The Smile Cookies are back from Sept. 14-20 at Tim Hortons’ six locations in the Cowichan Valley.
The cookies are on sale for $1 each, with proceeds going to three local charities this year; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cowichan Valley, the Clements Centre Society, and Nourish Cowichan.
The Smile Cookies are part of an annual campaign by Tim Hortons franchises across the country to raise funds for local charities.
Greg Adams, owner of the six Tim Hortons franchises in the Valley, said the campaign raised about $14,500 last year in the Valley, but it’s hoped more than $20,000 will be raised in the 2020 campaign.
“We’re raising the money for three local charities that do good work this year, so we’re hoping that will see more cookies being sold during the week,” he said.
“We’re more than happy to help those who help others.”
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In related news, Tim Hortons will be opening its seventh location in the Cowichan Valley later this fall.
The new store is currently under construction in the Berkeys Corner area.
Greg Adams, the owner of the new location as well as the six other Tim Hortons stores in the Valley, said Berkeys Corner is a growing area and he’s confident his new store will do well.
“Tim Hortons is very popular here,” he said.
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While WestView Learning has been offering K-12 individualized programs to home school learners since 2017, it has now expanded to provide day programs for small groups and tutoring to learners in the evenings.
Heather Stannard, owner of WestView Learning, said the day programs are designed to support distant and home-schooled children, and the groups are kept to small numbers.
She said that, as well as the mandatory academic subjects, students are also introduced to fine arts, including cooking and sewing, as well as technology programs.
“We ensure that we help students work around any anxiety issues that they may have with going to regular schools with larger groups of students so that, eventually, they can go to the schools,” Stannard said.
“The tutoring programs begin at 3:30 p.m. and are taught by B.C. certified teachers. We offer programs for individual students as well as small groups of family members. We are creative with our programming and we look to input from the parents.”
Stannard said programs at WestView Learning are offered in a COVID-19-compliant environment.
WestView Learning is now operating from its new home at 3248 Cowichan Valley Hwy.
For more information, check out www.wvlkids.ca, or call 250-597-8896.
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The winners of Cowichan Valley Citizen‘s second annual Best of the Valley competition will be announced in an insert in the Sept. 24 edition of the newspaper.
The Best of the Valley 2020 is an initiative that allows the newspaper’s readers to vote on who they feel is the best local company, organization, place and event in a variety of categories.
They include the best restaurant, florist, car repair shop, pub, music venue, playground and waterfront categories in the Cowichan Valley.
There are more than 100 winners in the 47 categories this year.
“We couldn’t be happier with the response from our readers,” said David van Deventer, director of sales for the Cowichan Valley Citizen.
“And it was gratifying to see that so many people are so positive about what the Cowichan Valley has to offer in terms of goods, services and just plain fun things to do.”
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While there are many restrictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce is actively exploring programming possibilities for the coming months and wants feedback from its members to determine what sort of events and programs would be both well received and most beneficial.
Alec Wheeler, the chamber’s events and membership manager, said the chamber believes that recent Public Health Orders concerning the closing of night clubs and banquet halls don’t necessarily reflect the wider events and meetings sector, which is well set up to implement the protocols and logistics needed to operate within government guidelines.
She said the chamber is asking its members to complete a brief poll on its website asking if they would support such things as continuing with the speaker luncheon series, the monthly Lunch N Learn series, and chamber member mixers, all with COVID-19 restrictions, as well as virtual professional development.
The survey can be found on the chamber’s website.
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White Spot and Triple O’s will become the first chain in Canada to launch the Impossible Burger, aka the meat patty made from plants.
What does this mean for Duncan?
This will be the first local opportunity to try this innovative plant-based product that has just arrived in Canada beginning this Saturday, Sept. 19.
To celebrate the launch, all White Spot and Triple O’s restaurants throughout B.C. and Alberta — including the White Spot and Triple O’s locations in Duncan — will be offering a sneak peek taste of the burgers this weekend, Sept. 19-20, with $2 from each burger sold donated to Variety – the Children’s Charity, a White Spot charitable partner since 1966.
