Landscaping Progress

As soon as the driving snow and monsoons give it a rest around here the Chamber of Commerce will be finishing off some landscaping projects at the Visitor Centre. We will be creating a relaxing picnic area for travellers to stop and have a comfortable snack in the shade. We will have two concrete picnic tables, as vandal-proof as possible for visitors. Also, we are working with the Industrial Heritage Society and Catalyst to reposition the heritage refiner stones that used to be on display at M&B’s paper mill head office on Stamp Ave. We will provide some explanatory signage so visitors will appreciate the history behind the grinding stones. We are also making plans to repatriate the carved cedar sign to the site. This takes some serious design engineering to build a suitable base and frame to safely house the huge work of art. It will be placed at the back of your parking lot so visitors can easily access the sign for taking photos. The chamber is also in the process of subdividing our property. It was originally a large block of land owned by the Ministry of Transport. Then, they put the highway through the middle and created a situation where we built the new community Visitor Centre on the big lot at the junction and left the treed acre on the north side of the highway surplus to our use. When the land is subdivided it will go on the market.
School District 70 has an interesting issue they are dealing with that comes as a result of having good success in recruiting foreign students in Korea and China. The problem is a lack of local billets to put the students up during the school year. There is revenue available to host a high school student from abroad and it can be a rewarding experience for both parties. If this interests you, give SD 70 a call and they will have all the details.
Thought for the Week:
“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” Friedrich Nietzsche
FROM THE MANAGER’S DESK
SUBMITTED BY MIKE CARTER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ALBERNI VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE