WEDNESDAY September 5, 2012 Vol. 27 No. 71 ••• $1.25 inc. H.S.T.
COMOX VALLEY
ARTS
SPORTS
Jorge Alfaro was one of many attractions at the 2012 Artisans’ Festival at Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens. page B1
The national ringette champion Thunder will visit the Comox Valley on Sept. 15 for demos and training. page B8
We’re pr o new and ud to welcome existing member to our n s ewest br anch: First Cr edit Un ion in Cumbe rland!
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Iconic farmer dies at 90 Renée Andor Record Staff
HALF OF A duplex on Archery Crescent in Courtenay was destroyed early Sunday morning. The other half of the duplex was badly damaged. RCMP are investigating. PHOTO BY JONATHAN ANTHONY
Suspicious blaze torrid when firefighters arrived Erin Haluschak Record Staff
Courtenay firefighters battled a house fire on Archery Crescent early Sunday morning that fully destroyed one side of a duplex, and badly damaged the other. Courtenay fire chief Don Bardonnex said when firefighters first arrived on scene, the house
was fully involved in flames on the first and second floors, and fire then spread into the attic. “The fire was started inside the building; it moved up through the interior on the one side of the building up to the attic and spread to the other side,” he added. Bardonnex confirmed occupants on one side of the duplex are both volunteer firefighters and both
are BC Ambulance paramedics. The blaze, which broke out around 3 a.m., has both neighbours and Comox Valley RCMP looking at the fire as suspicious. “Last night I was sleeping ... and I heard like some yelling and screaming and what sounded like breaking glass,” said neighbour Mike White to media. “I got up to look outside and I heard some-
body yelling that their dog had died, or someone had killed their dog. I came out, the place was on fire and I called 9-1-1. “There was apparently a party here before and something about a pepper spray incident,” he added. RCMP were on scene taking statements and talking to witnesses. Their investigation is continuing. photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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One of the Comox Valley’s most well-known farmers passed away last week. John (known as Jack) Farquharson, who grew and sold produce at previously named Farquharson Farms — now Comox Bay Farm — for many years, passed away peacefully Aug. 29 at 90. Farquharson had a large stroke on Aug. 26 and was surrounded by family when he died days later at St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Comox. “He had a very happy life, and a very long life, and he just simply, ran out of life,” said ex-wife Jean Farquharson, whom Jack was married to for 45 years. The two divorced about 15 years ago but reunited for some years before his death. Jack and Jean came to Canada from Scotland and bought the first of the three parcels making up Farquharson Farms in 1953, according to their daughter Diane Kasdorf. As surrounding land became available, they purchased two more lots on either side of the original farm, giving them a total of 192 acres of farm land in the middle of Courtenay. According to his family, Jack was known by many as a man who was “outstanding in his field,” and the play on words brought a smile to his face. Whether it was a field or simply a small garden, Kasdorf noted Jack would be standing in it. In fact, Jack would come out to ... see JACK ■ A2