TUESDAY MARCH 26, 2013
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Silver 2011 General Excellence
END OF A DANCING ERA
LOADS OF FUN THIS EASTER WEEKEND
A5
A17
Qualicum Beach square dance club holds its final event
A guide to the fun family events scheduled for holiday weekend
HOSPITALIZED IN PALM SPRINGS
Rattlesnake bites Al Grier On holiday in California, Parksville city councillor spent three scary days in a hospital AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
Rumours of his demise were greatly exaggerated, Parksville councillor Al Greir is happy to report. Greir was bitten by a rattlesnake on March 3 while hiking the Lykken Trail on the hills above Palm Springs, and stopped by The NEWS to clear up rumours about his current state. “We took a break and sat on a rock, it was quite steep,” Greir said Monday, having returned home Thursday from his death-defying ordeal. “I didn’t realize it, but I was sitting right on it. I was sitting on a rock and when I went to get up I put my hand down and saw it,” he said, explaining the head came up and bit the index finger on his left hand. It only felt like a bee sting initially, but he and his friend did turn around and head down the hill. He thought he’d go to the nearest clinic and get a shot but was surprised to find the nearest clinic didn’t deal with snake bites and sent them across town to the main hospital. Even more surprising, the main hospital didn’t know much about snake bites and were on the phone with a regional expert as they started testing and treating what was quickly becoming a severe condition. “I’ve had numerous operations, I have screws in both my shoulders, but I’d take those over this pain any day,” Greir said of his state within two hours of the bite. See 30 MINUTES, page A9
KidFest saved AUREN RUVINSKY
writer@pqbnews.com
A last-minute call for help appears to have saved KidFest. Board chair Bonnie Wallis said a public appeal March 5 — explaining that the 21st annual event wouldn’t happen this summer without extra help — worked and several people stepped up at the March 18 AGM to fill empty seats on the executive and event-coordinator spots. “The event has tentatively been scheduled for August 18, 2013,” she said Monday by e-mail. See EVENT, page A8
BRENDA GOUGH PHOTO
BIG BRANT GRAND OPENING: Miss Lucie the Brant Goosie was at the Brant Festival Community Celebration Friday night at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre. The big bird was curious about the signature cocktail of the event, ‘The Brantini,’ being enjoyed by Karen Phillips of Victoria. See page A28 for information about upcoming Brant Festival events.
See uS at the OceanSide Family health & WellneSS Fair Saturday april 6 - 10:00am - 3:30pm Parksville Community & Conference Centre
OPEn 7 days a wEEk
Weekdays until 9pm • Weekends until 6pm locally Owned, proudly Canadian!
281 E. Island Hwy. ParksvIllE, BC 250-951-0243