tofino-ucluelet westerly news, december 09, 2015

News updates: westerlynews.ca Serving Tofino and Ucluelet $1.25 [including tax]

December 9, 2015 Wednesday

ANDREW BAILEYWesterly news

the Pacific Rim national Park is tak-ing advantage of winter’s calm to invest about $5 million into its accessibility and enjoyability.

this includes installing a roughly $4 million water system and putting about $1 million worth of roadwork in at Radar Hill.

“Parks canada is very excited about the infrastructure projects underway in Pacific Rim national Park Reserve,” Park Superintendent Morag Hutcheson told the Westerly news.

“the rehabilitation of Radar Hill Road and day use area and the new water lines are part of the largest investment in infrastructure in the history of the park

reserve…these projects address some much needed rehabilitation to existing assets, and will benefit visitors for years to come.”

the Park brought improvements to Radar Hill earlier this year by repairing platforms and installing new bench-es and it is now focused on improving access to the area by resurfacing the road leading up to it.

the roadwork began at the start of december and Radar Hill will be closed to the public until the project concludes around May 2016.

“Radar Hill Road was in very poor con-dition, making it difficult for visitors to safely access the Radar Hill day use area and viewpoint,” Hutcheson said.

“the work is being done to address

safety and accessibility issues, includ-ing recent sink holes, large potholes, stretches of buckling pavement, and poor drainage.”

the Park’s new $4 million water sys-tem is being installed between lost Shoe creek and Esowista and construction began on dec. 1.

“the construction of the integrated water system will provide a new and safer sewer and water distribution sys-tem in the long Beach unit of Pacific Rim national Park Reserve, and includes Parks canada’s contribution to shared infrastructure required to connect the park, local First nation communities and the regional airport facilities to a viable potable water source,” Hutcheson said.

See PARK pg. 3

Park pursues winter projectsANDREW BAILEY PHOTO

ANDREW BAILEYWesterly news

a rise in whooping cough has healthcare professionals urging locals to vaccinate their infants.

the Vancouver island Health authority (ViHa) has confirmed six cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, in tofino, accord-ing to central Vancou-ver island’s Medical Health Officer dr. Paul Hasselback.

“that certainly is not the sort of clustering of disease that we have seen in that area for quite some time,” Has-selback told the Westerly news.

“typically we probably would be going many years with no cases or just the odd case that comes to our attention, not this sort of cluster where not only are we seeing six cases but we can actually see where one person transmitted to others.”

He said whooping cough is on the rise across Vancouver island with about 300 cases reported this year.

“the 300 cases this year is the highest we’ve seen in many years,” he said.

See VACCINE pg. 16

Bug in Tuff INSIDE

THIS WEEK:

RAINY RELEASE:

ukee’s aquarium held its annual release day on a stormy Saturday. PAgE 5

SANTA’S COMINg:

Santa will visit tofino and ucluelet on dec. 12. PAgE 7

SURF SPOTLIgHT:

the Westerly’s nora O’Malley catches up with canada’s ama-teur surf champion.PAgE 11

Construction at Wick Rd. will cause periodic closures this winter as the Pacific Rim National Parks tackles upgrades.

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Happily serving T & Ucluelet

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| The Westerly News Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Westerly News

A Lynn Road residence in Tofino has sold for $3.162 million.

The 9,600 sq. ft. luxury home marked the highest reported residential sale in Tofino’s his-tory, besting the town’s former record of $2.3 million set by another Lynn Road residence earlier this year.

The home was listed by Engel & Volkers Nanaimo and the company’s vice-president Brian Danyliw is optimistic that more big sales are en route to Vancou-ver Island.

“It is not uncommon for high-er-end homes to take more time to sell, but we seem to be having a good influx of international buyers that are shopping in the

high end,” Danyliw said through a recent media release.

“With the strength of the US dollar, we expect to start seeing an influx of American buyers simply because of the incredible value of property here. Vancou-ver Island is safe, beautiful and has so much to offer.”

[email protected]

Lynn Road luxury home sells for record amount

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The $3 million sale price of this Tofino residence is the highest in the community’s history.

The Westerly News | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

“The new water lines and other utility work will expand and rehabilitate existing infrastructure and support a water system that will meet both current and future needs of the park reserve.”

The work is expected to wrap up in July but will cause delays along Hwy. 4, and temporary closures to Long Beach’s south parking lot, until then.

“While the south beach parking lot is closed, visitors will find plenty of parking in the north beach parking lot,” Hutcheson said. “Construction crews will work during daylight hours, seven days per week.”

The Park is also replacing a culvert underneath Wick Road and install-ing a bridge at the Sandhill Creek crossing.

This work began on Dec. 7 and will periodically shut down access to Wickaninnish Beach, the Kwisitis Visitor Centre, and the Shorepine Bog Trail until late-May.

During Wick’s closures, south Flor-

encia Bay and Half Moon Bay will remain accessible through Willow-brae Trial.

Hutcheson said the Park hopes to complete its projects before sum-mer’s busy season hits.

“To minimize the impact on visitors, work has been scheduled during the quiet season,” she said.

“Parks Canada is addressing this work now, before weather conditions deteriorate further, and to meet the needs of future park users.”

She thanked locals and visitors for their patience.

“Parks Canada recognizes the clos-ure of Radar Hill Road and area, and short road delays along Highway 4, are an inconvenience to members of the local communities and Park visitors,” she said.

“We appreciate your support and patience while we turn these short-term inconveniences to long term benefits for the local communities and Park reserve visitors.”

[email protected]

The Westerly News (1987) Ltd. is a division of Black Press.

