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The Central Island branch of the Old English Car Club of British Columbia hosted the 14th annual Brits on the Beach all-British car show Sunday, July 14 at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith. Hundreds of cars such as Triumphs, Rovers, MGs and Jaguars were displayed in the park under bright, sunny skies. Included in this series of photos is John St. John with the British Bobby Restaurant in Parksville, who dressed in an authentic British police officer (or bobby)’s uniform to promote the restaurant. Here, he pretends to write a ticket for a 1962 Sunbeam Rapier Series IIIA convertible owned by Alan and Mary Lou Miles of Richmond. He says the car is about the same vintage as his uniform. PHOTOS BY LINDSAY CHUNG
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been on the road cutting firewood. The driver knew they were there but locked the gate behind him, blocking them in. Tovey, her son and boyfriend were a family in a minivan, she was wearing a dress and it seemed unlikely, she said, that they could have been mistaken for another party out cutting firewood who would have had a key for the gate. “I thought they were smiling to be nice, but I feel more like they were smiling because, ‘Aha, we’re going to lock you in,’” Tovey said. The family tried to find another way out, but when that search proved fruitless, fear-
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ing they might run out of fuel, from Nanaimo Lakes who drove they parked the minivan by the out and unlocked the gate. locked gate. “They were so nice to us, and Tovey said she is familiar with they had to drive 40 minutes the bush, and normally, there from their house on a Saturday should be a sign posted on or evening to let us out,” Tovey near a logging road gate warn- said. ing of potential road closures All told, the family was strandafter certain hours and phone ed behind the gate for more numbers people can call for than four hours and an estihelp if they do become stranded mated 10 kilometres from the or want a woodcutting permit. end of Spruston Road. They had She found nothing in the area. food and water, but Tovey’s boyTwo men finally came by who friend has a spine defect that took Tovey’s boyfriend to get would have made hiking out of his car, so the family could at the area difficult if not imposleast drive home. In the mean- sible for him. time, she contacted another Tovey said she wants to warn family member who managed people that this could happen to call two gate security people See Open gate Page 5
Josiah plays a game of zombies during Adventure Zone Summer Daycamp Monday morning at Transfer Beach Park. The daycamp is run by Ladysmith Parks, Recreation and Culture staff and featuers a variety of fun activities and outings during themed weeks. This week’s theme is Icky Sticky Science. STACEY CROSSLEY
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quality care that they deserve.” Whalen says they basically need to raise an extra $100 per child per month. “The nice thing is we’ve been told it would stay with the Infant and Toddler Program,” she said. “We’re working on trying to get donations and discussing getting some fundraisers going. We’ve discussed parents volunteering and parents bringing in snacks and art supplies to cut those costs.” As a whole, Infant and Toddler Programs are the most expensive to operate because of the low staff ratios, explained Boys and Girls Club of Vancouver Island executive director Ian Kalina, noting the requirement is one staff member per four children. Faced with a deficit, the Boys and Girls Club told parents it would need to look at increasing fees and reducing hours to narrow the gap, he explained. “What we’re looking to do is to cover our staff costs,” said Kalina. Kalina says it costs about $1,400 a month just to staff the Infant and Toddler Program. He says they’re also trying to pay their staff a living wage because they don’t want a lot of turnover, as relationships are so important at this age. Kalina has been meeting with the parents to figure out how they can close the financial gap. “The notion of us narrowing the gap is really about working together,” he said. “If we can work together, which is the sense I had from our previous meeting, the sense is we can keep this going. We’re not saying we’re closing the program — we want to keep this going, and so do the parents.” If anyone would like to contribute, they can contact Cara Whalen at 250714-4043 or caralynn17@gmail.com.
