amazing and you can find one to suit any location.

Echinacea (Coneflower) ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ (24”) is an award winner that is a spectacular mix of colors with a long bloom time - mid-summer to fall.

This easy care perennial is great in a sunny border or in a container or makes quite the show when mass planted. It is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies but is deer resistant and is great as a cut flower.

Or for a unique look, try ‘Meringue’ which has a double, creamy yellow green pom-pom like flower.

A gorgeous long blooming plant is the Penstemon ‘Electric Blue’ (18”). It blooms throughout the summer with vivid blue flowers with hints of purple at the stems, amid glossy green foliage and attracts both humming-birds and butterflies.

Great as a cut flower, drought toler-ant once established, and grows best in loose gravelly soil with good drain-age.

A fabulous perennial for the garden is Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturum’ (Black-eyed Susan or Gloriosa Daisy). It is considered one of the best perennials available.


Salvia ‘May Night’, a rich display of spiky flowers

Gaillardia ‘Mesa Bright’


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Originally a native wildflower of North American, this perennial has been awarded plant of the year in 1999. They are easy to grow and consist of large blooms of orange-yel-low rays which surround a brown cone. They are both deer and rabbit resistant, can be used as a cut flower and look stunning mass planted in the garden borders or as a specimen in a container. 23-29”

Two other amazing varieties are the Rudbeckia hirta ‘Irish Eyes’ which is yellow with a green center and the amazing color breeding breakthrough of ‘Cherry Brandy’. This variety has burgundy red petals and a brown center. Although not as hardy as the original, they will survive the winter if heavily mulched. They attract butterflies, are drought tolerant and are deer and rabbit resistant. Stunning in containers or used as a cut flowers, 20-23”

When you put rounded leafed perennials in your garden, make sure you contrast them with spikey flowering plants. Adding such interest to the garden is the Veroncia spicata ‘Royal Candles’ (Spike Speedwell). This low growing perennial (8-12”) forms a mound of dark green with bright deep blue-purple flow-ers forming above it. It will bloom all summer if you dead head. It attracts butterflies but is deer and rabbit resistant. It is an excellent choice for good for containers or in the rock garden and you can use it as a cut flower. Veronicas need regular watering and good drainage.

Another interesting spiral perennial is Salvia. A favorite is the award winning Salvia ‘May Night’ which puts forth a rich display of

spiky flowers of deep indigo violet blue. It is superb as a cut flower and is drought tolerant. It attracts both butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden. It is both deer and rabbit resis-tant and can be used in the border or planted in containers. (18-23”)

The award winning Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ has amazing beautiful deep vio-let-blue spirals rising on dark stems. It grows 20-29”and can be used as a cut flower and is drought tolerant. It really puts on a rich display in your garden. Salvias attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden and are both deer and rabbit resistant.

The cheerful Shasta Daisies are a classic perennial. They start blooming early in the Spring or early Summer and will continue until Fall if regularly deadheaded. Growing between 2-3 feet tall, they are hardy, never invasive and are terrific for a cut flower.

The Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy) come in many varieties - ‘Sunny side up’ has a dou-ble layer of white petals and a raised yellow center. The Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Gold Rush’ is a German introduction which produces shaggy double white blooms with a creamy yellow center or try the ‘Crazy Daisy’ which has very finely cut fringed peals with a golden center. They are so much fun to have in the garden. They attract butterflies and the rabbits don’t eat them. Quite showy in contain-ers or the garden and is an excellent choice along a fence line.

All the above are great perennials for the sunny garden and will keep your garden look-ing beautiful while you are out playing this summer.

May you enjoy your time and, as always, Happy Gardening.

Some great perennials to try

The Comox Valley Horticultural Society welcomes Arzeena Hamir of Amara Farm to the June 16 meet-ing. The evening begins with a Meet and Greet at 7 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay. Everyone is welcome, however there is a $5 fee for

non-CVHS members.Arzeena Hamir is a profes-

sional agrologist who specializ-es in organic production. She came to the Comox Valley from Richmond in June 2012 with her husband, Neil Turner, also an agrologist, and their two daughters. They own and oper-ate Amara Farm in Courtenay. You may have seen them at the Farmers’ Market selling the

long curls of healthy garlic scapes, when in season, and other organic produce grown on their 25 acre farm.

Arzeena is also active in the agricultural commu-nity promoting the ethics of organic farming - speaking at local events, as well as instructing at North Island College. She currently sits on the Board of the BC Food Systems Network, Certified Organic Association of BC, and the Island Organic Producers Alliance.

As guest speaker at the upcoming Comox Valley Horticultural meeting, Arzeena will be reviewing the basics of genetic engineering in her presentation titled: GMOs 101. She will also elaborate on the impacts of genetically modified organisms on our health and to our environment.

The club is also pleased to present the June 21 and 22nd Gardens in Bloom Tour. Tickets for Gardens in Bloom are now on sale locally at Art Knapp Plantland and Blue Heron Books. For more information about the guest speakers, the Gardens in Bloom Tour, or the CV Horticultural Society in general, please visit our website at www.comoxval-leyhortsociety.ca or call Leslie at 250-337-8051.

Arzeena Hamir

Horticultural Societyto hear from farmer

The City of Courtenay has released its second annual State of the Environment Report. This year, the report looks at the ecological systems that connect our neighbourhoods and communities: our backyard streams.

Information on the health of two streams is presented to compare and contrast the types of effects that are being experienced in two very differ-ent parts of the City: Glen Urquhart creek in east Courtenay and Morrison Creek in West Courtenay.

“There’s no question that land development has an impact on our local ecology. One of the most visible and loved ecological features of a community is its water - its streams and rivers, lakes and wetlands,” said Nancy Hofer, the City’s environmen-tal planner. “In working with the conservation sector, we decided to focus on these ecosystems to high-light their value and show how they are changing as our community grows over time.”

The short and highly illustrative report includes information on stream ecology, land cover changes to riparian areas, and what residents can do to support the environment. The report includes maps showing how land cover has changed around these waterways, where impact is greatest, and where restoration may be most needed.

“Scientific studies indicate that a stream should have approximately 30 metres of undisturbed vegetation buffers on each side to help ensure the stream system remains healthy,”

continued Hofer. “The City currently ensures that these buffers remain when new develop-ment is proposed around creeks, but some of the older parts of our community were built before such regulations were in place. We see this particularly in the Glen Urquhart watershed where some parts of the creek have little or even no buffer.”

The City will be distributing the report to all land owners who live along Glen Urquhart and Morrison Creek.

“If there is one message that we hope resi-dents take away from this report and the entire State of the Environment report series, it’s that we each have a role to play in the ecological sustainability of our community,” noted Hofer. “Each action we take has environmental

impacts.“Transportation, water use, landscaping,

power usage, food sources, and the products we consume - there is so much each of us can do, it really is quite empowering and inspiring.”

More streamkeepers are needed for both streams to ensure the legacy of these organiza-tions and the streams they work to protect. To contact the Morrison Creek Streamkeepers visit morrisoncreek.org or email [email protected]. To contact the Glen Urquhart Streamkeepers, email [email protected]

To view the 2014 and 2013 State of the Environment Reports, go to the City’s website at www.courtenay.ca Printed copies are also avail-able at City Hall.

City report offers a ‘tale of two watersheds’

Nancy Hofer, the City’s environmental planner, holding the 2014 State of the Environement Report in front of City Hall

Community NewsComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 A11

Comox Recreation COME PLAY WITH US!

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On June 22nd from 2 - 5 pm the Hands On Farm is having its annual

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and visits with the animals.

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Operational Service Opportunities

The Province welcomes those interested in providing

operational services for provincial park campgrounds,

day use areas and selected backcountry areas to

respond to the 31 Requests for Proposals and 10

Invitations to Quote that are posted on BCBid.ca

Operating parks across the province represents a

unique nature-based business opportunity.

To find out more about this exciting opportunity, and how to submit a proposal or a bid,

visit bcparks.ca or BCBid.ca

The world just got a bit smaller for high school students in the Comox Valley School District.

Nyborg High School in Nyborg, Denmark is the latest addition to the Comox Valley International Student Program’s one-for-one exchange program starting in the 2014-15 school year.

A record five students studied in Austria, Japan and Spain this year and the program will increase again in 2014-15 with nine students going abroad for at least one semester. These students will study in Austria, Denmark, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.

The one for one exchange pro-gram has been available to Comox Valley students through the CVISP for eight years providing a cost effective study abroad opportunity. Students spend one semester or one year in a foreign country studying at a SD71 partner high school while living with a homestay family and foreign student. That same foreign student then comes to the Comox Valley for a semester or year of study and lives in the Comox Valley student’s home.

“We are excited about this new partnership in Denmark. School programs are taught in English and the school has focus specialties in the areas of Athletics and the Arts. With the language of instruction being English our students will have an optimal transition into the school community,” said Rob Moore, District Principal of Information Technology and International Education.

New international partner school relationships are also being negoti-ated in the Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico and Turkey and should be offered as study abroad opportunities for the 2015-16 school year. School District 71 (SD71) embraces learning for tomorrow’s world and the CVISP exchange opportunities is an enriched real world way for students to gain this experience.

“Beyond the clear advantages of second language learning and cul-tural immersion, there is a need for Canadians to “globalize”. The world economy and social fabric is much more complex and integrated and future successes for Canadians depend on the next generation hav-ing the will and the capacity to engage on the world stage,” Mr. Moore went on to say.

Exchange opportunities are also available to SD71 students through the local Rotary Clubs. Rotarians Randy Wiwchar, Courtenay Rotary Club (Vanier and Isfeld students), Tim Rabbit, Comox Rotary Club (Highland students) and Annette Bossom, Cumberland Rotary Club coordinate the Rotary Youth Exchange in the Comox Valley. Like the SD71 program, students must be high school aged students. Students are responsible for their round trip airfare, insurance, travel documents (passports, visas etc.), spending money, and additional travel and tour fees. Contact your Rotary Club for more details on the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

SD71 secondary students interest-ed in studying abroad through the CVISP should visit www.sd71.bc.ca/international/exchange.php for further information or contact the CVISP office at [email protected] or 250.703.2904. Information sessions will also be held at SD71 secondary schools after the summer holiday.

About the Comox Valley International Student Program

The Comox Valley International Student Program hosts international

students in three (3) traditional sec-ondary schools, two (2) junior sec-ondary schools and fifteen (15) ele-mentary schools in the Comox Valley in British Columbia, Canada. All three traditional secondary schools offer academic courses in the univer-sity entrance areas, elective courses, and after hour’s activities.

For more information about the Comox Valley International Student Program, visit www.StudyInBritishColumbia.com or call +1.250.703.2904.

Exchange program opportunities expanding for SD71 students

CARF International announced that the Comox Valley Child Development Association (CVCDA) has been accredited for a period of three years for its Child and Youth Services pro-grams.

The latest accreditation is the 4th consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that the interna-tional accrediting body, CARF, has awarded to CVCDA.

The accreditation report noted that “parents and funders hold the CVCDA in the highest regard and are grateful for its unwaver-ing commitment and service over the years.”

