Gabriola Gumshoe. Back by popular demand.

Sunday, September 14 | 4:00 pm

Darien Edgeler recently performed to a very impressed audience at the Gabriola Theatre Festival.  We heard so many rave revues about his performance, that we decided to join forces with him and sponsor another performance.  He's busy preparing for his upcoming performance, we're hoping to see you there enjoying a few laughs!

Here's the blurb from his performance about the Theatre Festival, so that you know what it's all about.

It’s 2025. Gabriola’s first and only Starbucks goes up in flames a mere two days after its much-ballyhooed grand opening. It falls to Nanaimo’s last remaining private detective to investigate the inferno. Join Trent Trowel as he hits the mean streets of Folklife Village and encounters a colourful cast of characters including Monique the impossibly perky barista, Joel the über-chill delivery driver, Adrian the hothead activist, and neighbourhood busybody Mrs. McRobertson. By turns touching and hilarious, and featuring thoughtful insights into issues as far-ranging as pipeline construction and cuts to ferry service, Gabriola Gumshoe is one show you won’t want to miss!

Written and Performed by Darien Edgeler (Gabriola Island, BC)Rated: Family Friendly | Length: 60 minutes, no intermission

“Darien Edgeler is superb. He has a real ear for dialogue. And, as a performer, his charismatic physicality is reminiscent of a young Michael J. Fox.” —North Shore News
“Darien is impressively watchable on stage, particularly in mountings of his own work.” —Bard on The Beach veteran Dean Paul Gibson, honouring Edgeler with his fifth Theatre BC acting accolade
Darien Edgeler is an award-winning playwright, thespian, director, dramaturge, producer, improv instructor, event MC, voiceover artist, fight arranger, and stage combat coach. Gabriolans may remember seeing Darien in The Exquisite Hour at The Rollo Centre, in The Malcolm Lowry Project at The Haven’s  Phoenix Auditorium, or in his highly acclaimed comedy, Master & Mistress, at The Port Theatre in Nanaimo.

Art in the Office.

The artwork of Mary Jane Jessen

We are fortunate to be working in the office today, the artwork of Gabriola's own Mary Jane Jessen is going up on our walls (at Coast Realty) and it looks stunning!  The captivating images of spawning salmon are timed perfectly as we are nearing September.  If you'd like to view these images, stop by the office at #1-575 North Road.  To find out more about the artist, visit http://www.maryjanejessen.com/.

Beach Quest : Discovering Gabriola's Marine Life

Explore 5 of the beaches on Gabriola with STU, a Black Oystercatcher, who leads us through this beautifully illustrated book produced by the Gabriola Historical & Museum Society.  This compact book is full of information, tips and gives interesting ideas for turning your walk into a treasure hunt for local marine life.  You'll enjoy the detailed maps of Taylor Bay, Descanso Bay, Brickyard Beach, Silva Bay and Drumbeg in this book, indicating where to find the marine life when you get to the beach.  If you'd like to purchase one of these local books, you'll find them at the Gabriola Museum for $15.
We'd also like to thank the volunteers that created this stunning book: Carroll Hodge, April Vannini, Edith Krauss, Devon Featherstone, Nancy Boyes, Jeffrey James, Ken Cripps, Sandie Hankewich, Lindsay Richards, Charleen Wells, Bill Cornish & Cec Ashley.

BONUS!  We've just added a copy to our little Lynch library on the Gabriola Ferry hill today (Aug.20 2014)

There's fun in the Trunk!

The organizers of the Gabriola Theatre Festival have been working hard to create an amazing event and would love a good turnout for the kids day that they have planned (Sat, Aug 16). Specifically, the show/musical on the Saturday morning, Trunk! They say it is really quality fun and they want to make sure as many kids get to see it as possible.

The age range is suited for kids 3-12, but enjoyed by all ages!
Trunk! is a family show — all tickets are $10.
Here’s what the organizers have said, “I really loved it because the cast is so talented, and musicals are so inspiring, so I'm sure the parents will as well :) Kerploding Theatre is really excited to be coming to Gabriola"
Here's a link for more info: http://artsgabriola.ca/theatre/gtf-main-stage/trunk/
We're looking forward to seeing the entertainment in the Trunk!

