Best of the City Best of the
Best of the City
Publisher: Sean McCue
Editor: Greg Sakaki
Sales: Sean McCue, Shirley Deakin, Joanne Iormetti, Luke Winkelmans
Contributors: Chris Bush, Jessica R. Durling, Karl Yu
Winners in the Nanaimo News Bulletin’s Best of the City supplement were chosen by readers via an online survey.
Black Press Media, parent company of the News Bulletin, has sole copyright over any written material or photograph in this magazine except where otherwise specified.
On the cover:
Results of this year’s Best of the City survey, revealing winners and runners-up in more than 150 categories.
Ideas for quenching your thirst or spending a night on the town.
29
Nanaimo’s most trusted and well-reviewed shops and services in nearly 100 categories.
KC’s Boutique has the latest fashions to help clients refresh their wardrobes.
Barber Dave talks about his shop’s origins and the community connections he’s created.
Making Nanaimo home: Best Moving Company and Best Interior Design Business help residents make a house a home.
Petroglyph Animal Hospital workers can’t help but form bonds with the pets they work with.
Simply enjoy the outdoors, or if you like, learn all about Nanaimo’s flora and fauna.
Sadie, a Labrador-shepherd cross, keeps an eye on the stick her owner Donna Dorfer is about to toss into a lake at Colliery Dam Park. The park was voted Best Place to Walk Your Dog. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
David Woodall of Hartley Hills Farm spins wool into yarn for clothing items he sells at the Cedar Farmers Market, voted Best Farmers Market. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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Super, natural a fall tourism destination Nanaimo
BY JESSICA R. DURLING
Nanaimo’s great outdoors are a growing draw for tourists, who come from around the world to experience the sights Vancouver Island has to offer.
“COVID introduced people to the outdoors again and getting out there and getting fresh air and experiencing wildlife again is really eye-opening,” said Angela Caparelli, Tourism Nanaimo chief operations officer. “Life is so busy now. To be able to go out where you have quietness and solitude, I think that is a drive for people when they’re travelling. Before it was always go to museums and art galleries and go, go, go and I think now when people want to get away from their everyday work space they’re looking for that chance at solitude.”
With Vancouver Island having already established its place as an outdoor adventure destination, Brian Cant with 4VI, formerly Tourism Vancouver Island, said the organization has been focusing its tourism campaigns on responsible marine viewing and clean beaches to meet the trend.
“It’s a trend that started in COVID with more people spending more time outdoors, more time in parks – that’s just continued out the last few years…” Cant said. “There’s a lot of people accessing activities through providers, specifically whale watching, and we’re moving into bear season in different parts of the Island. What we also see is just people recreating on multiuse pathways. So there’s definitely an increase in the number of people using e-bikes and the number of people just grabbing a bike and heading outdoors.”
Cant said the availability of Evolve ride-share e-bikes in Nanaimo has created opportunities for visitors who may not feel entirely confident in themselves to “get a little bit of an assist” on their ride.
“Mountain biking is really
popular in several parts of the Island, so that’s another trend that just gets people to be active outdoors.”
Aside from benefiting visitors on the trails, Caparelli said the e-bikes have created an easy way for visitors to explore the city without vehicles, after the Hullo ferry service began offering foot passengers a new way to reach the Island.
“We’re really focusing on the day trips, because with Hullo ferry it’s very easy for someone to come over from Vancouver for the day…” Caparelli said. “People can come over, grab one of the Evo bikes and easily explore Nanaimo.”
Overall, there was a slight slowdown in tourism to the Island over the summer compared to 2023, and in Nanaimo, Caparelli said there was about a three-per cent drop. However, since that number is obtained by the number of visitors engaged at the visitor’s centre and the visitor centre moved to a new location in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, a drop wasn’t unexpected. There has been about a two-per cent increase in hotel stays in the city compared to the previous year.
“I’ve asked the Nanaimo Hospitality Association for the numbers and they did see there was an increase in occupancy from July and August which indicates there is an increase in tourism,” Caparelli said.
Visitation at Nanaimo events also experienced a boost, with higher numbers of people at the Commercial Street Night Market and the Nanaimo Marine Festival. Tourism Nanaimo connected one-on-one with 1,500 visitors between the two events, double last year’s number.
For this fall, Caparelli said Tourism Nanaimo will be focusing on doing outreach for short-term overnight stays, and encouraging visitors who plan to just stay one night to stay just a bit longer.