This accreditation decision rep-resents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows its substantial conformance to the

CARF standards. An organization receiving a

Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process. It has demonstrat-ed to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality.

The surveyors commented that the commitment, dedication and considerable tenure of both staff and board members “provided a high level of stability that sets the stage for excellent service deliv-ery”.

The accreditation report con-cluded that the “CVCDA is regard-ed as a highly collaborative orga-nization that is always willing to work in close partnership with the community to deliver the best pos-

sible supports and services to the children and youth served”.

“It’s a perfect springboard for the upcoming year” commented Board President Pam Crowe.

The local not-for-profit agency is gearing up for a year of celebra-tions to mark its 40th birthday and this “overwhelming endorsement of our services should be an inspi-ration to all” said Crowe.

CARF is an independent, non-profit accrediting body whose mis-sion is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the per-sons served.

Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF International, the

accrediting body establishes con-sumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their pro-grams and services.

For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF website at www.carf.org.

The Comox Valley Child Development Association (CVCDA) provides services for children with developmental delays and disabili-ties including physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional and behavioural needs.

Family-centred services include assessments, individualized sup-ports and intervention.

■ For more information visit the

CVCDA website at www.cvcda.ca, call 250-338-4288, or drop in to 237 3rd Street, Courtenay.

CVCDA staff celebrate successful accreditation

Child centre earns highest accreditation

OpinionsECHO

THE COMOX VALLEY ECHOAn independently owned and operated

newspaper published by Echo Publications at

407-D Fifth Street, Courtenay, B.C. V9N 1J7

All material herein is protected by copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without written

authorization from the publisher.

Publisher Dave MacDonaldEditor Debra MartinAdvertising Manager Keith CurrieOffice Administrator Deb FowlerCirculation Manager Hedi MacDonaldProduction Manager Ryan GetzPhone 250-334-4722 Fax 250-334-3172Classifieds 250- 334-4215 Circulation 250-334-4734E-mail: [email protected]

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement Number #0661538

Letters to the Editor

What is teachers’ true motive?


Comox District Teachers’ Association Vice President Nick Moore was quoted in this paper last week as saying that the real reason for his union’s strike is ‘so that future students can have a better educa-tion.’

At the same time, however, he com-plains, ‘It has been four years since teach-ers got a raise, we don’t believe that’s fair and that’s one of the reasons why we’re here.’

While Mr. Moore and his fellow strikers may have good intentions, these two state-ments are hard to reconcile. Perhaps teach-ers’ salaries are not what they ought to be. But if teachers are pushing for a better quality of education, why should they risk distracting from the main debate by bring-ing up their pay?

Teaching is a means of making a living, and teachers should be given appropriate compensation.

But teaching is above all a service, and those engaged in it ought to be willing to work with the resources they have - how-ever inadequate - to provide the best edu-cation possible.

The union’s insistence on a pay raise makes us wonder whether the other issues under discussion, such as class size, are

really only there to hide the true motive behind the strike.

If our suspicion is accurate, the union members’ job action is reprehensible.

Brendon JohnsonCourtenay

If parents, students, teachers and the public want to understand what is causing the current BC crisis in public education, they need only look at Christy Clark’s dis-like for the public education system. It has been too successful in democratizing soci-ety. Christy’s goal is to get rid of public schools. Period.

As public education is impacted by financial cuts, the private schools are rub-bing their hands in glee as they see more parents bringing children to their doorstep.

If a parent wants their child to have a private education go for it.

But not on the public dime - you pay your own way. We can’t afford educational welfare for those who don’t want a public education system.

But Christy will continue to support edu-cational welfare for private schools because it suits her temperament, ideology and the

personal experience with her son.Cliff BoldtCourtenay

Doesn’t it seem that Courtenay Council is being a little hasty in trying to move forward with a new Fire Hall/Training Centre?

Trying to find a lot of money after the 2014 budget has been finalized and tax notices sent out?

Surely, we can wait a few months so the issue can be discussed during the munici-pal elections this November.

Then the Council elected at that time could make decisions based on feedback from the citizens of Courtenay.

Personally, I think the issue of a new Fire Hall and Training Facility should be discussed separately.

I wonder if an ambulance could be housed in a new facility and I wonder if additional training capacity could be added to the Comox Fire Hall.

It doesn’t look like those possibilities have been seriously addressed.

I think they should.Erik Eriksson

Letters

The Comox Valley RCMP detachment members and personnel had an opportunity to pay tribute to our fellow officers who made the ultimate sac-rifice in the line of duty.

We would like to thank the citizens of the Comox Valley who have shown their support this past week to the members of the RCMP. Your kindness and respect were appreciated by all.

We are grateful to be able to serve and live in such a great community.

S/Sgt Roger Plamondon A/OIC Comox Valley Detachemnt

As Comox Bluffs Ecological Reserve volunteer warden, I give my sincere thanks to those gentle-men who worked so hard to contain the recent fire on the bluffs, before the Coastal Unit Crew arrived to finally put the fire out.

The reserve is of special interest because of the Arbutus, Manzanita and Rocky Mountain Juniper ecosystem growing on the steep, dry, south facing bluffs.

Several comparatively rare plant species live here, together with a great variety and number of native wildflowers which take root in the thick moss and thin soil.

But as soon as the weather turns warm and dry, it is amazing how quickly the moss and soil dry out, which is why the area is so vulnerable to fire.

The reserve is a small gem and it is disappoint-ing that it is too often treated with neglect and abuse.

You can help by following the posted regula-tions; as the saying goes, take only pictures, leave only footprints, (and especially when the moss is dry and crunchy, try to limit the footprints!)

A. Vaughan Black Creek

This is a letter of appreciation and encourage-ment for all the people involved in creating such a great trail from Royston Wrecks along the sea-shore north towards Courtenay.

Even though this trail doesn’t connect yet with the south part of the airpark trail in Courtenay, it has brought us very close to having a pathway all the way to Royston.

I am a homeowner in the section of properties that are in between the two trails and do hope to see the continuation of the paths so that one could travel by foot or bicycle along the ocean-front from Courtenay to Royston without inter-ruption and away from the busy road.

Our area, called South Courtenay, has just recently been annexed into the City of Courtenay and with this new development we are expecting that there will now be a sewer pipe installed along the foreshore right of way to service the homes that have up to this point been on septic systems.

Isn’t this a perfect opportunity to then create the last stretch of path to be built which will con-nect the two existing paths.

The clearing of right of way and installation of pipe and path in one process seems not only plau-sible but also the least expensive way to go for the taxpayer.

We have been warned that having been brought into the City of Courtenay our taxes will go up. My hope is that we will be treated fairly and receive the services we should in a timely fash-ion. Show us what you’ve got Courtenay!

Stan WoodCourtenay

I am posting the following open letter in response to the disgusting report on tonight’s news about Dairyland’s supplier farm that so hor-ribly abused their cattle that if possible it would probably make an S.S. Storm Trooper vomit. The only answer to this atrocity is to totally boycott all of their products at all stores until they force Chilliwack Cattle Sales Ltd. out of business.

Is there any creature more docile than a cow? It certainly must be a close runner-up. Given that view of bovine behavior, what would entice any-one to commit and/or allow anyone to commit such unspeakable atrocities upon creatures that do nothing to you but make you money?

Shame on you!! Shame!! Shame!! Shame!!You claim that you are devastated about what

has happened. What happened is you got caught.Don’t you dare hide behind the lie that you

didn’t know. You were told what was going on. As an employer you are responsible for the con-duct and actions of your employees. As an owner you are responsible for the safety and the protec-tion of the creatures that God has placed into your care.

My family and friends and anyone I can share this with, through whatever media I can access, will never buy your product again. You don’t deserve an honest person’s business and you don’t deserve to be dairy farmers. My prayer is twofold, that you would genuinely seek God’s forgiveness and that you would be driven out of business forever.

At least do the right thing and sell off your livestock before you go bankrupt and have to abandon your herds to the elements to fend for themselves. In case you were never told, they are domestic cattle.

That means that they need people to take care of them. You don’t qualify!

Sincerely disgusted,Walter H. Morgan

Merville

Thank youfor the support

BIG BEEF to drivers who think that they have the right of way over pedestri-ans on a walking signal! I should not have to yell at my young daughter to STOP because you are not paying atten-tion to the rules of the road.

MANY THANKS to the owners of the Comox Bakery Cafe on Anderton. Your knowlege and selection of breads is amazing. Grama and I tried the loaf you suggested and throughly enjoyed it (without complications Emoji). We’re away this weekend but will be back to see you on the 14th.

A HUGE BOUQUET to Quality Foods for donating the use of a barbeque, all the hotdogs, buns and condiments to raise money for the Chimo Gymnastic Club. Your generosity is greatly appreci-ated by the kids, and it was very obvi-ous that your commitment to the com-munity is a priority for you. Way to go Quality Foods!

64 BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY Bouquets to Phil the resident groundkeeper at Filberg Garden Lodge. Many of us appre-ciate the positive difference his presence contributed over the last four years. He’s leaving our beloved garden in vastly bet-ter shape than he found it and we’re sorry to see him go. All the best in the future, Phil!

BOUQUETS to a talented and affable camerman with Shaw TV, Franco Noviello. Behind the scenes, he serves this community incredibly well.

A BIG BEEF (pile of stale popcorn) to

the local movie theatre. The seats need to be replaced. My butt falls asleep before the previews are even over. Then I’m shifting every 10 minutes, a lot of the seats aren’t parallel to the ground

anymore. The screen in theatre number one ... what’s up with all those black blotches on them. Replace the screens and the seats and I might come back to enjoy a movie experience. Until then, my nephew and brother-in-law are com-ing down for a visit, thanks but I’ll bring them down to Nanaimo, to a real movie theatre.

THE BROOKLYN ELEMENTARY PAC would like to present a dozen long stem red roses to each of the sponsors that helped make our event such a great suc-cess this year: Ben Davies Financial Planning, Brian McClean Chevrolet, Brooklyn Elementary Teachers, Canadian Tire, Comox Firefighters, Association, Fineline Embroidery, Filberg Festival, Finlayson Insulation, Grateful Brooklyn Parents, Hollis Wealth - Mindset Wealth, Hot Chocolates, Inglis Professional Tutoring, Invis - West Coast Mortgages, Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Relay Rentals, Roto Rooter, Simon’s Cycle, Subway, The Crown Isle Clinic, The Kennedys.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEND a big bou-quet of scarlet red roses to everyone at our local RCMP Detachment. The recent tragic events in Moncton have once again underlined the many challenges and dangers our police officers face on a daily basis. We often forget that whether on duty or off, these people support and build our community in so many ways. To the Officer in Charge of the Comox Valley Detachment and all those under his command, a big thank you from a grateful citizen. Keep up the good work, stay safe and Maintiens le Droit.

REMEMBER, when Courtenay

Council says it can’t afford some import-ant, worthwhile project, that it is willing to spend millions on a Fire Training

Centre, when Comox already has a well-regarded facility, offering a full range of services and used by jurisdic-tions as far away as Alberta, nearby. How about thinking regionally? Bad decision, NO bouquets.