Slaying the BRICKYARD beast.

If you've ever cycled around Gabriola, you'll be familiar with Brickyard hill, if you rode up it, you'll know the hill that I'm talking about.  In honor of this hill, Islanders have created one of the toughest 10km road races in Canada, The BRICKYARD BEAST, quite the sunday morning challenge. 
It is fun(!?!) and a well planned event, there is a strict code of silence while climbing the beast (until you catch your breathe) and a great station at the Gabriola Golf Course, where you can enjoy a simple cool down as the Island kids spray you with their water guns.  When you get to the finish line, you'll be greeted by spectators and  you can soak up some community spirit at the Commons, where there is an after party- complete with pizza and music.
There is still time to register, so throw on those runners, stick on a smile and head to the hill - I'll see you there, on my second beast slayer run, if I'm not talking - I'm just trying to get my breathe!

Submitted by Tina.

Coast Realty Gabriola. Your local Co.

We recently reviewed the stats and we're really pleased that Coast Realty Group participates in such a high percentage of Real Estate sales on Gabriola, a continuing trend since 2000.  We work, engage, and live in this community, so having Islanders (& newcomers) choose to work with a local company means a lot to us, and is very much appreciated ! 
If you'd like to know what your home is worth, send us (the Lynch group) an email or phone us and we'll come by and do a market evaluation and show you the current trends.
If you're considering a move to the Island, let us know, we'd like to share our enthusiasm for island living and make the transition to your new home a positive experience.  We'll handle all the details professionally, from gathering information, showing you homes, preparing an offer all the way to delivering you the key.

Gabriola Scooters : The MS Cowichan Valley Grape Escape

We've just completed a great weekend at the MS Cowichan Valley Grape Escape with 6 members from Gabriola, together the "Gabriola Scooters" raised over $7633.  This was a lot of fun, a variety of routes to choose from, a beautiful campus to stay at, well organized and there were plenty of wine tasting opportunities. The bike ride started at 10am on Saturday, we rode for about 10 minutes and came to our first winery, from there on, we would ride to the next winery (usually a 6-8km distance) and sample another glass or two.  It was easy to purchase wine along the way, as you would make your wine selection and they would deliver it to the dorm for the end of the day.  The dinner at Shawnigan Lake School was delicious and the dorm rooms were immaculate, a really stunning setting.  On Sunday we were back on our bikes at 9am to hit the pavement to a few more wineries.  This is sure to be an annual event for us, we hope you can join us next year!

Gabriola. Searching the Sea.

We had the pleasure of taking a few kids out on the boat for a few hours yesterday,  within a short time frame we viewed an amazing amount of sea life.  We started our adventure by pulling the crab traps first, and we were pleased to find they liked the bait.  We then went and pulled the prawn traps and although they didn't overflow, there was enough there to please the kids.  We found an octopus in one of the prawn traps, which was an amazing sight for the kids.  We ended our trip with a little jigging, and managed to get a quillback in the boat.  The 9year old kids ended up with a nice little goodie bag of treats from the sea, and were pretty proud to be providing dinner for their families.  The shores of Gabriola are rich with fresh seafood and have an abundance of experiences waiting for you to discover! 

Summer is HERE & so is the new ferry schedule !

We've just completed a new edition of the Gabriola Reference Card in time for the new summer ferry schedule, which is in place today (June 25 2014).  If you're on Gabriola, check your mail box as it should be there in the next day or two.  We realize that the ferry schedules might change, but in the meantime, we just couldn't leave you amiss and we really wanted to make island living just a bit easier for you.  If you'd like any extra copy of the reference card so you can leave it in your car or keep one on your desk, just visit our little community free library by the Gabriola Ferry dock (located just downstairs at the Skol).  We hope you enjoy a magical summer full of memories on Gabriola !

Car Share : another transportation option for Gabriola residents.

