The Elphinstone Community Association (ECA) February meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16, over Zoom. Guest speaker Mark Hiltz, Area F Director, will discuss how to navigate the Sunshine Coast Regional District website, including how to find interesting information. A former municipal employee, Mark has degrees in geology and library science. Elphinstone Director Donna McMahon will also give a report. Contact [email protected] to request the code.
A delegation of the ECA will request the SCRD to ask the province to remove Reed Road Forest (DL1313) from BC Timber Sales operating plans. If you’d like to sit in on the Feb. 17 meeting (Planning and Development Committee, 9:30 a.m.), instructions can be found on the SCRD website: scrd.ca/agendas. Look under “upcoming meetings” for the Zoom link and password. People can watch from the public gallery of the Zoom call or see the meeting live on the SCRD YouTube channel. A link will be posted on the SCRD webpage on the day of the meeting.
The Gibsons Farm owners (corner of Henry and Russell Roads) are excited to announce that registration for the spring break camp and summer camp is now open! See their website at: gibsonsfarm.ca/summer-farm-camp. Some of the big changes on the farm include a fully functioning commercial kitchen (rentals available) and some new animals like miniature horses and Nigerian dwarf goats. For more info: 778-882-5673, 604-306-7050 or www.GibsonsFarm.ca
Quality Garden & Pet on Pratt Road, is hosting ‘Gardening in Harmony with our Environment’ on Saturday, March 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Co-sponsored with several community groups including the One Straw Society, Quality has recently signed on with the Invasive Species Council of BC to become a Plantwise Partner in promoting native, drought tolerant plants for our changing climate. There will be a kids’ activity table, as well as exhibitor tables spread out in the greenhouse for social distancing (masks required). Sounds like a great way to spring into spring!
In some not-so-great news, Shirley Samples of Streamkeepers reports that unprecedented rainfalls scoured the gravel spawning grounds of pink, chum and coho nests, saying, “Before then, the SC Streamkeepers had been doing weekly spawning counts. That is what made it especially hard for us; we had counted those salmon giving so much of themselves in preparing their nests and protecting them… Unfortunately, this year was the first return of pink salmon since 2014.” To see the total of the salmon counts on each creek, check out their website at
In these trying times, it’s more important than ever for people to be thoughtful and kind, and resist the slew of disinformation out there. There are those who denigrate mainstream media, which I agree can be biased. However, the journalists I know personally or listen to on mainstream media, have degrees in journalism acquired at great expense and have spent their careers reporting, not because they want to deceive but because they want to inform. They most certainly do not deserve the boorish behaviour heaped upon them, as seen recently.
Got Elphinstone news? Let me know at: [email protected].