The Westerly News publishes weekly on Wednesday and regularly posts online at www.westerlynews.ca

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ParK, cont. from pg. 1

aNDreW BaiLeYWesterly News

The provincial government is looking for community champions to honour and the West Coast is encouraged to help a local get picked.

The province has recognized over 300 British Columbians with BC Achievement Awards since 2003 and three West Coasters have been hon-oured so far: Brenda Reid-Kuecks in 2008, Joe Martin in 2012 and Keith Gibson in 2014.

The program’s community out-reach coordinator Gabrielle Giraud told the Westerly the awards rec-ognize a wide range of recipients from coaches to community-minded business owners and committed volunteers.

“It’s kind of an all encompassing award. It celebrates everyone who’s doing great stuff in their commun-ity,” Giraud said.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.bcachievement.com and Giraud hopes to see the West Coast put forward a diverse selec-

tion of local heroes before Jan. 15’s nomination deadline.

“It’s nice to see someone from your community win something like this and it does give them that greater recognition across the province,” she said.

“A lot of people use these awards to help promote what they’re doing in their communities.”

She said recognizing local stars helps build and promote communities.

“It’s a way for you to give back to the community and the people in your community because otherwise they may not get that recognition and it helps build up the people in the community who are doing great work,” she said.

“They are doing amazing things and they are supporting the com-munity and promoting the better-ment of their community but they may not be getting the recognition through the work they’re doing.”

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Province looking to honour local heroes

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Local Voices

Dear Editor,

Students from the Ucluelet Secondary School band program performed at Jamie’s Rainforest Inn on November 30th.

The band, called “Open for Interpretation”, played a variety of songs from the Rolling Stones, to Fallout Boy to an audience of parents and com-munity members. It was an evening of great food and great music.

A big thank you to Jamie’s for hosting us, and feeding the band (and band teacher)! The food was delicious! Thanks also to all the students for their hard work, and to the parents for braving the storm to see us play.

Dave McPhersonBand TeacherUcluelet Secondary School

LETTERS POLICY: Have an opinion or story that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you. The Westerly welcomes and encourag-es letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity, taste, legality and length. Letters must include your first and last name as well as contact information for ver-ification. Unsigned or anonymous letters will not be accepted. Email submissions to [email protected].

Dear Editor,

We, the parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Tofino, would like to express, with grateful hearts, our sincere thanks to all who helped make our Christmas Bazaar so successful.

To those of you who baked, cooked, donated auction and raffle items, and who worked on the day of the bazaar, we are truly grateful.

Because of your generosity, we will be able to continue helping those in need, not only at Christmas with food hampers, but throughout the year with food vouchers.

God bless you and your loved ones with the peace, love and joy of this Christmas Season.

Raffle Winners:

Quilt – Val SlomanBeaded Bottle and Necklace – Kara McAvoyPatrick Amos Print – B. GrantMoney Tree – Margaret Rae-ArthurGingerbread House – Aqua BruhwilerTurkey Dinner – Glenna RichardsChristmas Centerpiece – Anne Wintersgill TV – Margaret Rae-ArthurCotton Candy Maker – Tamara StephensPopcorn Maker – Carol Frank Candy Jar – Rosemarie Tranfield

Anita Tavera, St. Francis of Assisi Church

BRONWYN KELLEHERLocal VoiceIt has finally happened. The moment that many, includ-

ing those of us working towards it, never thought would happen has finally arrived.

Ucluelet’s Army Navy and Air-force Veterans Club is once again being run under a locally elected board.

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Jacob van Dort has been elect-ed by his comrades as President of Unit 293.

Bronwyn Kelleher has been elected Vice President with Kasia Kromka as Secretary and

Treasurer. Joining them on the executive

board are Adam Gillmor, John McDiarmid, Bill Morrison, David Payne, Leslie Horne and Andy Horne.

The elections for the executive board were held last Sunday night with a great turn out of members.

Everyone is very excited to have this opportunity to work within Unit 293 to allow it to fully sup-port the community in any way they can.

The ANAF is not just made up of an executive board, there are a multitude of other ways people

are involved in the unit. For any interest or skill someone

has there is an opportunity to put it to good use both for yourself and someone else.

With an executive board in place this brings more people to the table to work out logistics of things in their appointed roles.

It allows us to be able to concen-trate on the details and have our programs and operations running more smoothly and with more support behind them.

In the past year we have had to strip the running of the unit down somewhat and concentrate on

some bare bones essentials. At the same time we concen-

trated out efforts on bringing live entertainment to town and run-ning a weekly youth night.

Youth night is run on the same schedule and routine weekly so once that program was launched it has been running successfully with few changes.

Putting on live entertainment has been a different bag of tricks with every show, so it takes a little more time to put together.

That being said it is the nights the unit hosts a large event that the community comes out to enjoy

that enable us to host youth night. With this new opportunity the

executive board now has the chance to initiate many more pro-grams and events that can work together to support, entertain and provide opportunitites for both Unit 293 and Ucluelet.

Thank you everyone for all of your hard work and willingness to come out and attend an event to support a good cause.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Bronwyn Kelleher is the Vice President of Ucluelet’s Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans Club.

Army, Navy and Airforce club elects new board Jacob van Dort elected President and Bronwyn Kelleher Vice President

LETTERS

BRONWYN KELLEHER PHOTOS

Left, Bill Morrison, Adam Gillmor, John McDiarmid, David Payne, Andy Horne and Leslie Horne were sworn in after Dec. 6’s ANAF board election. Right, Jacob van Dort was sworn in as president. Bronwyn Kelleher was elected Vice President.