Celebrating Ladysmith Days: clockwise from top left, Cameron Brulotte, 6, dances to Sunday’s live music; bullhead derby winners show off their catch; Ella Stuart, 3, dances to the Dead Byrds at Coronation Mall; and a smurf gives out treats in the parade. NICK BEKOLAY/LINDSAY CHUNG
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A group of Ladysmith parents is turning to the community to try to help a program they value deeply. Parents whose children are attending the Infant and Toddler Program at the Boys and Girls Club are asking service clubs to donate to the program so they can help cover the costs of offering the program. This program is one of only two licensed infant and toddler programs serving the Ladysmith area, offering 12 full-time spots for children from birth to age 36 months, according to parent Cara Whalen. “This is a service that we rely on as parents, and it is at risk of closing due to financial challenges,” she says in a letter parents are distributing to service clubs. Recently, parents were informed that the program was increasing its fees to cover a deficit and shortening its hours, effective Sept. 1. Prior to the fee increase, families with children aged zero to 18 months were paying $900 a month, while parents with children aged 19 to 36 months were paying $775 a month. The new fees are now $1,000 a month for all ages up to 36 months. For families of 19- to 36-month-old children, this is an increase of 35 per cent, which Whalen says is not affordable to some parents. Parents are hoping they can buy some time to work with the Boys and Girls Club to find solutions. “The Boys and Girls Club is a beautiful and welcoming facility that our children are happy and thriving in,” said Whalen. “We want to ensure that they can continue to go to a place that they are comfortable with, as well as continuing to receive the
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open gate on a logging road. “We’re new to the area, and we’d heard about the lake up What was supposed to be a there, so we thought that afterquick outing to a back country noon we’d go and try and find lake turned out to be an ordeal it,” Tovey said. “We go through lasting several hours when a this open gate and we thought Ladysmith family found itself we must be getting close to stranded behind a locked log- the beach or whatever. Two or three minutes up the road, this ging road gate on the weekend. Misty Tovey, her three-year- truck passes by us, going the old son and boyfriend thought other way real slow and wavit would be fun to go check out ing and smiling and we wave McKay Lake, located beyond and smile and we acknowledge the end of Spruston Road in the each other. We drive another hills above Cassidy, Saturday two minutes up the road and afternoon, but their short out- there’s this great big gate, so ing ran into a snag when, not we turned around to drive back knowing the area, they missed and they’d locked us in.” Tovey said the other party had the lake and drove through an
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Children gather around to watch student field assistant Kevin Robinson (left) and biologist Bruce Cousens band baby Purple Martins during a demonstration at the Ladysmith Maritime Society Community Marina as part of the BC Purple Martin Stewardship and Recovery Program’s ninth annual open house Sunday, July 21. If you missed the open house and would like to learn more about Purple Martins or about the recovery program, visit www. georgiabasin.ca/puma.htm.
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in decades,” Wareing said. “It’s always interesting to see what turns
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up.” Wareing owns a 1972 MGB GT British motoring enthusiasts will roll into Ladysmith Sunday, July that he acquired in 2007. He’s since 14, as hundreds of British cars and welded new sills onto his car bemotorcycles converge on Transfer fore having it repainted. That exBeach Park for Brits on the Beach. perience offered him an appreciaThe “all-British car and motorcy- tion for how much time and energy cle event,” hosted by the Central Is- owners invest in maintaining and land branch of the Old English Car restoring cars in their collections. Some of the cars on display at Club of British Columbia (OECC), returns to Ladysmith for its 14th Brits on the Beach will be comyear with a bigger-than-ever selec- plete restorations in near-mint contion of exotic roadsters and classic dition, Wareing said, while a select few will bear the telltale signs of cruisers. OECC member Steve Wareing long yet careful use. said the show attracts, on aver- “A couple of years ago, out of age, 200 vehicles every year, but the blue, we saw a 1926 Bentley with the OECC’s annual general Roadster,” Wareing said. “A huge, meeting scheduled to take place in huge roadster. The owner drove Nanaimo July 12-13, event organiz- it up from Victoria. It had been in ers are anticipating their biggest his family since 1936. It