BOUQUETS AND BLESSINGS to Thrifty Foods and the Village of Cumberland for supporting Cumberland’s Annual Kidz Day hosted by Cumberland United Church for the whole Village.

I EMPATHIZE with the teachers; however I fear they are fighting a losing battle. In 1997 in Ontario we had a clown of a premier, Mike Harris who introduced a Common Sense Revolution ( sound familiar ?) which was deter-mined to wreak havoc with welfare recipients, health care workers ( espe-cially nurses) and the educational sys-tem (especially teachers). The issues that we as teachers had then are the same that the B.C. teachers have now. We eventually went on a full blown strike and I spent the next two weeks on the picket line. The worst two weeks of my career. While picketing, two guys approached us for conversation. They told us we were not going to win because we did not have the general support of the populace. We vehemently disagreed and argued our case. Well after two weeks we caved in and Harris and his bullies won. We lost two weeks pay and considerable support from stu-dents and parents as well as being disil-lusioned with the entire bargaining sys-tem. Change came when we helped rally for the Liberal government and we kicked the bum out. Unfortunately the liberal govt. morphed into the conserva-tive govt. and the same issues arose again. I fear history will repeat in B.C.

More Beefs and Bouquets

EDUCATIONAL WELFARE BUMS

A LITTLE HASTY ON FIRE HALL?

DISGUSTING TREATMENT OF COWS

BUILD PATH, SEWER LINE TOGETHER

USE CARE AT THE COMOX BLUFFS

Beefs&Bouquets

Beefs&Bouquets

Beefs&Bouquets

The Comox Valley’s First and Best Readers’ Forum

This week’s winner, drawn at random from submissions received up to Tuesday, is:

Winners, you may pick up your prize certificates at the front desk of the Echo, 407-D Fifth Street, during regular business hours.

Thanks to everyone for the great submissions- keep ‘em coming!

This week’swinner Our weekly feature, Beefs and Bouquets,

is intended to be a light-hearted forum for you, our readers, to express brief views on issues and events in your lives.

It’s not intended to hurt people or make unsubstantiated and libelous comments.

Names won’t be published with the beefs and bouquets; however, we do need your full name, mailing address and tele-phone number for verification purposes.

Each week someone will win a 2 Classic Cheese Basket Meals from Dairy Queen. Have fun with this!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS!

Comox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 A13

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or call 250-334-5000

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Beverley O’Sullivan of Comox, 2 Classic Cheese Basket Meals from Dairy Queen.

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SCAN WITH

- they have approved huge reserve fund budgets that have enough cash in the bank to build 16 new fire halls! Just down the road at the Comox Air Force base are the best fire training facilities on the West Coast of Canada. Four or five governments, all shamefully inefficient. Visit the Chamber of Commerce office and sign the petition for a governance review. Vote for change in November.

A HUGE BOUQUET of flowers to all the participants of the Relay For Life on June 7th, especially to the students of Isfield School - their teachers and parents should be proud of the way they present-ed themselves, they were polite, well behaved and a pleasure to be around. All in all a fun night was had by everyone, a great way to raise awareness for cancer care.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEND a “big thank-you” to the following people. On Monday, May 19, I had a major medical crisis. The nurses on the Care-a-Van cared for and helped me in ways I cannot put into words except to say thank-you so much. And to the taxi driver, who got to me at Maple Pool Campsites so fast and got me to the hospital even faster it seemed - thank-you very much Darrell. Again, thank you very much to everyone who helped me that night.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to

Graham at Black’s Cycle in Comox. A friend of mine helped transport 2 bikes for me in her truck for basic maintenance. Graham tried numerous times to fit one bike in my car with the back seats down so I could take at least one bike home and enjoy a leisurely bike ride that evening. The bike was slightly too long. The owner Doug dropped off both bikes to my home around dinner time the same day! My bill was small and their service was spec-tacular. If you are shopping to purchase a new bike or need your bike serviced please keep this business in mind. - Michelle in Courtenay

A BOUQUET OF BOOKS to the

kind gentleman who returned a very large book to the Comox Library. The book was lying on the road after it had fallen from the roof of my car. It was undam-aged but needed to be returned. Many thanks also to the Librarians at this branch who are always so helpful and knowledge-able.

PLEASE LET’S TALK about how public employees are used and taken for granted. People like to criticize but would they really enjoy taking on the huge respon-sibility of educating and caring

for our most vulnerable and deli-cate populations. I would really like to challenge anyone who thinks being a teacher or nurse or healthcare provider is an easy task. Why would you want to bicker about them getting benefits like sick time when you, I am guessing, wouldn’t last a day doing the same jobs for the same pay. I know people with grade 9 educations who make twice the salary of any teacher or nurse and have not any of the debt associat-ed with getting a degree and can write off more expenses just for being part of the private sector. Why deny the very people we trust and rely upon to take care of our most cherished of loved ones the basic rights of medical cover-age and benefits and a healthy work environment when it can only benefit all of societ y. Would you want an overworked and undervalued nurse or teacher to take care of you or your family. Think before you wish for an American-style system of health-care and education and expect to pay a lot more. If all you want is to cut funding to our health, edu-cation, protection and social wel-fare programs. Congratulations, that is what our government is doing and all we have had in the past for the children and sick and poor of Canada is in jeopardy. It’s not about money all the time and if you had a care you would real-ize, sometimes it’s about working conditions and safety for the peo-ple who work in, and those that are in need of their care and assis-tance and bringing that to the public in a safe and timely man-ner. Wishing for all the best to those we depend on, some of us do realize what you are up against. To all the public health, police, protection, emergency, and education workers, thank you, I hope we will always have your care.

A HUGE SWEATY YELLOW AND BROWN BOUQUET from the Brick House Betties roller derby team to everyone who helped us host a great home-game season. Both double-header events on May 10 and June 7 were a roll-ing success with the help of our wonderful volunteers and sup-porters. Huge appreciation to the Refs and NSOs of the Coastal Call Monitors and the Eves of Destruction reffing crew, and to the teams who travelled to the Comox Valley to play: the Brass Knuckle Derby Dames (Nanaimo), the Belles of the Brawl (Victoria), the Loganettes (Victoria), the Candy Crushers (Nanaimo Juniors), and our own Junior team, the Stone Cold Stellas. Big thanks to our sponsors: The Eagle 97.3, Addictive Sportswear, Bayview Chiropractic, RollerGirl.ca, and Sure Copy Courtenay.

Hugs to our many supporters: Victor Anasimiv, Artform Photographics, Bonner Photography, Bounce-A-Rama Rentals, Broken Spoke, Comox Valley Sports Centre, Cumberland Recreation Institute, KidStart Mentoring, Moba Design, Quality Foods Courtenay, St John Ambulance, Takahashi Design, and Tsk Tsk Revue. And lots of derby love to our event entertain-ers this year: QUEST drum line at the Dy-No-Mite Family Night and Sweet Tease Burlesque and the 19+ Mo’ Funk party. And big Betties love to our fans. Thank you all for coming to watch us play roller derby and dish out the hits 70s style!

A bouquet of MANY HAPPY SMILES TO JASON KIROUAC of Island Dentures. After sending many impressions to a lab on the mainland to have them make not one but two sets of dentures fol-lowed by seven months of adjust-ments and pain my dentist referred me to Jason of Island Dentures. What a great day that was for me as he decided to “make me a new set”. If your den-tist wants to use a lab on the mainland please tell them that you want to “shop local”. Not only will Jason do an absolutely great job in a quarter of the time but you will be very happy with the results. Signed, a thankful patient.

A GIANT BOUQUET to Nigel and Steve - the ambulance crew who took me from the d’Esterre centre to the hospital last Monday. A more gentle, kindly, reassuring team one could not ask for - thank you guys.

HUGE BOUQUETS of thanks to

Tim Papineau at Reliable Auto Body, and Shelby and Matt, for helping us on Monday, June 9th to get back on the road again. Your thoughtfulness and assis-tance are very much appreciated!

WHY IS IT that so many people from the Valley are watering lawns at ANY time, when the restrictions still stand: even house numbers, even watering, and the opposite with uneven, 4 to 7 am and 7 to 10 pm? There’s a witty pole sign in Courtenay that says: “Just be you”. Another, added underneath by someone, says: “Unless UR a dickhead”! There seem to be quite a number of these...Just look around.

A BIG BOUQUET of puppy kisses and wagging tails to Dr Candice and Dr Cory. You both went above and beyond in your care of me during my procedures. I totally appreciate the whole gang at Courtenay Veterinary Clinic for your professional, lov-ing care - you all rock. Love, your

JUNE 4th, 2014 MARKED yet another heart-breaking moment in Canadian history. While responding to a complaint of an armed man running through a normally calm and safe community in Moncton, NB, 3 of my Mountie brothers were killed while 2 more officers were seriously wounded ... such a sense-less act against those we should hold most dear as they tirelessly endeavour to keep our communi-ties safe, day and night. Constable Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, Constable Douglas James Larche as well as Constable David Ross, who chose to become a police dog han-dler as I did 22 years ago, should have all returned home safely to their families after completing the call but sadly, mournfully, they did not. Since that horrifying Wednesday, I along with thousands of other RCMP officers have contin-ued to try to keep Canadians safe ... day and night. The Members from the Comox Valley Detachment are no exception and they are police officers I am very proud to work alongside. I have been truly touched to the core by those citi-zens of the Comox Valley that have taken time to stop me to say how proud they are of the Mounties and how they have been affected by the Moncton incident. So touched by this that many - people I have never met - have choked back tears while they spoke to me. It has been difficult not to show my own emo-tion. To those that have taken the time to come forward with kind words, to those that have had the courage to show emotion, to those that have dropped off flowers at the front of our Detachment and to those that have prayed for our organization or have committed to a kind deed or thought in the memory of those lost and those wounded, I acknowledge my most grateful “thanks” and send my own “bouquet” to each and every one of you. Thank you, it does make a difference. I ask that the Comox Valley Echo publish my name on this occasion.

Sgt. T.J. HigginsonNCO I/C Police Dog ServiceComox Valley RCMP BOUQUETS to Courtenay

Transfer for accommodating my move from Campbell River to Courtenay on such short notice! They were fast and very friendly. Tom was very helpful and charged me exactly what they quoted to me - no hidden fees or extra charges! I would definitely recommend them to anyone who needs moving done!

CVRD AND COURTENAY politi-cians support a third fire hall in the core of the Comox Valley. Why not

little pal Nutmeg. WITH ALL THE STRESS the

teachers are feeling due to the con-tract negotiations they can take heart in knowing that in just a few short weeks they will finish work for the summer and then can com-plain about how hard they have it on a full time basis.

A BIG BOUQUET of red roses to Nicole Deters of the Investment Group for my son’s party pack that he won back in December at the Sid. Nicole delivered 2 cars for the kids to drive around. They had a blast. My son also had a wonderful cake from Dairy Queen, presents and chocolates all from Nicole Deters. What a wonderful present. Once again, thank you.