ANDREW BAILEYWesterly News

Local ocean creatures were sent home over the weekend after spending the year delighting crowds at the Ucluelet Aquarium.

The sun has set on the unique catch and release facility’s 2015 season and West Coast locals and visitors gathered at Ucluelet’s Whiskey Dock on a stormy Satur-day afternoon to help release over 200 critters back into the ocean.

“Obviously I would love it if the weather was a little bit nicer, but I think it’s going incredibly well,” aquarium curator Laura Grif-fith-Cochrane told the Westerly during the event.

“I’m so impressed that people still decided to come out even with sideways rain and huge winds; this is really, really great.”

The stormy weather forced a change to the popular annual event’s format as rough waves

bucked the dock making it unsafe for children to walk on so kids carried their creature-filled buck-ets from the aquarium to the top of the dock’s steps and handed them off to aquarium staff who carried the critters the rest of the way.

Aquarium staffer Andrew McCurdy assured the harsh con-ditions would not impact jour-neys home.

“The nice thing about weather like this in the harbour is it’s not a really big concern for the animals. As soon as they’re down five-feet it’s going to be totally fine for them,” he said adding the young releasers handled their creatures with exceptional care.

“Everyone was super gentle with their animals, even the younger kids were being very gentle and listened to all the instructions we gave them and everything made it without any problems.”

Griffith-Cochrane noted the wet weather did not dampen the com-munity’s volunteer spirit.

“We had an unbelievable num-ber of volunteers show up today and we couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.

“Anytime people help out we really appreciate it, but especially coming out on a day like today and lending a hand in the cold really means a lot to us.”

She said over 200 individual creatures were released includ-ing ones whose life began in the aquarium.

“Its always bittersweet. You can’t help but fall in love with some of them throughout the season…but it’s really exciting to see them go,” she said.

“There’s also a lot of individuals going out to the harbour today that developed in the aquarium, so it’s really exciting to see a lot of those little ones go to the wild

for the first time.”Ucluelet local Silva Johansson

was thrilled to volunteer at the event.

“This is something I love to do every year with the aquarium,” she said.

“It’s one of the things I look for-ward to the most with the aquar-ium, seeing locals and visitors releasing the creatures to fulfill their ultimate destinies.”

She said the event helps keep community members connected to their environment.

“Watching people continue their connection to the aquar-ium, renew their connection to the place and the creatures; it’s a great community thing,” she said.

“The aquarium is founded on people being curious about the natural world and this is a great way to reconnect to it.”

Heather Gray enjoyed watching her 3-year-old daughter Lily par-ticipate in the event.

“I thought it would be really good to teach Lily about setting animals free,” she said. “It was really cool to see how excited the kids were when they saw their little creatures go free in the ocean.”

She added the storm caused no hesitation for her family’s participation.

“My husband always says there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing,” she said.

The Gray family moved to Ucluelet on Nov. 29 and is already stoked on the community’s active calendar.

“There’s tons of wicked family events here; it’s amazing,” Gray said.

Brittany Lorenzen, who moved to Ucluelet with her family in

September, was delighted to bring 16-month-old son Maverick to his first release day.

“We thought it was a good way to start a tradition and meet people,” she said.

“It was fun to watch my son dip his fingers in the water in the tanks and see his excitement with the fish and the wildlife and for him to meet some new friends.”

The Ucluelet Aquarium Society’s treasurer Geoff Lyons touted release day as a “historically fan-tastic” community event.

“People just love it,” he said pointing to the large crowd of people lining up to participate.

“We’re an incredible asset for the community and the West Coast and Vancouver Island and British Columbia and Canada and people just love to be part of a successful enterprise; they want to share in the enjoyment and excitement,” he said.

“The children can tell their par-ents and grandparents, and their children down the road, that they were part of this amazing event.”

The aquarium will have a whole new roster of ocean animals ready to interpret when it reopens in March

“We’re pretty excited,” Grif-fith-Cochrane said. “There’s some new things that are going to be coming in and it will be wonderful.”

[email protected]

Aquarium’s release day a stormy success

NORA O’MALLEY PHOTOS

West Coasters braved a wet winter storm to celebrate the Ucluelet Aquarium’s annual release day. Over 200 creatures were released back into the ocean on Dec. 5.


Visit www.westerlynews.ca to answer this week’s poll question:

Have you had a successful holiday shopping season so far?

a) Yes, local businesses nailed my needs.

b) No, I’m still missing that perfect present.

Last week we asked: ‘Should Tofino ban fireworks?’58.3% said ‘Yes,’ 41.7% said ‘No.’

OpiniOn pOll

Shopping success

Local businesses helped West Coast Christmas shoppers put a dent in their wish lists by offering great deals during Ucluelet’s Midnight Madness and Tofino’s Jingle into Christmas events.

One of Santa’s top elves made merry with shoppers at Long Beach Surf Shop.

Sophie L’Homme with Ivy and Jodi from the Children’s Choir carolled through Tofino collecting donations to help build a school in Mexico.

NORA O’MALLEY PHOTO


Animal lovers found a treasure trove of holiday gifts for their companions inside Ucluelet’s Ocean Pet Supplies. ANDREW BAILEY PHOTO

Ucluelet’s Tattooed Beaver restaurant celebrated its first Midnight Madness event by dishing out free food and merriment to happy patrons.

ANDREW BAILEY PHOTO

Savvy shoppers scored unique gifts and collectables at Gryphon’s Lair, Ucluelet’s new hobby shop.

ANDREW BAILEY PHOTO



Local kids only have a few days left to finish off their Christmas wish lists as Santa Claus is com-ing to town.