was his grandfather’s car, then his father’s turnout to date. Car clubs from across Vancouver car and then his. I couldn’t even Island are regular participants in guess at the value of the thing, but the festival, Wareing said, draw- it was so neat that it had been in ing significant numbers of Jaguars, the family for so many years. And Minis, Austin-Healeys, MGs and the other thing was: it hadn’t been restored as such. It was used, so Triumphs to the event every year. Alongside Britain’s most popular there were some dents on it and automotive brands, festivalgoers some scratches on it and the paint are likely to encounter more rare wasn’t that shiny, but the beautiful and exotic cars from the likes of thing about it was that it was used. Rolls Royce and Bentley, Wareing In other words, it wasn’t just made added, and a selection of bikes to look nice and then put in a mufrom Triumph, Royal Enfield, BSA, seum somewhere. It’s actually on Norton and Vincent, but organiz- the road.” Wareing encourages anyone who ers won’t know what the final lineup will look like until the day owns a made-in-the-U.K. car, truck Kai Schwarz wields a trio of Phantasticks to help promote the Schwarzes’ family-run toy business to pass- of the festival. or motorcycle to bring it down to ersby at the Chemainus Giant Street Market Saturday, July 6. More than 100 vendors lined Willow Street “Sometimes you’ll get someone Transfer Beach Park for the show offering for sale everything from toys and First Nations art to palm trees and prawning traps. NICK BEKOLAY who brings a car I haven’t seen See Entrance Page 4
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2013 In Review ic for about four years. Lindsay Chung “As of August 9, 2013, Dr. Kilvert will no longer share this practice Patients of Dr. Vivian Kilvert are and will not have a permanent upset after learning that she will no contract within the VIHA Family longer be with the Ladysmith Fam- Practice Clinic,” states the letter to patients from the Ladysmith Family ily Practice Clinic as of Aug. 9. Joan Etheridge of Ladysmith, who Practice Clinic, which is signed by is a patient of Kilvert’s, says she site manager Heather Dunne, Kilhears Kilvert has been asking for vert and Brockley. “We know that too many tests to be done for the many of you will miss Dr. Kilvert, diagnostic and monitoring needs and we know that the most difficult of her patients and consequently is part of this change will be in losing her relationships with her patients over budget. “We’re upset about our favourite that she has so cherished. Dr. Kildoctor being fired for being too vert has considered it a privilege to have served as your physician and good at what she does,” she said. Ladysmith’s Gerry Yellowlees, wishes you health and happiness who has seen Kilvert when his doc- in your future. We, as a clinic, and I am sure I speak for you as patients, tor was away, is upset as well, “This doctor is an excellent doctor wish the same for Dr. Vivian Kilvert and she’s being let go because she’s as she pursues other avenues in her an excellent doctor,” he said. “This career and life.” Dr. John Potts, one of the original is ridiculous.” The Vancouver Island Health Au- physicians in the previous Monkeythority (VIHA) could not comment Tree clinic in Ladysmith, will start on the specifics of Kilvert’s contract. in this half-time practice Sept. 2. “Vancouver Island Health Author- “VIHA is committed to providing ity cannot disclose any circum- accessible, high quality care to resistances relating to the contractual dents of the Ladysmith area,” said relationship between any physi- Patterson. “We’re pleased Dr. John cian and the health authority out of Potts will join the Ladysmith Family respect for the confidentiality of Practice Clinic in September.” Yellowlees said he intended to those involved,” Bruce Patterson in the VIHA communications depart- write to the B.C. Medical Association and VIHA patient care, but he ment stated in an e-mail. Etheridge and Yellowlees were sur- was frustrated that patients weren’t prised to hear from other patients given very much notice. that Kilvert’s contract was not be- “What we’d like to do is have the ing renewed. They received a letter Ladysmith Family Practice Clinic from Kilvert July 9 informing them consider the patients in the future that her time with the Ladysmith with the consequences of their acFamily Practice Clinic would end tions and also keep Dr. Kilvert in Aug. 9. They also received a letter some capacity,” he said. “We’re trying to be positive about this and say from the clinic on July 17. Kilvert has been sharing Dr. Gra- ‘how can we turn a negative into a ham Brockley’s practice at the clin- positive?’”
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Four-year-old Darevin Curnow of Chemainus — who is dressed as a honey bee to promote his family’s Honey Tree Bistro in the Secret Garden — makes some music on Willow Street during ArtBeat Friday, Aug. LINDSAY CHUNG 9 in Chemainus.