“[We’re] trying to get them to stay a second night through our
Best of the City
Best Local Campground
1. Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV Resort
2. Nanaimo Lakes Campsite
3. Brannen Lake RV Park and Campsite
arts and culture events, what’s happening at the Port Theatre... whatever exhibits are going on at the museum and art gallery, trying to create those packages.”
Cant said fall is expected to bring to the Island sustained visitation from German, Dutch and U.K. travellers to appreciate the Island’s climate and natural beauty. He said those tourists are expected to stay longer because of the increased distance, compared to their American counterparts who typically visit in the summertime.
“The international travellers are really drawn to the appeal at the national level of Canada being the great outdoors and with wilderness experiences and that’s enhanced with British Columbia and more so down to the Vancouver Island region,” Cant said. “That’s one of the top draws – the accessibility of nature in the region.”
For the year ahead, Caparelli said Tourism Nanaimo will be focusing on drawing local tourists from Metro Vancouver and even other parts of the Island.
“We’ll have marketing campaigns in 2025 focusing on the different trails and what you can do, how you can experience Nanaimo,” she said.
jessica.durling@nanaimobulletin.com
Best Tourism Activity
1. Wildplay Nanaimo
2. Saysutshun Park
3. Superior Farms
Casey Payton, left, Stella Reese, Sophie Welch and Payton Mawson, all from Victoria, set up their campsite overlooking the Nanaimo River Estuary for a stay at Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV Resort, voted this year’s Best Local Campground in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
WildPlay Element Parks Nanaimo offers treetop adventure courses, bungy jumping, ziplinging, swinging, axe throwing and more. (News Bulletin file photo)
Views from Saysutshun Park. (News Bulletin file photo)
Movers help get people into their
BY KARL YU
T
he folks at Junk in our Trunk have the best job in the world some days – helping people move into their dream home in Nanaimo.
The business was voted Best Moving Company in this year’s Best of the City survey.
Owner Shawn Jensen said his company works with customers, whether a family moving into their ideal home, people moving from one rental to another, or seniors into a retirement community and hopes all his customers have a good experience.
“We’re engaged with them, as far as their level of excitement, and we’re proud of them and happy, congratulatory,” he said. “We do that with everyone we move.”
Moving is also a time to leave some unwanted items behind, and Junk in our Trunk offers junk removal as one of its services. The company has taken some unique items, said Jensen, not counting wives jokingly asking for their husbands to be hauled away.
“I’ve had to move, I think, seven full freezers that had been unplugged for six months,” he said. “I had to actually hire Gorosh Cranes to come in … We couldn’t even get it an inch off
Interior design firm helps Making Nanaimo home dream home make a house a home
the ground.”
People can get anxious when moving, something Jensen understands.
“It’s extremely stressful, especially those last few days,” he said. “Plus, you’re dealing with hydro and cable and Telus. You want to get the TV working, you want to get your internet, your wi-fi all hooked up. And then you got to deal with movers, people running around your house, moving stuff and hopefully not dinging the walls … We try to
make it as stress-free as possible.”
In terms of housing trends, it seems as if people are going smaller, generally speaking.
“It’s definitely a downsizing environment that we’re in right now, and it’s just based solely on the demographic,” Jensen said. “People are getting tired of doing the yard work … They just want less to do and they want to enjoy their lives more.”
karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com
BY GREG SAKAKI
ANanaimo interior design firm gets to help people create the kind of living spaces they could only imagine.
Evolve Interior Design has been chosen Nanaimo’s Best Interior Design Business in this year’s Best of the City survey.
Lianna Armstrong, founder and principal designer, operated her company in Vancouver for 10 years, but moved back to her hometown five years ago and said her business is thriving in Nanaimo these days.
“I went into interior design because I knew every day
would be different, every client is different, every project is different and I really love the uniqueness of each project,” she said.
Lately, partly a product of interest rates, a lot of clients are staying in place and doing renovations, Armstrong said. She’s also noticed that new provincial legislation is already prompting homeowners to look at building suites.
Evolve specializes in residential renovations, and does in-house permit drawings, so the company can take a project from the beginning through to the end.
“Renovation is never a straight line, there’s always bumps in the road, so it’s
always nice at the end of a project when the customer is happy with the outcome and glad to be back in their home … it’s really nice to be able to bring that daily joy to clients once their project is complete.”
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Shawn Jensen, company owner, left, Sam Grey, supervisor, and Jack Varga, mover, help a north Nanaimo homeowner with some downsizing. Junk in our Trunk was voted Nanaimo’s Best Moving Company for 2024. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Lianna Armstrong, founder and principal designer at Evolve Interior Design, at her office in downtown Nanaimo. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
are in The votes
All those votes have added up to a long list of worthy winners.