Santa’s sleigh will land on the West Coast on Dec. 12 and the jolly old elf will join locals at pan-cake breakfasts being held in his honour in Ucluelet and Tofino

His first breakfast will be at the Ucluelet Community Centre. The centre’s doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and Santa is expected to arrive around 9 a.m.

“We’re very excited to see Santa,” said Ucluelet’s parks and recreation director Abby Fortune.

“Santa loves coming to Ucluelet every year, it’s one of his favourite things to do because he gets to ride the fire truck and Santa loves to ride the fire truck.”

The event will include a variety

of festive activities as well as per-formances from local dancers and the Ukee Glee Kids.

“It will be a really wonderful way to give Santa your wish list before Christmas,” Fortune said.

Ucluelet’s breakfast is being hosted by the USS geography class as a fundraiser for their upcoming trip to the Yucatan Pen-insula in Mexico.

USS principal Carol Sedgwick said West Coast students earn valuable learning experiences by traveling to other places and engaging with other cultures.

“Over the years staff at USS have come up with opportunities for our students to travel within our country and overseas,” she said.

“All our overseas trips provide opportunities for our youth to understand what life is like for others, feel empathy and com-passion for others who are not

so fortunate, and realize that they can make a difference in others lives. We are working with our tour company to have our students spend some time at an orphanage in between visits to historical landmarks and cultural experiences.”

She said the West Coast’s sup-port is vital for these trips to take place and added her students are on the hunt for other fundraising opportunities.

“Helping out at events like the Breakfast with Santa event allows our students to give back to their community while fundraising,” she said. “The students welcome other opportunities to help out where they can so if you have an event coming up in the next few months please contact us at the school.”

After Santa has had his fill of Ucluetian pancakes and spoken

with all the Ucluelet kids on his ‘Nice List,’ he will jet off to the Tofino Community Hall for another pancake breakfast at 10 a.m.

“We’re really excited,” said Tofino’s recreation assistant Jess Towers.

“Santa is always very jolly when he comes to Tofino so we’re def-initely looking forward to having him out and it should be a good time.”

She added the breakfast’s festiv-ities will include a performance from the new Tofino Children’s Choir.

“The community gets excited about coming out to this event…It’s really nice to get that sense of community and have all the kids and families in one place,” Towers said.

“A town like Tofino can be pretty tourist based with a lot of its

activities so we look forward to these ones where it’s more of a focus on our town and our community.”

The funds raised at the event will go towards the Tofino recrea-tion department’s Kids Access Fund, which provides assistance to youth who would otherwise be financially unable to partici-pate in the district’s recreational programming.

“The Kids Access Fund helps us make sure that all kids are able to access all of our programs,” Tow-ers said.

“We like to see that families are using it and there’s years where you may have a family that’s using it and then they turn around and they’re donating to it another year so it’s one of those paying it forward kind of things and it’s just nice to see.”

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Santa steers sleigh towards West CoastSanta has always enjoyed his visits to the West Coast and he’s coming back again to join locals at pancake breakfasts being held in Ucluelet and Tofi no on Dec. 12.

Westerly LIFE



Ucluelet’s police will be out in full force this weekend collecting Christmas dona-tions for locals in need.

The RCMP’s second annual Stuff the Cruiser event is set for Saturday, Dec. 12, and locals are encouraged to swing by the Ucluelet Co-op’s parking lot to take part in the fundraising festivities.

Hot chocolate and baked goodies will be dished out as locals stuff Ucluelet’s police cruisers with donations of food, gifts and cash, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

All donations will be handed over to the Food Bank on the Edge’s Christmas Ham-per program.

“Come by to support people in the com-munity who maybe need a little bit of help around the holiday season,” said Const. Jarett Duncan of the Ucluelet RCMP.

Duncan was transferred to Ucluelet last year and brought the Stuff the Cruiser event with him from his former detach-ment in Boston Bar.

“Christmas can be a hard time for some people and I just wanted to give back and help out anyone who has a little bit of a harder time around the holidays,” he said.

“It takes a lot to raise a family and Uclue-let definitely has a lot of small families.”

He said Ucluelet’s community spirit meshes well with the spirit of Stuff the Cruiser.

“The community of Ucluelet is so giving,” he said.

“I’ve never seen such a generous commun-ity and I figured bringing this here would be an easy thing to do and I knew that it

would be supported by the local people of Ucluelet.”

His hunch proved spot-on and he was stoked to see the success of last year’s inaugural event.

“The cruisers were stuffed completely full,” he said.

“It was a great turnout and a great com-pliment of people, there was more than enough generousity to go around for sure and I think the Food Bank really benefited from it.”

He urges locals to put themselves in the shoes of others when thinking about whether to donate this year.

“If it was Christmastime and you had kids and you needed a little bit of help to get food on the table or put clothes on their

back it would be something that you would want,” he said.

“Treat others how you’d want to be treat-ed and try to live in someone else’s shoes and think how it would be…If you can give I think it’s something people should do.”

Ucluelet’s detachment commander Sgt. Jeff Swann was delighted to see Duncan’s initiative take off last year.

“We turned around and helped the Food Bank folks deliver it to people in need and it’s just a heartwarming little thing that we can do to give back so if we can give our time and effort to do that we will,” Swann said.

He noted the detachment also sponsors local families during the Christmas sea-son. “We’ve got some wonderful people

out in the community, who wish to remain anonymous, and they are dropping off some wonderful gifts for these couple of families that we’ve sponsored this year,” Swann said.

He said local police unfortunately find themselves face-to-face with those in need often.

“As a police officer in a small town, when you go to people’s homes and you see that there may be a child that is in need it strikes at our hearts,” he said.

