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Tradex, tourism growing | December 10, 2008
Info centre upgrades needed | November 5, 2008
Multicultural Festival | September 08, 2008
Airshow delights crowd | August 12, 2008
Clayburn Open House | July 23, 2008
Paddlewheeler on Fraser | July 14, 2008
Local musicians Ginny and Lou Normandeau, of the band Junction, serenaded guests with Christmas carols and other holiday music during the annual Tourism Abbotsford Breakfast held yesterday morning at Tradex.
Tradex, tourism on the grow
More shows, promotions and even the expansion of Tradex were discussed during Tourism Abbotsford’s annual Christmas Breakfast held yesterday morning.
Hundreds of people attended the event to hear what lay ahead for local tourism and the Tradex building itself.
“When I first came here I think I was the only one who realized we were in the tourism industry,” said Dan Stefanson, executive director of Tourism Abbotsford.
“We hold these breakfasts to remind people that we are indeed in the tourism business and that there is a lot of good work going on,” he added.
Tradex itself is running at capacity and tourism programs such as the Circle Farm Tour and Sporttown Canada have been huge hits with the public.
“We are actually beyond capacity. We can’t run shows simultaneously, at least not effectively,” said Stefanson.
That’s one of the reasons that Stefanson and his team have been planning for expansion for the past three and a half years. But planning and reality are two different things.
“We have a plan in place, we are just waiting for our turn in the pecking order. One day all the stars will align and we’ll be ready,” he added.
Until then, Stefanson and his staff will do their best to plan other shows around the few holes left in the always full schedule.
New shows planned for the coming year include the Abbotsford Health Show, Canadian National Professional Truck Drivers’ Championship, Valley Stars Cheerleading Championship and lots more.
“There are no really big announcements this year, it more like putting the finishing touches on the cake. That’s the hard part, fitting in shows in the last few little spots we have left,” said Stefanson.
Mike Gass with the Fisheries Society of British Columbia ease some young trout out of net into Abbotsford's Mill Lake on Tuesday, as part of a lake trout stocking program. He released about 700 rainbow trout, raised at the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery in the city.
A fish story that really bites
Mill Lake stocked with trout to offer fishing experience at home
Cast a line into Abbotsford's Mill Lake and a healthy trout is bound to bite.
The Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery released nearly 700 healthy rainbow trout into Mill Lake Tuesday as part of its Urban Stocking Program to support recreational fishing.
As the fish poured in to the lake from a tube at the back of a tanker truck, many gathered along the shoreline to watch the lake become rich with life.
Releasing some of the fish from a net so spectators could get a closer look, Mike Gass, with the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C., said the pan-fry- sized trout, each weighing around 2.2 pounds, are put into the lake "purely for sport."
"We specifically raise these trout to a size where they can be caught right away," he said.
"Our stocking program aims to provide access to those who don't have the ability to travel far for a relaxing day of fishing," said Steve Arnold, assistant manager with the FVTH.
Mill Lake, which is unable to support fish stock on its own, is among 900 lakes in B.C. that is stocked annually with trout, said Arnold.
The FVTH stocks Mill Lake with around 3,000 trout per year.
Stocking fish for freshwater fishing is an important recreational and economic activity, said Arnold.
Approximately 400,000 licensed anglers spend $400 to $500 million on freshwater fishing in B.C. each year, and recent surveys show that about one-half of the angler effort in fresh water takes place on lakes stocked by Freshwater society hatcheries, according to the society's website.
Other than its stocking program, the society also helps to educate and teach the public about fish and how to fish through a variety of programs.
©Abbotsford Times 2008
Info centre upgrades needed
The City of Abbotsford is hoping to obtain money to improve the visitor information centre at the intersection of Delair Road and Sumas Way.
The city moved the building in 2006 from its previous home on McCallum Road to a location close to that intersection, but now hopes to move it closer to the road. That, says staff, would improve access and make it easier for visitors to see the centre before they drive past. The city is also hoping to make improvements to the building itself.
To fund the project, the city is applying for a $203,967 provincial grant to pay for part of it. The rest of the required money for the $300,000 initiative, according to a report forwarded to council on Monday, will be paid-for by Tourism Abbotsford.
Find this article at:http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/33932779.html
Call for Festival Volunteers
With Abbotsford’s multicultural festival looming on Oct. 4 at the Ag-Rec Building, the call is going out to youths to volunteer for the cultural showcase.
To sign up, click on www.volweb.ca or call Abbotsford Spirit of BC at 604-850-7161.
An orientation is set for Saturday, Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ag-Rec Building.
Each volunteer will receive an orientation package and it is then they can sign up for the shift that works best for them. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and food will be provided.
Website for Abbotsford’s Multicultural Festival is www.abbyfest.com.
The 46th annual Abby airshow delights crowd
The threat of rain did not deter 265,000 visitors from attending the 46th annual Abbotsford International Air Show this past weekend. Attendance varied each day, but on Sunday the sun came out and airport was packed to the brim, said media liaison Ashley Haslett.
Groups, couples, families and photographers sat on the grass beside the runway, craning their necks for a good view.
Four-year-old Zach Chambers sat on his father's shoulders, clutching his own toy plane.
"We like the jets," said dad Ryan Chambers, from Mission. "[Zach's] a veteran, this isn't his first time here."
David Van Drongelen, 24, who moved to Winnipeg from Abbotsford at the age of 13, made sure his visit back to B.C. coincided with the airshow.