A HUGE BOUQUET to support-ers of Ambassador Shuttle Service for their application to compete head on with the local taxi service. It’s about time their monopoly ended, their service is terribly unreliable, and horribly over-priced. They can’t even bother to hire someone to answer their phone who doesn’t sound absolute-ly miserable doing her job. Honey, I work in retail and it’s not hard to fake a cheery voice for your cus-tomers so they feel welcomed for calling. Try it some time.

I AM AT A LOSS to understand why we need to “pressure” several businesses in the Valley to put recycle boxes on their property again. I can understand why they don’t want them there - the mess people left was unbelievable at times! Besides, all of our recycling is picked up right at our doorstep every two weeks! What more could we ask for?

BOUQUETS OF TIMBITS to the

wonderful lady at the Tim Hortons drive-thru at Lerwick on June 4th around 1:30pm. I got my order for free thanks to your generous pay-it-forward. I was having a rough day and it made me smile. Thank you for your kindness, and I will be sure to pay-it-forward as well.

BOUQUETS to the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce for promot-ing a Governance review. Local Government is the second biggest Business in the Comox Valley with about twice the dollars invested as the Retail Food sector - Distant third is the Agriculture-Aquaculture Industry. Visit the Chamber Office and sign the petition. Visit http://comoxvalleyratepayers.com/- sign on and support transparent and accountable local government.

Email to: [email protected]

250-334-0789Call today for more information

www.pacificsleep.ca

Formerly Clinical Sleep Solutions

THE SLEEP APNEA & SNORING

PROFESSIONALS


Community News

Courtenay’s long-time parking enforce-ment officer will be putting away his ticket book for the last time at the end of June.

Commissionaire (Warrant Officer) George Wedge has been patrolling Courtenay’s streets for 15 years, follow-ing a 27-year military career and two more years elsewhere with the Corps of Commissionaires. Along the way he’s handed out thousands of tickets, but

openly acknowledges he’s a bit of a softy. “I’ve been known to give people a

break,” said Wedge. “The aim was always to educate people; I was famous for my lectures.”

Wedge will take fond memories of the job with him. “My favourite thing about this job was the people I met. There are so many fantastic people in the Valley, and I’ve made a lot of friends - even the ones I gave tickets to. People usually

understand I’m just doing my job. “I especially liked meeting visitors. I

speak French and some German, and people are surprised when I can greet them in their language,” added Wedge.

His daily walking route would exhaust many people half his age: eight kilome-tres in the morning, followed by another eight kilometres in the afternoon. And if his walks over the past 15 years were added together, he could have circum-

navigated the globe.This explains why Wedge has gone through about 15

pairs of shoes, resoling each pair several times. One piece of equipment that hasn’t changed is his trusty old film camera. “I like that camera, and I know how to use it, so I never wanted to change it,” he said.

His greatest challenge wasn’t distance; it was the weather. “I’ve been out in all sorts of weather; rain, snow, freezing cold, you name it,” said Wedge. “But it’s hard to write a ticket when your ticket book is soaking wet. If that happened, I’d just tell people, ‘It’s your lucky day’.”

“I always tried to be friendly,” added Wedge. “A lot of people are stressed out, and then I come along.”

Councillor Bill Anglin, on behalf of the Downtown Courtenay Business Improvement Association, said Wedge was always a friendly and familiar face in downtown Courtenay. “Not only did he make sure that the downtown parking bylaw was fairly abided by, he was also a friend”, said Anglin. “Merchants and cus-tomers alike enjoyed his welcoming personality and his friendly conversation. If you needed directions to a specific business, George was our human ‘way-finder’. He knew every nook & cranny of downtown Courtenay.

“We will miss his presence and his conversation in our beautiful downtown, and wish him a long and relaxing retirement.”

In addition to parking enforcement, over the years Wedge located several stolen vehicles. He also was a regular at the Market Days dunk tank, dressed in his uniform. “For some reason people just loved dunking me,” he laughed.

Mayor Larry Jangula said Wedge is going to be missed, noting, “George is more than a parking enforcement officer - he’s an ambassador for our com-munity. He’s been a fixture on our streets for years, and so many people know him. He’s a very kind man. We’re grateful for his service and wish him all the best in his retirement, it’s certainly well-deserved.”

Drivers shouldn’t expect a parking free-for-all on downtown streets once Wedge retires, however. Commissionaire (Sgt) Kevin Gurnham will be taking over Wedge’s role for the City of Courtenay, with one small change - he’ll have a digital camera tucked in his pocket.

Wedge expressed appreciation to City staff as well as the courthouse staff and bailiff he has worked with over the years. He and wife Jane plan to start off his retirement with a boat cruise, followed by trips to visit family.

Long-time parking enforcement officer retiringCommissionaire (Warrant Officer) George Wedge has been patrolling Courtenay’s streets for 15 years

ExtraThe COMOX VALLEY ECHO ❑ Friday, June 13, 2014

Comox Valley, BC

ECHO

ECHOetc.


Thirteen teams coming from all over Vancouver Island are set to compete in a fastball tournament this weekend at Lewis Park in Courtenay.

The 32nd Annual Charity Fastball Tournament is set to take place start-ing today and will go on until Sunday.

The event is hosted by the Comox Valley Women’s Fastball League, which will be represented by three teams - HDF Stealth, Slingerz and Tuls. The other teams will be coming from various parts of the island including Victoria and Nanaimo.

The competition also serves as an annual fundraiser of the CVWFL, which will again donate the pro-ceeds from this event to various local charities.

“At least $5,000 is our goal for this year as that was the total raised last year,” said Trish Mueller of the CVWFL.

Last year, $550 was donated to Waichay Friendship Centre for the purchase of car seats, $2,000 to YANA for the purchase of computers for families to use while in Vancouver, $550 to Everyone Deserves A Smile as well as dona-

tions to Courtenay Elementary for their library, the replacement of an iPad for a young girl in our commu-nity who needs one for learning assistance and had hers stolen, the

Oscar Fund to assist injured animals and T-Shirts were purchased and distributed through Kit Out Kids who were collecting items in sup-port of Ugandan Girls Softball.

“Prior years have seen the pro-ceeds averaging $10 000 and we are hoping to once again be able to pro-vide those kinds of contributions,” said Mueller.

‘“We have a few recipients in mind for this year’s contributions but are going to wait and see what the final tally is before releasing that information.”

Organizers are asking everyone to come out and enjoy a good game of fastball and also take part in other activities like the Friday Night Social being hosted by the Slingerz at the Elks Home Lodge starting at 9 p.m. Admission, for tournament players it will be $2 at the door and all others will be $5.

There will also be a silent auction running all weekend in the Tsolum Building located at Lewis Park, which will be hosted by the Tuls and there will also be a beer garden on site to be hosted by the CVWFL play-ers that will be heading to New Zealand to partake in the 2017 World Masters Games.

This year there will also be a spe-cial tribute to Harry Lavoie on Lewis 1 at noon and the public is asked to help the CVWFL pay the utmost respect to a highly respected and sorely missed member of the softball community and his family.

Comox Valley Women’s Fastball League used last year’s proceeds from its annual charity tournament to buy T-shirts and distributed through Kit Out Kids who were collecting items in support of Ugandan Girls Softball.

Fastball action to feature 13 island teams Event is an annual charity fundraiser hosted by Comox Valley Women’s Fastball League

St Joseph’s Hospital Auxiliary Society’s last meeting until September will be held Tuesday June 17 at 1:30 pm., in the upper hall of Comox Legion.

We will have two speakers from The Views and we will be giving the Auxiliary members Long Service Pins.

Also the Westjet Raffle Tickets will be drawn at this meeting. Everyone welcome. FMI 250-339-1407.

The Little Red Church Community Market is Celebrating Dads at this Sunday’s LRCCM!

The LRCCM is a family-friendly market, with over 25 vendors offer-ing a variety of handmade, home-made, homegrown or communi-ty-made goods and services.

Our local vendors will be featur-ing their best Father’s Day gifts for you.

Sunday June 15, at 2182 Comox Ave., Comox, from 10 - 3. Admission is free so bring the family and some friends.

FMI: www.lrccm.com or Diane Knodel at 250-792-3652.

Hikers are advised that the Ripple Rock Trail and trailhead parking lot, located about 14 kilometres north-east of Campbell River, will be closed to the public from 7 a.m. Monday, June 16 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25.

This closure is required for the replacement of the suspension bridge across Menzies Creek and the resurfacing of the trail near that crossing, at about the one-kilometre mark of the four-kilometre trail.

A map of the trail and bridge loca-tion can be found at:

http://ow.ly/xA8mwThe Ripple Rock Trail takes hikers

to an overlook above Seymour Narrows, between Vancouver Island and Maude Island, where Quadra Island and the British Columbia mainland also can be seen.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations thanks hikers for their patience during this bridge replacement and trail improvement project to enhance public safety and increase tourism values.

Friends of Baynes Sound is host-ing an evening at Zocalo Cafe and Bistro from 6:00 - 9:00 pm Friday, June 13.

Tickets $35.00 person includes dinner and live music.

A silent auction of artwork is also part of the evening.

FMI: [email protected]: 250.334.3321 or

250.335.1697

‘A Night Out With Friends’ at Zocalo

Ripple Rock Trailclosure for new bridge

Little Red ChurchMarket on Sunday

St. Joseph’s Auxiliarylast meeting until fall

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) is coming to the Comox Valley for the Comox by the Sea Celebration on June 21st, during the BC Shellfish and Seafood Festival with engaging, hands-on displays and program updates from this one-of-kind research and education facil-ity in the Pacific Northwest.

Equipped with microscopes and marine plankton samples, including larval forms of a variety of organ-isms, the BMSC exhibit will have a special focus on those species indig-enous to the west coast. The display, containing everything from phyto-plankton and jellyfish to sea-star and crustacean larvae, showcases the base of the food chain.

“We are looking forward to par-ticipating in Comox By The Sea Celebration event” says Heather Alexander, research associate at BMSC.

“In our education programs, we focus on raising awareness about the environment and sustainability, which is in sync with the purpose of the BC Shellfish & Seafood Festival which is a showcase of the industry, the producers and best aquaculture practices. I’m excited to share what we do, but more importantly, how everyone can get in on all the fun and educational action.”

BMSC, located on Vancouver Island’s west coast, is an interna-tionally renowned research and edu-cation facility, and is a shared cam-pus of the Universities of Victoria, British Columbia, Alberta, Calgary, and Simon Fraser.

BMSC provides access to the eco-logically diverse marine, terrestrial, freshwater and cultural sites of the North East Pacific basin, with 3000 m2 of modern laboratory space.

The centre is the only facility of its kind in Western Canada, with no other marine science centres located

on the coastline between Central Oregon and Alaska.

Set within 65 hectares of rainfor-est owned by the BMSC, it serves as a secondary classroom, in addition to having access to Barkley Sound, which is known for its biodiversity and rich kelp flora.

No other facility offers researchers such a diverse array of organisms and habitats along side such an extensive and versatile infrastruc-ture.