This is the part of Best of the City magazine when we thank all our readers who took the time and trouble to cast their ballots, and there were a lot of them. We tallied up tens of thousands of votes again this year, making it one of our top-three best years as far as total votes.
Now, the results are in. On the pages that follow, we can tell you who garnered the most votes in the Best Nanaimo Bar category, for example, or Best Barbershop, Best Jewelry Store, Best Place to Dance, or Best View of the City. Keeping with Best of the City tradition, we don’t break ties so that we can squeeze in a few more winners and runners-up to the list.
We like to think that our Best of the City survey is about much more than bragging rights for businesses. Yes, the winners should be
rightfully proud to be recognized by their customers and the community. But Best of the City has always been about all the people who make up Nanaimo – most of all, the list is meant for readers. It’s meant to be a starting point, a guide, a nudge in one direction or another to try something new, visit a store or establishment we haven’t before, and shop local.
On the pages that follow, we present the winners and runners-up by category. We’ve grouped them roughly by food and drink categories and then by shops and services categories, but we know the list is still a bit unwieldy and so we would also encourage readers to visit www. nanaimobulletin.com to access the entire list on one easily searchable webpage. And without further ado, here are the winners. Congratulations to everyone who helps make Nanaimo the best.
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Best Yoga Studio
1. Red Door Yoga
2. Bend Over Backwards Yoga
3. Modo Yoga Nanaimo
Best of the City
Daniel Peters, clockwise from front left, Lee-Ann Fong, Kavita Maharaj, Cindy Reheis and Shelley Legin are ready to share the practice and philosophy of yoga to beginning students or life-long practitioners of the art. Red Door Yoga has again been voted Best Yoga Studio in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
The Curry Culture chefs Paraven Singh and Belveer Rawat, and chef and owner Arjun Singh, right, have whipped up dishes that are proven palette pleasers with customers and earned the restaurant the title of Nanaimo’s Best Curry in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
EvolveInteriorDesignLtd.isalocalNanaimo-basedinteriordesignfirmwith20years experiencecultivatinganapproachablestyle.Wearepassionateaboutcreatinghomesand spacesthatexpresswhoyouareandtoenrichandinspireourclient’sdailylife,onVancouver Islandandbeyond.
LiannaArmstrong,thevisionarybehindEvolveInterior Design,standsasitsfounderandunflinchingleader. The“fearless”descriptorholdstrue,assheexpertly steeredEvolveDesignsinVancouverforanimpressive 10yearsbeforereturningtoherhometownofNanaimo towriteanewchapterinbothherlifeandbusiness. Aseasonedinteriordesignerwithastellartrackrecord, Beyondsteeringthehelmofthecompany,you’lloften findLiannagoingforlongwalkswithherfurry companionsorridingNanaimo’smountainbiketrails. LiannaArmstrong: Founder+PrincipalDesigner
Servers Valerie Giguere, front, and Claudia Angeles show off some of the merch available alongside award-winning menu choices at Gina’s Mexican Café, voted Nanaimo’s Best Tacos and Best Nachos in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Korean restaurant has eye of the tiger
BY KARL YU
Blending Korean and North American cuisine has lifted Horang Korean Inspired Restaurant and Bar to top honours for Best Asian Food in this year’s Best of the City survey.
John Lim, the restaurant’s owner, describes the north Nanaimo establishment as Korean inspired with American, Japanese and Chinese influences.
“There’s a lot of Western food in Korea that turns into Korean-style, such as burgers and fried chicken … as well as some authentic Korean dishes, such as
Korean barbecue, [Korean ribs], some authentic Korean whole meal sets, things like that,” said Lim when describing the menu.
Tacos and tapas, rice bowls, and noodle soups are also available, but Lim says Horang’s signature dish are the soy-braised beef short ribs, or Galbi-jjim, served original, spicy Korean chili or spicy cheese.
“[It’s] a spicy braised short rib, and then we add shredded mozzarella cheese and our Korean stone plate, sizzling on the table,” said Lim. “The cheese melts and it tones down the spice with the cheese – it’s not crazy spicy.”
Ngoc Lam works in the kitchen at Horang Korean Inspired Restaurant and Bar. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Another big draw is the Korean fried chicken, with original crunch, Yangyum glaze, sweet honey butter, sprinkled cheese and hot kimchi Nashville versions on the menu.
Lim said it is not that different from fried chicken in North America, though it uses “stronger flavours,” like garlic, spices, soy sauce and peppers.