"I like the variety of planes," he said.
Displays included a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, a simulated bombing run by the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet and the USAF Tunderbirds.
CREDIT: Kat Arnett/ for the Times
CAF Cpl. Haigh uses a Jeep to gain a better vantage point during the 46th annual Abbotsford Air Show on the weekend. The city drew thousands who came to view the aerial shows and the ground displays during the three-day event.
CREDIT: Kat Arnett/ for the Times
Canadian Air Forces Skyhawks made an colourful spectacle in the blue skies about the Abbotsford International Air Show, which drew about 265,000 visitors to the city this past weekend.
CREDIT: Kat Arnett/ for the Times
The Canadian Air Forces Snow Birds demonstration team is a perennial favourite at the Abbotsford Air Show.
© Abbotsford Times 2008
Clayburn celebrates province
In celebration of BC 150 years and partnering with Abbotsford Spirit of BC, Clayburn Village is welcoming the public to a free open house on Friday, Aug. 8.
Celebrations are planned from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the 100-year-old Clayburn Village Community Hall (formerly the Old Clayburn School), 4315 Wright St.
Displays of First Nations art from the Hummingbird Gallery and from Clayburn Comforts Soap & Body Works will be displayed, as well as other Clayburn Village offerings. Guests are also welcome to visit Hummingbird Gallery, which is across the street from the community hall.
The Hummingbird Gallery will showcase arts and crafts of the North American First Nation’s people with emphasis on art from British Columbia’s west coast, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. Tsimshian Nation artist Reynold Collins from Sardis will be on hand to demonstrate traditional carving methods. Rosaline Heinel will also be conducting a hands-on demonstration of native beading.
Find this article at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/25827719.html
Celebrating B.C.’s 150th on the river
Harrison’s BC 150 Gold Rush Paddlewheel event is moving full steam, well - full paddle - ahead, with ticket sales brisk and plans coming together for the historic trip up the Fraser River to Port Douglas and back.
Co-ordinator Ken Becotte says the committee is thrilled that one of the four legs has already sold out, but says the other three are going to be just as fascinating, if not more, than the Harrison to Port Douglas trip.
The paddlewheel journey, brainchild of local history buff John Green, is planned to celebrate B.C.’s 150th anniversary in historic style. The NV Native, a replica sternwheeler from New Westminster, will travel up the Fraser River from New Westminster to Mission on Tuesday, August 5, with a stopover in Fort Langley.
Vancouver Paddlewheeler Riverboat Excursions manager Frank Froedel says this will be an important stop, historically speaking.
“Obviously with Governor Douglas making the proclamation of British Columbia being the colony, it’s important that we stop in Fort Langley because that’s where he made the proclamation,” Froedel explains. “It’s also an interesting trip because you get to see the skytrain bridge, Patullo Bridge, the train bridge, go under the Port Mann bridge and you get to see construction of the new Golden Ears Bridge.”
There are also some interesting sights including a floating community and a water level view of the cities on the Fraser along the seven hour journey.
The Vancouver Paddlewheeler company often takes trips up to Fort Langley, and Froedel says almost everyone who takes the journey walks away with a greater appreciation for the river.
“Most people say they never realized this even existed, because everybody drives the roads next to the Fraser River, but you’d never see what is on the Fraser River,” Froedel explains. “You have to literally go by boat, and people are just shocked with what they see. “
The next leg of the journey will be Mission to Harrison Lake August 6.
“After Fort Langley, it’s really back to nature along the river’s edge,” Froedel describes. “There are lots of osprey now, among other wildlife for riders to see.”
This section of the journey is probably the most interesting historically, according to local historian Elisabeth Scotson.
“The most interesting stretch of this journey the miners and goldseekers made on the sternwheelers was really up the Harrison River,” Scotson says. “The Harrison River has always been notoriously fickle.
It has channels, sand bars and water levels changing constantly, so it’s very hard to chart your way up the Harrison River, and many of the sternwheelers got into trouble there.”
She says to this day, you can see in the depths of the Harrison River an old boiler from one of the sternwheelers.
“People going down the river today affectionately call it the Old Bubble and Squeak,” Scotson says with a laugh.
Both the New Westminster to Mission, and Mission to Harrison Lake legs are expected to last about seven hours. Included in the $95 ticket is lunch, interpreters to describe historical points along the way, stunning scenery, a chance to get up close to nature, and a relaxed day aboard the NV Native.
Becotte hopes people take away from this journey an experience like they have never had before.
“It’s a part of our local region that people don’t see from highways and such; the river is a really interesting highway on its own,” Becotte says. “During the gold rush that was the highway, that was the only way to get up to the sites.”
Organizers, mainly comprised of Harrison-Agassiz Spirit of BC committee members, Chamber of Commerce members and historians, are also organizing an evening reception aboard the NV Native August 6 and hopefully a free outdoor concert.
The final leg of the journey for the NV Native’s Harrison adventure will be a trip from Harrison Lake to New Westminster August 8. The approximately 10 hour trip includes a continental breakfast and lunch.
All legs include an option for charter bus return to the starting destination, and Tourism Harrison has arranged special room rates for overnight guests at both the Mission and Harrison stops.
For more information on the Harrison Gold Rush 150 Paddlwheel Adventure or to buy your tickets, see www.vancouverpaddlewheeler.com
Find this article at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/25446799.html