“We achieve excellence by having outstanding people working with

integrity in a stimulating environ-ment that fosters and supports col-laboration.” explains Alexander.

The BMSC contributes to the com-munity not only by offering excep-tional educational opportunities for people of any age, but also by having two funds enabling students to visit the centre who couldn’t otherwise afford to do so.

These funds apply to kids from kindergarten to grade 12 helping them to expand their understanding and knowledge of aquaculture and marine life.

Comox by the Sea Shellfish and Seafood Celebration will take place from 12:00 to 5:00 pm, Saturday June 21st at the Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park.

Event tickets are $15 and are on sale now.

Visit: www.discovercomoxvalley.com

or call 1-855-400-2882. One can also join the conversation

with the Vancouver Island Visitor Centre by visiting or using #BCShellFest.

The VIVC is open 7 days a week.

BC Shellfish and Seafood Festival line-up just keeps on growing

The renowned Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre will bring a special display to Comox

B2 Comox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014

What’s On

Public Advisory Committee Members Liquid Waste Management Planning (LWMP) –

South Sewer Project

The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) and the Village of Cumberland

are working with the K’ómoks First Nation to develop and implement the

south sewer project (SSP), a new wastewater collection, treatment, discharge

and resource recovery project for the communities in the south region of the

CVRD.

As part of this process, the CVRD is initiating a liquid waste management plan

(LWMP) process. The LWMP will establish the long-term planning framework

for liquid waste management in the south region.

The CVRD invites letters of interest from local individuals living in and around

Royston, Union Bay and Cumberland who wish to sit on the public advisory

committee (PAC). Members of the PAC will have an important liaison role with

the responsibility to inform the members of the communities they have been

selected to represent.

The role of PAC members is to support and provide recommendations to the

steering committee for the duration of the LWMP process. This is a volunteer

(non-paid) role that will take part in 6-8 meetings over the planning process.

Interested persons should submit a brief letter stating why they would be a

good candidate. A package outlining the responsibilities and time

requirements is available via e-mail request: [email protected]

Letters of interest must be received by 4pm on June 30, 2014. Please drop off or e-mail them to:

CVRD South Sewer Project Team 3843 Livingstone Road, Royston, BC V0R 2V0

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 250-334-6056

Moving Ahead Together

CALL FOR INTEREST

City of Courtenay – Arden Road Culvert and Water Main Improvements

June 16 to July 18Weekdays from 7 am to 6 pm

Work will result in periodic water shut downs in the area, as well as single-lane alternating traffic.

Intermittent road closures may be necessary. Crews will make every effort to maintain vehicle

access for local residents.

Questions? Call 250-287-9644.Thank you for your cooperation.

Management, Wacor Holdings Ltd.

NOTICE OFCONSTRUCTION

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGof the

GLACIER VIEW LODGE SOCIETYwill be held

at Glacier View Lodge2450 Back RoadCourtenay, BC

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 20141:00 P.M.

The Sid Williams Theatre Society is celebrating the past year of accom-plishments on Thursday June 19, plus a sneak peek at the next Blue Circle Series, and you’re invited!

This lively Annual General Meeting will feature performances by powwow dancer Nyla Carpentier, comedian Roman Danylo, and Juno Award winner Helen Austin accom-panied by her daughter Daisy.

A few business items, like elect-ing new board members, will be covered briefly in between perfor-mance sets.

Come and see what the Sid Williams Theatre Society is all about!

Refreshments, including brand new sushi samplers from the Flying Canoe West Coast Pub, will be offered starting at 6:00pm with the festivities underway at 6:30pm.

Reserve your complimentary ticket in person at the Ticket Centre, by phone 250.338.2430 ext 1, or email [email protected].

About the performers:Nyla Carpentier has been involved

with the performing arts through dance as a Native Powwow Dancer since the age of three. She currently resides in Vancouver and has com-pleted her artistic training with Full Circle: First Nations Performance Training Ensemble. Her goals are to blend both her passions of dance and theatre and to pursue a multi-faceted career in the arts.

Roman Danylo is a headlining stand-up comedian, a top Canadian improviser, a TV and film actor, and a traditionally trained theatre actor. Roman is one of only a handful of comedians to have performed in the prestigious HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen and Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival in the same year. In Hollywood he starred in the UPN Series ‘Off Limits’, and has been featured on NBC’s ‘Late Friday’. He has appeared in the feature films, ‘Duets’ with Gwenyth Paltrow, and ‘Happy Birthday’ with John Goodman.

Back home Roman has appeared or starred in several Canadian series including CBC’s ‘The Debaters’, ‘The Winnipeg and Halifax Comedy Festivals’, ‘Comics’, CTV’s ‘Comedy Now’, ‘Corner Gas’, TCN’s ‘Slightly Bent’, ‘Just For Laughs Improv Championships’ and many more. Roman starred for five seasons in his own sketch comedy series on CTV and Spike TV called ‘Comedy Inc.’ for which he received two Gemini Award nominations.

Helen Austin’s move to Canada in 2002 was the catalyst for her musi-cal career, after years of writing songs while making a living as a musical stand-up comedian. 12 years and seven albums later, Helen is a prolific songwriter with many TV/movie placements, awards and competition wins under belt, the most recent being a JUNO Award win, a Canadian Folk Music Award win and two John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize wins.

Helen brings her quirky humour to her music, as well as the ability to tug at your heart strings with her more serious songs and the melo-dies stay in your head long after you have heard them. Helen’s daughter, Daisy also performs regularly with her, accompanying her on fiddle, mandolin, glockenspiel and backing vocals.

Enjoy fineperformancesat The Sid’sannual meet

Legendary Scottish rockers Nazareth are coming to Courtenay on Thursday June 26 at 8:00 pm as part of the Sid Williams Theatre Society’s Blue Circle Series.

Since their formation in Scotland in 1968, Nazareth has released a steady stream of classic hard rock selling over 30 million albums

worldwide, including top ten hits and favourites such as “Love Hurts”, “This Flight Tonight” and “Hair of the Dog”.

Nazareth are an acknowledged influence on superstars Guns ‘n’ Roses and countless other hard rock-ers who have followed in their wake, assuring their place amongst the

greats of rock ‘n’ roll.After releasing numerous albums

and touring consistently for the last 40 years, this 2014 world tour marks the start of an exciting chapter in the life of the band with new vocalist and veteran performer Linton Osborne replacing original singer Dan McCafferty, who retired last

year due to ill health.McCafferty suffers from Chronic

Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and following an attack on stage in 2013 decided to retire with immediate effect. “When I came off stage I said to the boys: ‘I can’t keep doing this to the band.’ I can’t embar-rass the boys and the fans. If you can’t do the job you shouldn’t be there - Nazareth’s too big for that,” McCafferty told Classic Rock last year.

Nazareth held extensive auditions to replace their frontman and was knocked out by Osborne’s voice, pres-ence, and style.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised in Rosyth near Dunfermline, the 41-year-old has been singing and performing professionally for as long as he can remember.

A long time fan of Nazareth and Dan McCafferty, on his selection as Nazareth’s new singer Osborne sim-

ply replied, “It’s better than winning the lottery!”

Osborne’s enthusiasm and energy has reinvigorated the band as he belts out the hits in their original key, and with the blessing of McCafferty him-self. “The music we’ve made over the years is more important than any member of the band. We always felt like that, and I can’t see that’s changed just because I’ve left,” says McCafferty. He was heartfelt in expressing his feelings toward Osborne and the band, wishing them good luck, safe travels, and success.

“I hope you will support him as you did me.”

Tickets for this Blue Circle Series performance are $49 for members and $54 for general public. Purchase in person at the Ticket Centre Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm, by phone 250.338.2430, or online at sid-williamstheatre.com.

New vocalist but same hard-rockin’ tunesSame band, different vocalist (with the full blessing of the original singer): Nazareth performs at The Sid on June 26

Are you a passionate, skilled vocal-ist yearning to sing challenging and fun music in harmony with others?

On Wednesday June 18th from 7-9pm at Highland Secondary, the Just in Time Jazz Choirs will be hold-ing auditions for the 2014-15 season.

The Just in Time choirs, directed by Wendy Nixon Stothert and accompa-nied by Sean Mooney, are three adult community groups: Jazzy Jems (audi-tioned women), Vocal Minority (audi-tioned mixed), and Unplugged (non-auditioned). The choirs offer a safe, warm, uplifting, encouraging environment where there are opportu-nities for singers of all levels of expe-rience.

While they do sing songs from the swing and latin jazz genres, they also

sing pop, blues, ballad, funk, gospel, and folk tunes. The upcoming themes are “Decades” in the fall, featuring great arrangements of hit songs from each decade of the past hundred years, and “Just in Time’s Greatest Hits” in the spring, when this choral community will be celebrating their tenth anniversary.

The two auditioned choirs sing music with more challenging harmo-nies and rhythms. Please come to the open audition prepared to do a music reading evaluation, a quartet singing exercise, and a 2 minute unaccompa-nied solo of your choice in a style that reflects your personality and skills. For more info, please check out www.justintimevocaljazz.ca or call Wendy at 250-334-0244.

Just in Time for auditions June 18

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Offer(s) available on select new 2014 models through participating dealers to qualified customers who take delivery by June 30, 2014. Dealers may sell or lease for less. Some conditions apply. See dealer for complete details. All offers are subject to change without notice. Vehicles shown may include optional accessories and upgrades available at extra cost. All pricing includes delivery and destination fees up to $1,665, other fees and certain levies (including tire levies) and $100 A/C charge (where applicable) and excludes licensing, registration, insurance, other taxes and variable dealer administration fees (up to $699). Other dealer charges may be required at the time of purchase. Other lease and financing options also available. 0% financing offer for up to 84 months available O.A.C to qualified retail customers, on approved credit for the new 2014 Forte LX MT (FO541E)/2014 Optima LX AT (OP742E)/2014 Rio LX MT (RO541E) with a selling price of $14,584/$22,802/$12,584 and includes delivery and destination fees of $1,485, tire tax of $15, A/C charge ($100 where applicable) and a cash bonus of $2,918/$3,500/$2,918 (which is deducted from the negotiated price before taxes). Bi-weekly payments of $80/$125/$69 for 84 months with $0 down payment. Credit fees of $0. Total obligation is $14,584/$22,802/$12,584. See retailer for complete details. Cash purchase price for the new 2014 Forte LX MT (FO541E)/2014 Optima LX AT (OP742E)/2014 Rio LX MT (RO541E) is $14,584/$22,802/$12,584 and includes a cash bonus of $2,918/$3,500/$2,918 (which is deducted from the negotiated price before). Retailer may sell for less. §Cash Bonus amounts are offered on select 2014 and 2015 models and are deducted from the negotiated price before taxes. $4,000 cash bonus only available on the 2014 Optima Hybrid LX (OP74AE). Offer ends June 30, 2014. See your dealer for complete details. Model shown Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price for 2014 Forte SX (FO748E)/2014 Optima SX Turbo AT (OP748E)/2014 Rio4 SX with Navigation (RO749E) is $26,395/$34,795/$22,295. Highway/city fuel consumption is based on the 2014 Rio LX+ ECO (A/T)/2014 Forte 1.8L MPI 4-cyl (M/T)/2014 Optima 2.4L GDI (A/T). These updated estimates are based on the Government of Canada’s approved criteria and testing methods. Refer to the EnerGuide Fuel Consumption Guide. Your actual fuel consumption will vary based on driving habits and other factors. °The Bluetooth® wordmark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. 1Sirius, XM and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its subsidiaries. Information in this advertisement is believed to be accurate at the time of printing. For more information on our 5-year warranty coverage, visit kia.ca or call us at 1-877-542-2886. Kia is a trademark of Kia Motors Corporation.

