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Posted on 15 June 2022 by admin

Chilliwack’s Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve celebrates 20 years with free event – Chilliwack Progress

The folks at Chilliwack’s Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve are getting ready to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the wetlands.

Back in 2002, folks flocked to the grand opening of the reserve and the Rotary Interpretive Centre, and on June 23, organizers are hoping to draw another big crowd to mark the past two decades.

“We’ve achieved an awful lot in the last 20 years. It’s well-loved and well-used,” said executive director Camille Coray.

She said the events planned for that day are coming together nicely.

The free event runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 23 where there will be guided walks, a bannock truck, tables and displays by several local conservation organizations, and a formal program.

There will be two guided walks during each of the following time slots: 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The formal program, which goes from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., will include a welcome and introductions from the Indigenous community, the City of Chilliwack, Environmental and Climate Change Canada, and the Rotary Club of Chilliwack, followed by keynote speaker, Dr. Carin Bondar, speaking on the importance of wetlands.

“It’s an opportunity for people who were involved at the beginning to continue to be involved,” Coray said.

Then-mayor Clint Hames (left) and Larry Stinson with the Rotary Club of Chilliwack stand atop the viewing tower during the grand opening of the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and Rotary Interpretive Centre on Wednesday, May 15, 2002. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

It was May 15, 2002 when the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and the Rotary Interpretive Centre officially opened.

“Welcome to the public opening of this wonderful reserve,” said then-mayor Clint Hames, as a heron flew high overhead. “I think this will become one of the most-visited places in the Lower Mainland.”

Since May 2002, a total of 353,300 people have come through the doors of the interpretive centre.

Larry Stinson with the Rotary Club of Chilliwack was also at the grand opening 20 years ago and is expected to be at the anniversary celebration on June 23.

“It gives me great pleasure to complete Rotary’s gift to this nature reserve by presenting the Rotary Viewing Tower, which will allow viewing without causing any disturbance,” Stinson said in 2002.

Back then, about 90 to 100 heron nests were nestled high in the trees. Today, staff and volunteers have counted about 60 nest, but there’s likely more, Coray said.

Each active nest has two adult herons and about three to five eggs. There’s about a 60 per cent mortality rate for the chicks, which means about one to two chicks per nest will survive.

“The babies are very loud even though you can’t see them,” Coray said. “You can just hear them chittering non-stop. They’re definitely being territorial.”

Back in 2002, herons were blue-listed meaning it’s a species of “special concern.” Coray said that hasn’t changed over the past 20 years as the birds are still blue-listed.

A heron brings a twig back to its nest at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack on March 18, 2015. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

The interpretive centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on June 23 and all proceeds from the gift shop that day will be put toward the creation of a 24-by-36-foot education pavilion/covered picnic area that will hopefully be built at the reserve in the next couple of years.

Once built, the pavilion will be surround with lots of interpretive signage that will cover the history and ecology of the area, including information on Indigenous communities.

The 20th anniversary of the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and Rotary Interpretive Centre is Thursday, June 23 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 5200 Sumas Prairie Rd. For more, go to chilliwackblueheron.com. Folks are asked to sign up for the free guided nature walks, though there will be some drop-ins allowed on the day of. Registration is at chilliwackblueheron.com/upcoming-events.

– with files by Jennifer Feinberg

The grand opening of the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and Rotary Interpretive Centre on Wednesday, May 15, 2002. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

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Posted on 10 April 2022 by admin

Blue Rodeo rocks Barrie’s Sadlon Arena in a return to live events

Canadian rock band Blue Rodeo took the stage at Barrie’s Sadlon Arena Sunday night, celebrating a return to live events.

“It’s a great feeling to be back playing, and it’s a great feeling to have people come in and be comfortable,” says Blue Rodeo guitarist Jim Cuddy.

The concert was supposed to take place last year but was rescheduled due to COVID.

“There’s a certain amount of release from people that they’re finally out and they feel good and normal, and they’re sharing something with other people,” says Cuddy. “That’s one of the most acute things we learned, is how enjoyable it is to share these experiences,” says Cuddy.

This is the band’s 11th show this year.

Cuddy says it was an adjustment going back to performing live after doing virtual shows during the pandemic.

“We feel that additional energy from the audience because they haven’t, a lot of these people, it’s the first time they’ve been out in the public in this way for two years,” says Cuddy.

Meanwhile, several other in-person events in Barrie are set to return this summer.

Kempenfest will be back after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The popular arts and crafts festival is vital for vendors and performers.

