Soup's On ~ Food Drive in October

For the month of October, Soup's On will be sponsoring a Food Drive for Harvest House in Chemainus.

Please bring any non-perishable food items along with you when you come to Soup's On.  There will be boxes in the entry hall for you to drop off your donations.

Organizing Presentation

Leslie Lundgren from All Sorted Out Organizing will be on Thetis, Wed. Oct 9th from 10 until noon in the library at Forbes Hall.  If you'd like to tweak your system or begin one(?), Les will inspire you to do so.

If you have missed the e-spokes about this event, call ahead to register with Cathy Yeomans 250.246.4063 or 250.210.1871 so there will be a handout for you. Bring refreshment, pen or pencil, and a sense of humour. 

The Soup's On that follows features Midwest Chowder and Herbed Biscuits...mmm

Cathy Yeomans

Thetis Island Marina ~ Thanksgiving

Thanks Don & Nettie!

Just came home from Supper's On - fun and yummy meal by Don & Nettie.  Social & easy and only $12!  It doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks, you two!

Ann Dickie

Comments:

It's worth the $12 to not have to do dishes on a Saturday night! Great food, great neighbours.

Jeannine

It was yummy!

Gloria Taylor

Soup's On ~ October 9th

Forbes Hall 11:30AM ~ 1:00PM or 'til we run out!

Menu:

Midwest Chowder

Herbed Biscuits

Assorted Yummy Goodies

Tea & Pot of Gold Coffee

$5 donation

See you Wednesday. 

For more information on Soup's On, click here. 

Supper's On ~ October 5th

This Saturday at Forbes Hall 5:30PM

A yummy supper put on by your friends at Soup's On!

Please reserve by e-mail or call 250-246-4079 to help us with our planning. However there's always enough for a few walk-ins.

For full info & menu, click here.

Nature Conservancy Canada ~ News Release

New Partnership Seeks to Protect Endangered Coastal Douglas-fir Ecosystems

 

Victoria, BC – The unique natural environment of BC’s south coast is disappearing at an alarming rate, sparking coordinated action from a wide range of conservation biologists, concerned citizens and private landowners. A consortium of partners have joined together to form the Coastal Douglas-fir and Associated Ecosystems Conservation Partnership (CDFCP), which aims to increase the level of protection, raise awareness about the plight of BC’s iconic Coastal Douglas-fir forests and associated ecosystems, and to coordinate the actions of governments and other groups working to address this significant conservation issue.

 

Click here to view the news release, fact sheet, and FAQ's.

 

We would be happy to speak in more detail about these efforts to protect BC’s Coastal Douglas-fir forests.

 

Please contact: Tim Ennis, Chair, CDFCP at 250-686-8640 or info@CDFCP.ca

 

Lesley Marian Neilson | Communications Manager, BC Region

Nature Conservancy of Canada

(p) 250-479-3191 x245 | (c) 250-661-2969

Islands Trust Fund ~ News Release

Three conservation groups have teamed up push a campaign to save an iconic waterfront property in the Gulf Islands into the homestretch.  A Pender Island group is less than $100,000 away from protecting a million dollar property forever.  Since most of the money to protect Brooks Point has come from the local community, the community is now asking people from across B.C. to help complete the project.

Click here to read the news release.  We would be so appreciative if your news agency/organization could help us spread the work about the efforts to save Brooks Point.  If you have any questions about this story, or would like photos for publication, please don’t hesitate to write or call.

Thank you for considering this article. 

Christine Rikley

Communications and Fundraising Specialist, Islands Trust Fund

200-1627 Fort St., Victoria, BC V8R 1H8

tel: (250) 405-5171 fax: (250) 405-5155

www.islandstrustfund.bc.ca

Important Information for Seniors and friends of Seniors

The investigation into the fire deaths of two Surrey, BC seniors in a house fire earlier this month concludes that most seniors are not aware there is a definite expiry date on their smoke alarms, nor are they checking their smoke alarms at least once a year to make sure they are working correctly.This is important information for everyone to read:

Non-working Smoke Alarm Contributed to Surrey Seniors’ Fire Deaths: Investigation