“All too often we have to go to those homes, that’s our job, that’s our duty, and when we see it, it bugs us.”

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RCMP invites locals to Stuff the Cruiser

Ukee RCMP will host a Stuff the Cruiser event on Dec. 12 to help bring happy holiday seasons to West Coasters in need. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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Ucluelet set for Harbour Lights Sail Past


Ucluelet’s boating community is getting ready to shine with Christmas spirit.

The annual Harbour Lights Sail Past event is on the docket for Dec. 16 and will feature a parade of vessels decked out in holiday cheer.

Decorated boats will begin parading in front of Ucluelet’s Whiskey Dock around 7 p.m. and refreshments will be on hand for spectators to enjoy as they watch

the lights sail past. The Ucluelet chamber of com-

merce is hosting this year’s event and the chamber’s executive director Sally Mole is amped on seeing the popular spectacle light up the night.

“It will be a nice community get together and bring a little bit of brightness in the dark of winter,” Mole said.

“We are a boating community so it’s focusing on the water and harbour activities and all those people who are out on the water

pretty consistently…and people take pride in being part of it.”

Last year’s parade roster boast-ed about 15 vessels and Mole believes more could be added to the festive fun.

“I think it’s going to grow,” she said. “It’s a fun event and more participants of course makes for a better Harbour Lights Sail Past and a great show for the community.”

There is still time for more ves-sels to sail onto this year’s roster and anyone interested in joining

the holiday mix is encouraged to contact Mole at the chamber office: 250-726-4641.

“It’s a great way for our marine community to ring in Christmas,” Mole said adding the event offers locals an early opportunity to floss their holiday garb includ-ing their favourite Christmas sweaters.

She acknowledged scheduling confusion frustrated some locals this year as the event was origin-ally advertised for Dec. 6.

“That was my fault and I take

full responsibility for that,” she said adding she had picked the Dec. 6 date to coincide with the Ucluelet Aquarium’s release day weekend.

“I should have consulted with the boating community to make sure that was a good date for them, I didn’t do that and it wasn’t a good day for them so we talked back and forth and agreed on Dec. 16.”

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WESTERLY FILE PHOTOS

The West Coast will gather at Ucluelet’s Whiskey Dock on Wednesday, Dec. 16, to enjoy holiday merriment and watch decorated boats parade through the harbour.


Sports bar pours community spirit

w w w. we s t e r ly n e w s . c a


A local sports bar is ready to rock Uclue-let into the Christmas spirit with two fund-raising events this Saturday.

Officials Sports Lounge will hold its 8th annual Christmas Turkey Bingo as well as an inaugural Christmas community jam session on Dec. 12.

Funds raised at both events will go towards local charities with the jam ses-sion’s bounty earmarked specifically for the Food Bank on the Edge

Bingo will start at 3 p.m. with cards running at $2 each and prize packs being dished out throughout the afternoon.

“It’s a nice inexpensive afternoon for everybody and a good way to raise money,” Officials’ owner Dale Holliday told the Westerly.

“Everybody needs assistance one way or another and this is a good way for us to help out.”

The new Christmas community jam kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be hosted by Geoff Johnson who told the Westerly he plans to show up with all kinds of musical gear for locals to play on the open stage.

“Anyone who wants to come down and play is welcome to,” he said.

“We thought that was a good match, if we’re raising money for the community to have the community kind of be the enter-tainment as well.”

He said it is important for local musi-cians to support the Coast that supports them.

“Musicians and artists always have to acknowledge that our job is to provide a luxury and a distraction and a pleasant time and entertainment to the community, but the community doesn’t exist if we can’t give back to the more tangible needs of the community like food and other charitable things,” he said.

“It’s really cool at the end of the day to see that I can pick up a guitar and have even a small part at making my community stronger.”

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Local musician Geoff Johnson will host a fundraising jam session at Offi-cials on Saturday.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

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NORA O’MALLEYWesterly NewsRight after Darren Lundquist

won the 2015 Rip Curl Pro Tofino Open Mens division back in May, he said he fell into a rift of lost confidence.

A strange reaction to be sure, considering he beat out a crop of dedicated local surfers, plus took home a brand new Aftanas surfboard.

But maybe… Maybe that’s just Mother Ocean reminding him that he still has a long way to go.

Leading up to his first contest win, Lundquist had never even won a heat, let alone a trophy.

“Whenever I paddled out in a competition, I’d get out there and I’d just start hoping. Which is never the thing to do. I’d be like, gee I hope a wave comes to me. I hope in the next 20-minutes that I can surf as well as I can. I hope this. I hope that,” he said.

Half way through his first heat, he caught himself doing that very thing, so he switched tactic.

“All of sudden, I was like wait, I’m here right now. I have to do

this.”Gaining momentum from his

first amateur victory, the 23-year-old Relic sponsored surfer is spending the winter months refining his style and getting more involved with the surf community.

“There’s so much stuff to be ironed out for an intermediate surfer to take myself to that next level. For instance, not letting my arms flail around when I do turns. And trying more dynamic lines, not just racing to the end section and doing one manoeuver. But doing more fluid lines on the wave.”

Lately, the amateur champs’ training regime reflects that of a pro surfer; he’s surfing twice a day (for the most part), running six kilometres two to three times a week, and practicing yoga at home.

He’s also signed on to com-pete regularly in the Pacific Rim Boardrider’s meets, which is a new initiative spearheaded by Catherine Bruhwiler and Shannon

Brown set to take place on the third Sunday of every month. (The first one took place on Nov. 22.)

“It’s for all of us to feel more comfortable in real competitions. That’s what they are designed to do. It gives us an inside view of how to put a contest together,” said Lundquist.

