Community

Amira Strain is the Alberni Valley coordinator for WildSafe BC. She is also the new manager at the Alberni Aquarium and Stewardship Centre, as of September 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Port Alberni’s ‘BC Goes Wild’ event will take visitors to the Lookout

Scavenger hunt for kids, bear safety information for adults all part of Sept. 19 hike

Amira Strain is the Alberni Valley coordinator for WildSafe BC. She is also the new manager at the Alberni Aquarium and Stewardship Centre, as of September 2020. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
In 1909 students in Garnet Valley near Summerland attended a school in their area. Their teacher was Miss Ballantyne. (Photo courtesy of the Summerland Museum)

QUIZ: Are you ready for the school year?

How much do you know about schools and education?

In 1909 students in Garnet Valley near Summerland attended a school in their area. Their teacher was Miss Ballantyne. (Photo courtesy of the Summerland Museum)
Kittens Toast (left) and Jersey (right) need support for their medical recovery after falling from highrises. (BC SPCA handout)

Two B.C. Kittens in need medical support after falling from highrises

BC SPCA starts fundraising for kittens in Victoria and Vancouver

Kittens Toast (left) and Jersey (right) need support for their medical recovery after falling from highrises. (BC SPCA handout)
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Toy Run organizers gather for Len Bodaly, far left, who is unable to ride his bike in the Sept. 19 event this year, to bring his donation of a Tonka truck. From left to right from Bodaly are Greg Philpott (founding member and second vice chair), Brian Loudon (founding member) and Tom Wall (first vice chair). The sign from the 25th year was used as a prop, even though this is the 36th year. (SONJA DRINKWATER / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Illness sidelines Toy Run rider for 2020

This year’s Toy Run on Saturday, Sept. 19 will be a socially-distanced one

  • Sep 10, 2020
Toy Run organizers gather for Len Bodaly, far left, who is unable to ride his bike in the Sept. 19 event this year, to bring his donation of a Tonka truck. From left to right from Bodaly are Greg Philpott (founding member and second vice chair), Brian Loudon (founding member) and Tom Wall (first vice chair). The sign from the 25th year was used as a prop, even though this is the 36th year. (SONJA DRINKWATER / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
The Alberni District Fall Fair is going virtual from Sept. 10 to 13. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Alberni District Fall Fair goes virtual

Small market, raffle will take place at Fall Fair Grounds on Sept. 12

The Alberni District Fall Fair is going virtual from Sept. 10 to 13. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)
Sandra Gentleman is a registered dietitian working in Port Alberni, B.C. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

ACTIVE LIVING: Uncover your triggers for mindless eating

Port Alberni registered dietitian Sandra Gentleman writes about health issues

  • Sep 9, 2020
Sandra Gentleman is a registered dietitian working in Port Alberni, B.C. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Helma Swinkels started Pot Luck Ceramics with her friend Val Startup and a group of forward-thinking volunteers 10 years ago. She is embracing the profit-for-non-profit’s successes as she faces closing the Pot Luck cottage on Gertrude Street in Port Alberni in September 2020. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Pot Luck Ceramics closes ground-breaking social enterprise

Port Alberni store celebrates successes in face of COVID-19

Helma Swinkels started Pot Luck Ceramics with her friend Val Startup and a group of forward-thinking volunteers 10 years ago. She is embracing the profit-for-non-profit’s successes as she faces closing the Pot Luck cottage on Gertrude Street in Port Alberni in September 2020. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Fred Warren sits at a machine in Port Alberni’s first printing shop, front right, in 1914, while Williams Venebles stands at the press at the back of the room. The press room belonged to the Port Alberni News, which came into being in March 1912. As of Sept. 1, 2020, the Alberni Valley News will move into a new home at 4918 Napier Street, where Houle Printing operates a print shop in shared space. The building was once home to a different newspaper, the AV Times, and housed a large press at one time. This photo is one of 24,000 in the Alberni Valley Museum’s collection. See more at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com/. (PHOTO PN00238 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)

LOOK BACK: Port Alberni’s first printing press

Take a peek at Alberni Valley history with the Alberni Valley Museum

Fred Warren sits at a machine in Port Alberni’s first printing shop, front right, in 1914, while Williams Venebles stands at the press at the back of the room. The press room belonged to the Port Alberni News, which came into being in March 1912. As of Sept. 1, 2020, the Alberni Valley News will move into a new home at 4918 Napier Street, where Houle Printing operates a print shop in shared space. The building was once home to a different newspaper, the AV Times, and housed a large press at one time. This photo is one of 24,000 in the Alberni Valley Museum’s collection. See more at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com/. (PHOTO PN00238 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)
On Labour Day, Canadians will pay tribute to the accomplishments of workers. This year, Labour Day falls on Sept. 7. (File photo)

QUIZ: How much do you really know about work and labour

The Labour Day weekend, in early September, is a time to celebrate workers

On Labour Day, Canadians will pay tribute to the accomplishments of workers. This year, Labour Day falls on Sept. 7. (File photo)
Nicole and Ben Stringer have spent the summer working to bring awareness to life-saving medication for cystic fibrosis patients. (Twila Amato - Black Press Media)

‘Nothing’s working anymore’: West Kelowna woman shares her fight with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and intestines among other organs

Nicole and Ben Stringer have spent the summer working to bring awareness to life-saving medication for cystic fibrosis patients. (Twila Amato - Black Press Media)
Volunteers with the Salvation Army prepare some of the 2,343 meals that volunteers with the COVID-19 response team distributed the week of Aug. 27, 2020 in Port Alberni. The team has served or delivered 55,000 meals to people in the Alberni Valley since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. (PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL RAMSAY)