On site, beside the dining area, is a small convenience store that sells snacks, popsicles, shirts, hats, house-made sauces such as the fried chicken Yangyum glaze sauce, kimchi from overseas and makgeolli, Korean rice wine.
“It’s unpasteurized [with an] aging period, so as time goes by the taste becomes more carbonated, more flavourful … it tastes silky and milky, and also bit of a sweet and tangy flavour,” said Lim.
The restaurant’s name is fitting, explained its owner.
“I wanted to [use one] of the nation’s animals to symbolize our brands, so that’s how we chose tiger, which is ‘Horang’ in Korean,” he said.
karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com
Best of the City
Best of the City
Best
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Best
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Best Pizza 1. Mambo Gourmet
2. Milano’s Ristorante 3. La Stella Pizzeria
Best
Andrew Kim, left, Emma Rose and John Lim, owner of Horang Korean Inspired Restaurant and Bar, which earned first-place honours for the Best of the City 2024. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Riya Kumari serves up dishes inspired by Korean and North American cuisine. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Buns. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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David Thompson, site manager, and Kate Poirier, executive director of Cedar Farmers Market, keep pulling in the vendors and crowds to the Sunday market on Woobank Road in Cedar. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Nanaimo entertainer Kai Jokela sets the mood with some tunes at Cedar Farmers Market. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Best of the City survey respondents voted Cedar Farmers Market as Nanaimo’s Best Farmers Market and Best Place to Buy Produce. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Landlubber Pub bartender Evan Borgen powers up for a night of music trivia with a few sides of chicken wings. The pub was voted Nanaimo’s Best Chicken Wings and Best Music Trivia in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
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Best of the City
Best Happy Hour
1. Carlos O’Bryans Neighbourhood Pub
2. Cactus Club Café
3. Browns Socialhouse
Best Karaoke
1. Quarterway Pub
2. Oxy Pub
Best Place for Cocktails and Shots
1. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
2. Cactus Club Café
3. The Nanaimo Bar
Best Place for Live Bands
1. The Queen’s
2. Port Theatre
3. The Vault Café
Best Place to Buy Craft Beer
3. Corner Lounge
Best Martini
1. Cactus Club Café
2. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
2. The Nanaimo Bar
3. Arbutus Distillery
Best Open Mic/Jam Session
1. The Queen’s
2. The Vault Café
1. Longwood Brew Pub and Restaurant
2. White Sails Brewing
3. Craft Fare
Best Place to Buy Wine
1. B.C. Liquor Store
2. Lucky’s Liquor Store
3. Greenrock Liquor Store
Best Place to Dance
1. The Queen’s
3. Landlubber Pub
Best Patio Restaurant
1. Crow and Gate Pub
2. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
3. Black Bear Pub
Best Place for Birthday Parties
1. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
2. Airhouse
2. Brechin Lanes
2. WildPlay Nanaimo
3. 4Cats Art Studio
2. Vibrant (Vibe) Studios
3. Evolve Nightclub
Best Pub
1. Crow and Gate Pub
2. Longwood Brew Pub and Restaurant
3. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
Best Sports Bar
1. Carlos O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Pub
2. Boston Pizza
3. Old City Station Pub
AndEventsGrantToday. Culturalfestivalsandeventsareanessential partofNanaimo’svibrantcommunity.They drawpeopletothecity,bringcommunities together,andhelpshowcasethebestof Nanaimo.Weseekmulti-dayfestivalsand eventorganizers,whoseeventsattract
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Remindertoall2024/2025festival&sporting eventorganizers,applyforyourNanaimo Hospitalitygrant,whichcouldfundupto50% ofyourbudget.Formoredetails,visit: www.nanaimohospitality.caor contactdanbrady@nanaimohospitality.ca
Leon Drzewiecki checks the fit of an Inca pattern fleece overshirt by Revolution, one of the men’s fashions in stock for fall at NYLA
as Nanaimo’s Best Store for Menswear. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
West coast never goes out of fashion style
BY GREG SAKAKI
It’s the season for a wardrobe refresher, and KC’s Boutique is just the shop to find what’s fashionable this fall.
KC’s Boutique and Petites remains popular with Nanaimo News Bulletin readers, who voted it once again as Best Store for Ladieswear, and also Best Customer Service.
“We’re most proud of the customer service, that people value that with the times of online buying. I’m so glad that people still appreciate that we want to give service,” said
Karen Griffin, who coowns the north-end boutique with Connie Cyr. They’ve had the store for 17 years and have been trained by fit specialists to know about necklines and sleeve lengths, for example, and can pass on that expertise.
