• Couverdon Real Estate is hosting its second public open house tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Eagles Hall in Ladysmith.
All local residents are encouraged to attend this drop-in open house and give feedback on the proposal to include TimberWest lands located northwest of the town boundaries into the Town of Ladysmith.
Town council has initiated a public approval process, and you can find details on the proposal on both the Couverdon website and the Town of Ladysmith website. The Alternative Approval Process Elector Response Form and a Fact Sheet about the Proposal are being mailed out and will be available online or at City Hall, the Frank Jameson Community Centre, or at the Town’s Development Services Office at the corner of Second Avenue and Roberts Street.
• Schwarzenegger stuntman Peter Kent is teaching a Film Combat 101 class at Spotlight Academy at 1975 Haslam Rd. in Cedar Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2.
The March 1 class runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is for adults 15 and older and costs $150 plus tax. The March 2 workshop is geared toward children and will run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and will cost $80 plus tax.
This is your chance to learn film combat and stunts from a Hollywood Stuntmens Hall of Fame member and veteran of 15 Arnold Schwarzenegger films!
To register online, click here.
• Laurie Gourlay of Cedar has announced his intentions to run for the NDP nomination as federal candidate for Nanaimo-Ladysmith.
Gourlay made a short presentation on Saturday, Feb. 22 to about 60 people attending the founding meeting of the NDP’s Nanaimo-Ladysmith Riding Association.
The new federal boundary for Nanaimo-Ladysmith will come into effect in April, including many voters from the previous electoral districts of Nanaimo-Cowichan to the south, and Nanaimo-Alberni to the north.
“Electoral reform, jobs and the environment, and health care are the three priorities I will focus on,” Gourlay stated, “since they are of most importance to our region and the coast, as well as nationally for the country.”
Gourlay, a farmer in Cedar for the past 10 years, has been married for 38 years to Jackie Moad, a registered nurse at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
• A public meeting is scheduled for March 6 in Saltair regarding rezoning by the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The meeting will take place at the Mt. Brenton Centre as the CVRD is looking at making it legal for residential homes to be built at a seaside trailer park in Saltair.
• North Oyster Elementary School is hosting an evening tour of the school March 6 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. with all interested parents and students encouraged to attend.
• The Islands Short Fiction Contest is back, co-sponsored by the Nanaimo Arts Council, the Vancouver Island Regional Library, and the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Department of Creative Writing and Journalism. Writers of all ages on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are invited to enter short stories of up to 2,000 words.
Entries are welcome in the Adult (19 and older), Youth (13 to 18), and Junior (12 and younger) categories. Winners in the Adult and Youth categories receive cash prizes, while Junior winners receive a bookstore gift certificate. The winner of the Adult category also receives a bursary for a course in the VIU Creative Writing and Journalism Department.
The 2014 judge is VIU Creative Writing instructor and widely-published author Kathy Page.
Entries are due March 17, and entry forms are available on the Nanaimo Arts Council website and at the Nanaimo Arts Council Gallery (North Town Centre, 4750 Rutherford Rd.). A $20 fee is charged per adult entry; $15 for Junior and Youth entries. Winners will be announced in April at a special event during BC Arts and Culture Week.