For immediate release October 1, 2013 Surrey BC – The investigation into the recent fire deaths of two Surrey seniors has concluded that the decades-old smoke alarm in the home was not functioning. The elderly couple perished in an early morning fire September 5 that gutted their two-level home on 94A Avenue. The City has now received a report from the electrical engineer confirming the alarm found in the rubble was not functioning and was a similar model to alarms built 24 years ago. “This is such a tragic loss of life,” City of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said. “We will all work closely together to ensure our residents and especially our seniors are kept safe.” The fire investigation results are consistent with recent findings from the University of British Columbia (UBC) study on fall and fire prevention among frail older adults led by Drs. Scott and Feldman. Findings from the almost 1,000 seniors who responded to a survey on smoke alarms, indicated that while most had a smoke alarm, almost half didn’t know how old it was and another 15 percent said the alarm was more than 10 years old – beyond the typical lifespan of a smoke alarm. In about 20 percent of cases no light was visible to show the alarm was working, and only about half arranged for or knew that the alarm was checked at least once a year. These data add to mounting evidence highlighting the importance of working smoke alarms in saving lives – and particularly those of vulnerable populations such as seniors. Another study led by the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) of almost 11,100 residential structure fires in B.C. from 2006 to 2011 showed that 79 per cent of the 170 fire-related deaths occurred in homes without a working smoke alarm. The study further showed that seniors made up 32 per cent of those deaths – despite only making up 15 per cent of the general population. “This is a very vulnerable group, and we clearly need to do more,” Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis said. “We learned from the two studies (UBC / UFV) that many elderly people are not thinking about their own safety. It’s incumbent on all of us to ensure the seniors we come in contact with – through our work or in our private lives – understand why they need a working smoke alarm in their home.”  Some progress in this area is being made through the Working Smoke Alarm Campaign, spearheaded by the Fire Chiefs’ Association of British Columbia in cooperation with the City of Surrey, provincial government and dozens of other partners. “Through the Working Smoke Alarm Campaign, we’ve been focusing on seniors and other vulnerable groups through targeted education and smoke alarm giveaways,” FCABC President Tim Pley said. “We’re engaging as many partners as possible to help spread the message about the importance of working smoke alarms. We all have a role to play in making sure this message is heard loud and clear by those who are most at risk.” Information and resources about working smoke alarms can be found at: www.workingsmokealarms.ca

Fire Chief J. Caldbeck

Thetis Island Fire Dept.

Thank You

Thetis Islanders contributed towards Cowichan Bay Deputy Chief Cam Ferguson's fundraising walk Muscular Dystrophy on Saturday in full fire fighter gear and breathing with his SCBA air tanks the entire way.  This added at least an extra 60 lbs. to his challenge.  

Thanks to all who put money in The Boot for Muscular Dystrophy at the summer markets and fairs on-island.

FAC Update

Good afternoon folks,

  

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon...sounds like a good time for some ferry information...

  

Click here to view updated graphs for Route 20 (Chemainus-Thetis-Penelakut). 

You will find traffic changes from FY 2004 to October of this year.  On one of the graphs we have charted what a 1% increase in traffic might look like to BC Ferries over that period of time.  This, we think is a reasonable assumption of traffic growth given the population in BC has grown by 1.4% since 2007 and population in the GVRD has increased by 1.8% during that time.  Additionally, BC's real GDP has increased by 1.1% during that period, which includes the 2008, 09 meltdown.  Unfortunately, not the case, BC Ferries vehicle traffic has decreased at an annualized rate of 2.0% and passenger traffic has decreased at an annualized rate of 1.8%.  Our premise is that traffic started its significant decline when fares took off (2008-09), and that if BCF and the Province want to see increased ridership, fares have got to decline or at worse stop rising.  The next chart, which I find shocking, compares prepaid car and driver fares to BC's Consumer Price Index over the same period...CPI at 18.4% since 2004 compared to our ferry fares at 114.4%! 

 

We (Brian Hollingshead and I) had the opportunity on Friday to provide this information plus Route 6 (Crofton-Vesuvius) to Rob Hutchins who is the Mayor of Ladysmith and Chair of the CVRD Board of Directors.  Rob was meeting with Jordon Sturdy, Parliamentary Secretary, who along with Kevin Richter of MoTI have been instructed by the Premier and MoTI Minster Todd Stone to meet face to face with all the chairs of the Regional Districts, to get their take on the BC Ferry situation.

 

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to give me a call...

 

Best Regards

 

Keith

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Fire Chief J. Caldbeck

Thetis Island Fire Department