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Timetable troubles fuel tension at LSS LSS principal asks parents and students for their patience
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spite of being met with “more abuse than they ever have” before. Having to contend with people exhibiting “very little tact” when communicating their timetable concerns with the school’s counselling staff means the counsellors “deserve a huge pat on the back for what they’ve been doing.” Traditionally, LSS has always distributed the following year’s completed course schedules to students in June, Street explained, providing students and parents with an opportunity to work with counsellors on revised schedules through early July and the last week of August. This year, however, LSS chose to distribSee School Page 4
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As the first full week of classes unfolded at Ladysmith Secondary School, a hefty portion of the school’s students was left biding its time as counsellors scrambled to fill in the gaps in students’ timetables. Course schedules handed out on day one of the new school year failed to meet the needs or expectations of close to half of the school’s students, and the school hasn’t addressed students’ concerns quickly enough, say LSS students. Grade 11 student Alexa Spanevello
said the writing and English literature courses she thought she’d signed up for failed to materialize, a considerable inconvenience in light of her future aspirations. “I want to be an English teacher when I’m older,” she explained. Instead of devoting her time to studying Orwell or Shakespeare, Spanevello said she’s found herself in a “placeholder class” that, as of Friday afternoon, had yet to be filled. When she filled out her course survey last spring, Spanevello said she “definitely thought” that by jotting down her course selections, LSS would
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Ladysmith RCMP seize drugs, alcohol at rave P. 3
$525 to the CaGBC alongside the building’s portfolio “in 2012,” Malli said. An additional $4,144 was paid for “certification fees,” Malli said. The application was submitted for consideration in the LEED Silver category, Mayor Rob Hutchins said, so LEED Gold certification “exceeded our expectations.” Building to LEED standards is now part of the Town’s energy plan, Malli said, and all new civic structures exceeding 5,000 square feet in size will be built to that standard. LEED certification, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is defined as “a third-party certification pro-
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gram and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings,” states the CaGBC’s website. Structures submitted for LEED assessment are judged on a variety of criteria with priority given to a candidate building’s energy and water efficiency, the sustainability of the building site, its “indoor environmental quality,” and the materials used in its construction. Buildings that measure up are certified in one of four categories: LEED Platinum, LEED Gold, LEED Silver and LEED Certified. See LEED Gold Page 4
City Manager Ruth Malli (left) and Mayor Rob Hutchins (right) announced the city’s first LEED Gold certification Thursday, Aug. 15, accompanied by Jack Maier, president of the Ladysmith Seniors Society, and Dennis Lait, executive director for the LRCA. Ladysmith’s new Community Services Centre — located at 630 Second Avenue and home to the food bank, the LRCA and the Ladysmith Seniors Centre — received the nod from the Canada Green Building Council earlier this year. Nick Bekolay
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may only take a day or two for her to add the 70 names registered to date. As a result, Judson advised anyone wanting to see their hero’s name added to the wall prior The Tour de Rock entourage rolled out of Port Alice to the mural’s unveiling Sept. 30 to register with the Sunday morning on the first leg of their 1,000-kilometre LDCU prior to Sept. 25. A second fundraising option is the Adopt-A-Rider journey south to Victoria. Following a west coast detour this coming weekend, program. By donating $50 to TDR prior to Sept. 30, the TDR is scheduled to depart Nanaimo for Ladysmith and Ladysmith Downtown Business Association will assign a donor a rider, make up an “encouragement poster,” Chemainus on the morning of Monday, Sept. 30. In the lead up to TDR’s arrival, local organizers are and provide professional photos. Judson said that rider busy overseeing a multi-faceted fundraising and aware- adoptions can be arranged by contacting Teresa McKinley at the Chronicle. ness campaign. Vancouver Island Insurance Centre is contributing to Front and centre is the Wall of Heroes, a mural located at the Ladysmith and District Credit Union that will the TDR effort by sponsoring a bike draw, Judson addserve as the backdrop for Ladysmith’s welcome cere- ed. By donating to TDR before Sept. 30, donors will be eligible to win one of three bikes up for grabs. To sign mony when TDR arrives Monday afternoon. TDR committee member Kim Judson said anyone in- up for the draw, contact Adele at Ladysmith VIIC. Local eateries are contributing to the cancer-fighting terested in having a cancer hero’s name memorialized on the Wall of Heroes can do so by donating $50 to cause, too, Judson said. Printingdun Beanery at First TDR. Kelly Everill returns to Ladysmith this Wednesday Avenue and Roberts Street is donating the proceeds of (Sept. 25) to complete the mural, Judson said, and it every chicken sandwich sold from now through Sept.
