Wednesday - Jan. 8, 2025 - Abbotsford plots tree-planting spree

🌧 High 6C

Good morning!

Last week, I alluded to the Christmas presents my kids didn’t want to put down to go skating. But you might get a kick out of knowing more about what present, exactly, had the kids so entranced: a Polish dice game called Super Farmer. During the Second World War, a Polish professor invented the game to amuse his family and, later, make some money. The game was rediscovered in the 1990s and released in Poland. Over the last 30 years, the game has been released in English, German, and Italian, Wikipedia tells me.

My kids got the Polish version for Christmas from their aunt, who lives there. The language is only needed to learn the game’s rules, and my Anglophone kids used Google to translate the instructions and figure out how to play. From there, they were off breeding bunnies (so many bunnies), sheep, cows, and pigs. The game is very basic, but it’s quick and fun and, best of all, the kids don’t get too upset when a wolf ends up eating all their sheep. (I’m not quite sure where you can buy it in Canada. It looks mostly sold out online, but if you know where to buy a copy, let me know and I’ll share it here later.)

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

Home prices continue to lag as calendar changes

Across the valley, detached house prices have dropped modestly but consistently over the last six months, with a typical single-family home losing about $30,000 of value since June.

• For our ongoing (and evolving) monthly look at the Fraser Valley’s housing market, we’ve compiled 13 custom charts to give readers a sense of prices in four different communities and among three different home types. 

This feature is a recurring segment in The Current, but the charts are still a work in progress, so let us know what other data you might like to see.

If you want the raw data you can find it here: Fraser Valley Real Estate Board | Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board.

Related

Need to Know

👏 The founder of Abbotsford’s judo club was honoured for his contribution to the sport [Abbotsford News]

🚔 Abbotsford police officers interrupted a break-and-enter in progress at a rural property on Sumas Prairie Tuesday [Abbotsford Police/Facebook]

👉 Mission Community Services Society has hired a new executive director [Mission Record]

🚓 An Agassiz man previously convicted of child porn offences is facing new charges [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🗳 The expected tax increase in Mission won’t exceed 6.7%, the city’s mayor says [City of Mission]

🚆 A proposed high-speed rail line between Portland and Vancouver has received $50 million in funding from the US government [KOIN]

👉 An Abbotsford man diagnosed as a toddler with a terminal lung condition went into surgery Tuesday to get a transplanted organ [Abbotsford News]

🚚 Cheam First Nation says an illegal composting operation on its lands is a ‘repeat offender’ [Fraser Valley Today]

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The Agenda

Abbotsford set to plant thousands of trees to replace those axed by developers

The City of Abbotsford is set to plant a quarter-million dollars worth of trees over the next year. The new trees are intended to help boost the city’s flagging tree canopy, according to the municipality’s upcoming budget.

Money for the new planting spree will come from developers and property owners who previously paid to cut down trees on their properties. The city's tree cutting bylaw requires those who cut down trees of a certain size to replace them with newly planted trees. Those without room or the ability to do so can pay money to the city to plant new trees on public property. It's that money that will finance next year's tree-planting spree.

In 2022, the city adopted a new urban forest strategy to try to respond to the municipality’s dwindling tree canopy. With development leading to more and more trees being felled, the city will look to boost tree cover on public land. Although the canopy cover in the city’s parks was measured at 62%, roadways and other city-owned properties (like those housing fire stations and other public buildings) had canopy cover below 20%.

The city has also budgeted $650,000 to rehabilitate trails around the town, $100,000 to replace or restore sports fields, and another $100,000 to assess fields around Abbotsford.

The city will also spend $15,000 to add security cameras at Abbotsford Centre and another $90,000 for new spotlights at the arena.

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🗓 Things to do

Minter talks: Brian Minter, Chilliwack's garden entrepreneur, will hold a talk at the Chilliwack Museum about the 67-year history of Minter Country Gardens on Thursday starting at 7pm. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. Details online.

Kids out at Abbotsford: Parents wanting a break can send their kids to Abbotsford's Kid's Night Out on Friday at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre. Kids will get to go swimming, eat pizza, and play games from 6 to 8pm. Details and registration online.

Pottery class: Instructor Don Martyn will teach four basic art classes on potting at the Art Machine in Hope on Sundays from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2. Total cost is $30 for all four classes. Participation is limited. Details online.

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Catch up

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