Lake Cowichan Gazette, May 11, 2016

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Worry over water levels, Page 2

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Fort Mac fi re makes local impactJAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE

“There but for the grace of God go I,” thought Brother John Burtch, pastor of the Youbou Community Church, last week while watching news reports of the fires in Fort McMurray.

For those who may not be familiar with the expression, it basically means but for the grace of God, the speaker might have suffered the same misfortunate as someone else. In this case, the devastating wildfires that surrounded Fort McMurray and forced the man-datory evacuation of all 80,000 residents on May 3.

“All of us around the lake, with the right conditions, could go up [in flames] in a heartbeat,” said Burtch.

The disaster struck close to home, which is why the church hosted a prayer vigil the follow-ing evening for all those impact-ed by the wildfires.

The idea was that of parish-ioner Lesley Joy, who was also moved by the images of the dis-aster she saw on the news.

“Watching these incredible pictures of people heading away into who knows what, no way of knowing what they’re going to come back to,” she said, upon arriving at the church.

See FORT MAC, Page 3

Gray Blatchford, left, Jady Thomas, Jack Thomas, Casey Thomas and Abi Blatchford take a short break from their Fort McMurray fundraiser. The kids set up a Kool-Aid and cookies sale to raise money for the victims of the wildfires in northern Alberta. They raised over $300. [TRACEY JOHNSON PHOTO]

2 Wednesday, May 11, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com

FAITHDIRECTORY

BAPTISTCowichan LakeBaptist Church8259 Beaver Road

Lake Cowichan250-749-3211

Sunday Service 10:30 a.m.Sunday School 10:30 a.m.

Pastor Dale Winters

ANGLICANSt. Christopher

and St. Aidan70 Cowichan Ave. W

Lake Cowichan250-749-3466Sunday Services

at 10:30 a.m.

PENTECOSTALLake Cowichan

Christian Fellowship10 King George St. South


Sunday Service 10:30 a.m.

Pastor Terry Hale

ROMAN CATHOLICSt. Louis

de Montfort60 Fern Road


Mass Sunday 9:00 a.m.

Fr. John Vines7474650

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ENVIRONMENT

As kids learn, offi cials worry over water levelsJAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE

Kim Walters’ second grade class is wrapping up their study of salmon and river eco-systems, and recently released close to 100 tiny chum salmon they raised in the classroom from eggs.

On April 29, Walters took her students to Oliver Creek, which runs through the wooded area behind Palsson Elementary School, and — two or three tiny fish at a time — they released all the salmon into the waterway.

“It’s a good use of that beauti-ful piece of property beside us there. We’re so fortunate to have it. It’s a living science lab,” she said. “They get to see the actual environment where the fish are going.”

Walters said the opportunity for the children to introduce the fish to their natural habitat provides students with a great-er appreciation of the local environment.

“They’ve learned the import-ance of keeping that forested area clean and healthy for the salmon because they’ve gone

through this effort to raise them,” she said.

Bob Crandall, president of the Cowichan Lake Salmonid Enhancement Society, runs salmon incubation programs at several Cowichan Valley schools, including Palsson Ele-mentary and Lake Cowichan School.

He said the water level in Oliver Creek is dramatically lower than when he and Wal-

ters brought her previous class there last year for the same activity. He said dropping water levels is the greatest risk facing salmon around the lake right now.

“You’ll soon see our people out with aerators and pails and rescuing salmon from pools. You’ll see a side channel that’s been disconnected from the main stream and then it gets smaller every day and the birds start coming and attacking the salmon,” he said. “So we’ll come out with nets and scoop and carry them over to the main [streams].”

Crandall said his group likes to include young people in these rescues, but it’s not possible to bring entire classes because carrying heavy water pails over rocks is too much of a safety hazard for such large groups.

Salmon rescues in lower parts of the Cowichan River have already begun.

Crandall said he and other volunteers will soon be check-ing all the tributaries around the lake and measuring their water levels.

Jordyn Kelly, left, and Morgan Turner get ready to release their salmon into Oliver Creek behind Palsson Elementary. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]

Avery Finlayson says goodbye to her salmon. From here they will swim down the Cowichan River to the ocean.

Autumn Kelly, left, and Alex de Groot hold up their hatchling chum salmon before releasing them into the wild.

“You’ll soon see our people out with aerators and pails and rescuing salmon from pools. You’ll see a side channel that’s been disconnected from the main stream and then it gets smaller every day and the birds start coming and attacking the salmon. So we’ll come out with nets...”

BOB CRANDALL, Cowichan Lake Salmonid Society

www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, May 11, 2016 3

Hanging Baskets Sale - funds raised go to Schools

$15.00 each

Saturday May 21, 2016

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.Saywell Park

sponsored by Communities in Bloom

LAKE COWICHAN FAMILY HERITAGE DAYS 2016

Contact Pat Foster: 250 749-3730for further information

HONEYMOON BAY LODGE & RETREAT PARTNERS

WITH YOUTH FOR CHRIST!Honeymoon Bay Retreat is located near Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island. The Retreat is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with Youth For Christ! They will be working together to serve the community of Vancouver Island and Canada by providing a beautiful and relaxing retreat centre for healing, training, group meetings, workshops, counselling, weddings, reunions, and for many other purposeful events. YFC is an international and Canada wide organization that ministers to at risk youth. YFC will use the Retreat to nurture their leaders by providing a place for rest, renewal, and growth. The Retreat will continue to be open to the public to rent as a whole or partial facility! “We will continue on with business as usual” said Tim Erickson the Executive Director. If you have any questions or would like to book a personal or group retreat, please call 1-888-749-4252. 7600846

25th AnniversaryOF THE

SENIORS’ CENTRE IN LAKE COWICHAN

Thursday, May 12thKitchen opens at 11:00am,

Music from noon.Enjoy cake, old pictures and history

with founding members

250-749-612155 Coronation St.

Joy said she would be praying for people across Canada.

“Whether they’re in Timmins, Ont., because they have a relative there or they’ve fled the fire or they’re fighting the fire. There are so many people affected,” she said.

Joy echoed Burtch’s sentiments about how people in the Cowichan Lake district can likely relate to what’s happened in Fort McMurray because of how dry recent summers have been.

“Because of the drought, because of the fires that were close to here,” she said. “We just have a different appreciation for what they’re going through than someone might, say, living in a high-rise apartment in Vancouver.”

Burtch described the Benedictine practice of “praying the news,” in which a person watches a television newscast, praying about its more difficult contents.