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What’s OnComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 B3

Brad Bayly finds the ore of his passionBy Michael BrionesEcho Staff

Brad Bayly spent the last seven years working for United Way.

He loved the job but he wanted to do something else.

The Courtenay resident, who is married and has two energetic kids and a dog, has a deep passion for writing. Long before he joined United Way, Bayly wanted to write a novel.

Bayly already had an idea of what he wanted to write. He worked on his book when he had time to spare.

It was a slow process and it reached a point where Bayly couldn’t suppress his passion for penning his thoughts and creative ideas any longer. That’s when he decided to leave his job and devote all his energy to creating his first book.

“I talked to my wife about it and we decided to try it for two years,” said Bayly. “It’s a major change in my life.”

In taking this bold and daring step, Bayly’s passion came pouring out and it has helped him finish his maiden science-fiction book, “Eden’s Ore Secrets”, which was released just last month.

It’s now on sale at Chapters, Coles, Barnes and Noble and can be ordered online at Amazon.ca in

paperbck and ebook.Bayly said he’s pleased with his

first book. It was a long and tedious process, he recalled, that included a major rewrite following input he received from some well-known authors who read the draft and also went on to mentor him.

The novel is a fast-paced science fiction thriller in which a near-fu-ture Earth has solved its energy crisis with an undiscovered ore. Powerful crystals of endless ener-gy, they promised to reshape the world into the Eden it once was, but at what cost? When one man gets hold of the ore embedded in his chest during a freak accident, he gains unexpected powers - and is set upon a dangerous path where he is hunted by those who control the ore. As he struggles to unlock his own abilities, he dis-covers the terrible secret of the ore. It’s the first of a series of five books set for release over the next two years.

Bayly, being the communi-ty-minded person that he is, doesn’t want it to be just a book. He wants to use it to promote and help literacy here in British Columbia. To achieve that goal, he has partnered with Decoda Literacy Solutions, a non-profit organization which is the only province-wide literacy organiza-tion in the province. Decoda sup-

ports community-based literacy programs and initiatives in over 400 communities across BC.

During the month of June, par-tial proceeds from all sales of Eden’s Ore Secrets will be donated to Decoda. Bayly said it’s his way of giving back..

“We are excited to share this opportunity with a BC author,” said Brenda Le Clair of Decoda. “Literacy is important for all Canadians and we want to pro-mote the message every chance we get. The great things about this partnership is that we’re getting people engaged in a literacy activi-ty, while at the same time, they are supporting literacy for others.’

When you purchase the book, $5 from every paperback purchase and $3.50 from every ebook sale will go directly to Decoda. The funds will be used to support liter-acy projects across 400 communi-ties in British Columbia.

“It’s summer, a great time to put your feet up and enjoy a book,” said Bayly, who is encouraging those who do not read to try his book.

“To disappear into a great story and relax. I hope everyone will consider this a unique opportunity to support literacy and enjoy a great read.”

The goal is to sell around 5,000 books this month.

Local author to donate partial proceeds from the sale of his book this nonth to literacy group

Brad Bayly reads from his first book, a science fiction thriller


What’s On

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Michael Fraser could be straight out of a circus extravaganza. But in fact this musical mastermind is a high-energy performer who employs electro-swing, gypsytech and vintage remix strains in his “carnival” per-formance.

You can catch the energetic song-ster playing with Spry Bry as part of Bizarnival at this year’s Rock the Block Festival Saturday, June 14, outside the Waverley hotel on Dunsmuir Ave. starting at 6 p.m.

Also on tap will be Delhi 2 Dublin, Roots Roundup and DJ Eliazar, with Wax Candy at the visual helm.

The Echo caught up with the live-ly Fraser for a preview of what attendees can expect.

What is it about playing at an outdoor block party in Cumberland that you find intriguing or allur-ing?

Outdoor block parties are coveted by DJs and musicians for their abili-ty to unite folks in the community in the name of fun! Block parties bridge the gap between a festival vibe and an outdoor concert. I’m very excited to bring Bizarnival, the rag-tag group of freaks and geeks to spice this event up.

Do you find there is a difference when playing concerts on Vancouver Island vs. elsewhere?

Vancouver Island is a place I gen-erally come to relax away from city life. Dancing and playing music comes so easily and naturally when one is relaxed. I believe being closer to water than busy roads will bring the best out of the Bizarnival DJ squad for this event.

To what extent do you feel it will be a distinct experience play-ing in the Comox Valley?

I’ve played the Comox Valley a number of times but what sets this show apart from all the others is that I get to share that experience with some of my closest friends in Bizarnival, the crew I’ve been build-ing with over the last couple years.

Any special musical elements planned for the gig? What can fans look forward to?

Bizarnival has loads of fun planned, I’ll be playing live violin alongside DJ Benny Freebound on the scratches that make you itch with Spry Bry our ringmaster. All this with our rag-tag group of car-nies taking you for a twisted journey through oddities and weirdness. Fans can look forward to the best bad trip they ever went on.

Q&A: Rag-tag band of carnies promises delightful sonics for Rock the Block

Fraser struts his stuff during a vigorous performance

On June 15th at Royston Wrecks, two youth from the Youth and Ecological Restoration Program (YER) will lead a public tour about Great Blue Herons.

This is a YER, Phase II project made possible with funding from Ministry of Children and Family Development, Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS), Comox Valley Environmental Council and UNIFOR Local 3019.

Great Blue Herons are a species at risk with the BC Conservation Data Centre, so it is critical that we pro-tect their habitat.

In 2013 YER partnered with MARS to document herons and their foraging behaviour in the Comox Valley.

Youth conducted behavioural observations in the Courtenay River Estuary from Royston Wrecks and were instrumental in locating one of the most populated foraging areas. They learned about the estu-ary and its significance as a feeding area for the herons, as well as other species.

In 2014 YER and MARS are extending this study for a YERII project with two YER, Phase I grad-uates, the YER coordinator and a biologist to continue to collect sci-entific data on the herons.

YERII focus is on a specific proj-ect for youth to advance learning about ecological information, research techniques, and collabora-tion and communication skills.

Completion involves the two youth leading a public tour of the project site. Registered Professional

Biologist, Ian Moul, authored the heron report for MARS last year and will be guiding the YERII project.

Please join us for this youth led public tour on June 15th at 12:00 pm to learn about Great Blue Herons.

Royston Wrecks is located south of Courtenay, turn left onto Hilton Road and drive down to the parking area at the beach. FMI contact Wendy Kotilla at [email protected] or 250-336-8487; visit YER website at www.youthecology.ca.

Take a heron tour with youth project

One of last year’s participants working on study

Mark June 21 for AboriginalDay events

For many years the people of the Comox Valley have come together to celebrate the vibrant cultures and diver-sity of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada on National Aboriginal Day.

This year join the K’omoks First Nation in partnership with the Kumugwe Cultural Society on June 21, from 11 am to 6 pm at 3320 Comox Road (the village site of the K’omoks First Nation).

This year’s event will feature FREE special events for the whole family, including performances from local and vis-iting dance troupes, storytelling, a kids’ tent and play area, an Indigenous Fashion show and much more. Browse the arts and crafts tents of Aboriginal artists and enjoy some excellent traditional cuisine - wild Sockeye salmon cooked over an open fire, buffalo burgers, candied salmon and fresh bannock with homemade berry jam.

There is something for everyone at National Aboriginal Day. Find the event on Facebook at K’omoks National Aboriginal Day, June 21.

In Celebration of National Aboriginal Day 2014Recognizing the cultures of First Nation, Metis and Inuit

people from across Canada.June 21 Schedule of Events in the Bighouse11 am Event Opens12 noon Everyone Welcome - MC Wedlidi SpeckWelcome to the Territory by K’omoks Chief Rob EversonWelcome dance performed by the Kumugwe DancersRecognize local dignitaries, Chiefs and Elders.1:00 Local Grass Dancer Johnny Mitchell1:30 Empowering our Spirit shared by Elder James

Quatell2:00 Kwowutzun Tzinquwa Coast Salish Dancers2:45 Lahal Game - Everyone Welcome3:30 - Intermission -4:00 Inspiring Hawaiian Musician Anela Kahimoe5:00 Kumugwe Dancers5:45 Children perform the Paddle Dance

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What’s OnComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 B5

This Saturday, June 14th Nancy Farey, The Mustard Lady will be at The Filberg Park Lodge Gift Shop from 11-4.

Stop by and pick up some of the tangy mustards for Father’s Day. There are 8 different kinds some are sweet and some have heat. Two of the favourites are the Horseradish Mustard and Hot Pepper. Two more are in the developing stages and one may be ready for sampling by Saturday.

Mustard isn’t just for meats. They go very well with cheese, like the Many Fruited on Cream Cheese or Brie. The Lemon is good with fish and also in dressings for Caesar or Greek Salad.

The Mustard Lady received the Best New Business of the Year from the Small Business Association and is now in two permanent locations The Little Red Church in Comox on the 1st & 3rd Sundays and The Neighbourhood Market at St. John the Divine the last Saturday on the month. Nancy Farey, The Mustard Lady

SBA New Business of the Year at Filberg Park Lodge this Saturday

Huge, free community Block Party on Saturday Everyone loves a great party, especially

when you can do it together with friends and family. Well good news.

For everyone in the Comox Valley there is a Community Block Party happening once again this Saturday, June 14th on the grounds of Comox Pentecostal Church, 1- 4pm.

Always a popular community celebration, volunteers are preparing and excited to wel-come you to this fun and free event.

Attractions this year include the Balloon Typhoon and the Bungee Run/Jouster Inflatables & Bouncy Castles, Carnival Games, Face Painting, and Cup Cake Decorating and more.

We are excited to have a number of great community groups on site partnering with us this year. Some include Comox Valley Search & Rescue and their new Command Center, Comox Fire Department, Highland Dancers, Phil & Jenny Gaglardi Academy, and more ...

Come and stop by with your family for treats including hotdogs, drinks and pop-corn. As well the Pregnancy Care Center will be onsite and giving away candy floss. For adults, a special coffee lounge and hos-pitality center will be set up for you to enjoy.

Over the years, this family community party has had the generous support of many Comox Valley businesses and once again they are providing some great door prizes.

All you have to do is put your name in for one of the many free draws.

