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HAPPY NEW YEAR! www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016
PAGE 22
VOL. 27, NO. 68
Lantzville fire chief Tom Whipps stands in the bay of the Lantzville Fire Rescue hall, where he hopes to continue to volunteer after his retirement from the top job this month. TAMARA CUNNINGHAM/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Retailers report brisk business at Christmas BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Chief retires after 35 years of service
I
TOM WHIPPS helmed Lantzville Fire for 14 years.
BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
He’s credited with bringing Lantzville Fire into the 21st century, escaped the razor when his beard was grandfathered into the fire service’s safety regulations and he’s known for community service, whether its fighting fires or roasting hotdogs for kids. Tom Whipps, 67, is Lantz-
ville’s last volunteer fire chief, set to retire this month after 35 years with the department and 14 at its helm. He made the announcement earlier this year, prompting a review of the fire service and the hiring of the community’s first paid, part-time fire chief. Politicians will also make a decision on the level of service they want the department to provide, in the wake of new provincial training standards. Whipps, dressed in neat blue slacks and a white shirt decorated with insig-
nia, leans back in his office chair, looking a far cry from the picture painted by one of his colleagues who likened him to TV character Red Green for his past habit of turning up at the station in plaid shirts, cut-off jeans and steel-toed black shoes. His uniform has changed, along with the department as he led it into the 21st century. Now Whipps is ready to take a back seat. Life is too short, he said, and he’d rather leave the headaches of the chief job to someone else and get back to the grunt work, like helping
the department preserve its history. That is, of course, as long as he gets to keep his beard, he said, flashing a quick smile. He’s had it since the day he became a volunteer in 1980. The fire chief had been trying to get him to join for around two years, with no luck. The trick was getting him mad enough to say yes. He was driving his motorbike behind a Lantzville fire truck one night, when a hydrant wrench flew off the back and ricocheted toward him. See ‘HARD’ /4
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The tallies aren’t in yet, but Nanaimo merchants are reporting business was brisk through the Christmas season. Major retailers and independent store owners say customer and sales numbers show steady growth, but not the big surge in numbers merchants saw in 2013 when the economy emerged from the last recession. “We did well. We keep seeing growth, which is good,” said Stephane Pilon, Canadian Tire Nanaimo general store manager. Pilon won’t speak in terms of specific sales or revenue numbers, but did say B.C.’s Canadian Tire stores are leading the rest of the country. “Nationally, Canadian Tire in British Columbia has done the best in the country … you could certainly infer and perhaps say that maybe the U.S. dollar is keeping some Canadians here,” Pilon said. Joel Sked, Tom Lee Music store manager, said sales were strong despite ongoing renovation construction at the retail complex where the store is located in Dickinson Crossing. “We did notice probably more late-season shoppers this year,” Sked said. “The amount of business was quite good, but the first two weeks of the month was quite slow and then there was a huge rush, so I think we had a lot of last-minute shoppers this year.” Technology-based music products were high on Christmas shopping lists. “Definitely the whole computer-music thing is up and running more than ever … lots of stuff that connects to people’s phones,” Sked said. He said regardless of economic conditions, there are always musicians wanting musicrelated items at Christmas and there is no shortage of musicians on the Island. Heather Wetmore, store manager of Flying Fish in downtown Nanaimo, said that on Tuesday, there were customers lined up at the cash register for most of the day. She said Christmas season sales are near 2014 levels, which were about 20-per cent higher that those for 2013. See ‘STRONG’ /5