“Things like war in the Middle East or terrible car wrecks,” he said, adding that just before coming to the evening’s prayer vigil he saw a news item about the fatal car crash south of Fort McMurray, the only deaths reported to date in connec-tion with the fires.

Lake Cowichan resident Charlie Vincent was on the same stretch of highway when that May 4 accident took place. Both occupants of an SUV were killed when it collided with a tractor trailer on Highway 881 and burst into flames. Vincent, a maintenance planner at the Nexen oil sands facility in Long Lake, had been evacuated with his coworkers and was on a bus travelling south with other evacuees when the acci-dent occurred.

“It actually started a fire on the side of the road there. We sat there for three hours watching water bombers driving to douse the flames on the side of the road,” he said.

“I found it a little disturbing. We were supposed to be leaving a fire and instead we sort of drove right into one. At the time I didn’t realize it was an accident.”

Vincent was back at Lake Cow-ichan by Thursday, and although he said his experience was nothing like some of the people fleeing Fort McMurray, he did describe the jour-ney as somewhat of an odyssey.

“One thing that did kind of strike me while I was on the bus is the people who had been evacuated, they had their dogs and their chil-dren and it suddenly struck me it was like being on a bus full of refu-gees,” he said.

There is no word on when Vincent will be able to return to work at the Nexen plant, but he said it will be at least two weeks, if not longer. In the meantime, he’s happy to be with his family. “It always feels good to be back home,” he said.

Fort McMurray fi re a ‘real wake up call’: offi cials

The situation in Fort McMurray has prompted jurisdictions across Canada to reflect on their own emergency preparedness in the event of a large-scale wildfire.

Cybille Sanderson, emergency program manager with the Cow-ichan Valley Regional District, described the recent fires up north as a “real wake up call” and said she hopes more people will take emer-gency preparation seriously as a result.

“We had five wildfires last year and we were really lucky that none of them involved structures. But the reality is we could have that happen this year,” she said.

Sanderson is responsible for emer-gency management — preparing for, responding to, recovering from and mitigating major emergencies — for the entire region, includ-ing the four municipalities, nine electoral areas and all eight First Nations.

She said when it comes to a major fire, her department works closely with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) and relies on its expertise in understanding factors like where and how quickly the fire is trav-eling. In any emergency, the CVRD will order a mandatory evacuation as soon as homes and lives are threatened.

“It’s really about our people, homes and structures. Are they impacted? If they are, then we do evacuate,” said Sanderson.

Working with FLNRO, the region-al district will get a sense of which areas may need to be evacuated and will issue alerts if appropriate.

“Potentially what we would probably do is put out an advis-ory letting people know they may be required to evacuate on short notice, because as we know, fires can quickly change directions,” she said.

The CVRD has an emergency notification system people can sign up for through their website. This system allows the regional district to phone residents with a recorded message telling them they are on alert and should begin preparing for a potential evacuation. The record-ing also informs residents of the evacuee reception centre and sug-gests items to bring when leaving their homes.

Sanderson’s staff are not respon-sible for going door-to-door, notify-ing residents — that work is han-dled by the RCMP.

Lake Cowichan RCMP Sgt. Wes Olsen said during an emergency, he and his officers work to ensure an orderly evacuation in terms of traffic control and, if necessary, go door-to-door to inform people of the situation and ensure they get out.

“Even though the fire may be burning around Fort McMurray or, say, Lake Cowichan, we don’t aban-don our responsibility and our dut-ies. Personal safety is number one but we also protect personal prop-erty,” he said.

“If a full evacuation is ordered, I

FROM THE FRONT

Charlie Vincent saw fatal crash as he fl ed town

send my family out but unfortunately I have to stay behind and we’ve got to manage the policing requirements of the community we’re in.”

He said contrary to some beliefs, there is no uni-versal evacuation plan for Lake Cowichan for all severe wildfires because each wildfire is unique and needs to be assessed individually. Although Duncan is the obvious destination point in the event of a fire striking Lake Cowichan from the west, if Highway 18 or the old Cowichan Lake highway were cut off due to wildfires, there are two possible westward escape routes — to Port Alberni via Nitinat or to Sooke and Victoria via the Pacific Marine Circle Route.

The mayor of Lake Cowichan can declare a local state of emergency in the event of a smaller-scale situation such as flooding on a street or a fire that affects just one area and is contained.

“That would be something he would be respon-sible for declaring and we would make sure those people have adequate accommodations and lodg-ing and food,” said Joseph Fernandez, the town’s chief administrative officer. “But if it’s some-thing that goes beyond our boundaries we have to rely on others like the Ministry of Forests and the regional district obviously and other agencies.”

Centennial Hall and the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena are the designated reception area in the event of a local emergency. Fernandez said this

location might also be used in the event of a lar-ger disaster, but only if the situation does not require residents to evacuate the area. In the event of a large wildfire, the town relies on the regional district’s emergency management team to determine where residents must go.

[email protected]

FORT MAC, From Page 1

Lesley Joy and Brother John Burtch participate in a vigil at Youbou Community Church for Fort McMurray fire victims. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]

“We just have a different appreciation for what they’re going through...”

LESLEY JOY, Lake resident


Stop creating defi nitions of proportional rep.

Our new government in Can-ada has pledged to replace first-past-the-post federal elections before Canada’s next federal election in 2019. But I haven’t heard anything about the multi-party committee that was prom-ised to be created, and a recent newspaper article suggested that, if they don’t get started soon, they won’t be able to fulfill their pledge. Some groups are promoting what they call pro-portional representation.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines proportional representa-tion as “An electoral system in which parties gain seats in pro-portion to the number of votes cast for them.” This definition

means that a party which gets five per cent of the total number of votes cast in a federal elec-tion, is entitled to 16 seats in Parliament (five per cent of the available 338 seats). But, accord-ing to the information which is available on the internet, not a single organization in Canada is promoting a voting system which is in accord with the dic-tionary definition of proportion-al representation.

One of the characteristics of PR is that, in a country like Canada, which has a number of registered political parties, it is unlikely that any political party will get a majority of votes and two or more parties will have to form a coalition (and fight among themselves as to who will be prime minister) in order

to have a majority of seats in Parliament. Perhaps the desir-able PR should include a selec-tion of the prime minister by a majority of members of parlia-ment (MPs), similar to the proto-col used to select the speaker of the House of Commons. This would make it obvious that the prime minister is responsible to Parliament and would make it easier for a majority of the MPs to change the prime minister without calling an election.