Once again we want everyone to know that everything is free. All you need to do is help get the word out and come with your family and friends. Please accept this as your invitation. If you have any questions you can call 250.339.4536 or go to the church’s website at www.cpclife.com

Children have had a blast at previous Block Parties, left and above


Sports and Recreation

WOODGROVE CENTRE - NANAIMOHOURS: Mon.-Tues. 10:00pm-7:00pm. Wed.-Fri. 10:00am-9:00pm

Sat. 10:00am-7:00pm Sun. 11:00am-6:00pm 250.390.3141

U19 Men sprinting to the top of Boulder Hill

The Comox Valley Cycle Club held the BC Junior Road Cycling Provincial Championships in the Comox Valley, Saturday June 7th, on the Minto Road Course.

The event was very well attended, exceeding par-ticipant numbers for the past few years, and included riders from the Under 13 Category up to riders in the Under 19 Category.

Participants and their families included those from Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Revelstoke, Kamloops and the Yukon.

Vancouver=based Team DEVO’s Kate Matson won the Under 13 Women Category over Victoria=based Tripleshot’s Toria Kalyniuk, and DEVO team mate, Maia Matson.

Team DEVO was successful again in the Under 13 Men Category, with Lief Rodgers taking 1st place over Comox Valley local VIPYRS’ Evan Luksay and DEVO Team mate Reese Critchlow.

Tripleshot Youth Team had success in the Under 15 Women with Sarah Van Dam taking 1st place. Sophie Ogilvie, from Interior Grasslands took 2nd and DEVO’s Bronwen Campbell, 3rd

The Under 15 Men included a large field of 17 rid-ers.

Josiah Ney (VIPYRS) put the pressure on the group by attacking early in the race. He gained a lead over the group and maintained it for the remainder of the race.

Norco Rider, Conor Martin, from Kelowna tried to bridge up to Ney and although he put in some time on the rest of the field he was never able to catch Ney and finished in second place.

What was left of the bunch finished in a sprint for

3rd place with Isaac van der Vliet (Team Trail Bikes) just overtaking Riley Pickrell at the line.

The Under 17 Women raced with the Under 19 Women, and Trail Bikes’, Gillian Ellsay(U19) and Local Ride’s(U17) Maggie Coles-Lyster broke away from the rest of the girls with a couple of laps to go.

Ellsay was able to push the pace up the final climb to the finish line beating Coles-Lyster by a few sec-onds. VAC’s, Holly Simonson(U17) crossed the line a

Team mates and good friends, Gillian Ellsay (1st) and Kia van der Vliet (2nd) celebrate their podium finishes in the U19 women, while another great friend and Cycling BC team mate, Local Rides’ Clara MacKenzie, looks on from her 3rd place podium position.

Photos by Marnie van der Vliet

Local cyclists do well at youth provincials

couple of minutes later for 3rd place and Ellsays team mate Kia van der Vliet(U19) followed in 4th place.

The Under 17 Men Category was won by VAC ProCity Racing’s Erik Diertens. Fergus Horrobin took 2nd place over local James Grant, 3rd.

The Under 19 Men included an experienced field and no one was able to break away from the pack. After 90km the finish was decided in a sprint to the top of Boulder Hill. Tag Cycling’s Max Duso just managed to overtake Trevor Stothard from Trek Red Truck at the top of the Overpass to take first place. Duso’s team mate, Brendan Armstrong, followed closely behind to take 3rd.

Cassie Sharpe, with roots in Comox, has been invited to be an athlete on the Canadian National Halfpipe Ski team. Her appointment follows a very successful winter where she finished on the podium at all competitive events in 2014. Recently, she attended the Winsport Gala held in Calgary where she was also awarded “Athlete of the Year”.

Sharpe had broken her ankle at a World Cup in Switzerland in February 2013 so it was particularly grat-ifying for her to do so well in her comeback season. With the strong finish to the season and her combined scores of points in both slopestyle and halfpipe, she continued to improve her placement in the elusive AFP Global Ranking (Associated Freeski Professionals) and sits 3rd in her category.

With her first goal of making the National Team under her belt she says “I can focus my training and efforts on getting to the XGames and to the 2018 Winter Olympics”. Sharpe is currently living in Whistler and training with the National team.

CASSIE ON NATIONAL TEAM

STAGE THREE WATER RESTRICTIONS STARTTHURSDAY, JUNE 12 AT 8:00 A.M. AND RUN UNTIL TUESDAY, JUNE 17 AT 4:30 P.M.

OUR WATER SUPPLY

OUR WATER SYSTEM

PROHIBITEDACTIVITIES

BC Hydro will be conducting fish screen cleaning maintenance at the Puntledge

diversion dam. During this time, the Comox Valley water system will supply water to

consumers via the standby Puntledge pump station from Thursday, June 12 at 8 a.m.

until Tuesday, June 17 at 4:30 p.m.

Water activities that are PROHIBITED during these restrictions include:• Watering lawns or pressure washing driveways and boulevards at any time.

• Filling a hot tub or garden pond at any time.

• Washing a vehicle or boat at any time (other than in a commercial car wash

or car dealership).

Restrictions apply to residents living in the Town of Comox, the City of

Courtenay and the Arden, Comox Valley, England Road, Marsden/Camco,

and Greaves Crescent local water service areas.

For more information on the current restrictions including the bylaw,

visit www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/restrictions.

Follow comoxvalleyrd

Sports and RecreationComox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 B7

No collection required. Great exercise!Call Comox Valley Echo • 250-334-4734or drop by 407-D 5th Street, Courtenay

COURTENAYRt. 7107 – Between 17th & 13th - McPhee, Grieve, 16th, 14thRt. 7115 – 5th to 4th, Menzies to WillemarRt. 7108 – Fitzgerald, Grieve 17th to 13thRt. 7140 – Archery Cr., Timberlane Rd.

COMOXRt. 1102A – Bolt, Lindshart, Martin, Noel, AndertonRt. 1103 – Skeena, Totem Cr., PritchardRt. 2103 Summer Sub – Murphy, Beaton, Park (Beside

HospitalRt. 2129 – Sylvan, Parry, Aspen, IdiensRt. 2144B – Gardener Way, Mason Ave, Potter Pl.

CROWN ISLERt. 3120 – Monarch, RoyalRt. 3134 – Crown Isle Dr., Birkshire, Sussex

VALLEYVIEWRt. 3110 – Back Road, Glen Urquhart, 10th St. E., Hobson, 6th

St. E., AstonRt. 3113 – Elkhorn Ave, 9th St. E., Malahat, ArrowsmithRt. 3122 – Swan, Trumpeter, Sparrow, Valley ViewRt. 3123 – Nechako, Chemainus, 5th St. E., Cowichan, 6th St.

E.Rt. 3135 – Hawk, Swallow, WhiskeyjackRt. 3136 – Bluejay Place

COLEMAN ROAD AREARt. 4106 – Sea Terrace, Avonlee, Loxley

MISSION HILLRt. 5110 Summer Sub – Paula Pl, Tatton Rd, Adrian Rd,

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CARRIERS WANTED

D’Esterre Duplicate BridgeResults for Tuesday, June 3 (24 pairs):N/S - 1. Joan and Jim Boase; 2. Harvey Piercy and

Jean Tait; 3. Dianne McKinnon and Joan Erickson; 4. Art Morgan and George Law; 5. Denise Holst and Barb McCrindle.

E/W - 1. Jeanette Baron and Tom Dugdale; 2. Dorothy Branch and Doug Poole; 3. Keith and Evelyn Ware; 4. Judy and Ron Morrison; 5/6. Irene Smith and Bernice Blonzarwitz; 5/6. Lynn and Dick Sangster.

Results for Saturday, June 7 (16 pairs):N/S - 1. Neil Jackson and Jean Tait; 2. Dianne Rickson

and Sharon Feduniak; 3. Dorothy Branch and John Petzinger.

E/W - 1. Tom Dugdale and Jeannette Baron; 2. Trish and George Kirkwood; 3. Lynn and Dick Sangster.

Friday night duplicate bridgeResults for June 6 (10 1/2 tables):N/S - 1. Roger and Rose Lucas; 2. Jean Tait and Evelyn

Ware; 3. Doug and Penny Poole; 4. Ron and Chris Toutant.

E/W - 1. Roy Hagg and Keith Ware; 2. Bob Dugas and Paul Bozenich; 3. Harvey Piercy and Dorothy Branch; 4. Daphne Welsh and Ann Cook.

BRIDGE NEWS

Members of the Comox Valley Duplicate Bridge Club, led by team captain Linda Marinus, will play bridge for an entire day to raise money for The Longest Day - an annual fundraising event for Alzheimer’s research held by the American Contract Bridge League and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Marinus’ team will participate in the marathon bridge game in Courtenay on the longest day of the year - June 21. All funds will benefit the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

The bridge team will also have a physiotherapist teaching stretching exercises at the event.

“Anything different and fun is a good way to get mem-bers out,” said Linda Marinus, fundraising team captain.

With an average age of 69, ACBL’s members - most of whom play regularly at local bridge clubs - are signifi-cantly affected by Alzheimer’s disease. By raising funds as part of The Longest Day program, bridge players are able to honor friends and loved ones who have been stricken with the disease while also keeping their own mental skills sharp, according to the ACBL and the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Studies have shown strong links between games, such as bridge, and successful aging,” said Robert Hartman, CEO of the ACBL. “The game alone challenges and stimulates mental acuity, but there’s also a strong

social aspect that can aid with successful aging. With support from our members like the Comox Valley Duplicate Bridge Club, we can continue raising aware-ness and funds for the disease and hopefully introduce bridge to a new audience that can benefit from the men-tal stimulation.”

CV Bridge Club to play for Alzheimer’s Research

We had a good turnout of 43 golfers for our Team Net Scores fun tournament on Tuesday, June 10th.

Joan Rallison had a great day on the course with a very low gross score of 79. Her team assumed they would be a shoe-in to win the day, however a team of three picked Joan’s name for their 4th member which made Lys McCrone, Anna Butler, Patricial Lowe and Joan Rallison overall winners with a Net Team Score of 52.

Runners-up were Rita Dalby, Chris Annand, Darlene Clark and Joan Rallison (again!) with 54. In 3rd place was Sharon Littler, Barb Dixson, Kathie Reid and Jane Grant with 56.

Rita Dalby won the Longest Putt on #9 and Vicki Bombini won the KP on #10 (prize by Rob Speer Pro Shop).

Other notables were Kathie Reid and Fran Gibson who both were awarded Break 90 Pins. Barb Dixson received a Chip-In Pin for Hole # 1 and Maylene Friesen won a Birdie Pin for Hole #7.

Thanks to all those “Ladies in Red” for donning red clothing in honour of the fallen Moncton RCMP members.

There is still time to get in on the Early Bird Draw for a free entry into this year’s 2 Member Best Ball Ladies Tillicum on August 24 and Horse Race on August 23. Enquire at the Pro Shop 334-3232.

