Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful “back to school and work” week. As the warm weather continues with no precipitation in the long-range forecast, we remain in Stage 4 water restrictions. At this time, no outdoor water use is permitted which includes no washing cars, boats, sidewalks, driveways, fences or exterior building surfaces along with no watering of plants, trees, shrubs, gardens and flowers.
It was an interesting day this last Monday at Sargeant Bay. Was it a spill or was it just practice? Residents and visitors around the bay watched as three spill response boats from the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) performed what looked to be oil spill retainment exercises. The crew laid out a spill containment line in the water across the bay and tied the other end to a tree at the water’s edge. While one boat remained stationary the other two boats spent the day practising with this retainment line, forming sweeping semi circles and then cutting across the mouth of the bay. Local resident Mike noted that, “While I hope I never witness this apparatus being used for its explicit purpose, it’s comforting to know we have it here on the Coast with experienced crew to manage it.” WCMRC is the Transport Canada certified marine spill response organization for Canada’s West Coast covering 27,000 km of B.C. coastline. Their mandate is to be prepared to respond to marine oil spills and to mitigate the impact when a spill occurs. This includes the protection of wildlife, economic and environmental sensitivities and the safety of both the responders and the public.
Today, Friday, Sept. 9, there is a free event hosted by the Elders Council for Parks BC. The topic is “delightful dragonflies” and will be held at beautiful Smuggler Cove Provincial Park. Local wildlife photographer and natural history tour leader Rand Rudland (President of the Sargeant Bay Society) will be leading the tour. If you ever wanted to learn more about dragonflies and damselflies, this is a must see. Learn the basics of the dragonfly and damselfly identification and ecology. There are more than 45 species found on the Sunshine Coast! To register, please contact Heather at hfowler604@gmail.com or call 778-549-8664. Participants will meet in the parking lot off Brooks Road at 11 a.m.
Don’t miss the Second Annual Seaside Shuffle on Sept. 11 at Coopers Green Park which is hosted by the Halfmoon Bay Community Association (HBCA). This is a free day-long (11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.) family music festival featuring local entertainers, food venders and libations. There will also be a Kid’s Fun Zone, bingo and 50/50 draws. The Shuffle Bus will be available with a route map found at halfmoon-bay.ca/the-seaside-shuffle-2022 along with all the details for this great event. Hope to see you there!
The Halfmoon Bay branch of the Sunshine Coast Healthcare Auxiliary is holding their first meeting after their summer hiatus on Monday, Sept. 12 at 9:45 a.m. at Coopers Green Hall. Auxiliary members are welcomed back, and visitors are encouraged to attend as well. For more information about the auxiliary, visit their website at sunshinecoasthealthcareauxiliary.com.
If you have any ideas for column content or have a community event or story you would like to share, please send ideas and suggestions to cindy.kisser@telus.net.
Be safe, be gentle, conserve water and always be kind.
