THURSDAY AUGUST 2, 2018 VOL. 44, NO. 29
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SHOU SUGI BAN
Trail society is using the Japanese wood preservation technique for a new bridge
BE FIRE AWARE
Local experts tell us what would happen in the case of a forest fire on Bowen
THANKS FROM SHELAGH
Shelagh MacKinnon pens a letter to Bowen as she departs for Vancouver Island
Water watch
As the province warns of low water levels, Bowen is ok -for right now BRONWYN BEAIRSTO EDITOR
As the latest summer heatwave breaks and Environment Canada forecasts rain, a parched forest may get some relief. But this doesn’t mean the water taps should flow freely. Bowen remains in stage one water restrictions under Metro Vancouver guidelines. This means watering your lawn a maximum of three times a week and using only a spring-loaded shut-off nozel while washing your car and boat. “We don’t go out and police it,” says Bowen Island Municipality’s manager of public works Bob Robinson. There’s not even a Bowen bylaw that governs water conservation. However, Robinson notes, oldtime Islanders have faced shortages in the past and errant water users may face a neighbour’s ire. “Somebody will yell at you,” says Robinson. Bowen goes into water conservation mode every May as a preventative measure as renewable water resources are limited. “We’re on an island,” says Robinson. “The wells dry up and that’s it.” Continued on page 5
One of the Bowen Logging Sports show organizers and founders Gary Anderson watches as the show’s co-announcer Ben Lefler encourages his daughter Alix Lefler in children’s axe throw Saturday. Photo: Bronwyn Beairsto
Splitting fun at the fourth annual loggers show BRONWYN BEAIRSTO EDITOR
With a soundtrack of revving chainsaws and cheering crowds, dozens of competitors participated in the fourth annual Bowen Logging Sports Show last weekend
in Veterans Park. Sawing and splitting enough logs to make any woodstove owner salivate, nearly 70 local-amateur and off-island athletes competed in sweltering conditions, with temperatures hitting the high twenties. “The heat definitely made it a lit-
tle more difficult,” said Kelly Miller, the show’s organizer, who also competed in several events, “but I couldn’t see it having gone any better.”
“It went so well and we had such a blast,” she said. It was the show’s first time spanning two days, and events included:
pole climbing (not the adult entertainment variety), axe throwing (a more extreme version of darts), bucking (log cutting) and choker racing (securing a cable around a log), among others. Many events had a children’s version. Continued on page 13