In the lag time between now and the next Boardrider’s meet on December 20, Lundquist is taking a solo road trip to his home break in Ilwaco, Washington.

“I’ve been dreaming about surf-ing it,” he told the Westerly News.

But he’ll be back in Tofino in time for Christmas with lacklus-ter plans to keep his head down.

“I’m just working… Plugging away, trying to get better.”

[email protected]

Amateur surf champ fine-tuning his game

NORA O’MALLEYWesterly News

For Glee Club director Sarah Hogan, handing an already written script to the young students in her program was just not an option. Hogan, who studied Performing Arts at Niagara-on-the-Lake, had to pen one from scratch.

“Children’s plays usually have one or two stars and then every-one else has really small, poten-tially boring roles,” said Hogan. “I try to write a play that can be adopted to the kids that sign-up for the program.”

In this instance, Hogan created a two act play called Tree Put-er Uppers Day for a spirited cast

of 25 kids. The original musical drama about toys and Christmas decorations coming to life was performed over the weekend on Dec. 5 and 6 at the Ucluelet Com-munity Centre main hall.

“I’m always observing. It comes from life and then the characters take over and tell me what’s going to happen next,” said Hogan of her creative writing process.

“The way this came about, my husband quite often tells the kids stories, and sometimes he doesn’t say that they’re not real stories. So quite often, the kids have grown up thinking that something he has told them is a real thing. So that was the idea here.”

Rehearsals for Tree Put-er Uppers Day started way back in

September. The Glee Club met every Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. to run lines, practice choreography, and sing as a group.

“For some of these kids, they’ve done two or three plays before. But for some of them, this is their first time performing in front of a crowd,” said Hogan.

The little performers had coaching from the five teens that signed-up to do the play, Hogan’s 13-year-old daughter Teagan Grif-fin being one of them.

“Your lines are easy if you just practice them. We’re supposed to learn our lines in three weeks, but that never happens. Sometimes there are kids that learn their lines in one try, but then there are others that have to really work at

it. It depends how good you are at memorizing things,” said Griffin.

“And also you can tweak your own lines to how you want to say them,” she adds.

In addition to reading lines in front of a crowd, the kids also had to adjust to a professional lighting set-up by DJ Mike Pro-ductions and musical accompani-ment by members of the Ucluelet Secondary School Jazz Band.

“This is the first time that we’ve had a show with live music,” said Hogan whose score included Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree and Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.

“It’s interesting to see, they’re definitely all at different rates of change. Some kids start off

really strong right off the bat and other kids it takes them a while to really get a feel for it,” said the director.

The next Glee Club production will take place in the spring, which leaves the kids with about four months to practice.

The directors’ baton will be handed over to Hogan’s musical theatre partner Courtney John-son, who also pilots the Glee Club. Johnson has already started brainstorming ideas for her ori-ginal script.

“Every time we’re finished one, we immediately start thinking about what’s next,” said Johnson.

[email protected]

Glee Kids bring original performance to UCC

Follow us on Twitter:

@WesterlyNews


2015 Rip Curl Pro Tofino Open Mens champ Darren Lundquist.

MARCUS PALADINO PHOTO

The Tree Put-er Uppers Day ensemble cast took a triumphant final bow in front of a delighted crowd after their Sunday, Dec. 6, matinee performance at the UCC.


Pearl Palm and Hanna Grimm deliver donations generously organized by Brett Grimm at Trilogy food for the WEPAC Lunch Program.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Westerly News | Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Wed, Dec 9, 2015 Ucluelet Western News A13

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AROUND THE PROVINCE

ROBERT BARRONNanaimo Daily News

Shawn Atleo clearly remembers holding his grandmother’s hand on the day in 2008 when former Prime Minister Stephen Harp-er apologized to Canada’s First Nations for the debacle of the residential schools.

Atleo, a hereditary chief of the Ahousaht First Nation located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, said his grandmother smiled at him and exclaimed “They are just beginning to see us.”

“In the past, Canada has dis-owned much of its own story,” Atleo told a packed audience at Vancouver Island University Thursday.

“We’re now moving into con-versations so many of us had yearned for for so long. We still have a long way to go, but for the first time in my life, I feel Canadian.”

Atleo has also served as the

Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, was VIU’s first chancellor from 2008 to 2014, and was appointed by Premier Christy Clark to the role of Shqwi qwal, or ‘speaker’, for Indigenous Dialogue at VIU.

On Thursday, he delivered VIU’s inaugural presentation of the Indigenous Speakers Series, which has a focus on healing the wounds between Canada’s First Nations and non-First Nations populations.

The series is being presented in partnership with The Laurier Institution and hosted by CBC Radio One Ideas program, with a focus on topics related to rec-onciliation and engagement with Canada’s indigenous peoples.

The series, which will be held each year in Nanaimo, was announced in June to mark the release of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Atleo said the real and mean-

ingful dialogue between First Nations and the rest of Canada is still in its infancy, and this is a time for “rumbling and reckoning” in those discussions.

“The pain can’t be avoided and this is not a time for wimps,” he said.

“We can’t solve old problems from old consciousness, and we need to reckon with that reality. Canada presents itself to the world as a village of different communities, but some don’t feel a part of that village. Fear and anger have driven our relation-ships in the past.”

Atleo said VIU’s Indigenous Speakers Series is one good step to deal with these issues, and similar forums are needed across the country.

“VIU is becoming indigenized, and it is the only post-second-ary institution in Canada where (First Nation) elders, who have a lifetime of learning but no recog-nizable degrees, are respected and

recognized as full faculty mem-bers,” he said.

“That decision by VIU has thrown out the rule books and it required leadership and boldness by (VIU president) Ralph Nilson and the university. For me, that’s exciting because, in the past, I have not felt part of the fabric of Canada.”

Atleo said the move by VIU, and other initiatives to improve rela-tions across the country, has con-vinced him that the gulf in Can-ada’s relations with First Nations can be crossed.

“Coming from a family whose culture had been assaulted and had their kids taken away to residential schools, I’m glad that we’re finally going into the ‘rum-bling and reckoning’ part of our dialogue, although I find it a bit scary,” he said.

“We have had 170 court cases regarding natural resources across the country that have been won by First Nations, but that

doesn’t mean that the Crown has rolled over. I remain hopeful that we will find a way to address these challenges in our country.”

Atleo said the nation is now two generations removed from the sorrowful era of the residential schools and he has just recently dropped the “hot coal” of anger against the injustices done to his people that he has held in his heart for so long.

“We’ve had 150 years of mistrust and misunderstanding, and for the next 150 years, we must grasp the moment and make a better world for those who are coming behind us,” he said.

“The work of our generation is to hold the mirror to Canada. The nation’s leaders talk about human rights around the world, but we’re encouraging them to look into our own backyards first. I think there’s a growing willingness to do this.”

Former chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, Shawn Atleo, feels Canadian for the first time in his life

Kelowna Capital News

Former B.C. premier Bill Bennett died last week at age 83.

Bennett, who suffered from Alz-heimer’s, was B.C.’s premier from 1975 to 1986.

He followed his father, former premier W.A.C. Bennett as leader of the B.C. Social Credit Party in 1973 and was elected premier in 1975. He went on to win re-elec-tion in 1979 and 1983, retiring undefeated in 1986.

As news of Bennett’s passing started to circulate through the community, well-wishes to his family and reflections on the impact he’s had on this commun-ity came to the fore.

“This loss is huge for the prov-ince and for our city, and I’d like to extend my condolences to his family,” said Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran.

Although Bennett was elected premier before Basran was even born, he said that the impact of

Bennett’s political life can still be seen in Kelowna today.

“The Canadian Federation of Independent Business recently announced that Kelowna is one of the top cities in the country to be an entrepreneur and the roots of that are with Bill Bennett, who was a champion of free enter-prise and entrepreneurship,” said Basran. “He created a legacy for us to build on.”

News of his illness became public two years ago when family friend Charles Fipke donated more than $3 million to Alz-heimer’s research at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, a partnership between the UBC Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health, in Ben-nett’s name.

“The end game has to be to find a cure for this,” Brad Bennett said, following news of the dona-tion. “We still don’t know what causes this disease and there are far too many people afflicted

with it and far too many families like ours suffering the horrible consequences.”

Former Kelowna mayor Walter Gray said Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease, one that took its toll on Bennett in recent years.

“For those people who were close to him and loved him, I’m sure today is one of mixed emo-tions,” said Gray.

Gray called Bennett is personal inspiration for getting involved in politics, saying he will remember Bennett for his rapid fire sense of humour, his loyalty to his friends and his ability to be decisive quickly about whether an idea presented to him was good or bad.

“He was a very quick witted person which came through when you were talking to him one on one or in a small group,” Gray recalled. “But when he started out as Social Credit Party leader, he was very uncomfortable being in front of large crowds and dealing

with the media at first, so you wouldn’t see that side of him in public. But in time he did become more comfortable.

“But he was very loyal to his friends he grew up with in Kelow-na. When he went into political life, he always kept those connec-tions, when he’d be home here in Kelowna he’s always be playing tennis with friends that he’s know from growing up here.”

Gray said Bennett’s legacy to the Okanagan will likely be seen as shepherding Expo 86 to Van-couver and being able to get the entire province behind it, and construction of the Coquihalla Highway, which was tied into Expo and led ultimately to the Connector route opening up the Okanagan, in particular Kelowna.

Gray said Bennett was also wise to know when to leave politics, surprising many by his decision to step down as premier in 1986, when he was succeeded by Bill Vander Zalm.

“Most of us stay in politics for too long, but he knew when to get out. I can remember talking to him about that at the Social Cred-it Party leadership convention in Whistler in 1986, and he said he wanted to stay around long enough for Expo to get launched and get the Coquihalla sufficient-ly underway that no future pre-mier could reverse that decision.

“Ultimately, with the Coquihalla in place, in was only natural then to extend the Connector route as well. Nobody was opposed to that as it was the natural thing to do going forward.”

From a political standpoint, Gray described Bennett as a true visionary, just like his father WAC Bennett before him who was B.C.’s longest serving premier for 20 years from 1952 to ‘72, and was able to delegate authority to his political cabinet.

Former B.C. premier Bill Bennett dead at 83

MARY LEEComox Valley Echo

After 81 years of serving the Comox Valley, Francis Jewellers Ltd. is closing its doors.

In business in the Courtenay downtown core since 1934, owner and operator Daryl Wright is retiring at the age of 73. Wright bought the business from Jack Armstrong 25 years ago with his

wife Evelyn making him the third owner of the popular jeweller that kept its original namesake from founder, Harry Francis.

Wright attributes business lon-gevity to the friendly atmosphere Francis is known for.

“People would come in just to visit”, shares Wright. “The third generation of families stop in to buy their wedding bands because this is where their parents and

their grandparents bought theirs.”As decades passed and business

practices changed, Francis Jewel-lers stuck to the basics keeping operations simple.

“We muddled our way through doing things the old fashioned way,” comments Wright. “Com-puterized inventory systems were never in the cards. We still use the old cheque writing system.”