Alberni Valley charities receive emergency funding

Alberni Valley Community Foundation lends a hand to 12 organizations

Volunteers with the Salvation Army prepare some of the 2,343 meals that volunteers with the COVID-19 response team distributed the week of Aug. 27, 2020 in Port Alberni. The team has served or delivered 55,000 meals to people in the Alberni Valley since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. (PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL RAMSAY)
Gay Bell, left, and Michelle Kalve, two residents of High View Apartments on 14th Avenue, take care of a number of garden boxes that the building’s owners donated. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Residents, landlords in Port Alberni complex team up to find gardening solution

Affordable housing complex plants garden boxes to keep residents in fresh vegetables

Gay Bell, left, and Michelle Kalve, two residents of High View Apartments on 14th Avenue, take care of a number of garden boxes that the building’s owners donated. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Tanner Provencal was in first place on the juniors’ side of the Alberni Valley Tyee Club ladder with this 24.8-pounder, but Kayden Jasken unseated Tanner with a 25.9 whopper. The juniors are giving the adults a run for their money this year. ((PHOTO COURTESY CAROLYN JASKEN, AV TYEE CLUB)

Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s ladders see late-season action

Biggest fish so far weighs in at 28 pounds in Alberni Inlet

  • Aug 31, 2020
Tanner Provencal was in first place on the juniors’ side of the Alberni Valley Tyee Club ladder with this 24.8-pounder, but Kayden Jasken unseated Tanner with a 25.9 whopper. The juniors are giving the adults a run for their money this year. ((PHOTO COURTESY CAROLYN JASKEN, AV TYEE CLUB)
Black bears are found in every Canadian province and territory except one. Do you know which part of Canada has no black bears? (Jill Hayward photo)

QUIZ: The bare facts about bears

As summer ends, bear sightings will become more common. How much do you know about bears?

Black bears are found in every Canadian province and territory except one. Do you know which part of Canada has no black bears? (Jill Hayward photo)
11:12 A.M. Frank Holm, a volunteer with the Alberni Pacific Railway, measures the area where he wants to install a grab bar on a 1909 CN Caboose at the APR’s Roundhouse behind Smitty’s on Third Avenue. Holm has put hundreds of hours into restoring the caboose, which used to sit outside a McDonald’s Restaurant in Nanaimo. (RICHARD SPENCER PHOTO)

A Day in the Life of Port Alberni 2020

See photos taken across the Alberni Valley on July 23, 2020

11:12 A.M. Frank Holm, a volunteer with the Alberni Pacific Railway, measures the area where he wants to install a grab bar on a 1909 CN Caboose at the APR’s Roundhouse behind Smitty’s on Third Avenue. Holm has put hundreds of hours into restoring the caboose, which used to sit outside a McDonald’s Restaurant in Nanaimo. (RICHARD SPENCER PHOTO)
A Mosaic employee releases a northern goshawk rehabilitated by Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society after it was found as chick injured from a fall from its nest near Mount Washington. Mosaic Forest Management photo

VIDEO: Rescued Northern Goshawk takes flight on Vancouver Island

Raptor fell from nest as a chick; rehabilitated by Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society

  • Aug 27, 2020
A Mosaic employee releases a northern goshawk rehabilitated by Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society after it was found as chick injured from a fall from its nest near Mount Washington. Mosaic Forest Management photo
The Beaufort Café, inside the Beaufort Hotel on Third Avenue in Port Alberni, was the place to be seen in 1944. Standing at the counter on this particular day are Mr. Hugh Lee, left, and his wife Phyllis, waitresses Mollie, Jacky Mulcaster, Cathy Peterson and Sylvia McMillan, and bookkeeper Birdie. Historian Glen Mofford was gifted with this photograph by Jacquelyn R. Zambon (née Mulcaster) in 2013. (PHOTO COURTESY GLEN MOFFORD)

LOOK BACK: The historic Beaufort Hotel in Port Alberni

Taking a peek at Alberni Valley history with historian Glen Mofford

The Beaufort Café, inside the Beaufort Hotel on Third Avenue in Port Alberni, was the place to be seen in 1944. Standing at the counter on this particular day are Mr. Hugh Lee, left, and his wife Phyllis, waitresses Mollie, Jacky Mulcaster, Cathy Peterson and Sylvia McMillan, and bookkeeper Birdie. Historian Glen Mofford was gifted with this photograph by Jacquelyn R. Zambon (née Mulcaster) in 2013. (PHOTO COURTESY GLEN MOFFORD)
A Glassair, left, and Citabria aircraft are parked beside the taxiway at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (WARWICK PATTERSON/ Special to the News)

New ‘fly-out’ series attracts general aviation pilots to Port Alberni’s airport

Event is designed to introduce recreational pilots to B.C.-based airports

A Glassair, left, and Citabria aircraft are parked beside the taxiway at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (WARWICK PATTERSON/ Special to the News)
Artist Shayne Lloyd adds some finishing touches to an image of the moon on the ‘building relationships’ mural he is painting on the side of the Canadian Maritime Engineering building on Harbour Road in Port Alberni. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)

Mural near Harbour Quay entrance completed

Artists in the ‘touch-up’ stage after rain delay

Artist Shayne Lloyd adds some finishing touches to an image of the moon on the ‘building relationships’ mural he is painting on the side of the Canadian Maritime Engineering building on Harbour Road in Port Alberni. (ELENA RARDON / ALBERNI VALLEY NEWS)
Island Health posts alert of possible COVID-19 exposure at Courtenay restaurant

Island Health posts alert of possible COVID-19 exposure at Courtenay restaurant

Island Health has posted an advisory of possible exposure to COVID-19 at…

Island Health posts alert of possible COVID-19 exposure at Courtenay restaurant