Settled in for Christmas?

It’s usually the time of year when Real Estate on Gabriola is a bit quieter as the Christmas season nears. During the past week we’ve seen a surprising number of offers, and a little more surprising is the quick closing dates – before Christmas. The Christmas season can bring on stress for many families and adding a move onto it can become a huge endeavor, but these buyers and seller seem up to the task. Apparently ‘tis the season to move.

Congratulations Gabriola - Semi-Finalists in the Aviva Community Fund Competition...

The dedicated volunteers of the Gabriola Health Care Society have proclaimed the year 2010 to be The Year of the Clinic and are committed to raising $1,000,000 to develop and build a permanent community owned emergency treatment and medical care facility. We believe that a permanent, community owned, ecologically friendly, seismically-engineered and technologically advanced emergency treatment room will provide a desirable long-term solution to the health care needs of our increasing population.

Part of their fundraising efforts included applying to the Aviva Community fund, which offers a chance to share in the $500,000. The voting ensures that it is the most popular ideas as chosen by Canadians, the top “25” most voted on will go to the “judging” finals. Gabriola’s request to the Aviva Community Fund is in the range of $250,000 to cover the costs of the emergency treatment room for this facility. You can view, a complete history of the Gabriola Health Care Society . Gabriola is now be amongst the semi-finalists with the vote counters having been reset to 0, this semi-final runs until Dec 16th. Thank you Gabriolans and all the voters from around the world – be ready to start voting again Dec 2nd you can vote here! (Just a reminder that you can vote every day!!!)

You can see why the Lynch’s are casting our votes daily, and why we appreciate the excellent health care service here on the island at our: Discover Gabriola Blog .

Red Roaster - A fresh cup of coffee

Recently, we were greeted with a pound of fresh roasted coffee and we were pleased, we thought you might want to know about one of Gabriola's new businesses. If you send us an email with "red roaster" in the subject line we will enter you into a draw for a pound of coffee on December 7 2009.

Here's what Red Roaster had to say about their new venture:

"Darrin and i have always wanted to do some sort of business together. Over the years coffee roasting has come up many times. Darrin originally started to research the idea in 1994 and by the time we were together in 1998 he had also travelled and explored some coffee growing regions in the world, which further inspired him.
This past summer we were on the sunshine coast, with a contract job for Darrin and when we came back we were VERY happy to be home. We were energized and wanted to keep the momentum going, as well we wanted to branch out into the community some more. Having a small child and both working from home, was more socially restricted than what we were used to prior to baby and Gabriola life. It seemed like the perfect time to start the coffee roasting that we had long since discussed. It all came together quickly as Darrin and I have been following the coffee industry movements and trends for so long. I have said this before.....red roaster had a very long gestation period and a super quick birth!
All of our beans are always certified organic, fairly traded and ethically sourced. Our packaging is 100% biodegradable (vs. the foil bags most competitors use that are petroleum based). And we stamp the "roasted on" date on every bag. We don't want our customers to hold on to their beans-they are meant to be consumed fresh (preferably with in about a week+). We are all about the true fresh roast.
We will be offering a home delivery service, where roast to order the night before. There will be 3 sizes of bags to choose from, so you can best suit to your households weekly coffee consumption. We have chosen to do the home delivery for a number of reasons. This way we will have more direct dialogue with our customers and we can then work with them to customize blends/roasts that produce the perfect cup for their individual needs. Gabriola is small enough for us to be able to do door to door deliveries and this will ensure that everyone is getting fresh fresh fresh roasted coffee. Also, by skipping the middle man we are able to do more fundraising for the community.
We are working with community groups to generate fundraising from every pound of coffee we sell. This is very exciting to us, as it was initially and still continues to be the community here that makes Gabriola so special for us. We are excited that red roaster will be giving back to our local community directly and we are also committed to giving back to the coffee growing communities in the world as well, through profit percentage donations.
Red Roaster will be at the GES xmas fair (dec. 5th), with bean samples, bags of beans for sale, sign up sheets and tons of information on us and how you can donate to the local community cause of your choice, from your weekly coffee beans purchase."