“We ask questions. We dress the personality of the person – do you want to stand out or blend in? We don’t dress them in what we love, we ask a lot a questions,” Griffin said. New clothing lines hit the racks well before the season starts, so KC’s customers are among the first to know what’s coming into fashion.
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Karen Griffin, left, and Connie Cyr, co-owners of KC’s Boutique and Petites, have the fashions and accessories to get their customers ready for fall travel. Their store has been voted Nanaimo’s Best Store for Ladieswear in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
“The reason to get a new wardrobe is your hair colour changes, you’ve gained weight or lost weight, or you’re looking to just have some fun because you’re tired,” Griffin said. “So if you’re tired of your wardrobe, don’t wait till it snows, shop early.”
She said what’s fashionable in cities like Toronto, for example, doesn’t always translate to Vancouver Island.
“The West Coast is so casual. You don’t see people wearing business suits ever,” she said. “When we first opened we carried suiting … We’ve had to adapt to West Coast and comfortable clothes.”
The store caters to women over 40, but likes to think it has the
Best of the City
type of clothes to outfit three generations of women.
A current trend is wide-leg pants that can be worn with short boots, and KC’s carries a range of shorter-style sweaters meant to go with with wide-leg pants. Magenta and sapphire are in fashion this fall and earth tones have returned, with lots of rusts and browns. Forest green has stayed in style lately and green is big again this fall, in all shades. Looking ahead to the winter, coats with removable fur and coats featuring art pieces will be fashionable, and vests are ever popular.
KC’s not only specializes in West Coast style, but also carries resort and cruise wear year
round as it aims to be able to outfit customers for various kinds of travel. The store sells luggage and hosts seminars on packing and creating mix-and-match wardrobes that can fit in a carry-on bag.
The boutique had built a clientele of customers who keep coming back, trusting that they will love their look and that they won’t be sold something unsuitable.
“The satisfaction is when their friends come in and say, ‘I saw soand-so and she looked beautiful,’” Griffin said. “Referrals is how we keep our business going and that’s the best compliment – and people returning every season.”
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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Patricia Lee, left, Scott McLeod, Gina Moscrip, Lynette Delaney and Glen Saunders, store owner, settle in for a photo at Flying Fish, which was selected by Best of the City survey respondents as Nanaimo’s Best Furniture Store. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Sansan Clavora, owner of Brows X Sculpt, performs an eyebrow treatment for client Alisa Wilson. Brows X Sculpt was voted by News Bulletin readers as Best Estheticians in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Lorne Roelofsen, owner, left, and Doug Kielly, manager, are celebrating Classic Care Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning’s 30 years in business and another vote
survey respondents as the city’s Best Carpet Cleaners. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Making the cut
BY KARL YU
Dave Lawrence’s business may pay homage to the 1950s, but in the present day, he’s No. 1.
That 50’s Barbershop was voted Best Barbershop in this year’s Best of the City survey.
Lawrence says he’s always felt an affinity for the ’50s. As a child, he loved the styles, cars and music and in barbering school, he learned that the 1950s were a prominent time for the profession.
“It just struck me: that’s what I can do, have a ’50s-themed barbershop, and older people will think it’s neat because it will remind them of their youth and then younger people think it’s neat because it’s something different,” he said.
Throughout the years, he’s personally sported an undercut, mohawk and, like Elvis Presley, a pompadour. Hairstyles seem to be cyclical, according to Lawrence, with mullets, an ’80s style, coming back into prominence recently.
Lawrence has seen pictures of other hairstylists featured in past years’ Best of the City issues and is happy his barbershop is now being recognized in the city he calls home.
He recently completed another Fresh Start back-to-school charity event and said community is something he values.
“Things have just gone full circle where I’ve helped the community, and there’s been so many various things over the years, be it my shop getting broken into, or my window smashed, and what’s amazing is so many people in the community will just jump and help me, and it just feels really awesome … I love this town,” said Lawrence.
karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com
Best of the City
Best Barbershop
1. That 50’s Barbershop
2. Four Crows Barber and Shave Co.
3. Edge Barbershop
Dave Lawrence, owner of That 50’s Barbershop, freshens up his son Noah’s hairdo. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Best of the City