New committee looks at scope of homelessness
“The mission of the committee is to provide cold- or Nick Bekolay extreme-weather shelter to people who are homeless,” Warren explained. “At this point, we are working with An organization founded in response to the death of a Kevan Griffith, property manager for the Balmoral Hotel local homeless man last winter is teaming up with local supportive housing complex in Nanaimo. They will prochurches and the Ladysmith Resources Centre Associa- vide space if we transport people there on nights when there is extreme weather and pick them up the next tion to feed the hungry today. The Ladysmith Homeless Aid Committee (LHAC), the morning.” Before they can move forward with their project, LRCA and volunteers from Bethel Tabernacle are teaming up to serve hot dogs and hamburgers to Ladysmith’s though, Warren said they “need to know the scope of “financially vulnerable” at Market Square at 11 a.m., said homelessness in Ladysmith.” Physical outreach will be a key means of ascertaining LRCA program manager Cindy Warren. Volunteers with the LHAC and Social Planning the housing needs of low-income members of the comCowichan will follow up with a survey on low-income munity, Warren added, and she hopes these efforts will help the LHAC determine the number of people who housing needs in Ladysmith, Warren added. Founded by Barb Bodaly, Bruce Mason and Tim Sol- would use a cold-weather shelter. The plight of Ladysmith’s most vulnerable residents loway following the death of their longtime friend and acquaintance David Alton last January, the LHAC’s mem- was brought to light when Alton’s body was discovered bership has since expanded to include town councillors, in a dugout at Aggie Field Jan. 14, 2013. When Alton crossed paths with Mason a few days prior an RCMP officer, MLA Doug Routley and representatives from various advocacy organizations, churches to his death, he informed Mason that he had been evicted from his apartment and that he had been left homeand concerned citizens’ groups. THE CHRONICLE
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Water, sewer connection to Oyster Bay complete Lindsay Chung
will make way for proposed development in the area, and will also secure a safe water source for the Stz’uminus commuLast August, MP John Duncan came nity currently residing at Oyster Bay. Elliott expressed gratitude to everyone to Stz’uminus First Nation to announce nearly $1.5 million in federal funding who has worked together on this project from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern De- and explained that the completion of wavelopment Canada (AANDC) to extend ter and sewer “will help make an econowater and sewer services from Ladysmith. my and build the local area.” Last week, Duncan was back in the area, “It’s all about working together and makthis time to celebrate the completion of ing sure that we do this building of the local area together,” he said, calling this that work. Duncan, Stz’uminus First Nation Chief “the start of where we are going for our John Elliott and Ladysmith Mayor Rob future.” Calling the day of the ribbon cutting “a Hutchins stood on the Stz’uminus Oyster Bay Reserve at Oyster Sto’Lo Road significant milestone between those two beside the Ivy Green Husky Wednesday, communities,” Hutchins noted that the Oct. 9 and cut a ribbon to celebrate the Town of Ladysmith and Stz’uminus First completion of water and sewer infra- Nation signed a renewed Community Accord in May 2012 and followed that up structure for Oyster Bay. “Your communities have much to be with a Memorandum of Understanding. “Today, we’re actually celebrating the proud of,” said Duncan. Water and sewer services at Oyster Bay first real physical manifestation of that THE CHRONICLE
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work,” he said. “We’re actually physically, finally, connecting our two communities together in a meaningful way through water and sewer. This is about the joint communities. This is going to allow the Stz’uminus First Nation to do something pretty powerful on this site. In turn, it’s going to allow the Town of Ladysmith, in partnership with Stz’uminus First Nation, to provide a better water supply, a healthier water supply, to the community.” “It’s a huge milestone for us. It’s good for both communities, and I’m thankful to be part of it,” he added. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long. The next stages will go a lot quicker; we’ve finally figured out how to work together, and we have some pretty exciting things coming.” Water and sewer connection has been one of the top priorities for Coast Salish Development Corporation (CSDC) — the economic development agency of the Stz’uminus First Nation — and, with
the infrastructure in place, development of Oyster Bay can begin, according to a press release. Duncan was servi
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Carmen Gibson of Choptsix Salon sheers Corey Cross’s long locks for the Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock Monday, Sept. 30 as the town celebrates the Tour’s arrival. Cross, an 11-year-old Ladysmith Intermediate School student, raised “just over $4,000” in the process, a sum later matched by Ladysmith’s Coastal Trucking. For more photos from the Tour NICK BEKOLAY de Rock arrival in Ladysmith, please turn to page 10.
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less as a result. Mason described his former high school classmate as “obviously not well” the last time they spoke. Alton’s clothes were “falling apart,” and he looked so thin and haggard that Mason didn’t recognize him at first. Temperatures dropped to near zero — and possibly below zero — the night Alton is thought to have died. According to Environment Canada, the final reading for Nanaimo Airport, recorded at 9 p.m. on the night of Jan. 13, reads 0.1 C. Alton’s death was “quite tragic,” Mason said, adding that “it shouldn’t have happened, and hopefully it will never happen to anyone else in town.” Preliminary tests conducted by the BC Coroners Service (BCCS) were inconclusive, and the results of subsequent tests were expected “by late spring at best.” The results of those tests are now in the “final editing process,” said BCCS spokesperson Barb McLintock last Thursday, and they will be released to the public “in approximately three weeks.” For more information on this initiative, contact Cindy Warren at 250-245-3079.
