Haliburton Farm stand

The farm stand is open for delicious seasonal veggies! Farm stand hours are: Wednesday to Friday 11.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. and Saturday 11.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. Check out the Haliburton Farm website Haliburton Farm for news from your local community farm.

**A reminder - sidewalk snow and ice clearing**

It's already upon us - that time of the year again, and the word is out that this will be a severe winter....The Saanich Streets and Traffic Regulation Bylaw requires that owners, lessees, and occupiers of land and premises abutting any sidewalk are responsible for removing any accumulation of snow and ice on the sidewalk. Your help in making our walkways more safe for pedestrians is greatly appreciated.

Duffy the Dragon books for fund raising

Cordova Bay resident, Kate Noble, has created a character, Duffy the Dragon, who is a very sweet natured, large red-winged dragon. Duffy lives with his King and his friends Mizzle the Mouse and Turtle the Cat in the magical land of Tatla. He loves to help others and especially children.
Kate has produced a series of storybooks, with these characters, to raise funds for a few major charities. She has been officially authorized as a fundraiser for The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) specifically for pediatric cancer research and the fundraising efforts of Cops For Cancer and the Tour de Rock to support Camp Goodtimes, The BC Children's Hospital Foundation, the Children's Wish Foundation and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
The books are available for $10.00 each at all Scotiabank locations and locally at the Red Barn, Mattick's Farm, as well as other venues in Victoria and on the Island. Kate will be doing some book signings locally, and $5.00 from every book sale is donated directly to the CCS.

Cover photo for "Duffy The Christmassy Dragon"
courtesy of Kate Noble

For more information, please call Kate on: 778-440-1183 or e-mail her: duffyhousepublishing@gmail.com. Her website is: www.duffythedragon.com.

Neighbourhood Block Watch Speakers' Night

Five Block Watch groups of the Sayward Hill neighbourhood collaborated to hold an informative Speakers Night at the Cordova Bay Ridge Golf Course café, September 13, 2010. Two talks were given.

The first talk by Robert Abrams and Martin Nicholls of the BC Securities Commission was titled, Invest Right. A brief outline of their talk is as follows:

"Many British Columbians have lost their life savings to risky or dangerous investments. If you encounter a sales pitch that sounds too good to be true-– STOP! It’s a red flag that the investment might be a scam.
The InvestRight seminar can help you develop critical thinking skills you need to protect yourself.
• How to spot a red flag and understand the risks
• Where to call to report a scam
• What questions to ask
• Where to research or get a second opinion
Sometimes the best investment you can make is the one you don't make."

The second talk was by Petra Dornblut of the Saanich Police Department, Block Watch Office, titled Current Trends in Condo Crime'. She outlined the role of the Block Watch program in preventing condo crime.

The evening provided opportunities for neighbours to meet and get to know each other as well as have questions answered by the informative speakers.

Dig It community garden guide: How Local Governments Can Support Community Gardens

Please click here for a guide on how local governments can support community gardens. This report provides an introduction to community gardens and offers some background information designed to help local governments understand the benefits and challenges of community gardens. It also provides some practical tools and templates that can be used or adapted by local governments summarizes the report, makes recommendations for further work, and offers a variety of resources related to community gardening.

Free help from Habitat Acquisition Trust

Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) is offering practical help to landowners interested in caring for endangered habitats like streams, wetlands, coastal bluffs, shoreline, and woodlands. HAT provides a free and confidential visit by its staff biologist, and can help residents identify and solve many common land management problems including invasive weeds, erosion, drainage, and pests. For more information and who to contact,please click here.

Lawn bowling club invites new members

Lake Hill Lawn Bowling club, located in Reynolds Park near the intersection of Blenkinsop and Cedar Hill Cross road, is inviting new members. The game is easy to learn, fun, tactical, competive and provides very good moderate exercise. The outdoor playing season is May to October, six days a week and games are played by teams of four, triples, pairs and singles.

Teams can be all women, all men, or mixed. Open draws are popular, playing triples or pairs, with a mix of teams of varying experience. There's no need to commit to a specific day or time and white attire is optional for regular club games, lessons and practice sessions.

A moderate annual fee of $150 includes winter carpet bowling and social events year round. Imagine! For only $12.50 a month you will have fun and recreation all year.

The address is 3930 La Salle Street, off Reynolds. For more information, please phone: Linda McClung at 250-479-1053 or Haji Charania at 250-479-8072.

Old Shed at Haliburton Farm