A view of the Island.

If you'd like to keep an eye on Gabriola, the Island has a few web cams that you may want to check out. One of the web cams has views of the Straight of Georgia, with Entrance Island as the focal point, it gives you a good indication of the current weather, on the website you'll also find videos of community events, Gabriola Georgia Strait Cam. The other website that is very useful when you are trying to determine what the ferry traffic conditions leaving the Island are like is the ferry cam website which has three different vantage points of the line up. Take a minute and enjoy the view from here.

Fireworks @ the Twin Beaches on Halloween

The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department organize a great fireworks display every year on Halloween. It's a great community event, to gather around a large bonfire and sip hot chocolate with lots of ghosts and goblins as you watch a fantastic display of fireworks.

Some good places to trick or treat on Gabriola are: the Strand, Malaspina Drive and on Islands View/Tyee drive.

Have a happy Halloween and hope to see you @ the fireworks!

Gabriola Home and Garden Tour

On Sunday June 27th People for a Healthy Community are hosting the 12th Annual Gabriola Home and Garden Tour. This self guided tour of island homes and gardens has been a great success in the past and this year looks to be even better. Ten outstanding homes and gardens are being opened to the public for viewing. The weather has been excellent for gardens and everything is in full bloom. See ideas for decorating, green building and spectacular coastal living.

The tour starts at 10:00 am and goes until 5:00pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on Gabriola at Artworks, Lockwood Garden, Wheelbarrel Nursery and the Wild Rose Garden Centre. Tickets are also available in Nanaimo at Buckerfields at Southgate and Dig This on Metral Drive. Gabriola is one of the Gulf Islands that boasts scenery, views and wildlife. Check ferry schedules at http://www.bcferries.com/ and make a day of it.

Tickets are also available on June 27th at PHC locate on the lower level of the Commons, 675 North Road on Gabriola. Drop by and see our community gardens, displays and information about People for a Healthy Community along with sales of art cards and light snacks.

A blind auction for a beautiful giclee print of “His Garden” by artist Sylvie Milman as well as framed photo by Liz McKnight and a painting by award winning artist Jeff Molloy will be available for viewing at various sights on the tour.

This is a fund raising event to benefit the programs and services offered on Gabriola Island by People for a Healthy Community (PHC). PHC is a non profit organization that provides social services to Gabriolans in need. PHC operates the food bank, soup socials, community gardens, children’s grief programs, housing advocacy, a Christmas bureau, emergency funding and a holiday Spirit Feast.

Gabriola - Events in May

As we approach May we have some exciting events happening around Gabriola, here are a few things that we thought are worth mentioning:

On Friday, April 30th the Surf pub, will re-open for the summer season with a party including giveaways, prizes free beer tickets, whiskey and Sea Cider tasting.

On Saturday, May 1st between 1-3, make your way down to the Folklife Village so you can throw your money in a hand painted trash can in the “SHAKE YOUR CAN” event, all proceeds go to the local non profit groups that created the cans. Randi, Jennifer and myself worked on the Gabriola Arts Council, Gabriola Volunteer Fire Dept, and Hot Lunch Program trash cans, so if you have any change those groups would love it (and so would we).

Suzy’s will become Robert’s place, the Grand Opening will take place on Saturday May 8th.

Celebrate Mother’s Day with us at the Surf Lodge on Sunday, May 9th. Brunch served from 10:30-1, followed by a live AUCTION of local ART and other fabulous items. Bid on a hand painted TRASH CAN, all benefiting local non profit groups. Auction starts at 1pm and will be hosted by Eric Boulton.

In the next month, we’ll see some of the businesses start to open at the Madrona Marketplace, it’s always great to explore and support new ventures.

We hope you get a chance to enjoy the outdoors and the community in the next month, check out the EVENTS calendar for more detials!

A walk through Bethlehem

Last night I took my kids to the Bethlehem Walk in Parksville, this was our 4th time attending the walk which is held over a 4 day period just before Christmas.
They have re-created what a walk through Bethlehem was like when Jesus was born. You wander past the donkeys, sheep, chickens and goats to the manger where there is a beautiful newborn with his mom. There is straw at your feet and stars (a string of small lights) that guide you through the walk.
On your way you stop and talk to the store keepers who let you know that a baby was born just outside of Bethlehem. The storekeepers are all in costume (well over 250 volunteers), on our walk we watched a blacksmith working- he gave them each a penny that he turned into a "shekel" with the Star of Bethlehem inprinted on it. We also got to visit a candlemaker, an essence store, a tailor, shoemaker, jeweller, fish store, and baker. A scribe was there to translate your name into hebrew, and my daughter learned how to make a bagel.
At the end you are led to "Jerusalem" for a cup of Hot Chocolate, cookies and carolling. The event is free, any donations of food and money go to the Salvation Army.
This has become one of our favorite Christmas traditions, I'd encourage you to take the ferry from Gabriola and drive 30minutes to attend this event. Dress warm, as a large portion is outdoors and we were there for three hours, also lines were shorter after 7:30pm. (submitted by:Tina Lynch)
Bethlehem Walk Village is open December 12 through 15, 2009 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Parksville Baptist Church -- 550 Pym Street.
Shalom !

Gabriola Events - What to do on this little Island !

There are numerous things to do on Gabriola and we wanted to share these events with you, so we created our "Gabriola Events" Calendar. We list as many events as we can so that you can see the diversity of activities you can partake in. You'll find something for every age and interest group. If you see something listed, why not make a trip to the Island and attend the special event, you may never want to leave!

If you have an event that you would like us to put on our online calendar, please send us an email and let us know about it.

View our online “Gabriola Events” calendar to see what's happening here, and check back often as it's constantly being updated!

Festival of Trees

On Saturday night we loaded up the car and took the kids over to the Vancouver Island Univeristy in Nanaimo (a 5 minute drive from the Gabriola Ferry) for the Festival of Trees. We made a stop for a bowl of soup at a friend’s house and then a group of us headed up. There were some amazing trees, from traditional to contemporary, my daughters favourite was a pink tree with lots of silver feathers. After admiring the decorations and gingerbread houses, we ended the night with “sleepy time”, a nice collection of Christmas stories read as we sat in a circle amongst the decorated trees.
The festival runs until Nov 29 2009, for more information visit : Festival Of Trees .
(submitted by:Tina Lynch)