In the meantime, I wish that people would stop creating their own definitions of proportional representation and stick with the one that is in the English dictionaries.

Robert RadfordDuncan

The Lake Cowichan Gazette is a division of Black Press Limited, locat-ed at 170E-Cowichan Lake Rd. Mail-ing address: Box 10, Lake Cowichan, BC, V0R 2G0Phone: 250-749-4383Fax: 250-748-1552

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Do you have an emergency plan?

What would you take if you had only minutes to escape?

These questions have been on the minds of Cowichan Valley residents as we watch and read about the fire in Fort McMurray, which, by Friday morning had burned more than 100,000 hec-tares and forced the evacuation of a city of 80,000 people.

While reports are that fire-fighters have managed to pre-serve most of the community’s key service buildings thus far, including the airport, hospital, etc., flames have claimed over

2,400 homes, and now even com-munities to the south of Fort McMurray have been evacuated, as the fire shifted last Thursday.

Tales from the fire zone have included many from people who didn’t have even hours to pre-pare for departure — they were literally running out the door with the clothes on their backs while they saw the neighbour’s house consumed by flames, and theirs was next.

So what would you grab if it were you?

The first and most obvious thing is to make sure that all of the human beings are safe —

kids, elderly parents and grand-parents etc.

Then there are your four-legged friends. For most people they are far more vital than any material possessions could ever be and making sure they’re mak-ing their escape with you is key.

After that come the practical and irreplaceable things like your purse/wallet/identification, laptop or backup hard drive, food and water in the former case, and family photos and mementos in the latter.

If you have mere moments, it pays to have thought a bit about this in advance, so you know

where your key items/people/pets are and can round every-thing up fast.

It’s also a good idea to make sure everyone in the household has the same set of priorities and is working on the same plan. Everyone can be given par-ticular jobs, making a necessary exodus even faster. Planning can help control the fear and chaos of the moment.

The Cowichan Lake area is a series of communities sur-rounded by forest. History of the area tells of terrible fires of the past. Last summer, smoke blan-keted the area from wildfires

both far and distressingly near.The dread possibilities are

something that most residents have likely at least briefly entertained.

Fort McMurray is like a worst case scenario — though loss of life has, incredibly, been very small.

It’s worth considering what you’d do if it was you.

Fort McMurray reminds us to plan aheadOUR VIEW

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Gazette


Street Beat The Gazette asked:

Are you concerned about recent incidents of vandalism in Lake Cowichan?

Bert Lievre

“I haven’t really heard of any incidents lately.”

Corry Brooks

“Actually I haven’t known about any here. I did hear about some in Mesachie Lake though.”

Donna Grewal

“That is always a concern; seems there is more here now. Maybe we should set up some neighbourhood committees to watch out for it.”

Grant Parr

“No, I wasn’t aware of them.”

Marg Corbett

“Have there been some? I haven’t heard of any lately but I think it has always been here. There use to be a lot more when my boys were growing up but there use to be more kids around then.”

With Malcolm Chalmers

LETTERS TO THE EDITORSend your items to: [email protected]

OPINION

We must oppose the Trans Pacifi c Partnership

Shiv Chopra was recently in Duncan to give a talk trying to raise awareness of the threat of the Trans Pacific Partnership to our food and health safety.

At 82 years old he is still pas-sionate about Canada’s laws and policies around food. As a scientist who worked for Health Canada he was fired for failing to approve the usage of a num-ber of animal drugs.

He is labelled as a whistle-blower because he was fired for standing up for his belief that the animal antibiotics he was being asked to approve would end up in human food with negative consequences.

He maintains our Food and Drug Act is not being imple-mented as it is written.

It is under pressure from pharmaceutical companies to approve drugs and from com-panies that want to spray pesti-cides and insecticides on food.

The TPP will open the Can-adian market to U.S. milk, which contains Bovine Growth Hor-mone. Canada does not allow BGH in our milk.

A requirement of the TPP will be no country of origin label, so we will not know where our milk comes from.

The TPP will threaten “buy local” policies as that would restrict foreign companies from doing business here. If a for-eign corporation feels they are not being allowed the business opportunity they want they will have the right to sue Canada. Increasingly our tax dollars are being used to pay off these lawsuits.

The TPP will weaken our laws around environmental regu-lation, food safety, minimum

wages, social programs, etc. What happens to our sovereign-ty if we can be sued for laws we have fought to implement? We have seen corporations challenge pesticide bans, public health warnings on cigarettes, the rejection of pipeline pro-jects, fracking bans and much more.

Either the government con-tinues to pay after being sued or they stop enacting policies and regulations that are in the public interest but not corporate interest.

We need to stand up to our gov-ernment and say we don’t want the TPP. And by the way, these so called “public consultations” that Christia Freeland is hold-ing are turning out to be any-thing but public. Check out the Council of Canadians website for more information.

Donna Cameron Duncan

To not make any eff ort to store water shameful

Who, if anyone, came up with what looks to be an astronomic-al amount of cash to take care of raising the lake level?

I’m sure that a modern built weir about 50 yards down-stream would not cost half that amount.

Or, as a temporary measure, new boards added to the exist-ing structure raising the water level some 16 inches?

Knowing of the weather pat-terns, less snowpack etc. to not make any effort to alleviate this coming problem really is shameful.

George MannersCowichan Bay

Growing trees for climate change

Disagreements persist on the extent of humanity’s role in the current chan-

ges to B.C.’s climate, and our ability to influence it, as many readers have told me in the past week.

But almost everyone seems to agree that growing more and healthier forests is a good strategy. I would add that har-vesting and building with wood preserves its captured carbon, a fact not much discussed in emotional appeals against logging.

The B.C. government is final-ly spending some money on community fuel load removal projects this year, after an initial flurry following the Kelowna fires of 2003 faded in hard times. But the effects of decades of fire suppression in a fire-dependent forest system remain, as northern B.C. and Alberta are showing us again.

There is some positive news here. A Victoria-based govern-ment research team has pub-lished a study that calculates B.C.’s pine beetle-damaged forests are regenerating more quickly than expected.

Warmer temperatures, increased precipitation and the “fertilizer effect” of more car-bon dioxide in the atmosphere are factors.

“By 2020, the enhanced growth due to climate change and increased CO2 more than compensates for the carbon

loss from dead, rotting trees,” said lead researcher Vivek Arora of the Canadian Centre for Modeling and Analysis.

This recovery even overcomes the projected increase in forest fire loss that comes with grad-ually increasing temperatures and drier periods.