Best Denture Clinic
1. Nanaimo Denture Clinic
2. Harbour City Denture Clinic
3. Pacific Denture Centre
Best Hearing Clinic
1. Connect Hearing
2. Nanaimo Hearing Clinic
3. Costco Wholesale
Best Heating Business
1. Norm’s Plumbing and Heating
2. Blue Flame Ventures
2. ServiceXcel
3. Sparrow Mechanical
Best Home/Kitchen Appliance Store
1. Trail Appliances
2. Coast Wholesale Appliances
3. Costco Wholesale
Best Home Builder
1. Shining Knight Construction Inc.
2. Boehm Construction
2. R. Dolan Construction
3. Dogwood Mountain Homes
3. Habitat for Humanity Mid-Vancouver Island Society
3. Marban Construction and Design
Best Home Improvement Store
1. Home Depot
2. Home Hardware
3. Rona
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Ahmed A. Oman, registered denturist, checks out some of his work at Nanaimo Denture Clinic, this year’s winner of the Best of the City’s Best Denture Clinic category. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
United Flooring co-owners Katherine Englund and Jenna Mayzes share the
mascot Steve after
year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Think ink
BY JESSICA R. DURLING
Cory Farrell may run Relegation Tattoo, but he considers himself an artist rather than a small business owner.
“I’ve always been into art and drawing and just kind of fell into it:” Farrell said. “I was here when it opened but I didn’t open it, I took it over about three years after it opened … It wasn’t my intention at all, but I needed a place to work and so did the other three or four artists that were here at the time.”
In the two decades that followed, Relegation Tattoo has grown to employing eight artists with various styles that range from American traditional to horror.
“We try to make the atmosphere very relaxed, fun for everybody – every different walk of life. We want it just to be a fun time and super relaxed because we’re having fun doing
our job so everybody else should be having fun as well.”
While the shop will draw a range of designs, Farrell said Relegation Tattoo specializes in large custom works that take multiple sessions, including sleeves and full back pieces.
“You want to fit the body well with the design, make it legible from a distance, make it bold and keep it tight – just like any other tattoo.”
Farrell said he feels fortunate to be able to come to work each day and do art for a living,
“A big thank you to all the clientele that continue to support us and the awesome team. I couldn’t do it without these guys that are the artists here.”
jessica.durling@nanaimobulletin.com
Best of the City
Best Tattoo Studio
1. Relegation Tattoo
2. Electric Umbrella
3. Black Flag Body Arts
Brooke Roberts, an artist at Relegation Tattoo, joined the studio in 2016. Her style includes black and grey realism, blackwork, gothic, floral, art fusion, surrealism, bio-organic, macabre and cover-up. (Jessica R. Durling/News Bulletin)
Craig Finnigan, owner of McLaren Lighting, checks out some of the unique home lighting options in his store on Bowen Road. McLaren Lighting was voted
News Bulletin readers in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
of furry friends Friends
BY JESSICA R. DURLING
Staff at Petroglyph Animal Hospital have found that through the career, they develop relationships with recurring clients and their animals.
“Pets are coming in very regularly for treatments, it’s hard not to get attached to them,” said Erica Boulet, practice manager at the animal hospital. “There’s lots of pets. With me being here for 15 years, I’ve seen pets come in as puppies and straight through to end-of-life care.”
A pet owner herself, Boulet’s companion is a friendly longhaired dachshund named Dirk. Boulet said there’s many reasons why someone chooses to take on the responsibility of pet ownership whether it’s for companionship, an exercise partner or just a reason to get out of bed. Although, Dirk isn’t the best exercise partner, she admitted, since his little legs can only take him so far.
“You wake up in the morning and there isn’t a day that doesn’t make me smile. He’s my little pal...” Bou-
let said. “They just become a part of your family.”
With veterinary care, Boulet said often people only think about the veterinarians, but in order to create a welcoming atmosphere for animal welfare it takes an entire team working side by side.
“It can be difficult at times when things are crazy, always trying to keep the pets’ interests at heart, but also keeping in mind the owner component and the emotions and even the finances for the owners that are sometimes quite unexpected,” she said. “You need to go into it with a lot of empathy and care because it’s not always just the pets. I would say my team, from my receptionists to my assistants, carry themselves with professionalism and empathy.”
jessica.durling@nanaimobulletin.com
Erica Boulet, practice manager at Petroglyph Animal Hospital holds her own canine companion Dirk, a long-haired dachshund. (Jessica R. Durling/News Bulletin)