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Cowichan Unit of the Canadian Cancer Chemainus Theatre, and people can do- through the LDCU’s Wall of Heroes mural. Society and co-chair of the TDR commit- nate at www.tourderock.ca or at the event. For a minimum $50 donation, artist Kelly tee, says the Great Hair Event is something In Ladysmith, the Ladysmith Downtown Everill will write the name of your cancer new for 2013, as they wanted to “pump Business Association (LDBA) is promoting hero in a rock on the hand-painted mural things up” this year. an “adopt a rider” program. beside the Credit Union at 330 First Ave. “We’re really hoping for a fun day,” she For a $50 donation to TDR, the LDBA To be included on the Wall of Heroes for said. will provide you with a sign showing spon- the 2013 Tour, donations and names should Urban Legends is sending two hairdress- sorship of your rider. You, an employee, a be received by Sept. 23. ers to the event, and as of Monday, five friend or neighbour will then be asked to Leading up to the TDR riders’ arrival, people had signed up to have their heads hold up that sign on First Avenue while the there are a number of ongoing fundraisers. shaved — including Chemainus Theatre riders cycle into town Monday, Sept. 30. Vancouver Island Insurance Centre in Festival volunteer Eric Marshall and North Then you can head down to the Ladysmith Coronation Mall is hosting a bike draw Cowichan Mayor John Lefebure. and District Credit Union (LDCU) parking to support TDR from now until Sept. 30. “Head shaving has become synonymous lot and have a professional photo taken of Make a donation to TDR and be entered to with Tour de Rock fundraisers because so you and your rider. win one of three bikes. many people, when they undergo chemoAnyone who would like to sponsor a rider The Junction Bottle Depot is onboard, therapy, they lose their hair,” noted O’Neill. can contact Cathleen McMahon at info@ and people are invited to return their botAnyone wishing to participate in this mmgrp.ca or 250-668-3338. tles and cans to 149 Oyster Bay Rd. and tell head shave can call O’Neill at 250-246-5351 Local residents can make a tribute to a the attendant to donate the money to TDR. to register or donate towards a shave. Do- cancer survivor or anyone who has made From Sept. 23-29, Tim Hortons will supnation forms can be picked up from the a difference in the fight against cancer port TDR through sales of Smile Cookies.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Ladysmith Homeless Aid Committee and Ladysmith Resources Centre Association feeding the hungry today at 11 a.m.
30, Judson added, while Tim Horton’s is donating the proceeds of any Smile Cookies sold until Sept. 30 to TDR. Ladysmith Secondary School will make its contribution via an Open Mic Night scheduled for 6:30 p.m. this Thursday (Sept. 26) at LSS. Admission is by donation, and all proceeds will go to TDR. LSS principal Dave Street, meanwhile, will spend Sept. 28-30 camped out on a scissor lift in the LDCU parking lot to raise money and awareness for TDR, Judson said. Lonely though he may be, Street can count on Ladysmith Fire/Rescue to keep him company as he embarks on his journey through low earth orbit. Ladysmith Fire/Rescue will host a community barbecue and TDR fundraiser Sept. 28 from 4-7 p.m. in the LDCU parking lot. The grand finale begins when the TDR riders roll into Ladysmith Monday afternoon sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m., Judson said. After a brief stop at Tim Horton’s, the riders will proceed to the LDCU parking lot where they will be greeted by Ladysmith’s finest. See Expect Page 4
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The arrival of the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock in Ladysmith and Chemainus is still more than two weeks away, but there are lots of ways to support the cause leading up to the main event. In Chemainus, plans are underway for a new fundraising event, The Great Hair Event, which will take place Saturday, Sept. 14 from 1-4 p.m. at the Chemainus Seniors Drop-In Centre. Along with head shaves, there will be music, games and burgers barbecued by Jen Prunty, a 2013 Tour de Rock (TDR) rider and former North Cowichan police officer, to raise money for Camp Goodtimes, a camp for the children who have survived cancer or are undergoing treatments. Jan O’Neill, a volunteer with the
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Const. Brigitte Goguen of the Ladysmith RCMP braved the rain Thursday, Sept. 5 to monitor motorists passing through school zones near Ladysmith Primary School. Goguen, fellow Ladysmith RCMP officers and SpeedWatch volunteers will be out in full force in the coming weeks in an effort to remind drivers to slow down now that students are back in school. See Strict Enforcement on page 8 for more.
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the community who aren’t Nick Bekolay even part of Search and THE CHRONICLE Rescue who helped,” added Tanya. Students in The Heidelbachs are grate- Ladysmith return to ful for the support they’re school one day later being given. than their counterparts “There was so much help in Chemainus this year. from the community and Today marks opentown and the surrounding ing day for the 2013areas,” said Neil. “I want 14 school year at to thank everybody. I also Cowichan Valley want to thank our closest schools while students friends who were up with at Nanaimo-Ladysmith us all night helping us cope. schools wait until toOur friends and family are morrow to attend their amazing. Without question, first classes of the year. without hesitation, they Chemainus Elemenwere there.” tary and Chemainus The Heidelbach family is Secondary open this setting up a scholarship or morning with disbursary through QMS in missal scheduled to Kaitlin’s name for students take place three hours who are pursuing studies in earlier than usual. All the medical field, and any- students are expected one who would like to sup- to attend school at port the family can donate Chemainus Elemenmoney to the school under tary today, but only Kaitlin’s name. A bank ac- eighth graders and new count is also being set up students are scheduled in the Heidelbachs’ name to attend classes at at Ladysmith and District CSS this morning. CSS Credit Union. reverts to its regular A Celebration of Life for schedule tomorrow Kaitlin will be held this Fri- (Sept. 4). day (Sept. 6) at 1 p.m. at Students in Queen Margaret’s School at Ladysmith, Cedar and 660 Brownsey Ave. in Dun- North Oyster, meancan, followed by a tea. while, have had their RCMP Victim Services are opening day pushed available to anyone impact- back to tomorrow due ed by this tragedy. This free to a staff in-service day service can be reached by scheduled for today. calling the Ladysmith RCMP Nanaimo-Ladysmith See Pall Page 8 at 250-245-2215.
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ing,” she said. “It was like that in everything — sports, school, horse shows. She had to be perfect. She always said she was going to be rich and be a doctor and travel. She had huge dreams and huge hopes.” Kaitlin was going to be entering Grade 11 at QMS this year as House Captain and Sports Captain, and Tanya says she was excited to start those leadership roles. Volunteering was a big part of Kaitlin’s life, and when she was 14, she went on a service trip to Nicaragua with her school. Kaitlin was looking forward to going on another school service trip to Africa this year, and she was saving up from her new job at Walmart for the trip.
and athletic teenager who had no fears,” said Neil. Neil and Tanya say Kaitlin was “far from your typical teenager.” They say she was very protective of her sister Dezaray, and she loved to read. “She had her head on her shoulders,” said Neil. “She knew where she wanted to be and how to get there.” Kaitlin wanted to go to McGill University and then to the University of Oxford to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. “She had her whole educational future mapped out,” said Neil. “She was so driven. She was always reading. She would choose reading over TV — unless it was anime. She loved anime, and she couldn’t wait until the next series came up.” Tanya and Neil say Kaitlin was a very happy teenager. “She was always laughing, always smiling,” said Neil. “Kaitlin loved the rain. If it was raining, she loved to be outside. She was competitive, fun-loving, adventurous and very driven. She was a tremendous kid.” The Heidelbachs want to thank the Ladysmith RCMP and Search and Rescue members from Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Cowichan for their tireless work searching for Kaitlin. “Everyone was so amazing,” said Neil. “Everybody needs
Although the sun was shining, the ground was still soggy, as Lloyd Hiebert and his workers harvested potatoes on Hiebert’s Quennell Road farm Sunday morning. Sunday marked the beginning of Hiebert’s 50th harvest on the farm, which he took over from his parents in 1963.
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An overnight search for 16-year-old Kaitlin Heidelbach ended tragically Friday PHOTO SUBMITTED morning.