The federal government is still working on its plan to meet greenhouse gas reduction tar-gets agreed to in Paris last year. But the forest industry has stepped up with its own goal.

I spoke last week with Derek Nighbor, president of the For-est Products Association of Canada, after he announced his industry’s “30 by 30 Climate Change Challenge.”

That’s a goal to reduce the industry’s net carbon emissions by 30 megatonnes a year by 2030. That would be 13 per cent of the Canadian government emission target.

One of the main strategies is salvage harvesting and devel-oping more products that use wood.

“It’s basically trying to use every part of the tree,” Nighbor said. “In forest operations right now, this is where we see a big part of the opportunity. Instead of the residual branches and whatnot just being left aside and slashing and burning, bring more of that out and turn it into something.”

That something might be a console in a luxury car con-structed with wood fibre, or an 18-storey wood student resi-dence building planned for the University of B.C.

The other is improving forest growth. Logging operations have long been required to replant areas they cut, not just in B.C. but across Canada.

Another way to improve for-est carbon capture is with more productive species, with gen-etic techniques that increase resiliency as well as wood mass.

A background paper from the B.C. forests ministry responds to common misconceptions about forest carbon, including the idea that logging should be stopped to maximize storage.

“Maximizing carbon storage in the ecosystem would make sense only if society stopped building new homes, acquiring new furniture and consuming in general,” it says.

“If the flow of forest prod-ucts stops, society will turn to other products with higher greenhouse gas footprints, e.g. plastics, metal or concrete. In addition, if harvesting stopped and we continued to suppress natural disturbances, there is increased potential for larger catastrophic disturbances in the future.”

If Canada wants to make a bigger contribution to reducing greenhouse gases, forests are a good area to focus on. At 348 million hectares from the B.C. coast to Newfoundland, they represent nine per cent of the world’s forests.

Pine beetle-affected trees burn in the B.C. Interior in 2014. [BLACK

PRESS FILES]

Tom FletcherBC Views

Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @tomfletcherbc


JUNE 5TH- 12TH

2016

For more info call laurieLauri Meanley • 250-748-2666 x 227

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Publication Date: June 1stDeadline: May 29th • 9am

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JUNE 1ST GAZETTEJUNE 3RD

CITIZEN

Special Section Featuring:

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JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE

Potential parking issues during Sunfest generated much discussion at the Town of Lake Cowichan’s Public Works and Environmental Services committee meet-ing as councillors debated how best to manage the town’s public parking spaces at a time when a large influx of motorists is anticipated.

The council and staff discussed a list of available parking areas in the town, and which of these areas should be designat-ed pay parking during the Sunfest week-end to be controlled by volunteer organ-izations who could then keep the money raised through parking fees.

“Personally I think it’s a good opportun-ity for non-profit groups. I think it’s a ser-vice they will be providing the community by having some control over parking, [dur-ing] what is probably going to be a busy weekend,” said Mayor Ross Forrest. “If it’s just everybody for themselves, you’re going to have people parking everywhere out here.”

He put forward a motion that the town offer up its public parking for non-prof-its through LEAD’s Sunfest welcoming committee.

Coun. Tim McGonigle expressed some concerns about how charging for parking could potentially impact businesses, par-ticularly in central locations like Saywell Park.

He also pointed out the logistical chal-lenges of charging for parking along parts of South Shore Road without proper infra-structure like meters.

“I do support it because we will need the parking, but I think we may have a learn-ing experience in the first year of seeing how this works. I’m finding that that

might be problematic,” he said. McGonigle said he felt council should

offer up (to LEAD organizers) the park-ing spaces the town has control over but should not get involved with the actual management of those areas duringSunfest.

“What they do with them should not be a policy at this table,” he said.

Coun. Bob Day spoke up against the motion, which would see all town-owned parking areas potentially open to pay park-ing that weekend. He said he did not like the idea of charging for parking at places like Greendale Park, the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena or the boat launch.

“If I was going to offer anything up to this group, I would offer the closest park-ing location to town or the two or three [closest], the Stanley Gordon [School] or Centennial Park and that’s where they could charge,” he said, referring to earli-er comments that Stanley Gordon School could potentially be available for parkingthat weekend.

“That’s what I would recommend. Pick a large location and make that a place to do business but leave the other ones as they are the rest of the year.”

However, superintendent of public works Nagy Rizk pointed out that Centennial Park may not be available for parking due to construction.

Ultimately, the original motion was defeated and council unanimously decid-ed to provide a list of town-owned parkingspaces to LEAD’s Sunfest committee, ask-ing them to select the parking areas where they would like to offer pay parking, pend-ing final approval by council.

Council also directed staff to contact the school district about the possible availabil-ity of Stanley Gordon School for parking.

LAKE COWICHAN COUNCIL

Paid parking now in the hands of LEAD

ROSS FORRESTBOB DAY

On Thursday, May 12 we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sen-iors’ Centre in Lake Cowichan.

The building was originally named the Seniors’ Centre and is now called the 50 Plus Activity Centre.

Visit the centre on the 12th to meet some of the special people who worked so hard to build this significant part of our community. View old photos of the many events held at the centre, news-paper clippings and other items of our history.

The kitchen opens at 11 a.m. for lunch, music with the Goodtime Boys starts at noon and founding members will be serving cake to everyone until 1 p.m. or when it runs out.

The “50 Plus” is an active place during the week and we encourage those new to the area to check us out. Our Food Safe kitchen serves reasonably-priced, homemade soups, sandwiches and des-serts from 11 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

During the year the Golden Agers’ Society offers a variety of special events for our members. Dedicated volunteers

organize Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas banquets as well as spring and fall bazaars. Several trips are organized annually to local farms and wineries, the Chemainus Theatre and the IMAX/Museum in Victoria. And, this year we are planning a Sock Hop for Oct. 29 with all our favourite 50s and 60s music.

Some weekly activities are exercises with Pat Jung Monday/Wednesday/Fri-day, line dancing Monday and Friday, euchre Monday, bridge Tuesdays, carpet bowling Wednesday, bingo Wednesday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m., music day Thursday from noon and crib and canasta Fridays. We welcome newcom-ers to all our activities.

If you are interested in membership in the C.L. Golden Agers’ Society the hostess at the front desk can help from 10 a.m. Until 2 p.m. Monday to Friday. Membership is $15 per calendar year and the benefits are subsidies for trips, dances and banquets as well as one ambulance reimbursement per year per member.