Having an onsite goldsmith has

been another successful compon-ent to the Francis Jewellers busi-ness model. Customer service for custom design work and jewellery repair are features that Wright says are important in his line of work.

In his 25 years of operations, the most interesting item Wright came across was a custom made piece created by his goldsmith of a man’s knuckle-hinged ring that

was the topic of conversation for quite some time.

Wright acknowledges that in recent years, the jewellery market has changed. The Internet has given the consumer purchasing power on rare and unique items that could only be found in a store at one time.

End of an era for Comox Valley jewellery business

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9 WEDNESDAY

Drop-in Basketball, 7-9 p.m. WCS gym, $3. Seniors Social Afternoons, 1:30-4 p.m., Tofino Legion. St. Columba Church, 7 p.m.

10 THURSDAYGingerbread Extravaganza, Black Rock Resort, 2-4 p.m. Drop-in Soccer, 7-9 p.m. WCS gym. $3. Healthy Babies Program/Family Ties, 10:30 a.m, UCC. Ucluelet AA 8 p.m. Holy Family Church, Peninsula Rd.The Edge Youth Room, 3–6p.m., UCC.

11 FRIDAYDrop-in Badminton, 7-9 p.m. USS gym. $2. Bingo, Tofino Legion, 7:30 p.m.Arty Party, 9-11 p.m., Common Loaf Bake Shop Tofino. The Edge Youth Room, 2–6p.m.UCC.

12 SATURDAYSANTA ARRIVES: Ucluelet Breakfast with Santa, 8:30 a.m., UCC. Tofino Breakfast with Santa, 10 a.m. Tuff Community Hall. RCMP Stuff the Cruiser, Food Bank fundraiser, Ucluelet Co-op, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Turkey Bingo, Officials, 3 p.m. Christmas Community Jam, Officials, 7 p.m. St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 5:30 p.m. AA meeting, 7:30pm, St. Fran-cis, Tofino.

13 SUNDAYLast Chance Ukee Craft Fair, 11-3 p.m., UCC.Drop-in Badminton, 7-9 p.m. USS gym.Christ Community Church,10:30am, 1419 Peninsula Rd.Grace Bible Church, 10:30am, UCC.Holy Family Church, 10 a.m. St. Lawrence Church, 11:00

a.m. Ahousaht.St. Columba Church, 10:30 a.m United/Anglican Service, 4 p.m. UCC. Tofino Bible Fellowship, 10:30 a.m. Tofino Legion.

14 MONDAYDrop-in volleyball, 3 p.m. WCS gym, $3. Ucluelet AA, 8pm. Holy Family.

15 TUESDAYDrop-in Pickleball, 5:15 p.m. WCS gym. $3.

Healthy Babies Program/Family Ties, 10:30am. Coastal Family Place, UCC. The Edge Youth Room, 3–6pm, UCC.Youth night, 7-9pm, Tofino Legion.Youth night ANAF Ucluelet. AA meeting, 7:30pm, St. Fran-cis Church, 441 Main, Tofino.St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 5 p.m.

Community CalendarWant to see your event in the Community Calendar?

Email us at [email protected] or call 250-726-7029.

Local kids helped decorate a giant Christmas tree at the Ucluelet Community Centre on Dec. 3.


250-534-9842 cell | 250-725-2038 [email protected] | www.realestatetofino.ca 7249084

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“Part of that may relate to a change we made in the vac-cine about 15 years ago now and while the newer vaccine has far less side effects it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s giving the same level of long-er term protection.

“We’re starting to see more students in the middle grades, before they get their boost-er (shot) in Grade 9, coming down with it.”

He suggested the disease is little more than an annoyance to most patients but can be fatal to infants.

“For an adult or middle aged child it’s an annoying illness, it’s associated with a persis-tent cough that can literally go on for weeks,” he said.

“What we’re really con-cerned about though with pertussis is protecting very young infants from birth through to about one-year of age because, at that age, the tubes going to the lungs don’t cope very well with the infec-tion and rather than having just coughing and coughing fits, they may actually present as having problems breathing and on occasions we’ve had tragic events and we’d so like to avoid them.”

He said the most effective way for locals to keep them-selves and their commun-ity safe is to stick to their children’s immunization schedules.

“We provide that immuniza-tion schedule in the first year of life very specifically to pro-vide protection against per-tussis so don’t delay. There’s

no value in seeing if you can hold off until an older age; it’s really important, particularly when we start to see pertus-sis in a community, to be sure those young infants are pro-tected,” he said.

“We give immunization to try to prevent illness in the community so not only are you taking it for your own protection but you’re also helping to protect everyone else in the community so stick to those immunization sched-ules. Don’t delay, it doesn’t help it actually puts the

babies at risk. With infants in particular the outcomes can be tragic and they are preventable.”

He urges anyone showing signs of the illness to get checked out so VIHA can keep close tabs on the bug.

“We will follow up with indi-viduals who may have been exposed to the bug and some-times we actually recommend individuals get treatment just on the fact they’ve been exposed,” he said.

He assured VIHA would keep a close eye on the

situation. “Every time we have a case,

we get involved and follow up to be sure that we can try to contain it as much as pos-sible,” he said.

“In some circumstances we try to prevent the develop-ment of illness…that’s where we make recommendations on perhaps taking antibiotics particularly where there’s infants involved.”

The pertussis vaccine is free in BC.

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Vaccine, cont. from page 1

The pertussis bug currently hitting Tofino could be fatal for young locals so VIHA is urging the parents of West Coast infants like three-month-olds Crimson and Clover Bailey to follow their immunization schedules.

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ANDREW BAILEY PHOTO

tofino-ucluelet westerly news, december 09, 2015

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