Contact info for red roaster is:
http://www.redroaster.ca/
info@redroaster.ca
250.325.3250

(Submitted by: Tina Lynch)

Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility- it gets my vote (daily)!

On June 24 2008 my husband was driving along North Road on Gabriola at just after 10pm. His vehicle was pulling a trailer and in a quick moment his instincts had him swerve for a deer, sending the SUV into a tree and across the road (yes, you should never swerve for a deer). Frequently, the roads on Gabriola at this time of night are very quiet, he was lucky to have someone on the scene quickly who called 911.
The firefighters (many of whom are first responders) had just ended practice when they got the call, which allowed them to be on the scene within minutes. We also have the fortune of having Dr. Bosman live on the Island, he also was on the scene in a short time as were the local RCMP. The advanced life support team was sent from Nanaimo, and a request was put in for a helicopter evacuation. I heard the sirens from the rental we had while we renovated, and knew that I was about to receive a dreaded phone call. While they worked on stabilizing my husband for transport, other firefighters set up the Rollo/McClay ball field for a helicopter landing. During this time, the heli-vac team also had a call to respond to on Vancouver Island and for a time that call was going to have priority, 3 hours after the crash the heli-vac team had set my husband as priority, and he was being transported with the life support team to Victoria General Hospital. At the hospital his spleen ruptured and they lost his vital signs twice, after days in the Intensive Care Unit he was considered to be in stable condition.
With broken ribs, punctured lungs and a splenectomy he began his long road of recovery. We strongly feel, that had priorities on the helicopter not been changed and if he was transported on the harbor patrol vessel, he wouldn’t be here to parent his kids today. Even on a calm night, his spleen would surely have ruptured on that vessel.
We have the resources on the Island; our Paramedics, Doctors and First Responders have outstanding knowledge, but they need somewhere to treat patients.
If you have a minute, please take the time to vote for the Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility. You can vote daily, you only need to fill in your name and email address to register and we may just get $250,000 funding for this facility.
Voting for this round closes on Nov. 29, please ask anyone around you to take a minute to do this. (submitted by: Tina Lynch)

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)

Fairy Fridays

When my daughter was 6 weeks old, one of my neighbors started a small group on the island for moms with newborns. We met on Fridays for lunch, exchanged parenting ideas from books and experience, shared little milestones, passed along clothes and toys to each other, and supported each other when parenting presented a challenge. Each Friday we would rotate lunch dates at one of our homes.
It’s now been over 6 years, and the 4 girls that started this group still meet on Fridays, now they often meet without their mom’s in tow. It’s amazing to watch them grow together, see how the play and interact, play sports, and create art.
It’s been a special group and a great way to make life long connections. If you have children but haven't been in a play group, I'd definitely suggest that you start your own- I think you'll be happy you did !

The first photo was taken of the girls when they were 6 years old, the second photo shows them when they were between 6months - a year. (submitted by: Tina Lynch)

Happenings on the Island.

You may have visited the Island during the summer and caught a glimpse of where the new retail space “Madrona Marketplace” was going to be created (on North Road, where the T&T gas station used to be). Progress is happening quickly, the footings are in place, the framing of the East phase is nearly complete, and the trusses were delivered last week.

With the first phase 90% leased, here's a list of local businesses to look forward to at the new marketplace; Tree Frog Sports and Clothing, The Sounder, Architrave Design Build, Woodfire Pizza and Pasta, Blueapples Metaphysical and Wellness, a contemporary coffee house, as well as two private offices.

We’ll update you as progress is being made and retailers have been confirmed so that you know what the Island looks like and what you’ll be greeted with the next time you visit Gabriola.

(photo taken on Nov 18 2009)