Consider a visit. Stay for lunch, play pool or shuffleboard in our games room, or check out the wares of the craft ladies on Thursdays. And we welcome volunteers to help us keep things run-ning smoothly. For further info call 749-6121 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Carolyn Austin is the past president of the Golden Agers Society.

SENIORS’ CENTRE

CarolynAustinSeniors Report

Anniversary May 12


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SCHOOLS

Author tells kids about her Light YearsJAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE

Although Caroline Woodward’s latest book, Light Years: A Mem-oir of a Modern Lighthouse Keep-er, was written for adults, these structures and the landscapes they inhabit have a universal power, which is what brought the author to Palsson Elementary School on April 29.

Woodward, whose book was nominated for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award at this year’s BC Book Awards (ultimate-ly it lost out to Susan Musgrave’s A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World), spoke to the school about her many experi-ences as a lighthouse keeper, which she accompanied with a slideshow of pictures taken by her husband, photographer Jeff George.

“Having visuals for the K to three age group is important,” said Woodward, who had already visited nine other schools as part of her book tour.

Woodward started by reading to students one of her earlier works, a picture book called Singing Away the Dark, which was published in 2010. Woodward has written for a wide range of age groups, and said her choice of audience all comes down to content.

“Different material suits dif-ferent genres or age groups,” she said. “I’m working on a ser-ies more from [early] in my life because your memories are so vivid and pure… You see the world in a clear way that we tend to muddy as we get older.”

The presentation at Palsson featured an explanation of Wood-ward’s and her husband’s tasks as lighthouse keepers, the risks and dangers the coastline can present to ships and paddlers and

a list of the flora and fauna they encounter on a daily basis.

The idea for the book was born out of a piece of fiction told from the perspective of a lighthouse keeper. It was one paragraph in the story taken directly from Woodward’s life that caught the attention of an editor.

“I was encouraged to write more and voila, the right publisher read it and asked if I had a book with more stories like that. So I wrote it,” she said.

Eight years ago, Woodward and her husband were seeking an adventure when the opportunity

to work in lighthouses presented itself. Woodward said her child-hood on a rural homestead in the Peace River region had pre-pared her for the isolated life at a lighthouse. She also saw it as an opportunity to focus more on her writing — not that she had so much free time!

“ M a ny p e o p l e a r e q u i t e astounded by the variety of the tasks we perform, from daily sea water samples, twice-daily climate reports, and all manner of assistance to the public: boat-ers, hikers, surfers, float planes, people out on the water or in the

coastal wilderness with medical and other emergencies,” she said.

Light Years shares the perspec-tive of a modern lighthouse keep-er, and does not delve into the his-tory or mechanics of lighthouses.

“Those readers who want tech-nical information should read winch engine manuals,” she said. “Some members of the public want romantic notions of light-house life reinforced, [such as] lighthouse life and working con-ditions set in the 1930s or earlier.”

Although Woodwar d has worked at a variety of light-houses along the B.C. coast, she

and her husband have been pri-marily based on Lennard Island, off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino. She said spending time outdoors every day — “[observing] the state of the trees, the inter-tidal pools, the caves and channels, the build-ings, the birds, the sea mammals, the ocean itself” — helps to stave off monotony and constantly keep her imagination engaged.

“I find inspiration in savingasparagus seeds and having them germinate in the greenhouse for the first time ever. I enjoy beingable to identify migrating birds and to know the right names for all the wild and domestic plants on the island,” she said, addingthe internet and remote library service through the Vancouver Island Regional Library have also been very important.

“It is a challenge on Foggy Day #8 but it makes me dig deep and write.”

Woodward said she hopes the children at Palsson Elementary see that anyone can become a writer, you don’t have to be from a big city.

“I came from a farming place of 300 people,” she said. “We all have stories and they’re all valid and we need to express them. I hope that kids from Lake Cowichan and Youbou and places like that really get that.”

Caroline Woodward visits Palsson Elementary School to talk about being a lighthouse keeper and to promote her new book, ‘Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper’. Woodward is also the author of the acclaimed children’s book ‘Singing Away the Dark’. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]

“Many people are quite astounded by the variety of the tasks we perform, from daily sea water samples, twice-daily climate reports, and all manner of assistance to the public...”CAROLINE WOODWARD, author


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Lake Cowichan School is expanding its gardens, with plans to incorporate their increased harvest into pre-existing school

programs, thanks to a donation from a Duncan car dealership.

On May 3, Quinton Darnell, sales manager at Jim Pattison Toyota Duncan, presented LCS with a cheque for $650.

The money will go to a variety of initiatives, including the construction of eight to 10 planter boxes, garden supplies and eventually a second greenhouse.

The funds come as part of the Toyota-Ever-green Learning Grounds program, in which Toyota Canada contributes to projects aimed at transforming school grounds into greener environments.

Darnell said his dealership had heard about the program for quite some time, but this was the first opportunity they had to participate with a school.

“[Toyota Canada] put us in touch with a school that’s closest to us that’s doing the program and that happens to be Lake Cowichan,” he said. “Whatever we can do as a local dealership in the future, I want to reach out to help out because when I was going to school it wasn’t like that so I was very impressed.”

The plan for the gardens at LCS is to grow food that can be used to subsidize pre-existing pro-grams in the school which rely on purchased produce, such as the cooking/foods class, the lunch and breakfast programs and even the school’s Meals on Wheels program.

“So instead of having to pay for groceries for that, now that money can go towards other things,” said teacher Noni Battye who first identified the Evergreen program as a possibil-ity. “This is where we’re starting to become, I suppose, a little more sustainable.”

When she first learned of the Evergreen pro-gram, Battye and some of her students surveyed the LCS grounds to decide what they could pot-entially put the money towards.

Eventually they would like to add benches and native plants to different parts of the school property, and to design and construct an out-door classroom, but when they looked at a large vacant space at the rear of the building, the idea of expanding the school’s gardens became their top choice for a project.

“Rather than our foods program having to go out and buy foods, they can go out to the garden and pick it,” she said.

Battye also said the school has partnered with the Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Soci-ety and hopes students can begin growing some of the native plant species the society currently purchases from a grower up island.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to start generatingsome income from plant sales,” she said, addingthat the program also fits with the school’s over-arching goal of providing opportunities to get students out and active in the community.

The garden project is already underway, and there will be some volunteers helping with the garden’s watering and maintenance over the summer.

Battye said Darnell’s enthusiasm about the pro-ject was evident. She was happy he came to the school for a tour.

“I don’t think a lot of people in Duncan realize what it’s like out here. So it was neat to get to show that to him out here,” she said.