Best of the City
Best Paint Store
1. Benjamin Moore
2. Cloverdale Paint
3. Home Depot
Best Painting Company
1. Pride Painting
2. Simply Painting
3. Sonshine Girls Painting
Best Performing Arts School
1. Vibrant (Vibe) Studios
2. Harbour Dance Studios Inc.
3. Kirkwood Academy of Performing Arts
3. Wellington Secondary Jazz Academy
Best Personal Training Business
1. Loaded Movement Academy
2. Prime Performance and Therapy
3. The Strong Collective
Best Pest Control Services
1. V.I. Pest Control
2. Abell Pest Control
3. Nanaimo Pest Control
Best Pet Grooming Business
1. Paws and Claws Mobile Nail Trims
2. Dog N’ Suds Pet Services
3. Cedar Dog Grooming
Best Pet Supply Store
1. Bosley’s Pet Food Plus
2. PetSmart
3. Oliver’s Pet Supplies
Kalli Davis, senior technician, and other Mobile Klinik professionals can help people get re-connected when something’s wrong with their cellphone, tablet or laptop. Mobile Klinik was voted Best Cellphone Repair business in Best of the City. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Best Place
1. Woodgrove
2. Nanaimo Buyers Club 3. KC’s Boutique and Petites
Best Plumbing Business
1. Norm’s Plumbing and Heating
2. High Tide Plumbing and Gas
3. Archie Johnstone Plumbing and Heating
Best Real Estate Agent/Team
1. Cory Chapman
2. Sims Real Estate Group
3. Nanaimo Property Group
Best Retirement Community
1. Berwick On The Lake 2. Eden Gardens
3. Origin At Longwood
Best Roofing Company
1. Erickson Roofing
2. All the Way Roofing 3. IDM Roofing
Best Security Company 1. Footprints Security Patrol 2. Securco Services 3. Telus
Best Sewing Notions Store
1. Fabricland
2. Snip and Stitch Sewing Centre
3. Serge and Sew
Best Shoe Store
1. Frontrunners 2. A Step Ahead
3. SoftMoc
Best Sporting Goods Store
1. Cabela’s
2. Kirbys Source For Sports
3. Sport Chek
Best Storage Company
1. Budget Self Storage
2. U-Lock Mini Storage
3. Nanaimo Mini Storage
Best Store to Buy Books
1. Chapters
2. Literacy Central Vancouver Island
3. Window Seat Books
Best Store to Buy Tools
1. Canadian Tire
2. Home Depot
3. KMS Tools
Best Tanning Salon
1. Glow With The Flow Tanning
2. House of Dandy
3. Glow Coast Tanning
Best Theatre Company
1. Nanaimo Theatre Group
2. Cineplex Galaxy Theatre
3. TheatreOne
Best Tile Store
1. City Tile
2. Cornerstone Tile
3. BE Tile
Weareincrediblygratefultohavebeenvotedbestlawfirmin Nanaimo.SandyBartlett,practisingforover38yearsfoundedthe lawfirmin1989.Hehasalonghistoryinrealestate,corporate, commercialandcivillitigation.
RichardStorey,whohasbeenwiththefirmsince2015,hasabroad rangeofexperienceandnowprimarilypracticesintrusts,wills& estates.
ThomasHawthornthwaitehasbeenworkingatBartlettStoreyLaw since2016.Hegraduatedaspartofthefirstclassintheworldto obtainbothaJurisDoctorateandJurisIndigenarumDoctorate(JD/ JID)atUVIC.In2023,hejoinedBartlettStoreyLawasafullassociate. Hehasexperienceinamultitudeofpracticeareas.Ourareasof practiceinclude:
Kebble Sheaff, owner of Arrowsmith Bikes, follows his son Marlow Hegyes-Sheaff down Finer China, one of the numerous trails on Doumont Hill. Arrowsmith Bikes was voted Nanaimo’s Best Bike Shop in this year’s Best of the City survey and Doumont Hill the Best Place to Mountain Bike. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Ourteamisbeyondhonouredandgrateful tohavereceivedthisawardinBestoftheCity!
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Become in Nanaimo’s natural setting immersed
BY JESSICA R. DURLING
Smart phones and nature aren’t often seen as companions, but according to Nature Nanaimo there’s plenty of apps available for anyone who loves wildlife to learn more about their natural surroundings.
“It’s one of the reasons actually a lot of naturalists now don’t use field guide books as much anymore just because you don’t need to have a book and flip through the pages…” said Doug Fraser, president of Nature Nanaimo.
“You have almost an unlimited database. A field guide, like a field guide of the birds of western North America, has one picture of each bird or a few pictures or drawings of each bird, but you don’t have an internet’s worth of data on every single
species of birds.”
There are four apps that Fraser recommends.
Merlin - Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in Merlin, users can record bird calls and the app will identify the species in real time, even if the user doesn’t have internet access. If someone is lucky enough to get a clear photo of the bird, it can also be used for identification.