There is a great transportation option for those Gabriola Island residents going to Nanaimo.  The Nanaimo Car Share has a vehicle parked within a few minutes walk from the Gabriola ferry terminal at Port Place.  You sign up and purchase a refundable share, book your reservation online and pick up the vehicle, if your on an errand and need to extend your booking time a simple update from your smart phone allows you to check if your booking can be extended.  This is a great option for those that want to walk on the ferry, reduce their costs and avoid line ups on the commuter runs. To learn if this might be an option that suits your lifestyle, visit : http://nanaimocarshare.ca/.

MS: The Cowichan Grape Escape.

Cycling to the farms and wineries in the Cowichan Valley sounds appealing to you ?  What if it were to raise money to fight against MS.  There is a group from the Gabriola Lions that are going to participate in this two day event on July 5/6 2014.  One of our close friends has MS and we'd love if they could find a cure, so that her life and the 100,000 Canadians living with it, could enjoy a pain free life as well.  If you'd like to sign up and join us for a great weekend, please visit the Grape Escape website : http://www.cowichanvalleygrapeescape.com/

Join the fight against MS and register online today !

Running on Gabriola

View from our Berry Point Rd. on Gabriola

On Wednesday morning, we usually head out to Berry Point Road and meet the rest of the GRUNTS (Yes, the runners under ninety) and go for an 8km run.  I missed the run this morning, but it is one of my favourite things about Gabriola.  We park by the lighthouse, do our run, and come back and pile 8 people or so into a VW van to share home baked goods and drink our coffee. 

Our Company is turning 30 this year and we're celebrating!

Coast Realty's celebrating 30 years in business!

 

We are proud to work for a local company that has been in business serving clients for 30 years.  There are approximately 200 people that work under the Coast Realty umbrella, the largest independent company operating on Vancouver Island.   We work with an amazing group of people, and we've (the Lynch group) asked the Realtors ® and staff in the other offices to let us know of a charity that they are involved in or contribute to, and we'll send them a "Coast Realty celebrating 30" vehicle decal that we've had custom designed.  Keep your eyes open, you might see a few more Coast Realty logos on the road!

Valentines on Gabriola, it's a special treat!

LOVE squared.

Mending the Heart - Tina Lynch

Special Delivery - Tina Lynch













It opens tonight, the perfect place to treat your self on Valentines !  Walk in the door of Sheila Norgate's "Keep Calm" gallery and set your eyes on 76 square feet of local art created by 50 artists.  The studio will be bursting at the seams, holding in this much love in one room isn't for the faint at heart.  All works are 12 x 12 and priced at $225. 

An Artistic Journey.

LIFEBOOK 2014

There are 7 of us from Gabriola signed up on a year long online art course.  There are 22 teachers from all over the world, weekly lessons, bonus lessons, pdf's, warm ups and so much more going on. I'm really excited about learning a variety of mixed media art techniques, trying out different mediums and creating with some dear friends all in the comfort of my Island home.  The first lesson was to create your artistic guardian and find a word for the year, the image above was mine like this will be the year for me to "enjoy".  If you'd like to go on this creative journey with us, please check out the Lifebook website.

Hockey Day in Canada (well, the Gabriola Library actually)

I'm always amazed at the number of great things going on at the Gabriola Branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library.  They have a great afternoon lined up on Sat, Jan 18 from 2:30-4:30 to celebrate Hockey Day in Canada.  They are bringing over members of the Clippers Hockey team to read from their favourite books and may challenge our island players to a little hockey after, game on!

GABRIOLA. A simple little card to make island living easier

HAPPY NEW YEARS!  

It's here, a way to make island living a little easier.  We (the Lynch group) worked with a local designer (Nina from Paprika Designs) to come up with a card that islanders can put on their fridge, have in their office or keep in their car.  It's a 6 month design that has the current ferry schedule, important numbers, the garbage schedule, and some conversions for cooking.  We're already in the mix of creating the card that will be released in June, if you have any suggestions- we're always open to hearing them.