Darnell said the project’s importance was made that much clearer to him because this year he’s planted his very first garden at home.

“I was saying to my daughter, ‘Why aren’t we learning these things in school?’ And so when I walked through the school in Lake Cowic-han yesterday, they’re doing just that and then some,” he said.

[email protected]

EDUCATION

Donation drives expansion of school gardens

Quinton Darnell, left, presents LCS Grade 12 student Raimund Mullins with a cheque in support of the school’s new garden initiative on behalf of Jim Pattison Toyota Duncan. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]


For more information, please contact Engineering Services at 250.746.2530 or [email protected].

The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) wants your input to build a new facility at the Meade Creek Recycling Centre.

The Meade Creek Recycling Centre needs to be upgraded to remediate the historic garbage incinerator. A new facility will be built on site to accommodate future demands for recycling and waste management.

You are invited to complete a questionnaire to tell us what improvements you would like to see made to the Meade Creek Recycling Centre to better serve the community.

Questionnaires are available online at cvrd.bc.ca/meadecreek. Or you may pick up and/or drop off completed questionnaires at the Meade Creek Recycling Centre, the Cowichan Lake Recreation Centre, the Town of Lake Cowichan offi ce, or the Honeymoon Bay Canada Post offi ce. You may also submit completed questionnaires by mail to the CVRD offi ce located at 175 Ingram Street, Duncan, BC, V9L 1N8 or by email to [email protected]. Please submit all questionnaires by June 1, 2016.

MEADE CREEK RECYCLING CENTRE UPGRADE

7600

763

7596476

ReflectionsReflections

AnniversaryConcert

AnniversaryConcert

25th25th

Featuring exciting new music and old favourites plus guest soloists

Come Celebrate

Conductor: Simon Leung Accompanist: Michael GaudetSaturday May 21, 2 p.m. St. Christopher’s, Lake Cowichan

Sunday May 22, 2 p.m. Duncan United Church, Duncan

Tickets in advance $17, at the door $20. Available at Volume One book store, Duncan or Choir members.

Children 12 & under free.

with the


Don’t let the name fool you, pickleball has nothing to do with cooking, condiments or the Heinz corporation — it’s a sport, and one that is exploding in popularity around Cowichan Lake.

On Saturday, more than 30 pickleball players participated in the South Shore Classic Spring Pickleball Tournament, which was hosted by Cowichan Lake Recreation at the curling rink, where the ice surface has been removed for the season and four pickleball courts established in its place.

The sport combines elements of tennis, bad-minton and ping pong, on courts similar in size to those used in badminton. Players hit a wiffle ball back and forth over a tennis net using pad-dles. The game is played to 11 points and lasts on average about 15 minutes. The smaller court size and duration of games is part of the reason the sport is particularly popular among people over 50. It also isn’t as physically demanding as racquet sports like tennis or squash.

Brent Harrison has been playing for about five years and described it as “addictive.” Although he was not participating in the tournament as a player due to a logging injury, he did come out to watch and to cheer on his uncle, Bob Harrison, who is 80 years old and an avid player.

“Many players have limited mobility but still enjoy it,” he said. “I’ve played with a lady in Ari-zona with a pacemaker, but you get in her wheel house and she’ll make you pay.”

Harrison said there are some variations on pickleball’s origin story, but it’s commonly understood the sport was created by a couple who lived in the San Juan Islands.

“They had a tennis court there and they invented it. They had a dog named Pickle, a Jack Russell, and they didn’t have fences around the court so when they had to retrieve the ball, they’d say, ‘Pickle, ball’ and Pickle would go get the ball.”

Harrison said despite the sport’s growing popu-larity, many people are still unfamiliar with it. But he said those who are aware and who play tend to be fanatics, always welcoming of new players.

“One thing I notice about pickleball is you can just show up at a game and you’re invited to join. With baseball and golf, you can’t just join in,” he said.

Dennis Peters has been playing since he moved to Lake Cowichan three years ago and said the social aspects of pickleball were a great way to meet people in the community.

“I can’t understate the social component. I mean, this group, we have birthday parties, we go for coffee after a game, that sort of thing,” he said.

Over the past three years, Peters has watched the group grow from around 10 players to approximately 50. During the winter pickleball is played at the community halls in Honeymoon Bay and Youbou, while gameplay migrates to Lake Cowichan and the curling rink during the summer. The sport can be played indoors and outdoors, and Peters said local players are hope-ful the town and other partners will help make an outdoor court a reality by next summer.

“But who knows. There are a few hurdles we have to get over first,” he added.

A woman named Jean Cousins is considered the first person to bring pickleball to the Cow-ichan Lake district. Cousins died in 2013, and every fall the Jean Cousins Memorial Pickleball tournament is held in Youbou.

“She was so good. She loved a really good, hard game and she would laugh. She was lovely,” said Fearon.

In addition to locals, Saturday’s tournament featured players from Victoria, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, Ladysmith and Salt Spring Island. Bob Fish of Youbou placed first in the men’s finals while Glenda Sharpe of Ladysmith captured first in the women’s.

SPORTS

Plenty of players picking up pickleball

Pickleball, which is a combination of tennis, badminton and pingpong, is growing in popularity in the Cowichan Lake district. During the winter it’s played in Honeymoon Bay and Youbou, while in the summer it’s played in Lake Cowichan at the curling rink. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]

Dennis Peters strikes back at the South Shore Classic Spring Pickleball Tournament on Saturday. He started playing three years ago.

Pickleball is especially popular among people 50 years and older, due in part to the fact it is not as physically demanding as tennis or other racquet sports.


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Logging experience is required. Shifting will be 8 days on and 4 off, union rate and full benefits.

If you are interested in a future with us, please send your resume to

[email protected] or fax to (250)286-3653.

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COMING EVENTS

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BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

HIP OR KNEE REPLACEMENT? Arthritic Conditions/COPD? Restrictions in Walking/Dressing? Disability Tax Credit $2,000 Tax Credit $20,000 Refund. Apply today For Assistance: 1-844-453-5372.

HIGH PROFIT HIGH CASH PRO-DUCING LOONIE VENDING MACHINES. All on Locations - Turnkey Operation, Perfect Home Based Business. Full Details CALL NOW! 1-866-668-6629, WEBSITE WWW.TCVEND.COM.