“As I’m walking through the woods I think, ‘OK, maybe I didn’t see a MacGillivray’s warbler but I know it was there,’”
Fraser said. “So that’s cool. In this wetland or forest that I just walked through, I know I was completely surrounded by this rich diversity of wildlife, which maybe I didn’t get to see but at least I know it’s there.”
Fraser said that one benefit of the app is the ability to notice
birds that otherwise might not be recognized.
The more a person uses Merlin, the more they learn the distinct sounds of the different species.
“It creates a little list of all the birds around me singing, so you go, ‘that’s the flycatcher’s call’ and then you start to learn it because Merlin is telling you what it is.”
More information can be found at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org.
eBird - Merlin is great for iden-
tifying birds, but for birders with an interest in contributing citizen science, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology manages eBird.
With eBird, users can participate in the collection of data including species distribution, abundance, habitat use and trends. Fraser said many experienced birders are likely already familiar with the app.
“What birders do is they’ll go out bird watching and then they’ll submit their list of what they saw
to eBird. It could be one bird, if you see one bird you can submit it to eBird as an observation, or you could go out to Buttertubs, do a walk around and then submit a list of 24 species we saw this morning at Buttertubs. You can include photos and audio recordings if you want, but you don’t have to – you can just record what you saw.”
Using the app, users can also look up specific places, like Beban Park or Buttertubs Marsh and see a list of what birds were spotted there during specific time frames.
In early May, Fraser had two friends visiting from Ontario who wanted to see a MacGillivray’s warbler. Using the app, Fraser was able to find recent sightings of the bird just off Extension Road.
“We drive to that exact location, we get out of the car and of course the first bird we hear is the MacGillivray’s warbler. We snooped around, and sure enough we were able to see it.”
More information can be found at http://ebird.org.
iNaturalist - iNaturalist is the go-to app for citizen science.
With iNaturalist, people can take photos or sound recordings of animals, fungi and plants, then upload them to the app which uses crowd sourcing to identify the images. With the location tagged of the images posted, it gives researchers information on local animal and plant populations.
There’s a science to exploring the great outdoors in Nanaimo for those who want to know more about the local flora and fauna. (News Bulletin photos)
“Let’s say there’s some researcher out there who is researching the distrubution and reproductive activity of moon snails, so they go and they just use this database and look for moon snail data,” Fraser said. “They scrutinize it and they’ll use it as information for their research.”
The Yellow Point Ecological Society uses the app in its annual BioBlitz event. Nicola Toxopeus, a board member with the ecological society, previously told the News Bulletin that she uses it personally to see where invasive Scotch broom is in Holland Creek Park.
“There are thousands of researchers who are using the data on iNaturalist to analyze what is happening in the environment,” Toxopeus said. “I personally use it because I’m very interested in protecting special places.”
More information can be found at http:// inaturalist.org.
Seek by iNaturalist - For those who don’t care for contributing but want an easy identification, there’s Seek by iNaturalist.
“It’s basically the same as iNaturalist but it’s intended to be an app to help people identify things as opposed to a citizen science app for submitting observations,” Fraser said. “If people really just want to find out what things are and not get too detailed, you might want to use Seek.”
Using iNaturalist’s catalogue of data, the app will use image recognition technology to help identify any pictured plants or animals. It also provides lists of local commonly recorded insects, birds, plants and amphibians.
More information can be found at http:// inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app. jessica.durling@nanaimobulletin.com
Westwood Lake Park was voted Best Place for Paddling and also Best Place to Walk, Jog or Hike in this year’s Best of the City survey. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
It’s always a good feeling to flip through Best of the City’s pages and be able to see so many smiles, proud moments and good vibes in our community.
Some days in the community newspaper business, it seems like there are a lot of bad news stories to report, and we dutifully report them, and care about the neighbourhoods and community members impacted. Some stories are no fun to type out. But the flipside is that those kinds of stories are always more than balanced out by the good-news stories happening in Nanaimo, about interesting people doing cool things, about successes and victories and progress. With Best of the City, we take it a step further – it’s all good news.
Something else to note: the stories in this issue represent a tiny percentage of the stories we could be sharing. There are more than 150 categories in Best of the City, and as we scan over the list, so many businesses jump off the page as potential story ideas and photo ops. Some we’ll get to next year, hopefully, and some the year after that. Nanaimo, our home, is far from perfect but it’s the best place we know, and it seems like together, we’re all working together to make it better all the time.
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Kayla Manuel, left, Jason Weir and Iris Denee give their dogs Stanley, Henry and Freyja a few moments to play together on the bridge at Colliery Dam Park. The park is considered by owners and dogs alike as Nanaimo’s Best Place to Walk Your Dog.
(Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
