WINGS, an iconic thrift store that is well known in the Cowichan community, is celebrating its first anniversary in its new location at 446 Jubilee St. (behind the Post Office) on Oct. 30.
WINGS had spent many years at its previous location at 193 Station St. before Marianna Schwab, who has operated the thrift store for the last 11 years, moved it to its current site.
In its long history, WINGS has been a hub of the community, hosting meetings for organizations that include Somenos House and Warmland, offering workshops for women, people with disabilities and First Nation groups and even holding choir practices for groups like the Cari Burdett Lila Choir.
Schwab said business at the new site has been getting better since she changed locations.
“It’s really been picking up as more people know where we are now,” she said.
“The new site is more visible and that has made a difference.”
The celebrations on Saturday begin at 1 p.m. and there will be live music by Ukululus Swingit, cake, coffee and outdoor sales racks.
COVID-19 health precautions will be in place at the celebration.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you on this sunny day,” Schwab said.
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Paper Excellence has announced that its Crofton mill facility will take a “market curtailment” of about two weeks in November.
A press release from the company said the curtailment is in response to ongoing global logistics challenges and will be coordinated with a previously planned maintenance shutdown of the facility’s biomass power boiler.
“Because the boiler shutdown significantly impacts energy costs, both the paper and pulp operations at the mill will be curtailed from Nov. 9 until about Nov. 24 as the maintenance work is completed on the boiler,” the release said.
“Crofton expects that it will lose approximately 15,000 air dry tonnes of paper and 19,000 air dry tonnes of NBSK pulp from this outage.”
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The Farm Table Inn has won the Business of the Year Award in the 2020 Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce’s Business & Community Excellence Awards ceremony that was held on Oct. 24.
The chamber notes that the Inn, owned by George Gates and Evelyn Koops, has only been in business a short time but is already a well-known fixture in the community.
“They are known for their delicious meals, their cozy B&B and their convenient off-site catering,” the chamber said in a release.
“George Gates and Evelyn Koops are big supporters of community events, businesses and organizations. They also volunteer and serve on organizational boards such as the chamber, Tourism Cowichan and Accommodations West.”
Other winners at the awards ceremony include:
• Ed’s Coffeehouse, which took home the 2020 Excellence in Customer Service Award.
• Lake Cowichan’s Country Grocer was the winner of the 2020 Above and Beyond Award.
• OK Tire & Auto Service (Darling Tire Ltd.), which has been in operation since 1961, took home the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.
• The volunteers at the Lake Cowichan Food Bank Society are the winners of the Volunteer of the Year Award.
• Katherine Worsley was named the 2020 Citizen of the Year.
• Sisters Eliza and Stella Feltrin, who are eight and six respectively, won the Youth of the Year Award.
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Martin’s Clothing Store, located at 33 Station St. in Duncan, is closing for good on Oct. 30.
Owner Susan Martin said previously that the COVID-19 pandemic was the “last straw” for the store, which, like many businesses, had to close for a period of time during the pandemic.
All the store’s inventory, which includes great selections for people of all ages, must go by closing time on Saturday, and the store is offering great sales to achieve that.
Martin said all store credits and gift certificates must be redeemed before the store closes.
“Many heart-felt thanks to all the customers and employees from over the years,” Martin said.
“Having been able to be a fourth generation, 89-year-old business has been great for us.”
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After a six-month sojourn, top chef Menard has returned to Baan-do’s Stir Fry, located at 2680 James St.
Roger Seymour, a long-time worker at the restuarant, which means Vancouver Island in Japanese, said Menard had worked at Baan-do’s for 10 years before stepping away from the business for the last six months.
Seymour said Menard is very important to the restaurant, which has an open-kitchen concept in which customers can watch their chefs cook their meals and serve it to them when it’s hot and fresh, and is well known and liked by its customers.
“Menard certainly brings in a good crowd,” he said.
“It’s great to have him back.”
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The Downtown Duncan BIA will be holding a Spooky Pumpkin Patch from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 at Station Street Park.
Aside from enjoying all of the festive decor that will be in the park, located at 85 Station St., there are a handful of other fun activities to take part in for the duration of the event.
They include a virtual Halloween costume contest in which participants will be judged in categories based on their ages (0-3 years, 4-6, 7-12, and 13+).
Extra points will be added to those who take their picture in the Spooky Pumpkin Patch at Station Street Park.
The deadline for submitting the photos is 4 p.m. on Nov. 1
Check out all the details on the DDBIA’s website at ddbia@downtownduncan.ca
“We’d love it if people would bring their carved pumpkins down to the Spooky Pumpkin Patch,” said Amanda Vance, executive director of the DDBIA.
“We want to make is a real community patch.”
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Food and beverage producers and processors in the province can now apply for the next round of Buy BC funding to help make it easier for British Columbians to identify and choose products that are made in B.C.
Buy BC is a province-wide marketing program focused on building greater consumer awareness, and demand and sales of local agriculture, food and beverage products.
It is supported by several components, including Buy BC logo licensing, cost-shared funding for industry-led Buy BC marketing activities, retail partnerships, promotional activities and events, and a comprehensive marketing campaign.
The Buy BC Partnership Program is providing $2 million this year to help eligible applicants with their marketing efforts using the Buy BC logo on their products or promotional materials to help consumers easily identify their product as a B.C. product.
“The Buy BC program is helping businesses all over the province grow awareness, increase sales and reach new markets within B.C.,” said Lana Popham, minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.
“British Columbians know when they see the Buy BC logo, they can trust the high-quality product is from a local B.C. community and they are supporting their neighbour and the people dedicated to supplying local food and beverages to consumers in B.C.”
Businesses can apply for Buy BC funding from Oct. 26 until Nov. 18.
For application details, visit https://iafbc.ca/buy-bc/