DEPUTY DIRECTOROF OPERATIONS

District of Kitimat, exempt staff position with generous compensation. Reporting to the Operations Manager, is responsible for repair and maint. of the municipality’s infrastructure including roads,signage, sidewalks, general clean-up, common services, buildings & fl eet equipment, and assists with municipal water and sewer operations. Candidates will have a Civil Technologist Diploma and 5 years’ senior management experience in a municipal or similar work environment; an Applied Science Tech. Cert. is an asset.

Submit resumes byMay 29, 2016, 4:30 p.m.,to Personnel, District ofKitimat, 270 City Centre, Kitimat, B.C. V8C 2H7,

Fax: 250-632-4995 E-mail [email protected]

EDUCATION/TRADE SCHOOLS

INTERIOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT SCHOOL. Hands-On Tasks. Start Weekly. GPS Training!

Funding & Housing Avail! Job Aid! Already a HEO?

Get certifi cation proof.Call 1-866-399-3853 or go to:

iheschool.com

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION, HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTA-TION, Medical Terminology online courses. Train with CanScribe, the accredited and top-rated online Canadian school. Work from home careers! 1-866-305-1165. www.can-scribe.com [email protected]

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION!In-demand career! Employers have work-at-home positions available. Get online training you need from an employer-trusted program. Visit: CareerStep.ca/MT or 1-855-768-3362 to start training for your work-at-home career today!

START A NEW CAREER in Graphic Arts, Healthcare, Business, Education or Infor-mation Tech. If you have a GED, Call: 855-670-9765

ACCOUNTING/TAX/BOOKKEEPING

HELP WANTED

LICENSED LOG SCALERRequired full-time for a Coastal Operation in

Chemainus, BC., Union position. Metric & Scribner scale experience required.

Email resume to:[email protected]

PHARMACY ASSISTANTPart-time with potential for full-time. Monday to Friday, no evenings or weekends.

Good customer service skills required. Pharmacy experience an asset.

email resume to: pharmacysage123

@gmail.com

REGENT Christian Online Academy is seeking a Special Education Assistant, up to 15 hours per week, to work in lo-cal home and community set-tings with a teen with special needs; days are fl exible, now until June 22 with the pos-sibility of continuing in Sep-tember. Must provide own transportation. Experience with autism or challenging be-haviors an asset. Email re-sume to [email protected]

PERSONAL SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

$750 Loans & MoreNO CREDIT CHECKS

Open 7 days/wk. 8am - 8pm 1-855-527-4368

Apply at:www.credit700.ca

GET BACK ON TRACK! Bad credit? Bills? Unemployed? Need Money? We Lend! If you own your own home - you qualify. Pioneer Acceptance Corp. Member BBB.

1-877-987-1420 www.pioneerwest.com

LARGE FUNDBorrowers Wanted

Start saving hundreds of dollars today! We can easily approve you by phone. 1st, 2nd or 3rd mortgage money is available right now. Rates start at Prime. Equity counts. We don’t rely on credit, age or income.

Call Anytime1-800-639-2274 or

604-430-1498. Apply online www.capitaldirect.ca

ACCOUNTING/TAX/BOOKKEEPING

PERSONAL SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

NEED A LOAN? Own Property? Have Bad Credit? We can help! Call toll free 1 866 405 1228 www.fi rstandsecondmortgages.ca

HOME/BUSINESS SERVICES

BUSINESS SERVICES

Have you been denied Canada Pension Plan disability benefi ts? The Disability Claims Advocacy Clinic can help you appeal.

Call 1-877-793-3222 Website: www.dcac.ca Email: [email protected]

HAULING AND SALVAGE

COWICHAN Hauling & Moving

(250) 597-8335HAULING/JUNK REMOVAL

MOVING & DELIVERIES SMALL DEMOLITION JOBS

PLUMBING

A SERVICE PLUMBER. Li-cence, Insured. Drains, HWT, Reno’s, Repairs. Senior Dis-counts. After Hour Service. Call Coval Plumbing, 250-709-5103.

PETS

FEED & HAY

TIMOTHY Hay for sale. Great quality. $15.00 per bale. 60 lb. bales. Pitt Meadows. Call anytime. 604 505 4087

MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE

REFORESTATION NURSERYSEEDLINGS of hardy trees, shrubs, & berries for shelterbelts orlandscaping. Spruce & Pine from $0.99/tree. Free Shipping. Replacement guarantee.1-866-873-3846 or www.treetime.ca


MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE

SAWMILLS from only $4,397 -MAKE MONEY & SAVE MONEYwith your own bandmill - Cut lumberany dimension. In stock ready toship. FREE Info & DVD:www.NorwoodSawmills.com/400OT 1-800-566-6899 Ext:400OT.

MISCELLANEOUS WANTED

FIREARM BUYER looking for any type, any con-dition of fi rearms, whole es-tates to single, fair market val-ue paid, have all licences to purchase.Call (250)667-4862.

REAL ESTATE

FOR SALE BY OWNER

RENTALS

HALLS

LIONS’ CLUB HALL for rent $75. Deposit required. CallEileen 250-749-3345.

TRANSPORTATION

SPORTS & IMPORTS

2001 Campion AlanteSport,19ft.,Volvo Penta 265hp,EZ LoaderTrailer, only 300hrson engine, immaculate condi-tion, never been in salt water$15,650 text or call 250-218-2450

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INDEX IN BRIEFFAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS

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EMPLOYMENT

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REAL ESTATE

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AUTOMOTIVE

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT

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GARAGE SALES

DOWN-SIZING & GARAGE SALESaturday, May 14

9 am - 2 pm142 Elk Rd.,

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GARAGE SALES

MASSIVE GARAGE & ESTATE SALE

Sat & Sun, May 14 & 159 am - 3 pm

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Garage Sales

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ALL YOU NEED IN PRINT AND ONLINE

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Cowichan LakeSERVICE DIRECTORY

20+ years experience

250-749-4997250-709-5103

COVAL PLUMBING

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After Hour Service | Seniors’ DiscountsRenovations | New Construction | RepairsHot Water Tanks | Drain CleaningSeptic Design & InstallationWater Services

INDEPENDENTCRAFTSMAN

QUALITY COMES FIRST.• RENOVATIONS • INSTALLATIONS • FRAMING

• ALL FINISHING CARPENTRY • CUSTOM KITCHENS • LAMINATE FLOORING • DECKS • FENCES

• SHEDS • ADDITIONS • WINDOWS & DOORS

JOHN PORTELANCE

[email protected]

FINISHING CARPENTER WITHOVER 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE. • Fish • Pet food/supplies

• Otter Co-op Livestock Feed • Wood Pellets • Grooming

MONTHLY VET CLINICwith Dr. Nancy Holling170A Cowichan Lake Rd.250-749–4454

Cowichan PetEmporium (1996)

TIPTONSGAS BAR

14 North Shore Rd.Lake Cowichan

• Gas • Diesel • Boat Gas • Confections

• Boat • Ice250-749-6133OPEN: Mon.-Sat: 5am to 10pm

Sun: 7am - 8pm

4 SeasonGUTTER CompanyA gutter above the rest.Featuring: Crown Moulding

Fascia GuttersCall Steve for Free estimate

Locally owned& operated

250-715-6038250-749-4192

D.B.G. PAINTING

INSURED | FREE ESTIMATES

Interior/Exterior

Residential/Commercial

Seniors Discount

Dan Gardner250-510-0289

AFFORDABLE ADVERTISING RATES

Small Weekly Ads $13.00

Large Weekly Ads$26.00

Colour additional $15.00 per ad

COWICHAN LAKE

SMILE FILEName: Dianne JayOccupation: retiredHometown: 46 years in

Lake CowichanI’ve always wanted to: go

to Las VegasFavourite food: is

chocolateBest thing about living

here: the peopleFavourite activity:

loungingMy proudest moment:

birth of my childrenI define down time as:

sitting on my deck with a cold drink

I wish I was better at: dieting

If I was stuck on a desert island I would definitely need: water

Favourite moment of day is: mid afternoon, I’m finished everything by then, time to relax on the deck

I’m currently reading: a novel by Karen KingsburyMy guiltiest pleasure is: chocolateMy go-to wardrobe staple: casual clothesIn my car I listen to: old-time rock & rollIn my fridge you’ll find: fruit and vegetables

— With Malcolm Chalmers

Check out our Facebook page:‘Lake Cowichan Gazette’

Find us online at lakecowichangazette.com

Word has it that healthy plants are less likely to succumb to predation,

but after watching my appar-ently healthy looking plants fall prey to greedy little insects, that’s not what I’ve found. Let me tell you about what worked and what didn’t.

This spring I covered my seed-ling trays with pieces of remay to keep out white butterflies dying to unload their eggs on my brassica seedlings as soon as I turned my back.

Pouring water into the bottom half-inch of the flats allowed water to flow up to the seeds by capillary action, didn’t disturb the seeds as they would have been if watered from above and reduced damping-off. Ser-endipitously, slugs and wood bugs drowned in the bottom of the trays and left my seedlings alone! So for the first time in the 10 years we’ve lived here, most of my susceptible seedlings survived.

Out in the garden come transplanting time I got hoops in place and readied a length of remay before I even trans-planted brassicas under the

watchful eyes of laden white butterflies. I kept the trays of seedlings covered with remay right up until I transplanted them into the garden, then when they were all dug in I quickly covered the hoops with the large remay and battened down the perimeter.

That was three weeks ago and the plants are doing fine. I intend to keep the remay over the plants until they’re finished, removing it only to side-dress with fertilizer and spraying with compost tea.

To avoid bringing in bugs that’ll kill your seedlings along with your compost, you can do a few things: wait until the com-post is nearly finished and the bugs will have gone elsewhere for a meal, sterilize the compost with boiling water or in a 350 F oven for about 30 minutes, or you can buy compost.

Using your own unsterilized compost has the advantage of including microbes that will help growing seedlings absorb nutrients and prevent damping-off.

I experimented with straw bales this spring and planted strawberries on them in my greenhouse, hoping that pill-bugs that in previous years destroyed the crop would be reluctant to scale the bales. Oh, it started off innocuously at first with just a few tiny ones crawling around and I sprinkled

used coffee grounds to hopefully throw them off the strawberry scent. But every day there were more bugs and fewer leaves on the strawberries until finally, beaten, I gave up, threw out all the plants and dismantled the straw bales. Hordes of the big-gest pillbugs I’ve ever seen clungto the straw as I spread the stuff out to dry to use in the compost heap where pillbugs belong.

A foot-wide perimeter around the whole bed kept clean of grass deterred slugs fairly well last year so I’m going to put in low edging around that too and dig a small trench on the garden side. Speedy slug-eating ground beetles should run over the edg-ing, fall into the garden and be reluctant to climb back out, I’m told.

Since slugs like moist areas, soaker hoses that leave most of the soil dry are ideal. I’ll wait until the soil is quite dry and warm before I use any mulch and hope that enough slugs will have left by then that plagues of them won’t enjoy the cool damp-ness under the mulch.

Here are a couple more ideas: mow the lawn in the evening when slugs come out of hiding; don’t bother using nematodes to control slugs since the infected slugs become unattractive to ground beetles.

Maybe this year more than two cabbages will survive — maybe even a cauliflower.

Remay gives plants successful startMaryLowtherDig In


500FOR2

147lb3.24 Kg297lb6.55 Kg

.97100 g

Dry Salami Chubs

Whole

297EACH

Island Gold

Large EggsDozen

Grown In Washington

AsparagusBC Grown Hot House

Tomatoes on the Vine

Carrot Cake or Brownie Square

725-750 g

Sliced Honey or Black Forest

Ham

In our Bakery...

397EACH

Equals 99¢/100g

Sliced 1.27/100g

Regular Bacon

375 g

297EACH

Reg.7.99

Frozen

ChickenDrumsticks

Family Packs

.97lb2.14 KgLIMIT 1

497EACH

Fat Free

NuggetHams

800 g

Reg.14.99

LIMIT 4

In our Deli...In our Deli...

Prime MealsButter Chicken, Turkey w/Homestyle Gravy

or Beef in Red Wine Sauce400 g

297EACH

Reg.9.99

Offers valid at Lake Cowichan and Cobble Hill Country Grocer locations only1400 Cowichan Bay Rd, Cobble Hill • Open Daily 8 am - 9 pm83 Cowichan Lk. Rd, Lake Cowichan • Open Daily 7 am - 9 pmWATCH FoR ouR

FLYERTHIS FRIDAY

in the Citizen Newspaper

You’ll Feel Like Family.Proud to be serving the

Cowichan Valley since 1985

Midweek SpecialsWed. thru Sat.May 11 - 14, 2016

All items while stocks last.

300 g

497EACHLIMIT 2 Total

Adams

Peanut Butter

Smooth or Crunchy

1 Kg

.97100 g

Turkey Breast

Tomato Basil

In our Deli...

HugeSavings!

Documents

Lake Cowichan Gazette, May 11, 2016