Results from Wednesday, June 4th:

Low Gross1st Dan Woods 382nd Mitch Carr-Hilton 393rd Dave Pye 404th Larry Ferguson 405th Jon Huisman 406th Bill Watkin 407th John Barnsdale 40Low Net1st Viking 32.52nd Darrell Smith 343rd Ken Cottini 34.54th Bruce Donegan 34.55th Earl Costello 34.56th Guy Traverse 357th Scotty Mattoon 35Thanks to our sponsors

Westview Ford (Cory Nickerson) and Sleeman Brewery.

Results from Sunday, June 8th:0-10 Low Gross 0-10 Low Net1st Tyler VanAnrooy 1st Jim

Buchanan2nd Greg Koster 2nd Kyle

Stairs3rd Mitch Carr-Hilton 3rd

Robin Ward4th Dan Woods 4th Gerry

Rautenberg11+ Low Gross 11+ Low Net1st Rick Dawson 1st Chuck

Milne2nd Jules Urban 2nd Chris

Dowson3rd Dave Pachuluk 3rd Al

Edwards4th Wally Pettigrew 4th Emil

Zap5th Earl Costello 5th Ed

Rudolph

Sunnydale Ladies Thursday Night June 5 had a warm evening. Welcome to the new ladies!

Hole prizes were given out on Hole #2 to Cheryl Sellars for shots out of the sandtrap.

Hole #3 prize went to Bev Slater for closest to the pin 2nd shot.

Hole #4 prize went to Maureen Mason for closest to the big rock.

Hole #5 prize went to June Fuller for closest to pin 3rd shot.

Hole #6 prize went to Crystal Friesen for longest drive.

Hole #9 prize went to Ardene Larison for longest putt.

Lowest Putts went to Peggy Ferguson and the Most Honest Golfer was Maureen Mason.

Draw Prizes were from:Boston Pizza to Andrea McInnesFluids Bar & Grill to Coral

TannerGreat Canadian Oil Change/Car

Wash to Cheryl SellarsInvestors Group/Locals

Restaurant to Maggie WyndeJo Klassen to Ardene Larison

and Bev SlaterMichaels off Main to Anna

ButlerPanago Pizza to Sherri HarrisonQuality Foods-Comox to June

FullerRhodos Coffee to Erma DerksonRoyston Roasting Co to Crystal

FriesenSafeway to Barb DixonPro Shop to Judy Mann and Joan

ComptonDonation to Maylene FriesenThursday Night Ladies sign up

at 5:00 pm, tee off at 5:30 pm Everyone welcome!- Submitted by Mary Lynn Doubinin

This past week has been a very active time for our lady golfers at Crown Isle.

The Ladies were invited to play in the “Captains Cup” format 3-man Scramble, hosted by our men’s club on Saturday, June 8th.

Thirty ladies eagerly signed up for the chance to have a lot of fun and enjoy coffee & muffins in the morning and a lovely dinner after golf provided by the men ... much appreciated fellows.

Two teams had a chip off for 1st and 2nd place: Winners - Judy Pouliot, Sandy Linhart & Margaret Forgeron - Score 71

2nd place - Katy Maccauly, Barb Parker & Audrey Clark

Four Teams chipped off for 3rd place: Winners - Carol Ann Roulston, Marsha Mackinnon & Janet Phillips - Score 74

The “Zone 6” CTC (Club Team Championship) was held at Myrtle Point Golf Club at Powell River June 9th. with Crown Isle entering 4 teams this year.

Getting up at 4:30 am to catch the Ferry did not dampen the spir-its of the 12 hardy good-natured ladies that participated.

We are proud to report the Sheila Van Gisbergen team consisting of Sheila, Iris Peterson & Karen Currie came in 4th place in the standings with Katy Maccaulay’s, Sandra Morton & Linday Stickney recog-nized in 15th place.

Our Tuesday Ladies played a Team game using the Stableford format with scoring points as fol-lows 1 point for bogey - 2 points

for par - 3 points for birdie & 4 points for eagle, -1 point for a dou-ble bogey or above.

1st Place Team: Dee Horie, Judy Kaffka, Jan Macfarlane & Margaret Forgeron - Score 149

2nd Place Team: Judy Pouliot, Gillian Kirkpatrick, Katy Maccauly & Donna Wilson - 147

Birdies: Julie Tuepah #17, Dee Horie #4 & #11, Raelene Robertson #4, #6 & #10, Maggie MacLean #12 & #15, Val Dingwall #5 and #7, Eveline Shaw #6, #7 & #14, Matilda Schneider #1.

KP’s: Eveline Shaw #7 and May Mitchell #16

Par 5’s: Linda Forman #1 Joanne Meyer #1, Jane Cunningham #1, Eileen Wallis #1, Judy Aldcroft #5 & jean Wharton #5

It was another wonderful day of fun, friendship and camaraderie that we all enjoy and appreciate so much living in this beautiful Valley

- Submitted by Audrey Clark

With superb course conditions, the scores keep sizzling for the Glacier Greens Ladies.

Today was pin day and Carmel Horochuk ran away with the pin

with a net 60!Tied for second low net with 64

were Bernice Henderson and Gillian Iddiols.

Low Gross: Gene Renaud with 87Low Putts: Wendy Dowe with 28Chip-ins for their respective

groups were Wendy Dowe & Marie Israel.

KP’s: Hole #4 Bernice HendersonHole #15 Barb CoyleNext week will be the Zone Net

Tournament Qualifier to keep in mind.

- Submitted by Lori Cameron

Scotch Pairs bowling fierceweekend of June 14/15 to the Men’s triples “SeaSoil Classic in Parksville which will include some of the National and provincial champions. Our Vern Greenhill with Henri Saucier and Dean Penny and Peter Harding, with new member Derek Kaufman and brother Tony have teams entered.

The Ladies will play pairs in Qualicum in the first Sylvia Gibbs event, a memorial to a lovely lady. Pat Cutt and Sandy Tonnellier and Melie Ursulom and Helen Ryley will represent Courtenay.

On the local scene, Tuesday Ladies Pairs have Jackie West in the lead after 3 weeks of play with 6 points.

The Mens Pairs have Don Wiseman and Dean Penny in front with 6 points as well.

Wednesday League: No results at the moment.

Thursday 242: Vern Greenhill 11 points with 5 others in close pursuit with 9 points.

Webber Singles: Vern and Dean tied, Peter Harding 3rd and Frank Lo 4th. In this event, everyone has a different number of games at any given time as they may re-schedule or “mark” more games than they have played.

I tell you this so that you are aware that there are Ladies involved in these games and they win some as well!

One of these days we will have the distaff side represented on the trophies!

Courtenay Lawn Bowling club hosted the Scotch Pairs June 7/8 and the Parksville Pair of Sandra Mitchell and Jon Lansdowne were the winners of the event.

Courtenay teams were yet again good hosts, but there were 2 of the 8 teams that won 3 of their four games to be in the money. They were Sandy Tonnellier and Henri Saucier who lost their second game and won the other three, and Pat Cutt who won 2 games on Saturday with a limping Al Hopwood and lost one/won one on Sunday with Bill Whitehouse.

Parksville teams took all the other honours but Courtenay will have the opportunity to get even on Thursday, June 11 as they host the Courtenay/ Parksville Challenge, a fun event with a variety of formats that hopeful-ly includes some of those bowlers who are not necessarily the “compet-itive” ones.

Monday, June 10 Interclub again saw the teams go to Parksville, and Courtenay teams won 3 of the 4 games. Congratulations! Next game June 23.

Travellers will be away on the

Winners Sandra Mitchell and Jon Lansdowne

Last ball season’s reigning first and second place teams were pit-ted against each other this past Friday night at Bill Moore Park in Comox Valley Men’s Baseball League action.

The Happys Source for Sports Reds were looking for revenge from the heart breaking loss in last year’s championship game to the Daryl Robbins C.G.A Athletics.

The Reds’ pitchers Adam Berkenstock (3IP, W, 2ER) and Dallas McDonald (2IP, 0ER) were able to hold off the Athletics’ pow-erful offence for long enough while the Reds’ bats woke up.

At the plate the Reds were led by Chris Mckague (3-4, BB), Adam Berkenstock (3-5) and Dallas McDonald (2-4, 2B, BB).

As the ball game moved into the

later innings the Athletics’ Jay Dzuba (1-4, 2B, BB), Dan Fauteux (1-3, 2B) and Andy Stewert (1-4) pieced together some offence for the A’s, to make it a game, but the Reds’ pitchers, Jeff Meija and Chris Mckague, came in late to mop up the win.

The Happys Source for Sports Reds beat the Daryl Robbins C.G.A Athletics by a score of 12-6.

In the second game of the night the Temprite Climate Solutions Orioles had a nail bitter against the Investors Group Blue Jays.

Defence was the key in this game. The Orioles’ Issac Alksne and Keenan Egeland made many fine plays in the field to hold off the Jays’ bats.

The Blue Jays countered the Orioles’ defence with strong pitch-

ing from Ryan Curtis (3IP, W, 0ER) and Ferris Sterling (2IP, 0ER) to keep the Orioles’ bats quiet all game. With offence at a premium, the Orioles’ pitching staff of Jordan Butcher (3IP, 0ER), Hayden Scheck (2IP, 1ER) and Keenan Andrews (2IP, 0ER) was just as dominant.

In the end it was just 1 single run that the Blue Jays needed to win the game, the Jays thwarted a squeeze bunt attempt by the Orioles’ Keenan Egeland in the bottom half of the 7th inning to win the game. The score was 1-0 for the Investors Group Blue Jays over the Temprite Climate Solutions Orioles.

The Comox Valley Mens Baseball League plays every Friday night, 7 pm at Bill Moore park in Courtenay.

Top ball teams go at it again

GOLF NEWS

TEAM NET FOR SUNNYDALE LADIES

SUNNYDALE MEN’S REPORT

NICE NIGHT FOR SUNNYDALE LADIES

CAPTAINS CUP FOR C.IS. LADIES

SIZZLING SCORES AT GLACIER GREENS


Comox Valley Echo Friday, June 13, 2014 B9

CARRIERS WANTEDEARN $$$$$$$$

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COURTENAYRt. 7107 – Between 17th & 13th - McPhee, Grieve,

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HospitalRt. 2129 – Sylvan, Parry, Aspen, IdiensRt. 2144B – Gardener Way, Mason Ave, Potter Pl. CROWN ISLERt. 3120 – Monarch, RoyalRt. 3134 – Crown Isle Dr., Birkshire, SussexVALLEYVIEWRt. 3110 – Back Road, Glen Urquhart, 10th St. E.,

Hobson, 6th St. E., AstonRt. 3113 – Elkhorn Ave, 9th St. E., Malahat,

ArrowsmithRt. 3122 – Swan, Trumpeter, Sparrow, Valley ViewRt. 3123 – Nechako, Chemainus, 5th St. E.,

Cowichan, 6th St. E.Rt. 3135 – Hawk, Swallow, WhiskeyjackRt. 3136 – Bluejay PlaceCOLEMAN ROAD AREARt. 4106 – Sea Terrace, Avonlee, LoxleyMISSION HILLRt. 5110 Summer Sub – Paula Pl, Tatton Rd, Adrian Rd,


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Comox Valley Echo - June 13, 2014