“For some of them, this is their show of the year,” says Kempenfest President Todd Tuckey. “They make all their wears throughout the year, and they come here, they sell out, and they take orders for the rest of the year to keep them going. So it’s a huge event for them. And of course for the city itself and the region, the economic spinoff is over 12 million dollars,” he adds.

The BIA says these live events are essentially a homecoming for businesses and a return to a well-balanced lifestyle for everyone.

“Businesses downtown are tired. They are frustrated because things keep changing, and I don’t blame them for being frustrated. At this point, they want less ebb and flow and more consistency,” says Barrie Councillor Sergio Morales.

As for Blue Rodeo, they will head to Peterborough Monday for their next stop on the Many a Mile Tour. They will continue touring the east coast until mid-April, and tour the west coast later this year.

Posted on 19 March 2022 by admin

Hoffman Shatters Facility Record, Blue Devils Win Six Events on Day Two – Duke University

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Graduate student Lauren Hoffman delivered a stellar performance en route to establishing a new facility record in the 400m hurdles, while the Blue Devils produced strong performances across the board and secured first-place finishes in six other events Saturday afternoon on the final day of the Bob Davidson Invitational.

In arguably her strongest individual event, Hoffman commanded the 14-member field as she clocked 56.53 seconds to claim the top spot and shatter the seven-year-old Vert Stadium record set by Joanna Currie. Hoffman finished three seconds faster than the event’s runner-up, while registering a new personal best and lowering her school-record time in the process.

Halle Bieber got her spring campaign off to a strong start behind a strong display of running as she won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The junior registered personal best times in both events – 11.47 seconds (100m) and 23.58 seconds (200m) – slotting herself fifth all-time at Duke in the 200m in the process.

Graduate student Zoe Hughes took the track for the first time this season and tallied a pair of top-five finishes in the women’s long jump and 100m hurdles. Hughes finished first in the long jump – flying out to a wind-assisted leap of 6.04m (19-9.75 feet) on her final jump to edge High Point’s Alicia Dawson by a centimeter and claim the win. She also performed well in the took fourth in the hurdles with a wind assisted 13.93 second finish.

The women’s 4x100m relay of juniors Maya Provencal, Carly King and Jenna Crean and senior Nikki Merritt set the tone for the day in the first event of the morning, racing to a first-place finish behind a run of 46.60 seconds. Freshman Megan McGinnis opened her outdoor season with a bang and collected her first event win of the spring after clocking 2:14.64 in the 800m run, while junior Beau Allen cleared a height of 2.00m (6-6.75 feet) to place first in the men’s high jump.

Sophomore Job Trahan was the first Blue Devil to take on the windy conditions in the track events. Trahan delivered a strong performance to open the outdoor season as he ran 48.61 seconds to place third overall, just 0.2 seconds off his personal best.

Duke performed well as a whole in the sprints – first in the 100m dash, then in the 200m. On the women’s side, strong, slightly wind-aided sprints from Provencal and freshman Abby Geiser led to top-three finishes. Provencal registered a personal-best time of 11.68 seconds to place second, while Geiser took third (11.76) in her outdoor debut. Sophomore Hailey Williams (11.85) also had a solid run as she just missed out on the top-five by a thousandth of a second and Crean ran 11.90 seconds in her collegiate 100m debut.

Domination carried over to the 200m event as the Duke women registered six of the top seven times in the field. Senior Kelcie Simmons (23.97 seconds) and Crean (23.98 seconds) finished in second and third, with Crean’s time representing a PR. King, Geiser and Williams also finished back-to-back-to-back as the trio checked in at fourth (24.40 seconds), fifth (24.40 seconds) and sixth (24.41 seconds), respectively.

On the men’s side of the 200m dash, three of the four individuals recorded personal bests. Graduate student Miles Mingo led the way with a 21.22 second finish, junior Ezra Mellinger improved his No. 3 all-time program mark via his run of 21.25 seconds, while classmate Joseph Laster (21.70 seconds) and Trahan (21.83 seconds) also posted their fastest event times. In another windy race, this time the 100m, the Blue Devils took advantage and ran well, led by Mellinger who placed third on a 10.35 run.

Up Next:

The Blue Devils will split up the team as they get set to compete in the Raleigh (March 25-26) and Texas (March 24) Relays. Duke will send a group of student-athletes up the road to Raleigh, N.C., while other members of the team will head to Austin, Texas.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils cross country and track & field, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeTFXC.”

#GoDuke