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told her if she maintained a straight A average, we would move here and she would be able to go there.” Kaitlin did just that, and she applied to the school. In 2009, she started Grade 7 at Queen Margaret’s School (QMS) when her family moved to Ladysmith from Prince George. “She chose it partly because it was a university prep school,” said Tanya. Kaitlin also loved horses, and the equestrian program at Queen Margaret’s was another big draw for her, noted Tanya. When the Heidelbachs moved to Ladysmith, Kaitlin brought her horse Rocky here to be stabled in Cedar. She had raised the horse since she was 10 and competed in many American Quarter Horse Association shows with Rocky. “She excelled in everything she did,” said Tanya. “Anything she did, she had to be the best.” When Kaitlin was 12, and her family moved to the Island, she found herself a job working in the stables. She recently started a job as a cashier at Walmart in Duncan, and she had to take an exam to get the job. Tanya says Kaitlin rewrote the exam until she got 100 per cent – which was typical of her drive to succeed. “It was basically all or noth-
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up often when Neil and Tanya Heidelbach of Ladysmith describe their 16-year-old daughter Kaitlin. So do words like “adventurous,” “outdoorsy,” “fearless” and “happy.” Sadly, these words are being used in the past tense after Kaitlin lost her life in a tragic accident late last week. After a long search, Kaitlin’s body was found by Search and Rescue technicians shortly before 9:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 30 in the Hidden Falls trail area. Search and Rescue crews from Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Cowichan, as well as an RCMP helicopter, had been looking for Kaitlin in the Ladysmith trails since just after midnight. Kaitlin had texted Neil Thursday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m. to say she was going for a walk and that she’d be home in two hours. When her family didn’t hear from her — which was uncharacteristic — they called the police, and the search began. Kaitlin was born and raised in Prince George, and when her family moved to Ladysmith in 2009, she became the fifth generation of her family to live here. Kaitlin’s parents say she was very driven, and she always wanted to be a doctor. “She was a really motivated girl who chose Queen Mar-
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Belly dancers from Saidi Sisters Studio in Ladysmith put on a colourful and energetic performance during the 15th annual Arts on the Avenue Sunday in Ladysmith. A wide variety of artists, entertainers and specialty food producers lined First Avenue between Buller and Warren streets in this one-day celebration of local art. For LINDSAY CHUNG more photos from the event, please turn to page three.
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Cadets from Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron 257 Ladysmith lead nearly 300 cadets in a Vancouver Island Wing Squadron and Band Parade along First Avenue Sunday, Sept. 22. Here, they salute reviewing officer Rear Admiral William Truelove, commander of Maritime Forces Pacific, in front of the Royal Canadian Legion. Cadets from 10 squadrons from Vancouver Island and Powell River took part in the parade, which was followed by a military inspection inside Aggie Hall. For more photos from the 70th Anniversary Event, please see page 10. LINDSAY CHUNG
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Ladysmith Secondary School students Grace Twedt, Alexa Spanevello, Kassandra Webber and Kennedy Hayes say they’re upset over course schedules that failed to meet their expectations, a position they say they share with hundreds of their fellow LSS students. The school delayed the distribution of student timetables until the first day of classes this year, said LSS principal Dave Street, leading to a flood of last-minute requests from students seeking revisions to their course schedules. Responding to complaints regarding long waits for scheduling changes, Street said LSS staff members were doing everything they possibly could to address the concerns of parents and students.
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Principal Dave Street asks students and parents upset over unexpected changes to their timetables to place their faith in Ladysmith Secondary School’s administrative staff and counsellors. LSS counsellors are working 12 hours a day as they revise students’ timetables and match students to available courses, Street said, and he assured parents and students alike that “we’ve got a handle on things.” Street credited LSS’s two counsellors with working “upwards of 12-plus hours a day to accommodate students’ needs” in
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The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has awarded LEED Gold certification to Ladysmith’s Community Services Centre, making it the city’s first structure to earn LEED credit. The red- and black-clad structure — located at High Street and Second Avenue — was completed in 2011, City Manager Ruth Malli said, and now houses the Ladysmith Resources Centre, the Ladysmith Food Back and the Ladysmith Seniors Centre. The Town of Ladysmith submitted an application fee of
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Ladysmith students A Celebration of Life for Kaitlin Heidelbach will be held Friday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. at Queen Margaret’s School start garet’s School as her school,” Outside of school, Kaitlin to know they did a great job Lindsay Chung school a said Tanya. “She decided in loved sailing, kayaking and and helped us out.” “This community as a whole, Grade 5 she wanted to go to climbing. “She was a very outdoorsy there were other people in day later The word “driven” comes Queen Margaret’s, and we
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